Severus stepped into the infirmary, more exhausted than he remembered being in a long, long time. He got the impression that he had just walked in on something, judging by the tension in the air and the looks the boys were giving him. They could put up with it, he figured, as he quietly transfigured his cot into a soft armchair. He looked at Harry and Draco for a few minutes before saying anything.

"I spoke with the Headmaster," he finally said. "He knew nothing of how Moody was treating you, Harry. That is no excuse, but it seems to be the truth."

"It doesn't matter," Harry said despondently. "It never mattered. They'll just do it again."

"If you mean that Moody will ever touch you again, it will only be over my dead body," Severus vowed. "You asked me to be your advocate; I intend to fulfill that request. It also means that, if you are amiable, I will be assuming any so-called 'training' lessons you are to have." Draco tried nodding to Harry encouragingly, but he wasn't sure if the other boy noticed.

Harry put his head down. Tears pooled up in Harry's eyes. It was one thing to ask for someone to actually care enough about him to help him. It was another to hear it.

"Please," Harry whispered. His breath hitched in his throat.

"Oh, come on," Severus almost whined as he rolled his eyes. "There's no need for hysterics," he continued when Harry's breath hitched again, even as he rose from his chair and sat down on Harry's bed. Hesitatingly, Severus placed a strong hand on Harry's shoulder.

Harry flinched at first from the touch, then leaned into it when his brain realized that it was a friendly touch and not one that would cause him pain. He couldn't understand why he was feeling this way. The more that Professor Snape sat there, the more Harry just wanted to hide in his robes like he done when they were in the Shack. The feeling of having strong, protective arms wrapped around him was almost addicting, the feeling that he was loved and safe. There was no way Professor Snape would do that again. Severus sighed, and pulled Harry towards his chest and wrapped his arms around him.

"You must stop thinking so loudly," Severus drawled. Harry just turned his head into Severus' robes. He must stop doing that, Harry thought.

"I'm sorry," Harry sobbed, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Severus assured him quietly. The bed creaked, and Severus saw that Draco had crawled over to join them and put his hand on Harry's back and began to rub circles there.

"Harry, everything will be alright," Draco whispered. "It'll be fine. Professor Snape is here now. He'll protect you. Won't you, sir?" Draco watched Severus cautiously.

"With my life," Severus grunted. With that admission, Harry cried harder. He finally had it. Someone on his side. He just wrapped his arms around his Professor and gripped the back of his robes as if his life depended on it. Severus sighed.

"It will be alright, Potter." Harry shook his head against Severus' shoulder. Harry mumbled something on Severus' shoulder.

"Harry, I didn't hear you." Harry turned his head slightly, but did not remove it from Severus' shoulder.

"They'll come back. They always do." With that, Harry sobbed some more.

"Who are they?" Severus asked softly, too taken aback by Harry's display of emotions to even make a snarky comment.

"Please," Harry sobbed. "Let me stay with you." Harry pulled away from Severus, but not from his embrace so that he could look into his professor's dark eyes. "I heard you say that Draco was staying with you. Please. Please let me stay with you too. I won't be a bother. I promise. I...I'll clean. I'll cook all the meals. You won't even know I'm around. Please, Professor. I can't go back." Harry lowered his head back on the Severus' chest.

"Clean?" Severus asked, bewildered. He glanced at Draco for help, and the other boy just shook his head emphatically. "Cook? What are you babbling about? We have house elves for that. Where can't you go? Who are they?"

Harry just shook his head against Severus' shoulder. It has been a long time since Harry has every felt safe. If he was honest with himself he hadn't felt safe in the castle since his first year. Five years of being afraid that someone was coming to take him from his dorm bed.

"Harry, tell me now," Severus ordered. His voice didn't allow for any argument, but it wasn't cold or harsh either. Harry sniffled a little bit, trying to collect himself. He was being a right proper baby about this. "Harry, I need to know if I'm going to be an advocate for you. If you want me to fill that role in your life, you have to give me the tools to do it properly. I'm not going to do a half-ass job of it. So if you will kindly tell me what you're driveling on about."

"Moody wasn't the first one to take me from my dorm at night," Harry whispered, turning his head slightly to the side so he could talk, but not give up the soothing darkness that he enveloped in his Professor's arms. Severus' face darkened in confusion and he glanced again at Draco, who denied any knowledge.

"I might be an Legillimens," he sighed, "but I'm not a mind reader. If you would please be clear. Beating around the bush isn't going to change the reality of what you're trying to say." Harry did not want to give up his security and comfort of the darkness of his Professor's robes, but Harry knew he was right. No one knew what happened during his second year. He had never told anyone. Things calmed down some with the beginning of third year, but this year it was like history was almost repeating itself.

He pulled out of his Professor's embrace and sat back against the headboard of his bed. He looked exhausted. His eyes and nose were red. His face was flushed, and his hair was matted to his forehead from pressing his head against Severus' shoulder. He knew he looked a mess, and he couldn't find the energy within himself to care.

For a while no one spoke. Draco wondered if Harry would ever really say what was wrong with him. Severus was about to get up off the bed when Harry spoke.

"I don't feel safe in my dorm anymore," Harry sighed.

"Why?" Draco asked immediately.

Harry looked up at Draco. He was completely exhausted. He was tired of holding this inside for the last four years. He'd always wanted to tell someone. Before he was worried about being believed. But now, Professor Snape said he would look out for him, and he had vowed it on his life, something no other yet-living person had done.

"I've never told anyone," Harry put his head down. He did not want to see the disgust or disbelief on their faces when he told them his secret. With a deep sigh, "Moody was not the first Professor, adult, that removed me from my dorm in the middle of the night."

"Then who was?" Draco was trying to keep his voice calm, as to keep Harry calm.

"Professor," Harry ignored Draco's question. "Why did you hand me off to another Professor for detention when Ron and me flew into the Whomping Willow?" Severus gave Harry a cautious, calculating side-long look, and didn't answer immediately. Harry didn't seem in a hurry for an answer, for which Severus was grateful. Draco glanced between the two of them, clearly torn between several emotions, including confusion, anxiety and curiosity.

"I was furious with you," Severus finally admitted stiffly. "You have no idea the amount of danger you and Weasley put yourselves - and the whole of the wizarding world - in with that stunt. Not only could the spells on the car have failed at any moment, sending you plummeting to your untimely deaths, but any number of Muggles could have seen you, panicked, and attacked you, and last, but not least, crashing into the Willow certainly almost did kill you. Of course, after actually managing to survive all of that, did you really want to test it to see if you could survive me too? You know me well enough, Mr. Potter, that I do not make good decisions when I'm angry. And I was very angry that night. I felt it better to leave the matter of your discipline to someone else."

"It'll all be okay, Harry," Draco interjected in a soft, soothing voice. "We'll help you. Just tell us."

"You should have taken my detention," Harry was so exhausted his voice was void of emotion. He then looked up at his teacher. His eyes were dull and blank. "I will try not to make you angry, but promise me you will always take over my detentions. All of them. Please."

"Who did you have detention with?" Draco asked. Harry looked from Severus to Draco, and said one name.

"Lockhart." Severus' brow creased, but he didn't say anything immediately.

"My Slytherins asked for the same thing," he commented. "They weren't used to having to sign pictures and answer fan mail for a detention and they found it excruciating. I told them to live with it, that a detention wasn't meant to be fun." Severus face darkened as the cogs in his head continued to turn, and he glanced at Draco worriedly.

"I never got a detention with him," he said.

"Be grateful that you didn't," Harry still wasn't looking at them. "I hated his detention." Harry sighed. He really wanted to stop holding this in, and it seemed that the only people in the world that he could trust were sitting next to him. "I don't think I would have minded if all I had to do was sign pictures an answer fan mail. But, when has anything been normal when it comes to me?"

"Harry, what's so hard about just telling me what's on your mind?" Severus sighed, clearly losing patience. "I'm very tired, and if we don't get to the point soon, I'm afraid I'll fall asleep waiting. So, please, get to the point." Harry flinched a little at the strength of the words, but even through his frustration, Severus' words were not malicious. Draco laid a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Harry said putting his head back down looking at his hands in his lap. "It's really hard for me to talk about it. I've never told anybody this. I haven't even told Hermione or Ron." He sat there between the two of them, wishing that he was back in the cocoon of his Professor's arms. But his Professor was tired, and he had no right to ask to be held again. "I know you're tired, Professor," Harry refused to lift his eyes. "I won't keep you any longer." Severus sighed again.

"I don't leave conversations unfinished," he said, perhaps a little more softly than he had intended. "Take your time." Severus was concerned about Harry, and seeing him look so helpless, so hopeless, so sad, made Severus feel like he had to do something, and his judgement was a little blurred from his exhaustion. At least, that was his justification for his next actions. Severus reached out and ruffled Harry's black mop.

With his eyes closed, Harry leaned into the touch. The other two occupants on the bed did not miss the tears that escaped the closed lids of the boy. Severus let his hand rest on Harry's scalp. It was quiet for a while till both of them thought Harry had fell asleep. Then a small voice broke the silence.

"I'm safer with you, please," Harry whispered. Severus looked down Harry. "I know that we don't get along much, but you've never hurt me. I mean, you you say things, but you've never touched me." Severus exchanged a worried look with Draco.

"Harry," he murmured quietly, but his voice was still stern, "are you telling me what I think you're trying to tell me?" Both Severus and Draco seemed to hold their breath as Harry thought about the question. Harry looked up at Draco.

"Be happy that you didn't have detentions with him." Draco's brow creased. He looked from Harry to Severus, biting his lip nervously, fear in his eyes at the realization of what Harry was saying. Severus put both hands on Harry's shoulders and turned him slightly so that he was looking the boy in his eyes.

"Lockhart?" was the only thing that came out of Severus' mouth.

Harry nodded, with dull green eyes, washed with tears, looking at his Professor.