Severus walked down to his chambers, Harry still in his arms. This child was set on giving him a heart attack. At the rate it is going now, he just might have one before the school year was out. 

Small whimpering noises were coming from the child. Severus whispered calming words in the child’s ear. When they reached his chambers, Severus decided to sit on the sofa instead of his usual chair. 

“Potter,” Severus softly said. He moved his hands under the child’s arms in an effort to push him back. 

“Please,” Harry mumbled. His face was buried in Severus’ shoulder.

“Harry,” Severus said. “You said that I made you feel safe.” Severus felt the child nodding against his shoulder. “You are in my chambers. I think you will find that you are very safe. We need to talk. I must know what happened tonight.”

Severus didn’t think twice after saying those words. It just felt right to assure the child that he was in a safe place. Because he was. Severus would keep Harry safe. 

Harry heaved a sigh but sat back on Snape’s lap. His hands slid down Severus’ shoulders to his chest, his hand gripping Snape’s robe. The boy would concede that they might have to talk, but he was going to be sure he didn’t leave his spot on his safety’s lap.   

Severus covered Harry’s hands with his own. With just one look from Severus, Harry released the woolen cloth, but when Severus did not release the child’s hands, Harry gripped the Potion Master’s thumbs. 

Gripping the child’s small hands, Severus was once again reminded of how small Harry was, how fragile.

“Harry,” Severus said. “Why were you in the Forbidden Forest? I believe we’ve talked about school rules and how you are to follow them.”

“I wasn’t. I did,” Harry got out in a rush. “Please, believe me. I wasn’t breaking the rules. I promise.” 

Severus could see the panic in the boy’s eyes and feel the hard grip the child was giving his thumbs. At some point, the child tried to reach for his coat again. 

“I do believe that students were forbidden to go into the forest,” Severus said, raising an eyebrow.

“I didn’t want to,” Harry panicked. “I promise.” Tears blurred Harry’s vision. He needed to convince his professor that he didn’t break any rules. After the night he had, he didn’t want to get punished again.

“Alright, Harry,” Severus said.

“Please believe me,” Harry said again. “I didn’t want to go, but I thought I would be fine with Fang and Hagrid.”

“Why were you with Hagrid and not in your tower?”

“I had detention,” Harry said, lowering his head.

“My eyes are up here,” Severus softly chided. He didn’t speak again until onyx eyes met by crystal-drop emerald. “Now I know Hagrid does not give out detentions, so who gave you the punishment?” 

Severus was going to let whichever dunderhead professor know in no uncertain terms that giving a child detention in a forbidden place doesn’t help deter from breaking the rules.

“Professor Quirrell,” Harry said. “I got in trouble in class, but I didn’t do it. I promise. I don’t know what happened. We were saying the right word. Neville even hexed me. I don’t know. But I didn’t do it.”

How dare Quirrell put Harry in danger like that. Detention in the Forbidden Forest? Has he come free of his senses? Anger boiled under Severus’ skin. He knew he needed to calm his rage so Harry wouldn’t think he was angry with him.

The first traces of tears started streaming down Harry’s cheek. Severus, putting both of Harry’s hands in one, removed Harry’s glasses. He grabbed his handkerchief and wiped the child’s eyes. 

Severus struggled to understand what the child was talking about and what happened in the Defense class. Harry was in such a hurry to tell his story that the words were jumbled together. Plus most of Severus’ thoughts were on trying not to destroy a fellow professor and not be sent to Azkaban as a result. 

“Hold on,” Severus cut in the barrage of words. “Let’s try this again. This time slower.”

Absently leaning in Severus’ hand, Harry took a deep breath and told the story again. He talked about what they did in Defense class. How much fun they were having. That they were learning the stinging hex, and when he cast his spell, it somehow came across as a dark curse.

“Then Professor Quirrell gave me detention,” Harry finished. “I didn’t want to go. I don’t like the dark.”

“Okay,” Severus said softly. “How did you get separated from them?”

Harry thought about it for a moment. He didn’t remember. He remembered going into the forest. And the next moment he was alone. 

“I don’t know. I just know all of a sudden it was dark. I hate the dark.” A shiver crawled up Harry’s spine. Just thinking about the darkness and how he felt in the forest had Harry curling his arms against his chest and leaning forward and laying his head on Severus’ chest. 

Severus didn’t try to move Harry. He let the conversation drop for now. The boy was too upset to talk anyway. He let go of Harry’s hands and wrapped his arms around the child. He didn’t want to admit that he needed to hold the child for a moment. Whatever happened in that forest, it took Firenze to protect him and make sure he was safe, worried Severus. He needed to calm himself down and know Harry was alright. 

Severus sat with Harry on his lap for a while. Unlike last night, he felt Harry’s body relax against his chest. The child’s breathing deepened. This time when Harry fell asleep, Severus had no qualms about the child being on him. He didn’t mind having his little spider monkey attached to him. 

There was a lot on the Potion Master’s mind. He wasn’t even perturbed when his privacy was being interrupted when the flames turned green and Albus and Minerva walked through the hearth. He knew it was a matter of time before they showed up in his chambers. 

“Severus,” Albus started but was cut off. 

“When is it acceptable for detentions to be in the Forbidden Forest?” Severus snarled. “Did you approve this?” Severus gave Albus an icy stare.

“I didn’t know that Harry’s detention would be in the forest,” Albus placated. “If I had known that was where his detention was, I would’ve stopped it. You know that. I did talk to Hagrid. He won’t take another student into the forest again.”

“It shouldn’t have to be said,” Severus growled. “That should be a given since it is one of the rules YOU stated at the beginning of school.”

“It was an oversight,” Albus said. 

“An oversight?” Severus said his eyebrow arching. 

Minerva noticed that Severus’ arms tightened around Harry. She wanted to bring a little levity into the room, but it wouldn’t be best to joke now. Minerva knew how Severus felt about her and Albus picking on him. She saw it all in good fun. But this was different. These circumstances with this were scary. 

“An oversight?” Severus’ voice got louder. 

“Severus, you’ll wake Harry,” Minerva quietly said. 

With the same intensity in his voice, “Harry is just fine.” His onyx eyes bore into the Transfiguration Professor. 

Yeah, teasing Severus now would be a horrible idea, Minerva thought. 

Severus closed his eyes. He was taking his anger and frustration out on the wrong people. So he lowered his head and took a deep breath, feeling the weight of Harry lying on his chest, the small tickle under his nose as he breathed in from Harry’s hair, and the slight pull of his coat from the grip Harry has on him. It grounded him. He knew he needed to calm down. 

There was a tense quiet for a moment. Albus and Minerva watched Severus as if he was a time bomb about to explode.

When Severus felt that he had calmed down enough to speak, he lifted his head and looked at his adopted father. 

“I want Quirrell out of this school,” Severus solemnly said. 

“I can’t just fire a professor from the school,” Albus said.

“He is a danger to Harry,” Severus said. 

“I need solid proof of that before I can take action on those accusations.”

“Are you again not believing me?” Severus said sharply. “Have I not proved myself to you that I am a man of my word? He sent Harry to the Forbidden Forest for detention.”

“Severus,” Albus said. “I am not saying that at all.”

“Quirrell is not safe in this school,” Severus said again. “If you won’t handle this, then I will.”

“No, you won’t,” Minerva sternly said.

Albus continued. His voice didn’t have the usual calm tone to it. There were times when he showed why he was the strongest wizard. 

“Your job is to protect that small child in your arms. Get me something concrete that can give me a reason to dismiss Professor Quirrell. But just getting rid of him with nothing to back it up will do more harm than good. You know that.”

Severus hated that made sense. He was too emotional right now. He didn’t like it. Over the past two days how he has felt about Harry has changed considerably. Now, he’ll be worrying over the boy’s safety while that man still roamed the school and taught classes. 

“If you won’t take my opinion into consideration,” Severus said after taking a deep calming breath.

“That is not what is happening here,” Minerva spoke up.

Severus continued as if no one spoke. “I will take Harry out of this school until whatever this is will be taken care of.”

“Severus, be reasonable,” Albus sighed, losing his harsh tone. “Harry can’t just miss school. If it is as you say, and Quirinus is after Harry, then we don’t want to let him know that we suspect anything.”

“He will not be a pawn,” Severus screamed. 

“No, he won’t,” Albus agreed. “Listen, the Christmas holidays are a week away. Wait until then and you can remove Harry. You can bring him down here or take him home if you want. You’ll be able to watch Harry more easily that way.”

Severus didn’t reply to that. 

“Severus,” Minerva spoke up. “Take tomorrow. Spend the time with Harry. Have him tell you what happened. Assure him that you’ll be there for him. And you can build on your bond. Harry needs you. Now more than ever.”

Severus nodding was his only reply.

“Good night, my boy,” Albus said, standing up and walking towards the fireplace with Minerva. Without another word, both left Severus’ chambers. 

Severus laid his head on the back of the sofa, thinking about how he was going to handle what was ahead of him. Harry will be protected. He made the boy a promise. And he was going to keep it. 

___000___000___000

Albus walked straight to his desk and sat behind it. He was deep in thought when he pulled out the small tin that carried his lemon drop candies. He popped one in his mouth, closed his eyes, and laid his head on the back of his chair. 

“Albus, what are we going to do?”

Albus opened his eyes and looked at his Deputy Headmistress, almost forgetting that she followed him to his chambers.

“If Quirinus is set to hurt Harry,” Minerva continued. “How can we protect Harry without alerting the man? What if it’s not only Harry? What if there are other students he’s harming?”

Just the thought of the professor harming any of the other young witches and wizards within the school brought the acrid bile to the back of her throat.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Albus soothed. “We’ll start in the morning. You will keep an eye on Quirinus. Pay close attention if he’s singling another child. Get with Pomona and Filius in the morning. The more eyes on him the better.”

“What are you going to do?” Minerva asked. 

“I know my son,” Albus said. “I’ll be watching him. If it’s true, I want Quirrell out of here. No doubt about it, but I want to keep my son safe in the process. I almost lost him before because of his anger. I don’t want to lose both him and Harry.”

Minerva knew what Albus meant. She was there during that awful time. It hurt Severus considerably. Something she knew he still blamed himself about. It was the main reason she and Albus picked on him so much. If Severus took his aggravation out on them then he didn’t blame himself for something that was out of his control. 

“Minerva, my dear,” Albus said. “Why don’t you try and get some sleep? We have busy days ahead.”

Minerva nodded. She agreed. 

“Good night, Albus.” Minerva walked out the heavy wooden door of Albus’ chambers.

___000___000___000

Harry walked into the Infirmary. It was nice coming there and not having to need it. It was an unusual feeling. A nice feeling. He saw Neville sitting on one of the cots. It was next to the one that Harry usually was on. 

“Hey, Neville,” Harry called out, walking over to the cot.

“Heya, Harry.”

“How are you feeling?” Harry asked, standing next to the cot. 

Neville shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, I guess.”

“Listen, Neville,” Harry started. “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

Neville gave Harry a blank face. 

Harry continued on. “I thought I said the right spell.”

“Well, you didn’t,” Neville angrily said. “I’m in here because of you.”

“But, Neville,” Harry tried again. “It was an accident.”

“Was it?” Neville asked. “I don’t think it was. I think you did it on purpose.”

“That’s not true,” Harry pleaded. “I would never hurt someone like that. You’re my friend. I would never hurt you.”

“Yeah? But you did,” Neville accused. “Now, I’m in here for the next couple of weeks. I’m going to miss going home on Christmas break. And it’s all your fault.”

Harry felt like someone just dumped all the water in the Black Lake over his head. The last thing he thought was that he would feel the same hatred as if he were with the Dursleys. He thought it would be different here. 

The doors to the Infirmary opened. Ron and Hermione walked in. A small smile graced the smaller child’s lips. 

Ron was his best friend, his first friend. He introduced Harry to his brother as his best mate. Ron would be by my side, Harry thought.

“Hey, Ron,” Harry said. “Hey, Hermione.” 

Neither of them spoke back. They walked past him as if he weren’t there. The two Gryffindors went to the side of Neville’s bed. Neville grinned when he saw Ron and Hermione. They started talking amongst themselves, ignoring Harry. 

You’re nothing but a freak. No one will like you. You’re a freak. 

Harry could hear his uncle’s voice in his head. His throat burned at the realization that he was back to being in the shadows. Someone that could only watch instead of participating.

Harry turned and left the Infirmary. It just hurt too much to sit back and watch as who he thought were his friends ignored him. He walked down different corridors not having a specific destination. 

When he turned down one hallway, he saw Fred and George doing something to one of the armored statues. He loved being around the twins. But he turned and went back the way he came. The last thing he wanted was to be ignored by them. That would just be too much. Best to stay ignorant to that.

“Oi, Harry.”

Harry stopped. He didn’t know how to take his name being called. He liked knowing that he wasn’t invisible, but he didn’t know how they were going to treat him. 

Might as well find out. He turned and saw the twins walking toward him.

“What’cha doing?” Fred asked.

“Nothing,” Harry replied. “What were y’all doing?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” George said, smirking. “Why don’t you go down there and see? You’ll love it.”

Harry was wary of going down there. He didn’t know if this was going to be good or bad. And he was too scared to just ask. Deep down he didn’t want to know the answer.

Before he could turn in the opposite direction, Fred shoved him toward the armored statue. Taking a deep breath, Harry walked down to it. 

As he walked, he turned back and saw that Fred and George were still there. They waved their hands, motioning him to keep going. And so he did. When he got to the statue, it didn’t look any different. He looked back at the twins and could see them pull something out of their pockets. Harry didn’t like this. He turned back to the armored statue. It changed. The armored helmet changed into Uncle Vernon’s head. The mace it was holding in its right hand changed into a narrow wooden cane. The cane went up high over Uncle Vernon’s head and came down with a swishing sound. 

In reflex, Harry covered his head with his arms and turned his back to the statue. He waited for the pain. The blow landed, but before he could register the pain, he sat up.

Harry looked around, trying to see where he was. He was back in his dorm. In his pajamas. The curtains closed around his bed. 

It was a dream, Harry thought. 

Harry sighed and laid back down on the bed. It’d been a long time since Harry had a nightmare. He hadn’t had many since he’s been at Hogwarts. Harry went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. Maybe that would help. 

As he was coming out of the bathroom, he noticed the room didn’t look the same. It was empty. He knew it was the boys’ dorm, but there wasn’t any furniture. No bed, trunks, lockers. Harry didn’t like this. He took a step back and bumped into the wall. He didn’t know what was going on. He was scared. His breathing sped up. His heart felt like it was pounding in his chest. He wanted his safety. He needed his professor. 

“Professor Snape!” Harry yelled. “Professor Snape!”

Harry closed his eyes and continued calling for his safety. He knew all will be right when he was with his professor.

___000___000___000

Severus sat in his chair nursing a small glass of Firewhiskey. Severus held Harry for half an hour before he decided to lay the boy down. He carried Harry into his bedroom and placed him on the bed. He took off the child’s shoes and robe. He unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt and covered the child with a throw. 

There was so much on the man’s mind. He wanted to go after Quirrell for what he did to Harry. Then his mind went back to the other things that had happened to Harry. The rouge practice bludger. The cursed broom. The troll incident. And now this. If it came out that Quirrell is responsible for all of this, there wouldn’t be a safe place for that man to live. Severus would go after him. 

His thoughts on how to hurt Quirrell didn’t bother him. In the beginning, he didn’t particularly like the man. But now that he had Harry, those feelings were stronger. 

Severus was about to take a sip of the amber liquid when a scream erupted from his bedroom. Dropping the tumbler from his hand, Severus raced into the bedroom. 

Harry was sitting up. His eyes were open but weren’t looking at anything. 

“Professor Snape! Professor Snape!”

Severus rushed to the child’s side, plucked the child from the bed, and brought him to his chest. The child was stiff in the Potion Master’s arms

“Harry,” Severus soothed, sitting back down on his bed. “Shh, Harry, you’re okay. It’s just a dream.” He turned Harry so his legs were on one side, wrapping his arms around the small child. 

Severus started rocking side to side trying to soothe the child. 

___000___000___000

Light started to drag the darkness away. Harry’s fear started to ebb away. The hatred he felt from his friends melted like ice on a warm day. Uncle Vernon’s words turned to white noise in the background compared to the solid thumps he could hear. 

The continuing thumps calmed him. Then the smell of sandalwood and spices filled his nose. Harry couldn’t help the smile. He knew where he was. He was wrapped in a cocoon of safety. Nothing could hurt him within this cocoon. He just wanted to soak up this feeling. He never wanted to leave it. This was all his. For the first time in his life, he was going to be selfish about his safety cocoon.

___000___000___000

Severus felt Harry starting to relax in his arms. The child’s legs were rigid and went slack; his back loosened. 

Severus looked down at the child in his arms and saw those small hands reach out and grip his coat. Gripping them into small fingers. 

“Mr. Potter,” Severus said softly. “Would you wake up, please? It seems we have things to talk about.”

Harry snuggled more into his wall of safety before opening his eyes. He looked around and saw that he was in his professor’s arms. A deep sigh flowed from his lungs. 

___000___000___000

Harry stood in front of the Infirmary doors. Professor Snape told him that it was just a dream and that none of his friends would hate him because of an accident. He wanted to believe his safety’s words, but past experiences proved differently. 

Harry steeled himself and opened the double doors and entered the infirmary. The same feeling he had when he walked in during his dream came flooding through. He saw Neville sitting up on one of the cots. He was about to call out the boy’s name when said child looked up and smiled. 

“Harry!” Neville exclaimed.

A smile spread across Harry’s face. Neville didn’t hate him. 

“Hey, Neville,” Harry said, walking over to his friend. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” Neville said. “Madam Pomfrey wants me to stay for another day. Nothing too bad. Just a little nerve pain. She gave me a potion to help.”

“Neville,” Harry sighed. “I’m sorry. I thought I said the right word. I never wanted to hurt you.”

“It’s not your fault, Harry,” Neville said. “It was an accident. I heard you before I started feeling the pain. You did say the word.”

“I just don’t understand why this happened,” Harry said, sitting down on the side of the bed. “Everybody else worked just fine.”

“Well, I can say this,” Neville quietly said. “I’ve been learning different spells and how they would feel from my uncle. I was hit by both Ron’s and Hemione’s spells. They were the same. With you, I felt two.”

Harry’s brow furrowed. “You felt two?”

Neville nodded. 

“Did you tell Madam Pomfrey?” Harry asked. 

“Yeah,” Neville replied, then color drained from his face.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked. 

“She said I should talk to Professor Snape,” Neville shivered. “She thinks he can help.”

“He can,” Harry said. “I’ll tell him. That way you won’t have to. I know you’re nervous around him.”

“Yeah,” Neville said. “He’s scary.”

“He’s not that scary,” Harry said. “But he may want to talk to you.”

“I know,” Neville said. “Would you stay with me?”

“Yes,” Harry beamed. “What are friends for?”

___000___000___000

Severus stepped through the floo into Albus’ chambers.

“Ah, Severus, my boy,” Albus greeted. “Come.”

Severus saw that Albus wasn’t alone. Filius and Pamona were there talking softly to Minerva. He narrowed his eyes. The last time they were all together like this it didn’t go well for him. 

“What’s going on?” Severus asked. 

“Don’t worry, they’re leaving,” Albus said, smirking. “They are helping gather information.”

“Greetings, Severus,” Filius said. 

Severus nodded in return. 

“We’ll get on with that, Albus,” Filius said. He, Pomona, and Minerva left. 

“So, son, what have you been up to?” Albus asked. 

“Albus, stop,” Severus said. “I’m no longer that boy. You don’t have to check up on me.”

“Call it the habit of an old man,” Albus said, smiling. “You’ll see when it comes to young Harry.”

“You wanted something,” Severus said, trying to change the subject. Even though he had opened up more about his role in regard to Harry didn’t mean he wanted to talk to Albus about it. 

“Yes, Madam Pomfrey informed me of something very interesting with young Neville. I thought you would like to accompany me.”

“Is this about what happened during Defense class?” Severus asked. 

“I assume.”

The two wizards exited the chambers and headed for the Infirmary. When they arrived, the Infirmary door swung open and a small blur collided with Severus.

“What are you running for?” Severus scolded. 

“Oh, hi,” Harry said. “I was about to go look for you. Neville needed to talk to you.” He gripped Severus’ sleeve and pulled him inside the hospital room. 

Severus sneered at the twinkle he could see in Albus’ eyes as they walked toward Neville’s bed.

“How are you doing, Neville?” Albus said, standing at the foot of the bed. Severus stood next to him. 

“I’m fine, Professor, thank you,” Neville politely said. 

“Now, dear child,” Albus started. “Madam Pomfrey told me something that I would like some clarification from you. And I’m assuming she also told you to speak to Professor Snape.”

“Yes, sir,” Neville answered. “It was about when I was cursed.”

“Continue,” Severus said in a neutral tone. 

“My Uncle Algie taught me about different spells when I was growing up,” Neville started. “He also taught me the feel. I was hit with two different curses.” 

“Are you sure?” Albus asked.

“Yes, Professor,” Neville replied. 

“Mr. Longbottom,” Severus said. “I need to see if I can feel any of the residual signature on you.”

Neville watched as his scary professor walked closer to him. As promised, Harry didn’t move from his side. 

Severus closed his eyes as he slowly waved his hand over the child. He went over Neville’s body twice then backed away.

“Did you feel anything, Severus?” Albus asked.

“Not much,” Severus sighed and left the Infirmary without another word.

“Get some rest, Neville,” Albus said. “Harry, come with me.”

Harry and Neville said their goodbyes, and Harry followed Albus out of the Infirmary. 

TBC