Harry looked up and wondered if Dumbledore had gone barmy or had just not seen Jeremy Jones use both hands to push him down. Upon closer inspection of his face however, Harry was pleased to note that while the man smiled, his face wasn't relaxed. He definitely wasn't happy.

"I'm sorry," Jeremy said. He seemed to sense the Headmaster's displeasure as well and moved to hold his hand out for Harry to take. Harry did take it and let himself be pulled up by the sixth year. Jeremy gave a sorry look towards the Headmaster, and then an irritated look at Harry, and went on his way.

Dumbledore turned to Harry, blue eyes taking in the bruises on Harry's arms and then meeting Harry's green eyes. "Perhaps some tea dear boy?" Dumbledore asked. "That is unless you are on your way to Quidditch or some other urgent engagement."

"I'm not supposed to be anywhere right now," Harry said. Harry could see that Dumbledore had relaxed and his smile seemed genuine once again. He beckoned for Harry to walk with him, and Harry was lead to a room near the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"My second office," Dumbledore said, and Harry looked around once he was inside. There was a large wooden table with seating for at least a dozen people, but no desk, or bookshelves or knick knacks like in the man's ‘first' office. "A wonderful place to meet when there are too many people to fit in my office," Dumbledore said with a smile, motioning Harry to a chair near the end of the table. He called for a house elf and asked for tea service and then sat across from Harry.

"How have you been getting along?" Dumbledore asked. "I hope classes are going well?"

"Yes sir," Harry said. He wanted to mention getting an O on one of his Potion's papers but didn't.

"I hear the first meeting of the dueling club went exceptionally well."

"Hermione taught a bunch of first and second years a fourth year shield."

"Wonderful," he said. The elf came back with tea and set it in front of the Headmaster, and then left again. The Headmaster pushed a cup towards Harry as well as a tray of chocolate and strawberry biscuits. Harry welcomed the warmth of the tea. This was better than lying in the corridor and wondering how many more days until the others got tired of pushing him around.

"And how was your summer?"

Harry looked into his cup of tea, took a drink, and shrugged. The man had to know how his summer had gone. He knew Harry had spent the end of the summer with Snape, and with how many times Mrs. Weasley had owled him about being in danger, Harry wondered if Dumbledore had known about him living on the streets as well. Had he been the one to tell Snape to leave food out for him on the rubbish bins?

"Did you enjoy spending time with Professor Snape? I understand he adopted you. It must be nice to finally have a father."

Harry pushed his tea away from himself and stared into the dark liquid as the cogs began turning in his mind. Dumbledore sounded like Umbridge... like he was digging for information. Harry wanted to ask him questions about how much he knew, but wasn't sure if he'd be allowed.

"Professor Snape isn't my father. He didn't adopt me."

"Oh? I was under the impression that he did."

"No," Harry said quietly. "He got me out of the orphanage but that's it. He let me stay at his house and took me to King's Cross."

"Has Professor Snape not been there for you since your return to school?"

Harry shrugged again. "I haven't really seen much of him except in class."

Dumbledore pushed the tray of biscuits closer to Harry. "Perhaps I was mistaken then. I haven't seen your name on his detention roster yet this year."

Harry thought ‘yet' was the key word. "I guess I haven't been any trouble." Well, he'd been trying not to cause trouble anyway. Ron had finally gotten fed up yesterday and pinned a fifth year against the wall after he'd caused Harry to drop a stack of books he'd been carrying from the library for Hermione.

"You are never any trouble Harry." Harry met the man's eyes but didn't respond other than to finish his cup of tea.

"Thank you for the tea sir." Harry stood up and picked up his bag.

"Harry, I'm aware that some of the Ravenclaw students have not been treating you with respect over the last few weeks."

Harry looked up at him. If the Headmaster could see the bruises up and down Harry's torso he would have thought it was a lot worse than just a lack of respect.

"While I do not condone their behavior, I wanted to shed a little light on the possible cause of it."

"Sir?"

"Jeremy Jones and Rowan Cook are two of Cedric's cousins. Despite that Cedric's father accepts his son's death as an act committed by Lord Voldemort, that has been harder for Mr. Jones and Mr. Cook to accept."

"They think I'm responsible," Harry said. It wasn't a question.

"You and I however know the truth, as does Amos Diggory, and you would do well to remember it."

"Yes sir."

Dumbledore offered Harry another biscuit and when he declined, bade him good evening. Harry left the meeting room feeling conflicted. What was the truth? Cedric's dad may have accepted something as truth, but that didn't mean it was true. Harry felt like he was responsible for Cedric's death. Voldemort may have cast the spell, but Cedric being there in the graveyard in the first place was Harry's fault. Jeremy Jones and Rowan Cook knew it, and so did their friends, which was why they were punishing Harry. As he made his way back to his dorm, Harry wondered what Kirk and Jason had been punishing him for that summer. Maybe it was just for existing.

* * *

Severus watched as Harry picked himself up from the floor. Why wouldn't he defend himself? Minerva and other staff had brought Harry up in the last three staff meetings. Severus had it on good authority that Filius had spoken to all of the students in his house that had been bullying the Gryffindor, but the abuse continued and Harry seemed content to take it. He looked thoroughly miserable, but he never told them to leave him alone, never raised his wand to duel them, and he never told a Professor about the problem. Severus was thoroughly frustrated with his charge by the end of the third week of school.

Harry startled when Severus made a noise behind him in the empty Entrance Hall as he stood up to brush himself off. "Did I bump into you sir?" Harry asked, unsure why Snape was so close.

"You did not."

"Oh," Harry said, looking relieved.

"You are bleeding."

Harry looked at the palm of his hand but didn't say anything. It was just a scrape.

"Come with me."

"Am I in trouble?"

"Have you done something to warrant that question?"

"No."

Snape gave him a perturbed look as he led him down the stairs and into the dungeons. Harry was surprised when they passed his office and went around a corner to another door. Snape gave a password that he made no attempt to hide from Harry and then led him inside.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, though he didn't need to. He'd obviously been led to the man's quarters, but he wasn't sure why.

"My quarters. Sit on the couch." He disappeared down a hall and came back a minute later with a box of jars. "This is why I made more potions before we left," he said. "Sit," he told Harry again, irritated that he hadn't sat down yet. Harry sat on the couch and Snape sat on the coffee table facing him.

"Give me your hand." Harry did as he was told and Snape used an antiseptic potion on the scrape followed by a general healing salve. He looked at Harry expectantly when he was done but Harry frowned, not sure what he was waiting for.

"What other injuries do you have?"

Harry rolled the arms of his robes up and Snape glared at him. "These are obviously old. Why have you not gone to the Hospital Wing?"

Harry looked at the bruises. They had piled up one over the other until his arms looked a mixture of sickly yellow and brown.

"They're just bruises."

"Bruises that would not continue to pile up if you had them seen to and if you would put an end to the bullying."

"I'm not being bullied," Harry said, irritated.

"We have all seen you be pushed down repeatedly. That is bullying."

"Punishment," Harry mumbled.

"They have been punished," Snape said, misunderstanding what Harry had meant. "Jeremy Jones has served three detentions with Mr. Filch over his treatment of you." Harry didn't correct him.

"I'd get in trouble for dueling in the halls."

Severus frowned at him. "Normally I would not condone such a thing, but I would rather see you get detention or have to explain your actions to a Professor than continue to allow yourself to be injured day after day." Ron certainly seemed to agree with him. He was up to two detentions now and a loss of 30 house points for retaliating on Harry's behalf. Ron thought the only reason he hadn't lost his Prefect's badge up to this point (and Hermione agreed) was that he'd been doing it all in response to bullying.

Severus slathered a heavy coat of bruise balm on Harry's arms and then his chest, back, and knees, and then went to put his supplies away while Harry sat back on the couch. The Headmaster had just expressed his concern over Harry's behavior two nights ago. He'd gone as far as to suggest that Harry was depressed, but Severus didn't know how to handle that. Generally he sent depressed students to speak to Madam Pomfrey, especially if it was because of a situation not under his control. Harry was his charge though, which Dumbledore hadn't failed to remind him.

He sighed as he put the salves and balms back in the cabinet in the bathroom. He'd never even had to tell Dumbledore that he'd taken custody of the boy. He already knew. Severus had expected questions and even to face the man's anger, but there had only been sadness in the man's eyes. Minerva knew as well because she was now owling any incidents involving Harry directly to him instead of to the Headmaster. In fact, the only time Albus had spoken to him at all about the change in custody had been the other night when he was expressing concern over Harry's emotional well-being.

Harry was pulling his robe back on when Severus came back into the living room.

"I want to know why."

Harry looked up at him and frowned. "Why what?"

"Why do you not defend yourself or at the very least tell someone that there is a problem?"

Harry stood up to leave and looked as though he wasn't going to answer, so Severus stepped in front of him. "Who am I gonna tell?" Harry asked. "It happens all day long. Unless a Professor sees it happening there's nothing to do about it."

"You could tell me."

"Why?"

Snape heaved a sigh. "Whether you like it or not, I am now your guardian. You are my ward. As I have told you before, I expect you to come to me when you are having a problem."

Harry just stared blankly at him.

"Did you understand what I said?"

"Yes."

"Repeat it to me."

Harry frowned and picked up his bag. "Sir, it's not nice to lie. Nobody wants me as their ward. Nobody ever has and nobody ever will." Harry moved around him, and Severus was busy mulling over what Harry had said, so he let him. By the time everything had clicked into place in his mind, Harry had left.

Was that why Harry didn't believe he'd adopted him? Because the Dursleys hadn't wanted him so no one else would either? Severus didn't know if he ‘wanted' Harry or not. He certainly hadn't planned on taking him, and the thought never would have crossed his mind if Harry hadn't shouted at him over the rubbish bins. Regardless, Harry was now his legally adopted son and it was up to him to convince him of that, if for no other reason than to make sure Harry knew he had someone to come to when in trouble. That was something Harry had been sorely lacking on and desperately needed, even if he wouldn't admit it.

* * *

"How much longer are you going to let Granger lead the dueling club?" Draco asked Harry as they stood in line waiting to be let into the Potions room Monday morning. Hermione had led the club's second meeting Sunday evening, and while Harry had attended (as had Umbridge), he hadn't participated at all and instead chose to do his homework at one of the tables in the Great Hall and watch as Hermione taught younger students spells the older students all knew. This was the third time Draco had come to pester him about the club.

"Why do you care?" Harry asked. Draco had attended Sunday's meeting as well and seemed bored.

"Don't play stupid Potter," Draco snapped. Then his voice regained it's cool composure and he said, "Granger is focused on teaching the younger kids spells we already know. I want to learn real defense. The kind I would need in a battle."

Harry frowned at him darkly and Draco gave him just as serious a look in return.

"Anything I teach you you can use against me."

"I can beat you in a duel right now Potter," he said with a sneer. "I'm not looking for a way to beat you."

Ron came up behind them then to stand in line and said, "We're not doing this again are we? I'd rather not lose my Prefect badge for being Harry's second in a midnight duel."

"We wouldn't have to have a duel at midnight if Potter would lead the defense club," Draco pointed out. "Then I could beat him in front of a crowd." He seemed to have added the last bit as a day dreamish afterthought, not as a reason for wanting Harry to take on the club.

"I hate to agree with Malfoy," Ron said, "but it would be nice if you lead it. Hermione's doing good but I don't think that's what everyone thought the club would be like when they signed up."

Harry frowned just as Snape opened the classroom door from the inside and let them in. He didn't look pleased when he looked at Harry and Harry wondered what he had done wrong as he went in to take his seat. He was dismayed to find that Draco sat next to him, taking Hermione's normal seat.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked, leaning around from Harry's other side.

"Pestering him until he takes Granger's spot."

Ron looked irritated but didn't say anything else to Draco for the remainder of the class. Hermione also seemed perturbed when she came in and found Draco in her seat, but adjusted quickly and went to sit with Neville to help him with his potion instead, which resulted in Neville getting a passing grade for once, and in Draco working with Harry and Ron instead of throwing rogue ingredients towards their cauldron like he had done so many times in the past.

Everyone noticed Draco's choice in seating and even Snape came up to their bench in the middle of their brewing. "An interesting choice in seating Mr. Malfoy."

Before Draco could say anything Harry muttered, "We're having a playdate," without looking up from the ingredients he was chopping.

The students around them held their breath, waiting for Snape to explode, but he didn't. Instead he moved on to the next workbench without a word, leaving everyone, including Draco, wondering if he was having an off day.

"A playdate Potter? Are you five?" Draco asked as they packed their bags after class.

"If you don't like it then stop pestering me."

"Oh no, it's fine. We'll have another playdate in Defense."

Harry and Ron both glared after Draco as he hurried out of the room on his way to whatever class he had next.

"Mental that one," Ron said, and Harry nodded. "Make sure to sit right next to us in Defense," Ron told Hermione.

"Why did he sit with you today anyway?" Hermione asked.

Harry and Ron shared a look, both wondering if they should tell her what Draco had said.

"He's decided to annoy Harry until he agrees to start leading the Defense club."

"I really wish you would Harry. Everyone knows you're top of the class in Defense. I don't mind working with the younger students but someone needs to teach us and we need someone who has experience."

"What experience?" Harry demanded as they walked towards Charms. "I've never won anything. I've never even beat Draco in a duel."

"You made it through the tournament," Ron pointed out. "You've been up against Dragons, trolls, and You-Know-Who."

"I nearly got burned to death by the dragon, you two also fought the troll and the only reason I escaped You-Know-Who was because of my parents, all three times." He was suddenly feeling angry and he didn't know why. He wished he could figure it out because he didn't want to be angry with his friends.

"But all of that is more experience than we have," Hermione said. "Even Professor McGonagall was surprised I was the one who was going to lead the club. You could teach us how to cast a patronus, and how to know when the best time to throw a shield up is."

"Do you really think Umbridge is going to let me run the club?" Harry asked. He'd already told them about his many encounters with her. She had continued to stop him periodically and check him for ‘contraband' even though he'd never seen her check other students. He'd also explained her tone when she was interrogating him about the duelling club.

"He has a point," Ron said.

"She's not the head of the club," Hermione said in a huff, "Professor McGonagall is. She's the Headmistress and what she says goes. What can Professor Umbridge do?" Hermione and Ron both turned to look at Harry and he shrugged.

"Ok," he said. "One lesson. We can do patronuses maybe." Though secretly Harry was wondering if he could conjure a happy enough memory to cast a patronus. He would have to practice in private before he tried to teach anybody else.

"I'll let Professor McGonagall know," Hermione said happily and bounded away.

"It'll be good mate," Ron said. "We've been dying to learn something new."

"We can always practice on our own," Harry said. "There's Defense books in the library."

"We should," Ron said. "But you know others will want in on it." Harry shrugged and winced at the pain in his shoulder. He'd been shoved into a wall again earlier that day.

"How's the shoulder?" Ron asked.

"Fine."

"I wish those gits would take the hint and leave you alone," Ron gruffed. "They've had a bunch of detentions already."

"They're Cedric's cousins," Harry said, and Ron paused.

"I didn't know that."

"Dumbledore told me."

"Still doesn't mean they have to beat you to a pulp all week long. You didn't do anything." Later when Harry was lying in bed and the other boys were down in the common room finishing up homework and playing games, Harry thought to himself that Ron was wrong. He deserved whatever Cedric's cousins dished out. Maybe they did need to beat him to a pulp to feel satisfied that Harry had been punished enough. Harry would rather they give him one good beating that he could heal from instead of this constant torrent of punishment every day. Harry stayed in the dorm and common room over the weekend finishing up homework and failing at casting a patronus, but had made up his mind by Monday morning that he was done with his daily thrashings.

Harry got his chance to talk to Jeremy Jones in the hallway Tuesday just before lunch. Ron and Hermione had gone to talk to McGonagall about Harry teaching one of the upcoming Defense club meetings, and seeing Harry alone Jeremy had slammed Harry hard into the wall. Harry could feel his skin getting scraped through his shirt and robe. Then he had gone on his way, but Harry had shouted out to him.

"Wait!"

Jeremy turned, his face angry, and looking to be sure there was no one else in the corridor to hear, Harry walked over to him.

"You're doing this because you think it's my fault Cedric died," Harry said. He wanted to confirm what Dumbledore thought about the situation.

"You are responsible," Jeremy said.

"You think I should be punished," Harry said.

Jeremy scoffed. "What do you want Potter?"

"I'm gonna give you a chance to finish this, to carry out whatever punishment you think I deserve for Cedric's death, but then I want this to be done. No more of this in the halls between classes."

"Yeah right," Jeremy scoffed. "You're just gonna let us beat you up?"

"You and Rowan and no one else," Harry said. "After dinner, you pick the place, I don't care."

"You're serious." Harry didn't answer and just stared at him. "Fine then, the unused corridor at the end of the Hufflepuff corridor. Way down past the kitchens and past Sprout's quarters and the Quidditch supply room."

"And after that, no more," Harry said, face set in hard lines.

Jeremy met his eyes and gave a nod. "No more."

He brushed past Harry towards lunch, probably to find Rowan to tell him about his strange encounter with Harry Potter.

At lunch Harry sat down between Ron and Ginny and piled his plate with salad. "What kept you?" Ron asked.

"I was talking to someone in the hall," Harry said. "I might be late to dinner. I'm gonna be practicing for Thursday's Defense Club."

"Need help?" Ron asked.

"No," Harry said. "I want to practice alone." Ron knew Harry had been practicing off and on all weekend and had gone to the dorm by himself and locked the door each time.

Harry was nervous as they went through their afternoon classes and dinner approached. He split off from Ron and Hermione right after Charms and headed towards the dorm while they went to the Great Hall for dinner, but didn't go all the way to Gryffindor. After a few minutes he headed down through the castle and past the Great Hall to the Hufflepuff corridor.

Harry hadn't been down the Hufflepuff corridor quite as far as he'd been told to go for this ‘meeting'. He'd been down to the Quidditch supply a few times but never beyond that. He passed the Quidditch supply room and then several other doors that he had no idea what was behind and finally came to the end of the corridor, where he had no choice but to turn left and go down another corridor. It was only a minute before this corridor dead ended at another door which was closed and locked. Here he found Jeremy and Rowan.

"Are we really gonna do this Potter?" Rowan asked. Clearly he was unsure if his cousin was making things up or not.

"I'm here," Harry said blandly.

"No wands," Jeremy said, and Harry wasn't sure if it was because they wanted to do as much physical harm was possible to Harry with their fists or if it was because they were scared if they were using wands that Harry might fight back and best them.

Harry set his bag down and said, "My wand is in the bag."

Jeremy and Rowan seemed nervous and cautious as they advanced on Harry, but Harry kept his hands at his sides. Finally one of them knocked him down and Harry's hands flew up to protect his face and head as the two punched him, taking their anger and upset out on him over their cousin's death. Harry's hands helped little to keep their fists from bruising his face. Harry had thought the beating would last longer because that was what he was used to, but it was over quickly. As he lay there dazed and in pain, face bleeding from his lip and over his eye, Harry noted that Jeremy and Rowan looked scared as they stared down at the damage they had done, breath heaving from the effort of causing so much damage.

Harry struggled to sit up and was surprised when Rowan knelt and pulled him up and leaned him against the corridor wall. Maybe the beating wasn't over after all, Harry thought, but after a moment it seemed that it was.

"Do you know what really happened at the end of the tournament?" Harry asked, breathing ragged. He wondered if they'd broken a rib because his chest hurt like hell. "Or did you just believe the papers?"

"Uncle Amos said You-Know-Who-Did-It," Jeremy said.

"He did," Harry said.

"But you were there. You're The Boy Who Lived. You could have stopped him if you wanted to." Some of the fear in Jeremy's voice had disappeared and he seemed angry again, fist clenched at his side.

Harry didn't disagree with him though. He nodded and looked down at his hands, which had blood smeared across his knuckles. "If I was better at the tournament... faster, I could have gotten to the cup before him. Then it would have only been me there with Voldemort. I wasn't fast enough though."

Harry missed the uneasy glance between the other two boys as his voice caught, and he said quietly, "The curse came out of his wand so fast. I didn't even know what was happening. There was green light, and Cedric hit the ground, and I didn't realize what was going on until I realized I was staring into Cedric's eyes, but he wasn't really seeing me." Harry's voice was barely more than a whisper by the end. He looked up at Cedric's cousins and said, "I know I'm responsible. You don't have to remind me anymore. I'm always going to remember." He knew his eyes were wet but he didn't care.

After a few moments Harry heard one of them murmur, "C'mon," and then he felt them walk past him and out of the corridor. Harry lifted his arm and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Blood and tears mingled and Harry was glad his sleeve was black so it wouldn't stain as badly. It was some time before Harry decided to try to get up and drag himself out of the forgotten corridor. He'd have to walk out and past Cedric's statue to get back to the rest of the castle. Maybe now he could look at it. He hadn't been able to look when he'd passed on his way in or at the start of the year when he'd gone with Ginny to leave flowers at the base of it.

"Gawd Potter, what the hell?"

Harry stopped struggling to stand up and fell back to the floor. Draco was there staring down at him looking both shocked and disgusted.

"What're you-" Harry started but Draco cut him off.

"I was looking for you. I heard you're finally going to teach at the Defense Club. Weasley didn't know where you were and then I saw those two goons come out of Hufflepuff corridor with their hands covered in blood and looking pale like they'd just killed someone. I came down here to see what was left of you."

"This is it," Harry said, feeling sarcastic.

"They drag you down here?"

"I came to meet them."

"You are so dumb Potter. Why would you go looking for them when you know they want to throttle you?"

"Does it matter?" Harry asked. "It's over now. Go back to Slytherin or something."

"What, and leave you here? I'd lose my Prefect badge." He pulled Harry up and helped support him down the corridor.

"I swear Potter, if you say I did this to you I'll get creative in the way I'll kill you."

"Why would I blame it on you?" Harry asked.

"You're dumb," Draco said, but he wasn't done there. "You're a Gryffindor, we aren't friends, you-" but Harry cut him off this time.

"Whose fault is that that we aren't friends?" Harry asked. "You were a jerk to the one friend I had from the start and after that you called Hermione a bunch of names. Then after that you called me scarhead for an entire year. You got Hagrid in trouble and you tried to sabotage my potion in class more times than I can remember."

Draco it seemed didn't have anything to say to that and kept his mouth closed, so after a few more moments as they neared the entrance to the Kitchens Harry said, "I've never tried to get you in trouble. Not once. I'm not gonna start now."

"Whatever," Draco grumbled as he continued to half drag Harry down the corridor. As they passed the statue of Cedric, Harry looked up at the statue's face, but only briefly before his eyes flickered down again.

It seemed dinner was over by the time Draco got Harry out of the Hufflepuff corridor and into the Entrance Hall. There were still a few people lingering however, and one of them was Snape, who strode over to them as soon as they emerged and he caught sight of Harry's face.

"There had better be a good explanation for this," he said angrily.

"Two of them," Draco said.

Snape motioned for Draco to help him get Harry to the Dungeons and then helped support Harry past the few younger students in the Entrance Hall and down the Dungeon steps.

"If you two have been fighting," Snape breathed as they reached the bottom and turned towards Snape's office.

"It was Jones and Cook," Draco said. "You know I wouldn't brawl like this. What am I, a Muggle?"

Snape looked to Harry who gave him a nod. "Draco just found me and helped me, that's all." And he probably expects an award for it Harry thought to himself.

"This will be all Draco. I will handle the situation from here. Return to your dorm and shower and change. Speak of this to no one."

Draco let Snape take the rest of Harry's weight, gave Harry's bruised and bloody face one last look and then turned and went down a different corridor. Harry and Snape didn't speak again until Snape had him in his quarters. "Draco did not do this?" he asked.

"No, it was Cedric's cousins."

Snape asked if Harry had fought back, like he always did, but he already knew the answer. Harry looked away as Snape deposited him onto the couch. Harry winced but tried to act like he hadn't.

"You have broken bones?" Snape asked, sizing him up.

"Maybe."

"I will call for Poppy."

"WAIT!"

Snape turned back to Harry, surprised by his outburst.

"You can't," Harry said. "No one can know."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "Jones and Cook will be lucky if they don't get expelled."

"You can't tell anyone."

Snape came back to Harry and sat on the coffee table facing him as he had done once before when healing him. He looked him in the eye and Harry didn't break eye contact to look away.

"This has got to stop Harry," he seemed frustrated though Harry wasn't sure if it was with Harry, the situation, or himself. "You have to start defending yourself."

Harry was quiet, wondering how to explain to Snape why he couldn't tell and how to convince him. "This wasn't an attack," Harry said, "it was punishment. For Cedric."

"Explain," Severus said seriously.

"I killed Cedric. They know it and I know it. They're upset and angry and they wanted to punish me."

Suddenly Harry's earlier statement about ‘punishment' when this had happened before made sense.

"And you believe you deserve this ‘punishment'?" Severus asked. Harry couldn't figure out what it was he was hearing in the man's voice. It was low and serious, but not angry.

"I killed him," Harry said. "Haven't you ever been so upset you didn't know what to do with yourself?" Severus didn't answer but he knew what Harry was talking about. "That's why they did this. I think they thought it would make them feel better. I saw the look on their faces though, when this was done. They looked hurt, and unhappy, and sad. If you tell the Headmaster what happened, they'll get expelled. I don't want that."

"You allowed this to happen because you believe you deserve to be punished," Severus said. It wasn't a question.

"I talked to them. We agreed, after this it doesn't happen again. No more being pushed around in the halls, this is it."

"This was something you set up, together?"

"A one time thing, to finish it." Harry was desperate for him to understand, for him not to pursue this with the Headmaster, but he wasn't sure he did understand.

Harry expected the man to continue asking questions about the incident or about Rowan and Jeremy, but he didn't. Instead he got up and retrieved several potions and balms and came back and started healing Harry's visible injuries.

"You are not responsible for Cedric's death," he said quietly as he worked, rubbing bruise balm into Harry's arm.

"How can you say that?" Harry asked. It was clear to everyone that he was.

"You were a fourth year. You weren't even supposed to be in the tournament. Crouch Jr. engineered the entire thing from the beginning to get you into that graveyard. There was little you could do to stop that. It was an accident that Cedric ended up in the graveyard with you."

"If I would have learned better... if I would have been faster I could have gotten to the cup before him. Then it would have just been me. And when we were there, I could have done something to stop them from killing him. It all happened so fast though. I didn't even know what was going on until Cedric was dead."

"He was a seventh year and had three more years of education under his belt than you did, not to mention private tutoring in the summers and on holidays. If he could not defend himself, you could not have been expected to defend him as a fourth year."

"That doesn't make any difference," Harry said. "I could have done something to stop this. Anything." Harry's voice cracked and Snape stopped putting the salve on for a moment to look at him.

"This is not your fault. No one else has told you this?"

"Cedric's father," Harry said. In the Hospital Wing he'd told him he didn't blame him, but Harry was already blaming himself at that point.

"At the orphanage, you didn't fight back. Did you believe you deserved punishment for something then as well?"

"No," Harry said. "The harder you fight back the more you get thrashed." Snape was just staring at him though like he hadn't heard what Harry had said or didn't understand. "Where was I supposed to go if it got worse?" Harry asked him. "I had nowhere else. If I fought back it would have gotten worse every day. Then what? They would have killed me. I just would have disappeared and not turned up at school and no one would know."

Apparently it was something Harry had thought through or had a lot of time to think about, and not just at the orphanage. It was a behavior and thought process ingrained in him from his time with his relatives.

"You come here," Severus said. "To me."

"Yeah but-"

Severus gave him a look that quieted him. "To me," Severus reiterated. "You protect yourself, and you come here if things get worse. And if you can't protect yourself, you come here, to me."

Harry's eyes had glazed over though. Severus got up and sat next to Harry on the couch. "You are mine to protect," Severus said next to him. "From yourself, from others, it does not matter."

"Who protected Cedric?" Harry said. "Not me." He choked and was surprised to find that Severus had put his arm around him then and pulled him in to lean on him. His arms hurt, and his face hurt, his chest and body hurt, and his heart hurt, but for the moment Harry felt like he wasn't feeling it all alone. Salty tears rolled down his face, and Harry choked again but other than that didn't make a sound. He just sat with Severus, who took some of Harry's feelings for him, if even only for a little while.