Snape followed Harry into the next room and grabbed the boy's arm, turning him around. "You don't really believe it though," he said simply.

Harry yanked his arm away. "Yes I do! I do believe it! I don't want to believe it though. Why can't they-" Harry stopped not wanting to say more. He just wanted to go back to Hogwarts.

Why can't they what?" Snape asked gently, forcing himself with all his might to be humane for a moment.

"Love me! Why can't they just love me?! No! Nevermind. Just leave me alone," Harry said and started walking again.

Snape couldn't think of how to respond to that. What was he supposed to say? No, they really do love you? "Just because they're related to you by blood doesn't necessarily make them decent family. But it also doesn't mean you can't make family out of those not related to you," he ad-libbed, "Besides, they're scum," he added for good measure before kicking himself for sounding so idiotic.

“Yeah but....I have no one left. No blood," Harry caught himself saying.

"Don't put so much weight on the importance of blood relatives. People can't help who they're related to," he said before wincing mentally, thinking of how he'd acted toward Harry because of who his father was.

"You're one to talk," Harry muttered and found the nearest couch and sat down.

"Yes I am," Snape responded, pausing a minute to realize how immature that sounded before continuing, "I haven't spoken with my parents since I moved out of their house."

"Oh..." Harry said. He didn't know what else to say. It made him feel a little better. He realized he was acting like a child. "Um...sorry sir," Harry whispered.

"There's no need for you to be sorry. As I said, some people don't get the ideal families," Snape said with some effort. He wasn't used to talking about his family at all, but figured he could make the effort as Harry's situation was obviously worse than his had been.

"I've never said that much to anyone before," Harry said.

"Well, it's not good to keep it all bottled up. You've got to talk or it eats you up inside," he said, repeating the exact words Albus had said to him on so many occasions.

“I don’t think that has happened to me yet,” Harry mused.

"You don't think what has happened?" Snape asked, confused at the boy’s words.

"I don't think it has eaten me up inside yet...or maybe it has. What happens when it has?"

"I don't know," he said thoughtfully. "It's different for everyone, I'd guess. It affects your everyday life, how you view others, how you view yourself....your eating habits perhaps," he said with a pointed look.

"I...I...guess it has then...." Harry said looking away.

“Well of course it has. That was inevitable," Snape said dismissively.

"So um...what do I do then?" Harry asked in shame.

Snape was lost. He wasn't sure what to do. "Let it out. Talk about it," he guessed.

Just like that? It couldn't be that simple. It wasn’t that simple. He couldn't just spill his life’s problems. "I don't think..I could do that."

"Why not?" Snape asked.

It's hard! It was so hard. He couldn't even do it with himself. "I just can't...."

"You can," Snape interrupted. "You're a Gryffindor, aren't you? This is what bravery's really about."

"I was supposed to be in Slytherin," Harry said.

Snape stilled and stared at him. "What?"

"The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin but I met Malfoy first and he was going to be there so I convinced the hat not to put me in Slytherin. It wanted to."

"Slytherin?" Snape choked out in shock. "You were going to be in Slytherin? How? You're Gryffindor to the core!"

"Yeah, well apparently the hat didn't think so."

"You....That's....You would have been in my house," Snape said, stunned.

"Yeah, yeah, can we please move past that?" Harry asked.

“Why so eager, Potter? Horrified to think I would have been your head of house?" Snape sneered, feeling a bit stung.

"No, no, I just didn't want to hear your disgust for it," Harry muttered.

Snape looked at him with a raised eyebrow. The boy continued to surprise him with his insecurity. "It would have been better if you were in Slytherin. Slytherins can be very loyal since they have to stick together with all the prejudice against them. Someone would have noticed what was going on with your relatives," he spat the word, "if I myself had not seen it first."

"Are you telling me you wouldn't have hated me?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"I never hated you, Potter."

“You don't have to lie Professor. I know you hated me. It doesn't matter though."

"I'll admit I had a strong disliking of you. I knew your father and wrongly assumed you were the next James Potter. And then you never gave me any reason to look at you differently until recently," Snape admitted with a lot of effort. This wasn't something he normally did, but the boy seemed to bring it out in him.

"Well I'm glad you er...see me differently even if they are...weird circumstances."

"Weird circumstances indeed. If someone would have told me last year we'd be sitting in my living room talking, I would have immediately handed them over to St. Mungo's." Snape chuckled, before his eyes widened. He hadn't laughed in...he couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed.

Harry couldn't believe Snape had laughed but then he just shrugged it off. He had seen sides of Snape he never thought he would before. "Me too," Harry agreed. Harry's eyes held no joy, no excitement in them. His facial expressions would go in and out of happiness.

Snape frowned at the sad expression on the boy's face. "Maybe I should start putting Veritaserum in your drinks. Maybe that would get you to talk about the things that are bothering you," he said with a raised eyebrow.

“You wouldn't!" Harry asked in fear.

"Calm down, Potter, I wouldn't do that unless I thought you were endangering yourself, and even then, I'd prefer not to.”

"Um...okay," Harry said feeling a bit reassured.

“That was a clue for you to tell me what's wrong," Snape said with a sigh.

"Just like that? You want me to just start blabbing everything I have been keeping bottled up for my whole life just like that?"

"Yes," Snape said hopefully. "It's the only way to keep it from haunting you."

"Um....I...I guess so. You aren't going to, I don't know, tell anyone?"

Snape looked at him directly in the eyes. "Of course not."

Harry believed him. He felt strangely comforted by his voice and his eye contact.

"Well, where do I start then?" Harry asked.

"Wherever you'd like. The beginning, when it started getting bad, the cupboard you stayed in, whatever you feel comfortable with," Snape said, slowly sitting down on the couch with Harry, but not close enough to invade either of their personal space.

"Um...well I had always lived in the cupboard. It was all I knew...except Dudley lived in a room and had a whole extra room for his toys that he didn't even use. I always had chores everyday and I cooked a lot but I suppose that is normal for any muggle..."

"Well, I don't know much about muggles, but it seems that a child doing chores every day and cooking would be a bit abnormal," Snape said with a frown. "What do you mean by chores? Cleaning up your dishes and such?"

"Um...that and cooking all the meals and weeding the garden and cleaning the rooms and...um cleaning Dudleys rooms and cleaning the car."

Snape shook his head. "That's ridiculous and I'm willing to be a thousand galleons that's not normal for a...how old were you at this point?"

"I started doing those things around 5 I think...No, this is crazy," Harry said standing up. "I feel like I am going to a shrink or something." Harry started pacing without even realizing it.

"I'm not a shrink. I'm just...interested. I'm going to put you on any strange medications or try to analyze you, I'm just here to listen," Snape said calmly. He'd made that speech to a few of his Slytherin students over the years for lesser things.

That made Harry really grateful. He was really grateful for all that Snape had done. Continuing his pacing he said more. "When I was little I didn't know I was being..abu-mistreated. The only thing I was confused about was how I didn't feel loved. If I had a nightmare I couldn't find my Aunt Petunia and tell her what was wrong. I never got a hug. I just got reprimanded. I..I..." Harry paced faster. "They didn't start hurting me physically until the end of the summer after my 4th year."

Snape furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought you said they didn't start hurting you until this last summer."

Harry's eyes flashed quickly. "Oh I...um..."

Snape shook his head. "How did nobody notice? You were in my class, you never showed signs of..."

"How would you even see signs? I hid it. I hid it so no one would know, I hid it for my whole life."

"How? How could you hide something like that?" Snape asked incredulously. "And why? I don't understand."

"I...I used muggle concealer but most of the time I used concealing charms. I healed with time. If someone punched me playfully in the chest and I had a broken rib I would just look away. No one ever noticed it. I did it because...I am supposed to be the golden boy. I have the perfect life, spoiled at home, can stand up to Voldemort so I can surely stand up to a muggle. I couldn't do that."

"A thousand enemies outside the house are better than one within. Do you know what that means?" Snape asked.

“Um...no," Harry said on the verge of tears once again.

"It means that the ones we trust are the ones who can hurt us the most if they turn on us. It's easier to hate and fight against your enemy, but those who are supposed to be there for you and aren't, those are far harder to fight."

"That doesn't matter! I couldn't physically get him off of me...I...I..." Harry stopped pacing and collasped in the couch and put his elbows on his knees and then his head in his hands. He let out a choking sob. "He would always choke me to the brink. I always fainted and I couldn't go anywhere. Vernon didn't care. He...he..." Harry held back another sob. He didn't say anything for a second and by the time he did he had gotten his emotions under control.

Snape looked at the boy in utter sympathy. He was feeling such anger toward the boy's family, and at the same time, his heart was going out to the boy in front of him. Anger, he was used to feeling, but this new emotion left him feeling vaguely stunned. "That's nothing to feel ashamed of. You're underweight and small even for a sixteen year old, and what I"ve seen of your uncle through your memories, it's no wonder you couldn't escape him. Even I wouldn't have been able to get that whale off of me."

"I should have been able too though." Harry felt tears coming back. He was so stupid! He didn't need to cry. He DIDN'T HAVE to cry! He wasn't going to. Harry turned his back and stared at the wall.

Snape stood up. "Why should you have been able to when nobody else could? You're a teenage boy, not..." he had been about to say saviour of the wizarding world but had stopped himself, "...not a god."

"I might as well be," Harry muttered and then started pacing again. He wanted to keep from crying even though the tears that threatened to spill were so very strong.

"Well, I'm sorry, but nothing you can do will make you invincible. You're human like the rest of us, just with more pressure put on you and a bigger burden to carry than most."

"Thats the understatement of the century," Harry said sarcastically. Sarcasm was the only thing stopping him from breaking even further. He couldn't cry but he so wanted to. But he couldn't. He never had.

Snape gently put a hand on Harry's shoulder, facing his back. "You don't have to carry that burden all on your own."

"I've always had to. I can't let Ron and Hermione help. They wouldn't be able to."

"Well, I'm able to. Harry, look at me."

Harry looked at Snape as he was told to do.

Snape looked at the boy's reddened eyes and suddenly it clicked. "It's okay to cry," he said softly.

Harry quickly looked away. "I can't..."

Snape put a hand on each of his shoulder and looked at Harry's face intently. "Yes, you can. I'm not telling anyone and I'm not going anywhere. Just let it out."

"I can't do that though...I never...I can't."

"After those years of living in that nightmare, being shoved under the stairs like some piece of rubbish, having to watch your only parental figures fuss over your cousin as they shoved you aside, after your uncle beat you and yelled at you...you deserve a good cry."