Harry knew that everyone was gone. In spite of that fact he found himself crying to be let out of his cupboard. His bread was gone and soon the water would be gone too. He knew that it was wrong to make noise at the door, but he really wanted to get out. After several moments of fruitless pleading Harry sat down with his back to the door and put his head on his knees. His stomach growled and he felt a pang of hunger stab through his middle. Gently he rubbed his tummy with his hand and glanced around the small room. He spotted the dog food and stood up immediately. How had he forgotten about that?
Harry knew that dog food wasn’t the best tasting thing in the world. He’d eaten it before just to see what it was like and found that it tasted a bit like sour dirt. But it would fill him up until Vernon came back for him, and that was all that mattered. With effort Harry dragged the bag of kibbles down from a shelf that was nearly at his eye level and stepped back as the bag fell forward. Kibbles shot out of the bag and all over the floor with little crackling noises over the hard floor. Harry watched the little brown pieces of food skittering about for a second. He lifted the bag up so that it stood by itself and started to pick up the pieces of kibble from the floor. He popped a few kibbles into his mouth and shuddered at the familiar taste. Yep, kibbles were still exactly how he remembered them...disgusting. Harry forced himself to eat until he was nearly full and then drank the last of his water. The kibbles had made him feel really thirsty, and in a way that was almost worse than being hungry. He had no idea what he was going to do without water.
About an hour later he looked at his potty bucket and wished that Vernon had given him a bigger one. He had to go pee. The little red bucket was full enough already, and Harry wasn’t about to go on the floor. If Vernon found out he’d done that Harry would be dead for sure, so he used the water pitcher to relieve himself. He looked at his partially filled water pitcher and thought for a moment. Well, drinking that probably wouldn’t kill him...but he could wait until he was really thirsty. With distaste Harry set the pitcher down and set to work on trying to get out of the cupboard once more.
******
Snape stood in the doorway, just out of the line of sight, and watched as Pomfrey had comforted the child. That’s all he was, just a little boy. Snape often forgot that even little boys had feelings. It seemed the boy’s loyalties to his relatives were severely misplaced. Snape had never expected the boy to defend the muggles who had left him to rot in a storage cupboard, and yet he had snapped at him like a little guard dog. Children were strange at times, and he supposed that Potter was no exception. Once Potter had settled down and went to sleep, Snape left without saying another word.
He’d thought about going to his quarters but what was the use in that? He needed to think perhaps he needed to get out of the school grounds for awhile. Hogsmeade might have proved slightly amusing for a short time, and perhaps that would clear his mind enough to resume his natural routine.
***
Snape stalked through the streets of Hogsmeade in a foul temper. It felt an awful lot like walking through the busy hallways of Hogwarts with the streets full of happy wizards and witches. Snape glared at the ground as he walked. In Hogsmeade he couldn’t take away points from people who were just minding their own business.
What in blazes had possessed him to come down here anyway? Blast that Potter boy for disrupting him so! Snape inhaled a deep breath and let it go slowly. He wasn’t going to lose his composure over a muggle raised little brat.
At the sound of several approaching unruly teenagers Snape quickly crossed the street. He found himself staring into the window of a toy shop. Before he could think twice about it Snape opened the door and stepped inside the store.
Near the doorway a little charmed doll nearly tripped Snape as it attempted to hug him with a squeal of glee. It wrapped its tiny arms around his ankle and hugged him happily. He glared at the little doll, and gently shook it away from his leg. He didn’t want to break it and have to pay for it. The little blonde doll in a pale blue dress tripped over a small crack in the floor and fell on her backside. She stared up at Snape with wide blue eyes and pouted. He sneered and the doll started to bawl aloud. He groaned and walked away from the thing. Snape couldn’t understand why anyone would ever want something like that doll when all it did was imitate a spoiled little girl. One could encounter children like that all day long in a career as a teacher for free, or even worse one could have a child like that of their own and actually have to live with it until maturity.
Snape wasn’t the least bit interested in anything that was able to move, make any sort of annoying sounds, light up, give a child cause to become rowdy or otherwise find a way to annoy him. He walked with a smooth gait to the back of the shop to speak to the shopkeeper.
An elderly man with gray hair and eyes that were a near perfect match to his hair looked up from the toy that he was tinkering with and smiled warmly at Snape. Snape gave him a weak smile back that could easily have been misinterpreted as a dirty look. The toy maker hopped down from the stool that he was seated on and Snape nearly winced. He could almost hear the old man’s bones creaking from the effort of bearing his own weight, which by the gaunt look of the old man could not have been much. The man hobbled over to Snape and asked if he was searching for anything in particular. Snape thought for a moment before answering, because really he hadn’t planned on stopping at a toy shop.
“I am searching for something for a muggle raised child. It is important that it not be magically enchanted. No noises or movements of any kind. You see it may upset the child. He has not been raised around magic and it tends to make him more than a bit nervous.” Snape lied with a plain expression on his face. Truthfully he couldn’t care less if magic made Potter nervous or not. He wanted a plain toy because it was less likely to cause trouble for him, and if it happened to shut Potter up that was fine as well.
The man’s face scrunched up, like shiny wrinkled leather, as he searched in his mind for the perfect toy. Snape was beginning to think that he had asked for the moon in a box. The toy maker’s face flickered with recognition. He’d remembered something. Snape watched as the man scurried through a door that was for staff only. Snape tapped his heel on the floor impatiently as he waited. He glanced around the shop. Not a speck of dust or a cobweb in sight. The old man must’ve cleaned magically, because there was no way that he would be able to climb a ladder to clean as wobbly as he was.
A few moments later the toy maker returned with a bright grin on his face. He presented a plain white box to Snape which was about the same size as a box for a decent pair of shoes. The old man opened the box and Snape peered inside. He narrowed his eyes and pulled back.
“Do you not like it, Sir?” The old man asked gently closing the box up in preparation to put it back in the stockroom.
“No, that will be more than satisfactory,” Snape replied.
He paid for the package and stowed the box under his arm. Snape made his way to the door and spied the doll in the blue dress. She was sitting at a little table, complete with a miniature tea set, playing with a little stuffed bear. She was giggling and drinking imaginary tea. She heard Snape approaching and squeaked in fright. She abandoned her tea set and toy bear for the shelter of the tiny space beneath the table. If Snape couldn’t see her then he couldn’t decide to buy her and make her miserable for the rest of her enchanted life.
Snape made a point to pause near the small table as he made for the exit. The doll was staring at his toes. For a moment the doll was afraid that he might decide to kick over her table and take her anyway, but at last he turned away. She only felt safe when she heard the bell above the door ring, once when he opened it to leave and again as the door fell shut.
***
Young Harry Potter lay in his hospital bed resting. Madame Pomfrey had allowed him to drink a little glass of pumpkin juice, which he found he liked very much in spite of the strange color, and she’d let him have a bit of chicken soup. He’d eaten and drank as much as he could and then lay back feeling full and warm inside. He settled a bandaged hand over his full stomach and wondered where the tv was. At his Uncle’s house there was always a tv on. Even when Harry was shut up in his cupboard he could hear the obnoxious chatter of the tv. He needed that noise now. It told him that things were normal, and kept him from getting into trouble if there was something really good playing.
He curled into a tight ball on the bed as soon as his stomach had settled a bit. This room was so big! Nothing like the cupboard had been. Harry wondered if the rest of the place was just as big. Would he get lost here if he left the room on his own when he felt better? Harry felt a longing for the security of his cupboard. He knew that he belonged in there, not like this big room where he wasn’t sure where he fit into the scheme of things. Why had these people taken him anyway? Didn’t they know that he had his own family?
These people were awfully strange. Vernon wouldn’t have taken to them at all, and if he knew that Harry was with them... Harry pushed that thought out of his mind. Harry looked around and noticed that the room wasn’t lit by light bulbs. There were actual torches on the walls! Harry wondered if things ever accidentally caught fire because of the lighting system.
Harry thought about getting up and leaving the ward. He wanted to get out of here and go home more than anything. What if he missed Uncle Vernon when he came to pick Harry up? Even worse, what if he had already missed him? Harry shuddered at the thought of never seeing his relatives again. He needed to prove to them that he was worth loving. He knew that with enough time and effort on his part they’d accept him as one of their own and he wouldn’t be just a worthless layabout.
Harry flung off the blanket that he had been covered with and swung his little legs over the side of the bed. He hung there for a moment and dangled his feet as he stared at his toes. The floor was probably cold. He gently lowered himself to the floor and pushed onto his feet. Harry stood quietly for a moment to gain his equilibrium. Once he felt alright he stretched his back and yawned. He blinked the tears from his eyes that had accompanied his yawn and looked towards the doorway that was in the back of the room. He’d seen Madame Pomfrey go in there a few times, so maybe that was the way out of the hospital.
Harry glanced behind him just to be sure that he was alone and then headed towards the big door. When he had made it to the heavy looking door he stared up at it. He probably wasn’t going to get it open even if it wasn’t locked. He reached up to pull on the big circular latch that served as a doorknob, and planted his feet against the floor as he prepared to put his body weight into the effort. Harry started badly when a hand rested lightly on his shoulder. He whirled about to face whoever it was and found that it was not Pomfrey, who had fed him soup and had been nice to him. It was the man in dark clothing. Snape.
Harry jerked back in surprise and roughly bumped into the door. He did not want to see this git again. The guy gave Harry the shivers. Snape regarded Harry as one would a bad cut of meat.
“What are you doing out of bed, Potter?”
Harry gulped and his eyes flitted about as he searched for an escape, but he doubted he would get far. Snape looked like he could move quickly when he wanted to. “I um. I’m sorry,” he floundered. Maybe apologizing would soften Snape up a little. That tactic never really worked well with his relatives, but Harry was willing to try it with Snape, even if the man looked inhospitable.
“As you should be, boy,” Snape said coldly as he reached out for the boy once more. Harry flinched back again, squeezing his small form to the door as if he hoped to slip through it like a curtain of smoke. Unfortunately for Harry, the door was proving itself to be a very solid barrier. Snape growled, and Harry felt his eyes get a little wider. He almost wanted to cringe into a ball against the door, but that wouldn’t save him from the evil looking man towering over him. “Stop this foolishness at once, Potter. I do not intend to do you harm.”
Harry stared at Snape, his green eyes filled with confusion. If Snape didn’t want to hurt him, then what did he want? Snape took advantage of the boy’s slight hesitation to take hold of his shoulder and gently shepherded him back to his bed.
“Sit Potter,” Snape ordered. Harry glanced backward at Snape and then looked to his bed. He noticed a plain white box sitting near the foot of the bed. Where had that come from? Was it something of Snape’s? He didn’t touch the box, instead made an effort to get up on the bed. He was a small lad, and the bed was proving to be more difficult to get on than it was to slip off of. He attempted to clutch at the sheets to hoist himself up, and felt the sheets tug backward toward him. Well, that wasn’t going to work. Now what should he do? He struggled for a few moments more before giving up completely. He was simply too small to get up on the bed on his own. He heard Snape mutter something about “utter helplessness” just loud enough so that Harry could hear, and Harry shot the man a glare. He had given it an honest effort after all.
Harry tensed as he felt Snape grip him beneath his arms and lift him to set him on the bed. Harry was surprised at how carefully Snape set him down. He’d been expecting to be tossed or roughly plopped down. Snape bent and retrieved the white box, thrusting it at Potter.
Harry stared at the box, unsure of what to do. “Take it boy.” Harry reached for the box and set it carefully on his lap, but did not open it.
“What is this?” Harry asked softly.
“That, Potter, is a gift,” Snape said rolling his eyes.
A gift? For him? Someone had actually given him something? But... who would do that? This had to be a trick. Maybe Snape was trying to butter him up and make him forget his real family. Harry almost didn’t want to see what was inside the box. His bandaged hands fumbled the lid of the box a bit as he lifted it off. He peered inside and relaxed at the sight of thick grey fuzz. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but surely this couldn’t have been a bad thing.
Gently Harry lifted the thing out of the box so that he could get a better look at it. Snape had given him a stuffed bunny? Harry felt the weight of small beads in the feet and the lower portion of the toy’s belly. The feet all had little brown suede pads sewn onto the paws of the bunny and it’s black hard nose was flocked with velvety fuzz. The long ears were sewn onto the rabbit’s head as if they were meant to stand up straight, but the soft floppy material that they were made of did not intend to stand at all. Harry gently pulled at the clear whiskers attached to the rabbit’s face as he stared at its dark eyes.
He looked up at Snape and found himself at a loss for proper words. He did manage to give the cold man a little smile. “It seems that my efforts were not a total waste of time.”
“I... um.... thank you,” Harry finally stammered.
Snape gave the boy a hard stare. “Do not get out of bed again without permission.” Harry swallowed hard and nodded. Harry watched as the man snatched up the empty box and stormed from the room.