“Well James, I am sorry that I have to say this now, but I need to make pictures of your body, as proof that you were mistreated for a long time, so the Dursley's can’t claim that you did it yourself. I know it will be hard, but we won’t show the pictures to anyone else other than the principal and eventually the police who are not on Dursley's side. Will you let me make the pictures, James?”

James seemed to panic again when Nurse White started talking about making pictures, but after looking at both her and Severus for reassurance, he nodded slowly.

“Alright then. I will need to pull the covers off, and make pictures of your front, back and detailed pictures of the bruises. If you can’t handle it anymore, just signal it and I will stop for a moment. It’s just that I need to make the pictures today, so they are all very clear.”

James looked up for a second and then looked down again. He was clearly ashamed they were going to take pictures of him. When the nurse went to get the camera he looked at Severus. He was wringing his hands nervously as if he wanted to ask him something, but didn’t dare ask it.

“What is it James? Do you need to ask something?” Severus asked.

This obviously relieved James, because he signalled: “can, can you please tell me more about my parents someday? I-I don’t know anything about them, and...and I think...my aunt and uncle haven’t been really honoust. I think...I’d like to know more about them, please?”

Severus grimaced a bit inside. He had been good friends with Lily, but not really with James. They only got along for Lily’s sake. He wondered if he should tell the boy that his name was in fact not James Evans, but Harry Potter. He thought James would want to have proof of this, so he would contact Albus tonight and ask him for some pictures and evidence to show.

“I can tell you more about your mother. Your father and me, well, we didn’t get along very well. But I can tell some stories, and maybe one day you can meet one of their friends, he can tell more about your father. Perhaps I can find some pictures and some things to show you. Would you like that?”

Seeing the smile breaking through on James’ face, he knew he had made James trust him, a lot. He didn’t know if this was a good thing. He wasn’t supposed to be friendly, he was supposed to be a snarky mean Potions professor, except that he didn’t teach Potions right now, and the Muggle clothes he wore were a lot less threatening, which in this case, was a good thing.

Just then the nurse came back with her camera. James’ smile quickly dissapeared and he tried hiding again. Severus grabbed his hands, and made him stop shaking.

“It’s alright James. I’ll stay here, and make sure the pictures end up in a safe in the bank. It won’t hurt you to make pictures,”

he stroked James’ hair. James just looked up at him in surprise. It seemed he wasn’t used to such gestures.

Severus pulled the covers off of James, so his body came in full view. Nurse White quickly made some pictures, and since it was a digital camera she knew if they were alright immediatly. Then they turned James around, so they could make pictures of his back and of some bruises on this legs.

Severus helped James to stand and they made more pictures like that. Unfortunately James legs didn’t help him, and he collapsed against Severus. He just lifted James in his arms (noticing how little he weighed) and put him back on the bed again.

“Alright James, we’ve made enough pictures now. We will need to show them to the principal, but don’t worry, he won’t tell the Dursley's, he never liked them anyway. If you want, you can use the bathroom over there to take a bath, or to get dressed. But first I’d like you to drink this nutrition drink, because you will need the vitamins and minerals in it.”

James eyed the drink with some suspicion, but then drank it quickly. He grimaced a bit, and then gave the glass back to the nurse. She smiled at him.

“Very good James. Now, you just stay here, because I don’t want you falling down. Do you want to take a bath?”

He nodded. Then he signalled shyly: “I haven’t had a real bath for all summer,” he quickly looked down again.

Both Severus and the nurse raised their eyebrows at this news.

Severus signalled: “what do you mean not had a real bath?”

James stayed silent for a long time and then signalled: “I have to use the cold water from the garden hose and can only use a wash cloth,” he blushed, and refused to look up.

The nurse eyed Severus and then said: “alright, I’ll go and run the bath. Do you have any more classes today?” when Severus shook his head, she nodded and said: “very well, can you help James take a bath and clean him up? Then you can go to the principal and I'll stay with James, so we can tell him what we are going to do to help him.”

She quickly walked to the adjoining bathroom and soon the sound of running water could be heard. The nurse wanted to wash James clothes as well, but he didn’t let her. When Severus saw the look in James’ eyes, he explained it to the nurse. The Dursley's would certainly notice his clean clothes, and then he would be in trouble. Severus had experience in these matters.

After several minutes, Severus lifted James in his arms again and walked into the bathroom. There, he put the boy on the toiletseat, and felt the temperature of the water. Then he helped James into the water. At first James was really tense, as if expecting to be punished for being in the water, but when Severus carefully started washing his back, he relaxed.

Severus was really carefull. He didn’t want to startle James, and he also didn’t want to hurt him. He washed the back of James, and then started on his front, arms and legs. James seemed to enjoy it a lot, and stayed very silent.

Severus decided to wash James' hair and carefully poured water over it. James tensed up a bit, especially when Severus had to tilt his head back a little. But he relaxed again when Severus massaged the shampoo in his hair. When he rinsed it out, he made sure not to get shampoo in James’ eyes, since he knew how much that could hurt.

He let James sit in the bath for a little while longer, to make him relax more. It certainly worked, for he nearly fell asleep in the bath. Severus decided that this was a good moment to get James out of the bath, and he let the water run away. Then he lifted James out of the tub and carefully dried him off with a large towel. The towel was really big on James, because the boy was so small. Severus could wrap James in it, and still have towel left.

He helped pull the clothes back on and again lifted James and put him back in the bed. But before he had pulled the covers up, James was fast asleep. Severus smiled to himself for a bit. He rather liked this James, so different from his father, and so much more like his mother.

He took the pictures and went to the principals office, to see what they could do to help James. Severus still needed to see if James had magical powers and get him to Hogwarts, but for now, getting him out of the Dursleys hands would be more difficult and important.

The principal was looking curiously at Severus when he entered the office.

“Hello, Severus. Is there something I can help you with, or is this a social visit?”

“I’m afraid I need your help, sir. You know our new student, James Evans? Well, he passed out during Self-Defence class and in the nurses room, Nurse White and I found out some startling facts. Perhaps you would take a look at these pictures?”

With that he handed the pictures to the principal, who looked at them curiously. After he saw the first picture he started to look red, then rather pale.

“Damn,” was the first word he uttered, “those awful Dursely's. I knew they weren’t nice, but this? I never would have guessed.”

“Hm, the nurse and I were wondering what we can do to get him out of their hands? It’s obvious we cannot leave him there for much longer. James agreed to help, as long as we wouldn’t let the Dursley's find out about it. These pictures will go to a safe in the bank and will stay there until we have enough evidence and can find a reliable police officer to help us. Now, we would like to know how we can help him in school, without raising too many suspicions.”

The principal nodded and thought about this for a while.

“Well, he missed a month of school, so what if we give him a tutor hour every day, so he can work, or just relax here at school. If you would, I would like you to be there with him. Also, let the nurse check him every day. She can give him medicine, and we can keep an eye on his condition this way. I will look for a reliable police officer, and call the Dursley's to say James will need the extra hour each day. Let’s say every day at 3 o’clock, so when he’s out earlier, he can still stay at school. We should also make sure he gets something to eat and drink during this hour, since he obviously won’t get much with them.”

Severus agreed and waited for the principal to call the Dursely's. He could tell they weren’t very willing, but he didn’t know why, really. He decided to go by them after school, to make sure they wouldn’t punish James for something he didn’t do.

The principal gave the pictures back to Severus, who quickly walked towards the room where James and the nurse were waiting.

Severus tried to be quiet, but James still woke up. He looked at Severus with a hint of fear, but also with growing trust in his eyes.

“Well, James, the principal agreed to help. Every day you will have a tutor hour with me at 3 o’clock. When you finish school earlier, you can still stay at school. Of course you do not have to work during this hour, but relax a bit. We will make sure you get something to eat then, and a check up with the nurse. She can give you medicine and everything you'll need. Now, the principal called the Dursley's to tell you needed a tutor hour, and I'll stop by later, to make sure that they know it was not your fault. Also, the principal will look for a reliable police officer who can make a case against the Dursley's to get you out of their hands.”

James had tensed up at the mention that the Durselys were called, but relaxed a bit after hearing he would have an hour every day for himself. This obviously meant a lot to him. After he nodded that he understood, Severus told him that the hour would start tomorrow, and that he would help James get back home, since he was still a bit unsteady on his legs.

When they were in the beginning of Privet Drive, Severus asked James if he would like to walk home the last part on his own, or if he wanted Severus to walk with him to the door. Obviously relieved by this question, James signaled he would go alone. Before he could walk away, Severus stopped him and signalled: “if you ever need to get away from them, or wish to be safer for a while, you can come to my house. I live at number eight, and will make sure to leave the kitchen door open for you. Understood?”

James nodded. Severus decided to put the spell on the door right away, so the kitchen door would let James get in, but would keep Dursley's out.

He watched James walking a bit unsteadily but quickly to number four and go through the back door inside. When he was sure James was in the house, he walked to his own house and did the spell on the kitchen door. After drinking some coffee and preparing his talk, he walked over to the Dursley's house. After he rang the bell, he had to wait a little while before Petunia opened the door.

“Ah, Severus, how nice it is to see you again. Do come in. Do you want to drink something, or a snack?” she asked in a sickenly sweet tone. After he declined and went to sit on the couch he decided to go straight to the point. He couldn’t detect James anywhere near, so he wondered where they kept him.

“Well, I just want to come by and talk about James and school. Since he missed a month of the school year, and the start is always very important, the principal has decided to give him extra tutor hours every day. This way he will be catching up with the rest really fast, and we can avoid problems with learning. I know the principal has already called you with this news, but I wanted to tell you this in person, as I will be his tutor during these hours. James seemed worried that you wouldn’t like it, but I’m sure it’s no problem, right?”

Aunt Petunia couldn’t do much more than nod. Severus decided to use a slight charm that would make her stop doing anything to James. Unfortunately it would only work for a few hours, so tomorrow she could be angry at James again.

After some more small chatter, Severus was glad he could leave again. Even now that he knew James lived there, he still didn’t see him in the house. He decided that later this week he would try to find out where they kept the boy when he was at the house.

For now, he would contact Albus and start working on a potion that could help James heal and restore his growth. Before the potion would be finished a whole month would have gone by, and it seemed to Severus this could be enough time to try and tell James about his parents and the magical world.