Bright lights greeted Harry when he opened his eyes. He moaned, rolling away from them, and tried to go back to sleep. However, now that he was awake he was all too aware of an ache that seemed to encompass the entirety of his body, and attempts to sleep were futile at best. Eventually, he opened his eyes again, more cautiously, and gazed around the room. The fact that the room was almost completely white would have told him it was a hospital ward, even if he hadn’t smelled the unique blend of potions and disinfectants that all wizard hospitals had.

Harry sighed. Uncle Vernon was going to be so mad that he’d had to be brought to a hospital… So, so mad… His brain, muddled as it was at the moment, didn't seem to comprehend the fact that the smell of potions meant that he wasn't in a muggle hospital. Such logic at this point escaped him. He worried his lip a bit before pushing himself to a sitting position, fighting the wave of dizziness that passed over him as he did so. It was bad enough that he’d been brought to the hospital without spending an undue amount of time there. That thought in mind, Harry cast about for his clothes…

____

Severus was awakened by an annoying buzzing sound right in his ears. He groaned, trying dully to hit whatever it was. His hand collided with something round and cool. An alarm ball? He frowned. What was he monitoring?

He woke with a start when he remembered the previous day’s events. So, Potter was conscious. Great. He looked about for his robes, dreading the confrontation that he knew was coming. Despite having rescued the boy from his relatives, Severus knew not to expect him to be pleased at becoming Snape’s ward. Truth be told, Severus wasn’t very happy with the arrangement, either. He wished he was delusional enough to believe that it would only be temporary, but he knew better. His home was safe, the safest if Potter couldn’t depend on his blood wards. Dumbledore would insist the boy stay with Severus, at least until the Death Eater activity ceased. And, loathe as he was to admit it, Snape knew it was the most logical arrangement.

“Dursley!” he snapped, glad to have learned the oaf’s last name. “Up!”

The boy was mercifully quick in rising. Snape had been very adamant on that point last night. Their main concern was Potter because he was sick, and if the Dursley boy insisted on being rescued, he had better cooperate. Not that Severus would ever send him back to his parents, in truth, but he wasn’t above making empty threats.

“Sir?”

“Your cousin is awake,” Snape sneered. “So we are going to visit him.”

“Alright.”

­­___

Harry had just finished getting dressed when the door to his room creaked open. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he’d woken up when he did. Uncle Vernon would have been twice as mad to come in and find Harry still asleep. He’d have accused Harry of lazing about.

To Harry’s surprise, it wasn’t his uncle who stepped into the room first, but his cousin. Why had Dudley come along? He figured that Uncle Vernon would have thought it enough of a hassle to make the trip by himself, without bringing the family along. Before he could get too much farther into that train of thought, however, a voice interrupted him.

“Mr. Potter,” an icy voice greeted him from the darkness. “What do you think you’re doing out of bed?”

Harry swallowed rather painfully. He knew that voice only too well. What was Snape doing here? He rubbed tiredly at his scar, trying to piece things together, to no avail. Oh, well, he thought to himself. He’d have to play it by ear.

“I’m getting ready to go home,” he said, his voice portraying a confidence he did not feel. He’d been taught from an early age not to display any untoward signs of cowardice. It made his relatives look suspect, which did not make for a healthy Harry.

“You are doing no such thing,” Snape replied, now stepping into Harry’s line of sight. “You’ll be staying in this ward for several more days.”

Harry opened his mouth to complain about that, knowing that his uncle would be furious if Harry wasn’t ready to go when he got here. Still, he found himself scared by the murderous look in Snape’s eyes, and struggled to find something to rescue him. His eyes landed on Dudley.

“I’m going home, aren’t I, Dudley?” he asked. “Uncle Vernon sent you to fetch me, right?”

Dudley swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his thick throat, before quietly saying, “No. You’re here for a bit more, I guess, Harry.”

Harry frowned. He wasn’t going back right away? He found himself shaking at the thought of how much a several day’s stay in a hospital would cost. Uncle Vernon was going to have a cow… When he glanced up, it was to notice Snape’s eyes glued on him. He forced himself to take a deep breath, glaring at the man.

“If you’re quite through with your drama…” Snape said. Harry vaguely noticed that his tone lacked its usual bite.

Sighing, Harry kicked off his shoes and pulled off his shirt before crawling back into bed. He refused to shard more clothes in front of Dudley and Snape. Why were they here, anyway? They still hadn’t explained it. And Snape… Snape definitely should have explained it.

“Where’s Uncle Vernon?” Harry asked, his voice shaking.

Snape snorted. “Surely you aren’t missing the oaf.”

Dudley gave Snape a murderous look, which was curious in itself, before turning to Harry. “He’s not around, Harry… Professor, er… Snake… brought you here. I asked him to.”

Harry reeled at this news before beginning to back-peddle into the wall, his eyes wide. All he could think was that his uncle was going to blame him for this, blame him because a freaky man was involved in his personal life. They had just made things so much worse, he realized. Perhaps he could remedy it, he thought desperately, if he was good now.

“You had a freak kidnap me?” he spat at Dudley. “Are you daft? Your father’s going to be beside himself. Call him up so I can go home. And let him know that I had nothing to do with this.”

“That’s enough!” Snape shouted. “Watch your mouth around me or I’ll have you scrubbing cauldrons for a month. Just because you’re in a hospital doesn’t mean you can say anything you like about me. And treating your cousin like dirt? Honestly. I knew you were presumptuous, Potter, but ordering Dursley around like a house elf when you should be thanking him on bent knee for what he’s done for you…”

“Shut up!” Dudley said to Snape, his eyes flashing angrily. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, really?” Snape’s voice was dangerously soft. “What don’t I know? What is it, exactly, that I have overlooked in my naivety?”

“Harry still thinks he’s going back to live with Dad!”

“Excuse me?”

“Harry still thinks he’s going back to live with Mum and Dad. That’s why he’s acting the way he is.”

“I don’t see how living with your father gives Potter the right to act like an insolent child. I hardly think he, of all people, would condone such insolence.”

Harry shuddered at the thought of what Uncle Vernon would ever do if he thought Harry was being insolent. Was Snape going to tell him? Harry would rather scrub cauldrons… Somehow the meaning behind his cousin’s words hadn’t yet registered in his brain.

“He’s trying to do what Dad would want,” Dudley was saying. “Don’t you see? Calling you a freak, asking to go home. He’s trying to make sure everyone knows this wasn’t his idea. Trying to stay out of trouble.”

Snape felt himself pale slightly at those words. Foolish, really. He should have seen as much himself. Certainly the Dursley boy wasn’t on the high end of the wits scale. Snape knew that he was a bit blind when it came to Potter, but even he should have known to be paying attention to the subliminal messages in Potter’s words before jumping to conclusions.

He crossed the space between him and Potter in a matter of seconds, noting with no level of satisfaction Potter’s involuntary flinch when he was standing above him. With a sigh, Snape crouched on the floor beside Potter’s bed so he was eye level with the boy and therefore less intimidating.

“You’re not going to live with the muggles again, Potter,” he said, his voice crystal clear. “When you are well again, you and your cousin will come to stay with me. I will personally ensure that you never see the man who has the audacity to call himself your uncle again. Understand?”

Harry nodded his head, a barely perceptible movement, but enough to tell Snape that he’d gotten his message across. Snape frowned at the lack of argument about living with him, but for all his bravado, Snape realized that Potter was quite beyond arguing at this point. Defiance was expected of him. Confidence was expected of him… But for all that, Potter was really just going through the motions. Just trying to survive.