“I didn’t know any of that was going on. As far as I knew, Dad didn’t care, or he just liked seeing me humiliated. But things got a lot better when I found out just how alike Dad and I really are. I can’t say anything about it though. Like with the snooping, Dad would hex me into next week if you guys learned stuff about him he didn’t want you to.”

****

“Shall we try again?” Snape raised his wand “One – two – three – Legilimens!”

A hundred dementors were swooping toward Harry across the lake in the grounds…. He screwed up his face in concentration…. They were coming closer…. He could see the dark holes beneath their hoods… yet he could see Snape standing in front of him, his eyes fixed upon Harry’s face, muttering under his breath…. And somehow, Snape was growing clearer, and the dementors were growing fainter…

Harry raised his own wand.

“Protego!”

Snape staggered; his wand flew upward, away from Harry - and suddenly Harry’s mind was teeming with memories that were not his - a hook-nosed man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner….  A girl was laughing at a scrawny boy trying to mount a bucking broomstick –

“ENOUGH!”

Harry felt as though he had been pushed hard in the chest; he took several staggering steps backward, hit some of the shelves covering Snape’s walls and heard something creak. Snape was shaking slightly, very white in the face.

The back of Harry’s robes was damp. One of the jars behind him had broken when he fell against it; the pickled slimy thing within was swirling in its draining potion.

“Reparo!” hissed Snape, and the jar sealed itself once more. “Well, Potter… that was certainly an improvement….” Panting slightly, straightened the Pensieve in which he had again stored some of his thoughts before starting the lesson, almost as though checking that they were still there. “I don’t remember telling you to use a Shield Charm... but there is no doubt that it was effective….”

Harry didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen. His father a scared, little boy crying in a corner. From the looks of things, Snape’s father’s temper wasn’t much better than Harry’s Uncle Vernon’s. Now that little boy was standing in front of him furious.

Biting his lip nervously Harry asked, “Was that man who was yelling your father sir?”

“It’s none of your business Potter.” Snape snapped.

“It’s just that… well, the man seemed a lot like my Uncle Vernon. I know what it’s like growing up with somebody like that.” Harry offered his voice dropping as he went, until it was barely more than a whisper.

“Really?” Snape inquired his eyebrow quirking upwards. “From what I have seen of your memories there is nothing to compare between the two. The worst thing that your uncle did was give you, what was probably a richly deserved smacking.”

“He did a lot worse than that!” Harry defended, his voice rising in both volume and pitch. Why did he have to say something? There was no way that Snape would believe him about how truly awful growing up with the Durselys had been, he would always see Harry as a spoiled Potter brat, no matter how many memories he saw that told him differently.

“I find that hard to believe Mr. Potter. Does your uncle drink himself into a stupor every night and then attack your aunt, cousin, or yourself for every small infraction either real or imagined he believed you committed? Did he savagely beat you for these imagined infractions? Did you ever have to worry about whether or not there would be dinner on the table because your father might have drunken all the money for groceries?”

“No…no sir,” Harry replied stunned. If that was what Snape’s father had been like it was no wonder he had turned out as nasty as he was.

“Was… was your father like that sir?” Harry dared to ask.

“Even if he was, it is no concern of yours Potter.” Snape snapped putting as much venom into Harry’s name as possible.

“But he was my…” Harry began to argue.

“He was nothing to you Potter. He may have impregnated my mother, but the man was not a father. He did not earn the right to call himself one. When I came of age I cut off all ties to the man. No one was worthy of the mistreatment of Tobias Snape, even you, Potter,” Snape said. The man’s eyes flashing dangerously, though for once Harry was fairly sure the anger was not directed at him.

“So, Potter, if your uncle did not give you a treatment equal that of my father,” Snape said almost cringing at the word, “What did he did he do to make you feel so grievously mistreated?”

“Well,” Harry started. He didn’t really want to talk about this. He didn’t even know why he had said anything, but he was sure that Snape would not let him off the hook now.

“I’m waiting Potter,” Snape snapped. He probably knew most of what the boy was going to say, but it would be good for the both of them to hear it from Harry’s own lips.

“They didn’t feed me very much,” Harry offered tentatively. His eyes dropping instantly to his beat up trainers.

From the moment the boy first step foot into the Great Hall Severus had known this to be true. The boy was small for his age, an unexpected sight as James Potter had always been tall. True Lily had always been petite, but the boy was under what would have been considered a health weight even for someone of his small size. He had watched Potter when he returned from the summer holidays. The boy was always lighter when he returned then when he left. Like all the other boys, Potter would always load his plate with food. However, unlike the other boys of his age who would clear their plates and then go back for seconds, if not thirds, Potter would barely eat a third. Still after months of being back as school the boy was just at weight.

“What other injustices do you believe were committed against you?” Snape asked.

“I had to do the cleaning of the house, yard work, everything,” Harry said darting to look up at the professor.

“That is not mistreatment, Potter. Those are things that are simply expected of a child growing up.” Snape said a sneer appearing on his lips.

“Yeah well, I don’t think most kids do all of that stuff in their families. I mean, if normal for kids to help how come Dudley never had to do any of those things?” Harry countered.

“Who is Dudley?” Snape asked not really interested how Potter was treated compared to his little friends.

“He’s my cousin. He never had to do any sort of chore; he just sat around and watched the telly, played on the computer, and beat up other kids. I was cooking breakfast for everybody by the time I was five. I had to do all of the gardening and did most of the cleaning around the house too. My uncle wanted me to ‘earn my keep’.” Harry replied color rising in his pale cheeks.

“I see,” Snape said. “As unjust as it may seem to you now Potter, those things will help to build character. Are there anymore things would like to complain about while you’re at it? I assure you, if there are any that are truly unacceptable I will discuss the matter with the Headmaster.” There was no reason the boy need to know he had already spoken to the Headmaster about the boy’s mistreatment and arrangements were in the works for him to come stay with Severus during the summer instead.

“I wasn’t able to make any friends when I was in primary school because Dudley didn’t like me and nobody wanted to mess with Dudley.”  Harry offered lamely. “I never got new clothes, only Dudley’s old things. They lock my books and wand away during the summer so I can’t do my homework. I got locked in my bedroom for a week during the holidays after first year because my uncle thought I had floated a pudding onto the head of one of his clients. I only ate one meal a day through a cat flap my uncle installed in the door.”

“I had to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs until I got my first Hogwarts letter,” Harry rushed out, desperate for Snape to understand just how badly his family had treated him in his youth.

“What was that Potter,” Snape demanded his eyebrows shooting into his hairline.

“I had to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs until I was almost eleven.”

Harry was obviously a more talented Occlumens then he gave him credit for to keep such a fact hidden for so long Severus thought to himself as Harry rushed to continue his explanation.

“My uncle and aunt only let me move into Dudley’s second bedroom once I got my Hogwarts letter. They were scared that somebody was watching them since the letter was addressed to my cupboard. So, I got to move into Dudley’s second bedroom.”

“Why did your cousin need a second bedroom to begin with?” Snape asked, though he already had a fairly good idea as to why.

“That’s where they would put all of the toys that he broke or didn’t want anymore. I had a couple in my cupboard, but I had to knick those before they were put out with the rubbish.” Harry said blushing slightly. He had no reason to be embarrassed, none of those things were his fault, and yet he couldn’t help but feel ashamed of himself.