Last time:

How long Harry stood there, just staring at the odd mark, the boy didn't know. But he finally shook himself out of his reverie. He fingered the blade in his hands, asking himself if he wished to resort to such a barbaric form of release. Memories flooded him suddenly, deciding him. Putting the blade on the beginning of the scar on one side, he drew down it just hard enough to cause it to bleed. As he started to go down the other scar however, the door to the bedroom banged open loudly. This startled him badly enough that he dug the knife in a lot harder then he meant to.

Hissing with pain and surprise, Harry tried to stem the heavier flow of blood from the bad cut. It was a useless effort, and Harry sat down to try and heal himself with his magic. It was slower then normal, and he paled considerably as he realized he might pass out before the healing was over. Then the knob began to rattle. Whoever was on the other side cursed, and muttered a swift "Alohomora!" unlocking the door. As it opened, the Potions Master was framed in the door way. The stunned look on Snape's face would have been hilarious at any other time, but Harry knew his secret was out. Then the blood loss was too much, and he began to fall. It was with irony that his last conscious thought was to realize the wound had healed just at that precise moment.

Severus had come up to bring the boy his dinner and see if Potter was contrite for once. Opening the door to the bedroom, the knob slipped out of his grasp as he saw the room was empty. It hit the wall with a bang, and a few second later a short yelp came from the bathroom. Putting down the dinner tray, Sev strode over to the door to the loo and attempted to open it. Cursing after finding it was locked, the Potions Master muttered the unlocking spell. The sight that greeted him when he opened the door stunned Sev, and he felt himself blanche at the sight of the child swaying from blood loss. A slight smirk tried to hover over Harry's features before he passed out. It was only due to Severus' fast reflexes that he was able to catch the boy.

A quick check over told the Potions Master that there was no obvious sign of injury besides the child's blood stained front. But the pulse was much too weak to be healthy. Summoning a Blood Replenishing potion, Sev spelled it directly into Potter's stomach. Taking the boy back to bed, he placed him down on the mattress. He then growled "Accio Knives", all the while berating himself for not doing so before Harry awoke. A potion's knife, completely clean came from the trunk and was caught expertly by the man. Then a box that was meant to hold two knives but only held one came, followed by the knife that was stained with blood. Sev examined the box front, finding a label that said 'Two knives for the price of one. Spelled with Anti-rust and Anti-bacterial charms, the only thing a person need worry about is stains.' Sev sighed, muttering "At least I wont have to worry about an infection setting in under the healed skin."

Looking at the unconscious child, the dark eyes soften slightly. When relaxed, one could truly see Lily in Harry's face. Sighing, Sev stalked off after making sure that the boy would be okay. After putting the knives in a secure place he knew the youngling wouldn't be able to get to, he ate his dinner in complete silence, as there was no fireplace in the dining room. After finishing dinner, he set the dishes to washing themselves then headed up to bed. It had been a long day, and his body was protesting to the lack of sleep. His last conscious thought before he fell asleep was that he was getting too old for this sort of thing.

***Some hours later

Harry once again woke up slowly, and felt worse then the last time he had woken up. Closing his eyes he searches his memory to try and find why he felt so weak. When he came to the memory of him cutting too deeply, he sat up quickly. He instantly regretted it as his head swam, but he pushed the feeling away. Instead he chose to explore his torso with his hands. The scars were still tender, but were completely healed over. At least his magic was still working, even if he couldn't control it. For the second time he cursed Vernon and the action that had broken down his temulous control on his magic.

Taking a few minutes to try and collect his thoughts, he sighed softly. Getting on his feet a bit more slowly, he looked about the room. Spying the dinner on the desk, he headed over to it, for he was suddenly very hungry. The meal was light, only soup with some bread, but it was good even cold. At least it filled him up, and that was more then he could say about the meals he was often given at Number Four. Letting his thoughts wander while he ate, they soon turned to his aunt and cousin. He wondered how they were doing, for it was unlikely that Vernon was still with them after Snape had come barging in. Speaking of Snape, where was the man? Harry had expected that there would be wards or something placed on his bed to alert the Potions Master that his unexpected guest was awake.

As if answering a cue, the door shook a bit as someone knocked. Harry called out softly "Come in." forgetting completely that his top was still undressed. In walked Snape, his black eyes unfathonable as always. But when he saw Harry's half-undressed state he raised an eyebrow and stated in a dry voice "It might be a good idea to put on a shirt, Mr. Potter, if you do not wish others to see your scars." Blushing, Harry got up from his nearly finished soup to rummage in his trunk. Pulling out a soft and surprisingly green shirt, he put it on.

Severus was surprised at the boy's color choice, as well as the fact that the shirt seemed to be fairly new. The clothes that had been on the child that Sev had vanished had obviously been hand-me-downs, and old ones too if the holes in them had been anything to go by. He mentally shook himself out of his reverie as Potter turned towards him. Emerald eyes gazed at him with a mixture of curiosity and wariness within their depths. He looked so young, despite his physical age and eyes that seemed far too old to belong to a child.

Harry turned towards his once most hated Professor, feeling a mixture of curiosity and wariness. He wondered just what Snape had to talk about, for that was obviously why the man had come in here. But he was also nervous about it, as the last time he had seen the man was shortly before he passed out from losing a fair amount of blood. Thinking about that reminded Harry that his front was still covered in the spilled blood and had stiffened considerably. Bending over had been uncomfortable, but he had put it to the scars still being tender. He decided he would have to take a shower after the Professor left.

Severus gazed a few minutes more at the child before beginning his lecture. He didn't truly touch upon the events of the past day and a half, but stated that Potter could come to him if there was anything he wished to discuss. Now where had that come from? Severus wondered as he left the boy with strict instructions not to leave the house and not to enter the basement or the rooms at the end of the hall. He hoped that Potter would listen for once.

Harry shook his head in amazement at Snape's lecture once the man had left. Sighing, he went back to his soup and finished it. He then headed for the bathroom, stopping briefly as he noticed that the tiles on the floor were stained red. Looking about, he spotted a towel hanging up. It was, of course, black. Harry decided that it was better to be black, so the cleaned mess would show up less. Wetting it down thoroughly at the sink, Harry took the sopping towel to where the floor was stained. He then proceeded to wash away the blood. It took a good ten minutes, but he finished with enough time to spare for a shower.

Stepping into the shower, he turned on the water to just below burning. He let the pulsing water soothe out his stiff muscles, and wash away the blood on his torso. Grabbing a bottle of shampoo, he scrubbed it into his messy hair. He was glad to be clean, for once. Freshening charms were nice and all, but nothing beat a good hot shower.

***

Severus smiled slightly as he heard the shower turn on. At least the boy was acting as normal as one could expect. Hoping he wouldn't have to bring up the past events, Sev sipped contentedly at his coffee. If he was aware of the tenseness in the air, he gave no sign. Ever the spy, one would say about the Potions Master. Severus would say different, if he heard the one that said that. He would also say a lot more, but some things he would say they wont let me repeat in any context.

***

Harry stepped out of the shower, shaking like a dog to rid himself of the water. Realizing belatedly that the towel he used was the one meant for drying, he hustled back into the room. There he rummaged in his trunk, finally finding some underwear and trousers. He put them on before going back into the bathroom to grab the shirt. It was still fairly clean, as the blood had been dry on his body when he first put it on. Shrugging into it, Harry yawned briefly before opening the door. At least Snape had lifted the ban on him moving about the house.

He wandered down the hallway towards the stairs. One of the doors was open to the side, and Harry looked in. Inside was a library that far outclassed the Hogwart's library. There was barely room to move between the shelves and shelves of books. Quietly tiptoeing in on bare feet, he looked behind him at the hallway. He didn't hear Snape coming up the stairs. Shrugging with relief at that little bit of fortune, Harry let himself explore.

A half-hour later found him in a chair by the far wall, holding an open book in his lap. If one could get close enough to the title they would read: Sudden Birthmarks and Their Meanings. He was flipping slowly from page to page, obviously trying to find something. He stopped on one page, and brought the book closer to his face. After a minute like that, dawning awe spread across his face. In a voice that was soft with amazement, Harry said "No way..."