Perception is Everything by Kendra James

Chapter 10 Harry lay in bed, staring at the top of his four poster bed and thinking about the previous nights party. He couldn't remember ever having so much fun. One by one, the adults had joined them around the fire and they had ended up having a singsong. As the rest of them sang, badly; Snape had muttered disparaging comments into his drink that kept cracking all the youngsters up. As none of the staff could hear what he was saying, it created much hilarity and some annoyance. Mr Filch had hummed along, apparently not knowing any of the words. They had counted in the New Year and then loitered in the common room until it was only Harry, Eric and the charms professor left. Professor Flitwick had been very impressed with Harry's enlargement of the castles trees and awarded him full marks on the engorgement class, despite the fact he wouldn't actually be taking that class for another five weeks. It had been a lovely evening, but thinking back it had felt a bit like a last supper. Harry was aware that he had let his hair down so much because he knew what was coming today. A small clock in the corner chimed and Harry glanced at it nervously. It was now 11am and he should have gone down to breakfast an hour ago, but he really couldn't face it. Professor Snape had said last night that he would come and collect him at 2 and from there they would go to Madam Pomfrey's office. It felt like walking to an execution. Harry shook himself in irritation and jumped out of bed. Stop being so melodramatic Harry, he scolded himself. You know these people. It won't be so bad. He stepped under the shower and turned it up to full blast. There was a faculty meeting this morning for all the staff and even though Harry knew they wouldn't be talking about him, he still felt strangely vulnerable. It will all be over by tonight, he told himself, trying hard not to think about what would come next – Ron and Hermoine; his friends; his house; the inevitable leak to The Daily Prophet; the rest of the wizarding world.Harry leant his head against the cool tiles and blew the air out of his lungs in a slow controlled breath. He concentrated on letting his muscles relax as the hot water pounded against his back whilst avoiding looking at the scars that would be on public display in a few hours. You're fine Harry, you're fine; just breathe. )O( The meeting was a cheerful but quiet affair, owing to the fact that most of the staff were still a little hung over from the night before. They had covered all the changes to the curriculum; Professor Trewarley and Professor Sprout had had their annual row about timetables and Cybil had stormed out in tears. As she did this at the start of every term, even the headmaster hadn't looked up from his papers this time. They were now at the any other business part of the meeting and Severus was not looking forward to this. Initially, he had been anticipating the fun of rattling his colleagues a little but as he had looked through Umbridge's detention lists again that morning, any enjoyment had rapidly disappeared. These were his students and that cow had tortured them on school property. The headmaster turned to his potions master with a warm smile. 'Severus, you had another item for us to discuss?' 'Yes Headmaster, I am afraid this is not going to be a pleasant conversation.' Severus handed each of the head of houses a piece of the parchment before giving a copy of four lists to the headmaster and the rest of the staff. 'What is this Severus?' Minerva asked, sounding a little worried. 'You're not about to put half my house in detention again are you?' Severus grimaced. 'No Minerva, I'm not and if they didn't keep melting my cauldrons then none of them would be seeing me as regularly as they are.' The older woman flushed a little and Poppy coughed in amusement, knowing the whole room had a mental picture of Neville Longbottom in their heads. 'You do however have the right topic. You are each holding a list of all the students in your houses who served detention with Umbridge whilst she was here.' The mood instantly darkened in the room and even the headmaster lost his smile. Even mentioning that woman's name was usually enough to bring Professor Sprout out in hives. Seeing he still had everyone's attention, Severus continued. 'It came to my attention during the Christmas break that Umbridge saw fit to use some unorthodox methods of punishment during her detentions so I pulled the records and made some discreet enquiries to the students within Slytherin that were effected. Their replies were disturbing.' McGonagall bristled angrily. 'That doesn't surprise me. That awful woman used a ruler on Colin Creevy; Left an ugly mark on his knuckles, I nearly hexed her where she stood.' 'I can't believe she's working back at the Ministry.' Poppy added in annoyance. 'She won't be for long,' Severus stated quietly and his tone was enough to chill the room further. 'Severus?' the headmaster asked quietly. 'What has got you so rattled?' 'She used a Blood Quill in her detentions.' There was a moment of shocked silence and then half the room was on their feet. 'She did WHAT!?' McGonagall roared. 'Severus, are you sure?' The tiny charms professor asked in a shocked whisper and he nodded. 'I sent a very tame letter to some of the parents asking them to check that nothing untoward had happened in their children's detentions. I put no suggestions or leading questions within the text but within an hour I had several angry replies. I'm surprised this didn't come to light sooner.' The angry comments died away as the staff realised that the room was gently shaking. 'What the...?' A second later every window in the staff room blew out and the room was filled with shrieks as everyone covered their heads and faces. Only Severus stayed upright, his eyes automatically darting to where the headmaster sat white faced with fury in his chair. His hands were gripping the armrests so tightly, Severus was surprised the wood wasn't splintering beneath his fingers. Silence fell again as one by one, all eyes fell on the headmaster. They watched in awe as Dumbledore fought to regain control of his magic, his eyes closed and his chest heaving as he took deep steadying breaths. After what felt like hours but was likely only a few minutes, Albus opened his eyes and with a wave of his hand restored the windows. 'My apologies everyone,' he said quietly. 'Is anybody hurt?' The room was filled with murmured reassurances and they all watched curiously as a very angry Dumbledore turned to Severus once more. 'That...woman..used...an...unforgivable...on...my..students?' He asked, every word spat out and Severus nodded. 'I'm afraid so Headmaster; you should know that several families are preparing legal action against the ministry and I have offered my assistance. I realise that this may also prove difficult for you...' Dumbledore waved that away. 'I don't care about that Severus. Please let me know if I can assist in any way.' 'Yes headmaster.' Severus turned back to his older colleague. 'Minerva, I believe your house was most effected by this and you should be aware that several of your students had multiple detentions with that...woman. She would set three hundred lines a time so you might want to set up medical checks for the students involved. It may be too late to prevent permanent scarring for most of them but it should still be checked.' Minerva paled noticeably as the implications sank in. 'Why didn't they tell anyone?' she whispered shakily. 'They thought we all knew, Minerva.' Severus's words brought a further heavy silence to the room until Poppy intervened. 'I can't believe the students would think we would condone that; even with the circumstances last year. Are you sure about this Severus?' Severus scowled. 'I can't speak for every student involved but Potter was under the impression that he had been told to keep his head down and not make a fuss.' 'Harry!' Minerva croaked. 'But he never...' Severus watched as realisation came across the older woman's face and she dropped her head in her hands with a groan. He wondered which conversation with the boy she was recalling. 'I seem to recall,' Flitwick said soberly. 'That Harry served a great number of detentions last year?' 'Thirty eight,' Severus stated quietly to several groans in the room. Poppy looked ready to cry and Severus frowned at her in worry. There was much worse to come today and he hoped both women would be able to be professional about it. The last thing Potter needed was them going to pieces on him. The mediwitch looked at him gravely. 'I take it Harry has a scar?' she stated angrily and he nodded. The room rattled ominously for a moment before the headmaster spoke again, his eyes closed. 'What did she make him write?' Severus paused before answering. 'I must not tell lies.' There were no further comments after that. No one could think of a single thing to say. )O( The dining hall was ominously quiet at lunch and the three Hufflepuffs exchanged nervous glances. Their teachers did not seem very happy.Severus noted Potters absence with concern. He wasn't surprised that the boy was nervous but that was two meals in a row he had missed and if there was one person who couldn't afford to be skipping meals it was Potter. As if sensing his thoughts, the charms professor turned to the head boy. 'Is Harry not joining us today?' Eric swallowed his mouthful of food and turned to his favourite teacher with a smile. 'He ordered sandwiches for his common room professor. He has one last bit of reading to do for his study list and he wanted to get it finished today.' 'That boy studies far too hard,' Emma said through a mouthful of food to general chuckles at the table and Professor Sprout nodded her head in agreement. 'He certainly does more reading than most of my students, with the exception of Miss Granger of course.' Severus picked at his food, his appetite rapidly evaporating. Now that the moment was almost here, he was beginning to regret talking the boy into this. He still had a few days of holiday left and now they were going to be dominated by those awful muggles yet again. Beside him Minerva finished her meal with a satisfied sigh. 'Severus, you said you wanted my assistance with something this afternoon?' He abandoned his dinner as a bad lot and wiping his face on a napkin turned to his older colleague. 'Yes I would. It is likely to commandeer your whole day though.' Minerva smiled. 'Of course, that's no problem. I am reasonably organised for the start of term. What can I do for you?' 'Perhaps we might discuss this in your office after lunch?' he whispered and his colleague quietly agreed. He walked up her chambers a few minutes later with a heavy heart, for once unable to summon his trademark sneer. He knew how he would react if he discovered one of his 6th years had been mistreated all this time and he hadn't spotted it. Professor McGonagall ordered coffee for them and took a seat at the small circular table in the centre of her office. Severus sat beside her and taking a deep breath launched into what would probably be the most difficult discussion he had ever had with the witch. 'I have asked Poppy to set up a welfare meeting for 2pm this afternoon. I would like to ask you to also attend.' Minerva raised her eyebrows in surprise. 'From what Poppy has told me, you always manage these cases rather well. I am happy to help of course but wouldn't this best wait until term has started when the student in question is here?' Severus paused to look his colleague in the eye before answering quietly.'It is appropriate you attend because the student is in your house and he is already at school. It's Potter, Minerva. I'm afraid some disturbing details about his home life came to light during the break.' He watched the flash of concern and confusion cross his colleagues face.'You had better explain Severus.' 'As you know he was unwell during the holidays and I had cause to check on him in his dorm. He had been wearing glamours since the summer to hide...well, injuries' 'Glamours!' Minerva sighed heavily and rubbed her face. 'The sudden weight loss is now making a bit more sense. Those bloody Muggles! I told Albus they were no good.' She gave him a sharp look as the last bit of his statement sunk in.'Injuries!? They hurt him?' Severus nodded gravely. 'He hasn't talked to me about it yet but he has asked if I could sit in on the meeting. I believe this is his story to tell but I should warn you that he has extensive scarring and this is likely to be difficult to hear.' 'Oh heavens,' the witch whispered. 'How have I not seen this?' 'You aren't the only one who has missed this Minerva.' Severus glanced at the clock. 'I promised Harry I would collect him from his common room. Shall I meet you in Poppy's office?' Minerva nodded silently and he moved to leave her. 'Severus!' He looked back at his colleague who was watching him fearfully. 'How bad is it?' she whispered. 'Honestly Minerva; the worse case I've seen.' He left quietly, leaving the older woman sat at her table in shocked silence. There really wasn't any way to make this easier for anyone, especially Potter. )O( Harry walked slowly up to the hospital wing beside Snape, his heart in his mouth. He couldn't believe he had agreed to this. The professor held the door open for him and they both padded quietly through the empty ward to the office that was tucked away in the far corner.When they entered Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall were already there, both looking more serious that Harry had ever seen them. Harry carefully avoided anyone eyes and instead looked around the small room that had been laid out differently for today. A screen hid an examination bed on one side of the room and four armchairs had been arranged in a circle around a low table. A wooden box with a large crystal sat in the middle of the table and Harry realised that this must be the recording device Snape had warned him about. Severus watched as Poppy put an arm around the young man's waist and gently guided him to one of the chairs, whilst Minerva poured the boy a glass of water. He felt some of his tension dissipating. They were both the picture of professionalism. Maybe they could all get through this day after all. Once the adults were all seated, Poppy took over, explaining as gently as possible the procedure today. 'Harry, I know that Professor Snape has told you a little about what we will be doing here but I just want to go over things with you. Now, he has raised some concerns about your home life so today we are just going to talk about that a bit.' She paused to check he was listening and Harry nodded. At the side Minerva watched her young lion carefully. Harry was pale and nervous but seemed reasonably composed. Poppy continued her explanation quietly. 'Now as there are some concerns that your relatives might have hurt you, I will be starting today by doing what we call a deep scan. That will take about ten minutes and will give us an idea of your general health. Then you can tell us your story.Harry, you don't have to talk about anything you don't want to. I only ask that you don't lie or cover anything up as we will be recording this meeting. If any of us ask something you are not happy about then just say -'I'd rather not answer that,' and we will move on. Does that all sound OK?' Harry nodded again, feeling that he couldn't speak if he wanted to. He let the mediwitch lead him behind the screen and took the hospital gown that she handed him with a wry smile. He spent a ridiculous amount of time in these bloody gowns. She left him alone to change for a few minutes and then helped him up on the examination table. After muttering the spell that would begin the scan, she patted him gently on the hand. 'OK Harry, you just lie as still as you can for a while. I will be back in a few minutes.' He smiled weakly at her and closed his eyes, feeling the hum of magic run through his body, as a hovering parchment listed every illness and injury he had ever had. Harry could hear the murmured conversation through the screen as his professors set up the recording equipment and rustled papers about. He felt tears spring at the side of his eyes as he desperately wished that there was someone here other than his teachers. He didn't think he had ever missed Sirius so much, even though the rational part of him knew that his godfather would have been a nightmare in this situation. The three adults sat on the other side of the screen talking quietly and all knowing that they were finding this hard to deal with. When after twenty minutes the scan had still not finished it's work, even Severus's composure was starting to slip. He exchanged a dark look with his colleagues. They had never had a scan take this long. Poppy nipped back behind the screen to reassure her patient and gave a relieved sigh as the scan finally finished its work. She helped Harry sit up and handed him a tissue, giving him a moment to compose himself. This bit was always dreadfully upsetting for the youngsters. Having learnt to hide injuries, it was terribly frightening to suddenly have it all laid bare for everyone to see. Once she was sure he was recovered, she handed Harry a thick woolly dressing gown and conjured over some slippers. 'Put these on dear and come and join us when you are ready.' Harry took his time getting into the dressing gown and blew his nose heavily. In the mean time Poppy made four copies of the scan reports and handed one to each of her colleagues. It made for shocking and confusing ready. Apart from showing the very poor condition Harry was currently in, it also detailed the alarming number of broken bones, burns, concussions and serious cuts he had suffered over the years. In all the report was five pages long. The three shocked staff looked up as Harry stepped nervously out from behind the screen and made to sit down. Severus stood to meet him. 'Harry, before we begin; would you consent to show Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall your back?' Harry paled but nodded numbly and Severus moved to stand behind the boy, gently turning him around and pulling the dressing gown down to the boys waist. 'It's OK Harry, you don't need to take anything off. I can just move your gown aside.' Severus moved to the side and carefully peeled the back of the hospital gown open, exposing Harry's back to the two women. He was grateful that Harry was facing the other way and didn't see the reaction of his colleagues to the lattice pattern of scars that littered the boys back and shoulders. It was also sobering to be able to see every rib bone, despite the weight the boy had managed to put on. Severus carefully closed the gown and retied it before shrugging the dressing gown back up over the boys shoulders. He let his hands rest on Harry's shoulders for a moment and gave them an encouraging squeeze before leading him back to his chair. 'Thank you Harry, I know that wasn't easy for you.' he said quietly. Harry sat down shakily and reached for his water glass, aware that all of his teachers looked rather upset. That was both disturbing but also strangely comforting. They looked liked they really cared about him and he didn't know how to feel about that. The fourth copy of his scan was sat by his glass but he ignored it, not really wanting to read about his history in that way. Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat and blew her nose before continuing. 'Maybe we could start by just talking about what life has been like for you living at the Dursleys' ?' she asked gently and Harry nodded. When he spoke, he was surprised to find his voice was reasonably steady, if a little huskier than normal. 'They...erm, they don't really like magic,' he started, taking a deep breath. 'For as long as I can remember they have told me that it wasn't their choice to take me in; that it was forced on them. They used to tell me that my parents were drunks who had died in a car crash and that I was as worthless as them.' Poppy gave her friend a sharp look as a murmur of distress escaped Minerva's lips, but Harry, caught up in his memories didn't seem to notice. 'I didn't know I was a wizard but when strange things happened they used to go berserk. They would call me a freak and punish me.' Harry trailed off. 'How would they punish you, Harry?' Severus asked quietly. 'Normally, they would lock me in my cupboard and I wouldn't get any meals for a day or two.' 'Your cupboard?' Poppy asked gently. 'The cupboard under the stairs. That was my bedroom until I got my Hogwarts letter.' A faint smile crossed the boys face. 'They went ballistic when my letter was addressed to 'the cupboard under the stairs'. They thought you knew and would come sweeping down and curse them all.' Harry's face fell. 'Of course, no one ever did come.' Severus watched in concern as Minerva pressed a tissue to her mouth and the tears started to fall. Fortunately, Potter seemed oblivious to all of them. 'They didn't really hit me then. I mean I used to get the occasional slap and Aunty Petunia once hit me over the head with a frying pan because I burnt the breakfast but most punishments were more about withholding things. I wasn't allowed to go on school trips or have new things because they said I spoiled everything.' Poppy interrupted gently, 'The scan says you broke your arm when you five. Can you remember how that happened?' 'Uncle Vernon pushed me down the stairs,' Harry stated flatly. 'Why?' Poppy asked into the shocked silence and Harry shrugged. 'No reason, I guess I was just in his way.' The three adults listened in silence as Harry described the years of torment at Privet Drive and the escalating violence once he had started Hogwarts. 'It was the summer of second year that he first started using the belt,' Harry said numbly. 'I'm not sure what happened but it seemed like it changed that year. It was no longer about punishment. It seemed like he was just hitting me for fun. They had put padlocks on the door and a cat flap so they could pass food in. They locked all my school stuff away so I couldn't do my homework. That was the year I learnt how to do the glamours.' 'Why?' Professor McGonagall asked shakily. 'Why did you you hide it and not try and get help?' Harry considered the question for a while. 'I guess I was embarrassed and I didn't want to give everyone another reason to stare at me. The whole school had just got over the whole 'heir of Syltherin' thing and people were treating me normally again. I didn't want to change that, and besides, it got better.' 'It got better?' Severus questioned. 'In what way?' 'Sirius,' Harry said with a sad smile. 'The next summer I had Sirius. My aunt and uncle were terrified of him and they knew we were in contact. I didn't get hit once that year. They were still awful with food and gave me so many chores that my hands were bleeding by the end of the holidays, but it was much better than before.' Harry paused and took another sip of water.'The next summer wasn't so good. It was just after Voldemort had returned and I was having lots of nightmares and kept waking them up. I got slapped about a bit but nothing too serious. I think they were beginning to doubt that Sirius really existed.' 'What changed last summer?' Poppy asked, her heart already knowing the answer. 'I lost Sirius,' Harry chocked on his godfathers name and for the first time felt tears escape his eyes. He looked down into his lap, carefully avoiding the adults eyes.'Mr Weasley and Moody had a word with Uncle Vernon at the train station and said that they weren't happy with the way that I was being treated there. Vernon was furious. I hadn't even got two feet in the door of the house when he punched me. I don't remember that night at all,' Harry said, his voice trembling. 'He beat me unconscious and just left me in the hall. The headmaster had written them a letter telling them that my godfather had died and that they should be extra nice to me.' Harry barked out a bitter laugh and then dropped his head in his hands with a sob. Severus moved to the arm of the chair and without a thought, gathered the trembling boy into his arms. They stayed liked that for a long time whilst, Harry cried until he felt his heart would break, his hands gripping tightly to his professors arm. Severus rubbed the boys back and pressed tissues into his hands and eventually Harry quietened. 'Was the whole summer like that?' Harry nodded. 'He beat me nearly every day. They only let me out of my room to use the bathroom in the morning and at night and they blocked all my letters. There were a few points that I didn't know if I was going to survive the summer. They gave me a meal every other day.' Harry looked up at his stricken head of house, his eyes red and puffy.'I know I should have told you, but I just kept thinking that there was only one summer to go and I know how dangerous it is for anyone else to house me right now. I don't want anyone else to die because of me.' Severus's arms tightened around the distressed young man sat beside him as he heard Minerva repeat his words from the week before. 'Harry, you are sixteen years old and don't need to be worrying about things like that. Let us worry about security issues. You need to concentrate on being a teenager. That's a full time job.' Harry smiled weakly. 'OK,' he whispered.'I'll try.' Poppy gently worked her way through every major injury on the list and Harry explained how each had happened, whilst the adults got more and more angry. Through it all Severus sat on the arm of Harry's chair, his hand still resting on the boys back and Minerva saw how Harry leant into the touch. She blew her nose, extremely touched by the interaction and realising now what Poppy had been talking about all these years. This was a Severus Snape she had never met before and she was determined to make his acquaintance. It was past five when then had finished and was already dark outside the windows of the office. Harry looked exhausted and as Poppy switched off the recording device she watched him stand unsteadily with concern. Ignoring the professional voice in her head, she walked forward and pulled the boy into a hug. She felt Harry hesitate for a second and then sighed in relief as he relaxed into her arms; his head resting on her shoulder. 'If you have no objections Harry, I think you should stay in the hospital wing tonight.'She said quietly into his ear and Harry nodded, too tired to argue. 'Minerva, Could you get him settled?' Harry let his head of house lead him over to one of the beds and smiled gratefully as she transfigured his hospital gown into a pair of thick blue pyjamas. She waved her wand and brought the back of the bed up into a sitting position, before helping him under the covers and sitting on the side of the bed with him. 'Harry,' she said thickly, taking his hand in hers. 'I want to tell you how proud I am of you. I know that today must have been very hard for you and you were incredibly brave.' She paused and sniffed, looking more upset that Harry had ever seen her.'I also want to apologise to you for sending you back to those monsters every year.' Harry shook his head. 'It wasn't your fault professor. You didn't know.' 'No, but I should have,' she said sadly. 'We have all let you down very badly Harry and I promise that from here on, we'll do better.' Harry squeezed her hand and gave a small smile to Snape as he walked past, his face grave. 'Rest well Potter,' the potions master said firmly as he strode out, his robes billowing behind him. Minerva threw a wry smile at her departing colleague and turned back to Harry. 'It appears that you and Professor Snape were able to overcome some of your differences over the holiday?' Harry smiled and answered earnestly. 'He was brilliant Professor. I was really ill and he sat with me all night. He didn't even tell me off about the glamours, just made me promise that I wouldn't put them back up. And he was furious about Umbridge! I thought he was going to pop something!' Harry trailed off, realising that she might not know about that but from the way her face darkened, she obviously did. 'We were all furious about Umbridge, Harry. Did you really think that I knew about that?' Harry flushed and looked down. 'Yeah. I mean there were so many of us in detention, I didn't see how you couldn't know and when you said...' 'When I told you to keep your head down and stay out of trouble, you thought I was blaming you?' Harry nodded miserably, surprised when his professor leant forward and tucked a stray bit of hair behind his ear tenderly. 'Oh Harry. I was completely exasperated with you all last year but not because you were doing anything wrong. You just kept putting yourself in the target zone again and again. You seem to think you have to fight these battles all by yourself and nothing is further from the truth. It was not your job to convince everyone you-know-who had returned. When I saw that article in The Quibbler I nearly had a heart attack at the thought of what Umbridge might do to you in retaliation.' She squeezed his hand tightly.'I would never have let that woman hurt you. If I'd known what she was doing to the students, and the headmaster...well. I have rarely seen him as angry as he was this morning. You do realise she will go to jail for what she has done?' Harry leant back against the pillows with a sigh. Put like that, he felt rather foolish for not getting help sooner. 'Will you promise that you will come to me in future if you are trouble?' she asked gently and Harry smiled weakly. 'I'll try, but it's not easy for me to rely on others.' She smoothed his hair back from his face with a worried frown.'Given the way your family have treated you, I guess that's not surprising but I hope that, in time,we can prove that we are worthy of your trust.' Minerva smiled sadly at the teenager sat before her. As tired as he was, it made his slight frame look all the more shocking. She would not have wished that awful family on anyone and now the poor child was very much alone. 'I'm very sorry about your godfather Harry. I knew that you had met him a few times but I had no idea you had grown so close.' Harry closed his eyes against the tide of emotions that rode over him and sniffed loudly.'We used to write to each other all the time. He was brilliant and I thought once everything was over we would get to be a proper family.' 'Do you think he would have made a good guardian?' she asked seriously and Harry snorted with laughter. 'No, he would have been terrible! He was like a big kid! I would have ended up looking after him.' Harry blew his nose in his tissue. 'But I know we would have had a lot of fun and I really loved him.' Poppy came to sit beside them, a tray of potions in her hand. She took in Harry and Minerva's tear stained faces with an apologetic glance before gently interrupting. 'Harry, Professor Snape left some potions for you to take to help you relax. Do you think you could manage some dinner first?' Harry grimaced and shook his head, unsurprised when Madam Pomfrey waved her wand and summoned a nutrient potion over to join the others on the tray. He drank the potions one by one and snuggled down into the bed as an immediate wave of sleepiness settled over him. Professor McGonagall lowered the bed down flat and tucked him in. She stepped away and blew her nose loudly, not protesting when Poppy's arm settled around her waist. 'Do you think he'll be OK?' she whispered to the nurse and Poppy nodded. 'He's a very strong young man with a lot of people who care about him. I think he'll be fine. I'm only sorry it took us so long to work out what was going on.' Minerva nodded sadly. 'Me too, Poppy; me too.' )O( Severus walked down to dinner that evening with the days events swimming around his head. Potter had been remarkable. The boy had told his story with an amazing amount of dignity and maturity, only really breaking when the godmutt had come up. Severus scowled at the thought of Black. If only the irresponsible idiot had stayed where he should have been, then things might be a lot better for the boy now. He picked up the air of tension the moment he walked into the dining room. Poppy and Flitwick were talking in hushed whispers whilst the rest of the staff buzzed anxiously around them. 'What's going on?' he asked sharply and Professor Flitwick gave a little squeak. 'It's Minerva, Severus. She's gone off her trolley!' 'What happened?' 'She apparently attacked the headmaster,' Poppy said quietly and Severus raised an eyebrow knowing they both wondering the same thing. Flitwick rushed into a excited explanation. 'I was having a meeting with the headmaster about the end of term tests and she came flying in in a rage. She was screaming something about, 'I told you, I told you those bloody muggles were no good,' and then she punched him.' Severus's mouth fell open. 'She punched him,' he asked incredulously. 'Right in the nose,' the charms professor confirmed. 'Blood everywhere, and the headmaster looked too shocked to do anything. She was still hitting him when I left. I thought a quick retreat might be in order in case he blew the windows out again.' 'A sensible decision, I think,' Severus said dryly, a small smile crossing his face. Professor Sprout listened to the tale in growing horror.'My goodness! We should go make sure he's all right.' 'Not necessary.''He'll be fine.' The rest of the staff fell silent and watched in disbelief as Severus and Poppy sat casually down at the table and laid napkins over their laps. 'Pumpkin juice, Poppy?' Severus asked politely, offering to fill her cup. 'Thank you Severus and could you pass the rolls?' 'But...but....we can't do nothing,'Professor Sprout stuttered. 'She broke his nose!' 'I'm sure he deserved it,' Severus stated firmly and Poppy nodded her head. 'This soup is rather good,' she said as Severus grinned and the rest of the staff stood in shocked silence. )O(