Severus tapped his wand against the flat of his hand as he walked down the corridor, enjoying the sharp, echoing sound that it made in the hallway. It was his night to check that the kiddies were all safely tucked away in their beds all snug and sound. There was still a half an hour to go before curfew, but Severus found that starting his rounds a little early made it possible for him to end that much earlier.

Severus put his hands on the small of his back and stretched, taking pleasure in the sound of the bones 'cracking' as he did so. It felt good, though it did nothing to ease the fatigue that had settled over him of late.

Yawning, Severus twisted his neck to the side, and heard another 'crack' as he did so. He felt much too old for his age. Cricks and creaks and sleepless nights were meant for wizards far older than himself, like Dumbledore, or the grandfather he'd never been permitted to meet when he was a child.

The fact that the elder Prince wizard was seeking him out now, in the twilight of his life, did nothing to quell the bitter anger that Severus felt toward his mother's pretentious family. The Princes had outright disowned his mother when she married Tobias Snape. Granted, Severus' father was a deplorable Muggle, but that did excuse them turning their backs on Eileen.

Severus had not yet answered a single one of his grandfather's multiple inquiries, though Dumbledore had encouraged him to at least give the wizard a chance. He'd cited the folly of youth, but Severus had summarily dismissed the Headmaster's excuses as paltry at best.

Severus' grandfather had hardly been a youth when his only daughter had fallen victim to a drunken, abusive bastard. Nor had the wizard been a youth when Severus was growing up, dodging his father's fists and developing a quick wit and a sharp tongue so as to lure his father's violent attentions away from his mother.

No, Severus Cornelius Prince, the very wizard that Severus was named after, could rot in the very bowels of Azkaban for all that Severus cared. The wizard had turned his back on his only daughter, snubbed her in her greatest time of need, and was only now reaching out because he was concerned about carrying on the Prince name.

Where was the great, pure-blood Prince wizard when Eileen cried herself to sleep after Tobias had a go at her? Where was he when Severus was being beaten because he'd asked an impertinent question? Where was the great, and almighty, Severus C. Prince, when Severus was facing the most difficult decision of his young life after his mother's death? Where was the wizard when Severus had been coerced into taking the Dark Mark? When he'd been foolish enough to give the Dark Lord the very thing he needed to kill the one person he'd loved most in this world, aside from his mother?

Severus scowled darkly and arched his back, relishing the way his bones 'popped' into place and eased some of the tension that he'd been feeling lately with regard to his grandfather's sudden interest in him, and Harry Potter's recent mishaps.

That boy, Lily's child or not, was going to be the death of him one of these days. He was so much like his irresponsible, spoiled father that Severus found it difficult to see anything of Lily in him, save for in the eyes. Harry had his mother's eyes, much as he had his father's untamable hair and charming, good looks. It was a combination which Severus found disconcerting at best.

Severus paused mid-step when he heard the sound of voices coming from around a corner. They were speaking in hushed, urgent whispers. Their voices, though they didn't carry far, echoed in the stone corridor and carried themselves to where Severus stood.

He couldn't make out who the students were, but from the timbre of the voices, he surmised that both conspirators were boys. If Merlin was on his side, the boys would be from Minerva's house and he'd be able to rub it into the Gryffindor's head of house for days to come, that two of her boys were out and about the castle so late.

Smiling to himself, Severus inched forward, intent upon giving the boys a good scare to emphasize the dangers of hanging out in the castle at all hours of the night. Just as he was about to round the corner and confront the two, soon to be curfew breakers, he heard something that caused his steps to falter.

"You need to go to a professor and tell them what's been going on at the Dursley's."

"I can't."

Severus ground his teeth as he recognized the voices of Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter. He sighed heavily, and stood as still as possible, in an attempt to hear what lies Potter would weave for his best friend's benefit.

"But, Harry, you've got to tell someone what they've been doing. It isn't right." Weasley sounded angry, and Severus could imagine the redhead's freckled face blotched with spots of red that would put his hair to shame.

"Doesn't matter." Potter's voice was muffled, and Severus rolled his eyes. "Dumbledore says I've got to live with them. Besides, I tried to tell a teacher once, but..."

"But what? What happened, Harry?" Severus heard what he thought was the shifting of robes over stone and wondered if Weasley had sat down next to Potter.

"They said I was lying and my uncle..." the boy's words trailed off into nothingness that Severus strained to hear.

"What did your uncle do?"

"Nothing." Potter's voice sounded clear and determined, and Severus detected a lie.

"Then why are you so worried about telling one of the professors now?" Weasley asked, and Severus wondered that himself.

"'S no reason to," Potter said. "Besides, it's not that big a deal."

"Harry," Severus could hear the eye roll indicated by the tone of voice Weasley had used, and he wondered if the boy hadn't been spending too much time around Granger. "Being starved and locked up is a big deal. It's not normal. At least not in the wizarding world."

Severus frowned and shook his head. He took a step toward the boys, but was once more stopped, this time by Potter's voice.

"I didn't grow up in the wizarding world, Ron. I grew up with Muggles who hated me and what I am. So maybe being kept in a...in a cupboard, or a...a bedroom with locks on the outside and being fed..."

"Portions not fit for an owl," Weasley cut his best friend off angrily. "Harry, what your relatives are doing to you is criminal, and I don't think that it's just by wizarding standards. I think that in the muggle world, what they're doing to you isn't right either. And that's not even going into the fact that they treat you like a house elf, and hit you, and..."

"It isn't that bad," Potter's voice cracked, and Severus took another step toward the boys.

He could now see around the corner. Potter and Weasley were sitting side-by-side on a window seat - the very one that Severus had sat on with Lily from time-to-time during their tenure at Hogwarts, before James Potter had torn her from him. Severus tamped down on his memories as he recalled a similar conversation that he'd had with Lily Evans. He, too, had told his best friend that things weren't that bad, and had convinced her that he was okay, that they didn't need to go to a professor, because his father wasn't that bad.

Potter's chin was resting atop his knees, his arms were wrapped around his legs, and there was a certain determined resignation on his face. Sitting like that, the young wizard looked so small, and vulnerable. When seen in juxtaposition with the long, lanky figure of his best friend, Potter looked downright diminutive.

Ronald Weasley had hit a growth spurt sometime during the summer, Severus and the other professors had surmised, and had returned to Hogwarts a giant amidst many of his cohorts. It never ceased to amaze Severus how quickly young wizards and witches could grow during their teens. Sometimes it seemed that they grew several inches overnight.

Potter, however, had yet to hit his growth spurt. Student growth or lack thereof, was a topic of conversation among his co-workers. It never failed to bore Severus out of his skull, as did their inane discussion of what was ailing what student, or who was dating whom, or which witch was creating drama. It was enough to drive a sane wizard insane. Yet, he did remember how concerned Minerva was when she'd mentioned that Potter seemed small for his age. He wasn't as tall or robust as his father had been, nor did he seem to take after his mother at that age.

"You're forgetting, mate," Weasley's voice was soft, kind even, yet it was unyielding, "that I saw the marks on your back."

Potter tilted his head to the side and regarded his friend for a long moment. Potter's mouth twisted in variety of expressions that Severus found difficult to read from as far away as he was. He took another step forward and held his breath when Potter's forehead scrunched, as though he'd heard something. When Potter merely drew in a shuddery breath and then shrugged, Severus breathed freely again.

"They're not that bad," Potter insisted, smiling, trying to ease Weasley's misgivings.

Severus was suddenly struck by a memory, one that he couldn't easily dismiss even though he hadn't thought of it once during the intervening years.

'I'm okay, Lily', Severus promised the young witch. She was sitting beside him, hugging her knees to her chest, and eyeing him dubiously.

Lily's eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head. 'No, you're not, Severus. You're not okay, and I'm worried that one of these days, he's going to kill you.'

Not wanting to see her cry, Severus affected a smile and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, touching his nose to hers. This corridor, this window seat, was a special place that just the two of them knew about. There was no chance that they'd be caught together by either Slytherins or Gryffindors - both of whom would give them a hard time for being friends and hanging out together.

'I promise you that I'm alright. Tobias isn't going to kill me,' Severus said with more conviction than he'd felt.

'I still think you should tell someone, maybe Professor Dumbledore,' Lily said, and then she grasped one of his hands in hers and had squeezed. 'Please?'

Sighing, Severus nodded. 'I promise that I'll tell a professor if things get worse.'

Severus closed his eyes to banish the memory. He hadn't meant to lie to Lily, but things had gone from bad to worse during that holiday, and he hadn't told a professor as he'd promised he would. He'd kept it to himself, too ashamed to admit that, in addition to being a poor half-blood, he was also smacked around by his father, and unable to protect his mother.

"Besides, it's not like I have to live with them all year long," Potter wheedled.

Weasley shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. A mutinous look creased his features and he leveled a heated glare at his friend.

"You're unbelievable," Weasley's voice was quiet and it shook with emotion. "I don't get why you'd want to defend those...those Muggles." Weasley ran a hand through his hair and looked away from his friend.

Severus froze when he realized he'd been spotted by the teen. Instead of calling attention to his presence, though, Weasley gave Severus a considering look and then twisted his lips upward in what might've been a smile. It was a very Slytherin look, and Severus saw it for what it was - a calculated move, not unlike one that the redhead would've made in a game of chess. Except, there was much more at stake here than a rook or a checkmate.

"I'm not defending them," Potter, unaware of Severus' presence, said irritably.

"Yeah, you are," Weasley insisted. "By saying that they're not that bad, you are saying that you deserve it, and that they're right."

Potter drew in a deep breath and let it out through his mouth, causing the fringe of hair on his forehead to flutter. "Why can't you just let it go?"

Weasley turned from Severus to look at Potter. "Because, you're my best friend, and you need help. What if it was me or Hermione? Would you just let it go?"

Potter shook his head. "But, it's not you or Hermione."

Weasley regarded his friend and scoffed. "You're no different than me or Hermione."

Potter barked out a strangled sort of half laugh and he buried his head in his knees before lifting it and giving his friend an incredulous look. "I'd hate to break it to you, Ron, but I'm the boy who lived. I've defeated Voldemort. Who the hell is going to believe me when I tell them that...that..."

"Your aunt, uncle and cousin are mistreating you?" Weasley asked the question that Potter couldn't voice.

Potter nodded, and wiped at a tear with the back of his hand. His mouth was quivering and the boy was shaking, and Severus couldn't seem to make his feet stop moving.

"Show me," Severus spoke to Weasley, ignoring Potter completely. The boy was trembling and sputtering, and Severus had absolutely no use for him at the moment.

Weasley wasted no time in grasping and pulling the sleeve one of Potter's arms, baring it to his professor.

"This is just one of the bruises," Weasley said, pointing to an already fading finger-shaped bruise on Potter's forearm. "There are others on his back, shoulders and legs."

"Is this the first time he's come to Hogwarts bearing these types of marks?" Severus asked.

Potter wasn't looking at either of them, and he drew his arm around himself the moment that it was released.

"No, Sir. He comes here bruised and hurting every single school year," Weasley's answer wasn't what Severus had wanted to hear, but it was what he'd expected, given what he'd already overheard.

Severus nodded, and he watched Potter warily. The boy was clearly distraught, and angry, and trying hard to fight off imminent tears. Potter's breathing was coming in harsh gasps. The distressed sound that accompanied crying echoed in the corridor, and Severus felt completely out of his element.

He almost sighed in relief when Weasley sat down next to his friend and wrapped his arms around the other boy. At first, Potter stiffened, and then he suddenly sagged. Severus cleared the distance between himself and the Gryffindor teens in three long strides, reaching them in time to catch Potter before he fell to the floor.

"Harry!" Weasley's voice boomed, and Severus winced, but he didn't release his hold on Potter.

"Mr. Weasley," Severus said in clipped tones, "a little help here."

Potter was clinging to him, and Severus felt a painful twinge in his lower back. Potter was half-slumped against him and sobbing into his robes. It was an awkward and uncomfortable and uncomfortable position. Severus didn't like how it made him feel vulnerable, and sorry for the boy who'd been a thorn in his side for so long.

"Here, Professor, let me just..." Weasley hovered around the two of them, looking a little lost as to how he could best help. Severus rolled his eyes, and shifted, giving Weasley better access to Potter who was acting as if all of the bones in his body had been vanished in one go.

"Potter, get a hold of yourself," Severus snapped, and was both surprised and relieved when Potter straightened, taking some of his own weight.

Potter frantically swiped at his face with the back of his hand, and sniffed as he tried to get his emotions under control. His face was pale and blotchy, and Severus couldn't help but think that the boy looked ugly when he cried. Eyes, red and puffy; nose running; face streaked with the trails of tears.

Severus blinked and looked away when it struck him that Potter reminded him of Lily when she'd been crying. It was a sobering thought, and, as he and Weasley helped guide Potter toward the Hospital Wing, Severus tried everything he could to keep the image of Lily crying over her son's lost childhood from his mind. It didn't work.

Leaving Potter and Weasley in Madame Pomfrey's care, after having quietly explained the situation to the mediwitch, Severus made his way to the Headmaster's office. He trusted that the school's mediwitch would ascertain the full extent of Potter's abuse, and record her findings in a professionally detached fashion as she'd done for a number of other young witches and wizards that Severus, and other staff members, had brought to her over the years. She was good at coaxing students to talk when others couldn't get them to, and had always done a thorough job examining them.

"Cockroach clusters," Severus said to the gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's offices.

It was with a heavy, conflicted heart that Severus made his way up to his mentor's office. He'd promised to protect and keep Potter safe while the boy was at Hogwarts, because Dumbledore had asked him to, and he'd felt compelled to comply for Lily's sake.

But, if the boy was unsafe with his family during the summer months, then Severus knew that no amount of being protected while at school was going to ensure that Potter was indeed safe. He had no idea what he was going to tell Dumbledore, how he was going to explain what he'd discovered while looking for miscreants.

"Severus, what a pleasant surprise," Dumbledore said with a voice that lacked its usual enthusiasm. He gestured to the seat opposite himself, and Severus sat down, declining a proffered treat.

Years of dealing with the wizened wizard had taught Severus not to be surprised when Dumbledore seemed to know that something was up before being told anything. It was something that Severus wished he was capable of doing.

"To what do I owe a visit from my favorite Potions Master?" Dumbledore asked in a voice lacking its usual gaiety.

"It has come to my knowledge that Mr. Potter's home life is not what many of us have been led to believe," Severus cut right to the chase.

Dumbledore leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk. He pierced Severus with a discerning look, and, keeping all that he'd overheard and seen, with regard to Potter, at the forefront of his mind, Severus returned the Headmaster's gaze without flinching.

Looking away, Dumbledore blinked heavily and covered his mouth with a gnarled hand. He drew in a deep breath, and looked at Severus.

"I'm sorry," Dumbledore said. "I thought it was for the best to leave young Harry with his relatives. I never dreamed that Petunia and her family would abuse him."

"I don't think that what I bore witness to was even the worst of it," Severus said after some thought. "Weasley indicated that Potter has other injuries, which Poppy will no doubt uncover."

Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly, a pained look crossed his face, and Severus waited, wondering what the Headmaster would do. Blood wards or not, Potter couldn't continue to live with the Dursleys, not with the abuse he'd suffered at their hands. With Black on the loose, and the entire wizarding world on the brink of another war, the Headmaster was between a rock and a hard place - a Muggle phrase that Severus thought was rather apt for the situation.

When the Headmaster lifted his eyes, and looked at him - blue eyes twinkling and determined - Severus immediately shook his head. Whatever plan Dumbledore had cooked up was cockamamie at best, and he was not going to play along with it.

"Severus," Dumbledore's voice had lost some of its earlier sadness, "if you are amenable, might I be able to interest you in a proposition?"

Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Headmaster, I am not in a position to care for any student, let alone Harry Potter."

To emphasize his point, he rolled his sleeve up to reveal the forearm that the Dark Lord had branded when he'd chosen to join the megalomaniac. Though the Dark Mark was barely visible, Severus could almost feel it undulating and burning beneath his skin, as it had when the Dark Lord had been active.

Dumbledore merely raised an eyebrow, and popped a lemon drop in his mouth. He sucked on the Muggle candy for a moment, and it made him look especially thoughtful. Severus wondered, absurdly, if that is why the wizard persisted in having the sweetly sour candy on hand.

"And yet, you are the one giving voice to the proposition," Dumbledore said after a lengthy pause. He scratched at his beard - something else which made him look thoughtful, and wise. "Which leads me to believe that you are not as opposed to the idea of taking Potter, and possibly a few other students with less than ideal home lives, into your care."

Severus groaned and glared at Dumbledore. The elder wizard was the best of all four houses rolled up into one, and Severus knew that he'd been had.

Resigned, Severus asked, "Headmaster, what exactly did you have in mind?"

The smile that Dumbledore gave him was nearly blinding, and Severus rolled his eyes, knowing that his mentor wouldn't take offense.

"You've indicated that your grandfather has taken a sudden interest in familial matters," Dumbledore said slowly, as though he was thinking as he spoke, but Severus knew better than that. He knew that his mentor had been thinking on this very thing for a long while, perhaps not with the end result being him taking on Potter as a charge, but with other purposes in mind.

Severus nodded. "He has; I've refused his advances, as you well know."

Dumbledore inclined his head and gave him a small smile. "Might I suggest that you take him up on his offer, and secure the position as heir to the Prince title and inheritance?"

"By dangling Potter as the proverbial carrot?" Severus finished the Headmaster's thought.

Dumbledore nodded, and his smile broadened. "It would negate any prior magical holdings on your life, and..."

Severus absentmindedly rubbed at the all but invisible Dark Mark on his forearm. "And, when the Dark Lord returns, I'd be free from servitude."

"Yes," Dumbledore said quietly. "And, Harry would have a safe home."

"Because the Dark Lord would no longer have any sway over me, and would have to contend with ancient, familial magic that he doesn't have the acumen to understand," Severus finished the Headmaster's thought.

"That is, if you are willing to do this for Harry," Dumbledore's voice was soft, sad, "and the wizarding world."

"There is no love lost between the Potter boy and I, and I cannot pretend that I even like him," Severus said. "Not to mention the fact that Potter despises me as well."

"I believe that can be amended, if you are willing to do what it takes," Dumbledore said, and held his hands up in a placating manner when Severus narrowed his eyes at him. "Harry easily forgives and is quick to love, and, I believe that, given the recent revelations, perhaps, over time, your heart might be so moved as to possibly like Harry."

"Perhaps," Severus agreed noncommittally, thinking that it'd be far more likely for him to fall in love with Black or Lupin, but he wisely kept those thoughts to himself lest he bring any more trouble upon himself.

Dumbledore gave him a small smirk, which made Severus wonder if the wizard was privy to the very thoughts of his mind, but he shook that thought off. "Is that a yes, or a no, Severus?"

"Fine, I shall agree to take my grandfather up on his offer and mend the fences which he burnt to the ground," Severus practically growled out. When Dumbledore continued to look at him expectantly, he sighed and added, "And, I shall adopt Potter as my heir to break the ties which bind me to the Dark Lord, and bind myself, as well as Potter, to the Prince name and blood."

Dumbledore clapped his hands together once, and Fawkes trilled. It was a single note, and yet it was hauntingly beautiful and it stirred something in Severus' heart. Maybe he could, as Dumbledore had said - over a considerable amount of time - come to at least like the Potter boy, if they didn't kill each other first.