He cringed back, banging his head rather painfully on the underside of the bed, but not managing to make himself care when he felt his back fit snug against the wall. That was the important part. He was safe against a wall, and they couldn't fit under here. They were too big. Like Uncle Vernon, only Uncle Vernon always came up with a way to get him, anyway...

He didn't want to think about that, though, no, he didn't, so instead he stuck his index finger in his mouth and sucked furiously, teeth indenting the skin. It was weird and made him a freak, but he didn't care about being a freak. He just cared about getting away from the prickly-flea-bites of words, from the ever-thickening cloud of anger/fear/pain that always seemed to coalesce around him.

The scary man hadn't hit him yet, but he would. He could see it in the scary man's eyes. They weren't Uncle Vernon eyes, not quite, but they didn't look very nice, either. The nurse lady had nice eyes, but he didn't trust her either, because Aunt Petunia had nice eyes sometimes, too, but she wasn't nice at all.

"Harry?" He heard creaking, and the bed dipped down in front of him, then the nurse lady was there, peering under the bed. He shrank back, willing himself to disappear, to be not-there, to be unseen. It didn't work.

"I can see you, I'm afraid," the nurse lady informed him gently. He thought she would laugh at him, but there wasn't any sharp needle laughter in her voice.

"Not Harry," he insisted in a whisper around his finger. The nurse lady looked confused, her forehead wrinkling up, but she didn't call him Harry again, which was nice.

"Do you have a name?" she tried next. He shook his head, feeling the ends of dark untidy hair whip against his skin. He liked that feel, that soft yet harsh texture against his face, so he did it again.

"Will you come out?" the nurse lady asked. He hesitated. She sounded nice. But the scary man was out there, too. And he didn't look nice at all. Probably if he came out, the scary man would leap on him and hurt him like Uncle Vernon. The scary man had been nice getting him out of the cupboard, but it was probably a trick. If he let his guard down, then the scary man would turn bad.

Slowly, he shook his head.

"That's all right," the nurse lady said kindly. "Would you like a little more room under there? It doesn't look very nice. And perhaps you'd like this?" From thin air, she produced a very soft-looking blue teddy bear. His hand reached out for it before he even realised he'd moved, and he snatched himself back with a painful-sounding whimper.

"No, it's okay!" she reassured him, pushing the teddy bear closer. "He's yours. Does he have a name?"

"No," he said, muffled, as he pulled the soft toy against his chest, feeling the softness of its fur under his fingertips. "He don't need a name."

"No, he doesn't," she agreed easily enough. "And here you go." She waved a long, thin stick that made him jump in fright and bang his head against the wall again, and suddenly, the erstwhile ceiling was almost a foot taller, and the wall behind him felt a lot softer, too.

"Would you like anything else?" the nurse lady questioned him, but he stared down into the button eyes of his new teddy bear and shook his head again.

The nurse lady stood back up, and he could hear the creaking of her knees again, before her soft-soled shoes stepped away from his hiding place. The prickly feeling of words stung as she talked with the scary man, but he couldn't understand them this time.

His head felt very noisy all of a sudden, and he clutched at his ears in pain, doubling over and pressing his face against the soft blue fur of his teddy bear.

No, no, no, he thought fiercely, but it didn't matter.

You need to go back inside, a voice told him gently, but he shook his head. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave his new teddy bear. It was his and only his, the nurse lady had given it to him, and if he wasn't out here, what would happen to him?

I will take good care of your teddy bear, the voice said patiently. And you can have a...twin of your teddy bear inside. He will be fine.

You promise? he whispered in doubt, his eyes over-large and his bottom lip wobbling.

Yes, the voice said, soothing. I promise.

Okay, he finally agreed, petting his stuffed animal almost compulsively over and over until his body slumped a bit to one side.

Tom sat up, looked around, and cursed as quietly as he could. He had no idea how he was going to explain this one, and truthfully? He wasn't sure he even wanted to try.