Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Chapter 12

It was the next morning. After Harry found out that his abduction was not random, but targeted, he stopped talking. Severus didn't push anymore. Actually, after Harry cried himself into a restless sleep, the Potions master got up and left his room.

Harry awoke a little shaken that he was again in a bed, but then remembered that he was not with that bastard, but with his Professor. Harry's heart ached. Could he ever catch a break? He wondered. He thought about everything that happened the previous day. The exam. Poppy's confession. Draco's involvement. But right now, the one thing that stuck out in his mind, the one thing that actually made the tips of his ears burn in embarrassment was the fact that Snape had carried him to this room. He didn't know why that bothered him the most at this particular moment, but it did. He was forever grateful that Professor Snape had saved him, that he had taken care of him, but the last thing he wanted was to be more of a burden to the man. Even though Harry couldn't see that much, he wasn't totally blind. He knew that Snape was sitting by his side very rarely leaving.

Harry figured that the best way to help was to not continue to be a burden to the man. Looking around the room, Harry saw that it seemed like he was alone in the room, so he decided to try and see if he could get up and walk.

Trying to gather the strength in his hands to move the heavy blanket aside proved to be more daunting that he thought. When he was finally able to move the blanket after several tries, he then tried to slide his legs so that he could at least sit up in the bed. That proved to be easier said than done. The moment he tried to slide just one leg towards the edge of the bed the lack of use made his joints very sore. His hip ached. The joint felt like there was sand grinding in between them. Harry had to bit his lip to keep from crying out from the aching pain. Taking a deep breath, Harry began the agonizing chore of moving his other leg. Just like the first one, it too hurt and his hip bone began to grind.

Harry was now sitting at an awkward angle. His legs were dangling off the side of the bed, but his head was still on the pillow in the middle. Lifting himself up on his elbows, he tried to lift himself into a sitting position. On very weak wrists, Harry pushed himself into a sitting position. This time he couldn't hold back an agonizing scream from the pain he was in. Once the cry escaped his lips, he fell back on to the bed.

The door swung open.

“Harry, what are you doing?” Severus asked, as he rushed over to the child and tried to get him back into the bed like he had had him.

“No,” Harry gasped when he felt his Professor's hand on his shoulder. “I need to do this myself.” He gasped out. His teeth clenched in pain.

“Right now you can't,” Severus mildly chided, bringing his arm under the child's knees and scooting him over back to the middle of the bed. Quickly, he covered back up the child, then sat down on the edge of the bed. “What are you trying to do?”

“Don't want to be a burden,” Harry said through clenched teeth.

Severus sighed as he got up and walked over to his cupboard and pulled out a pain reliever potion from his stores. Gently grabbing Harry's wrist, Severus put the phial in the child's hand, but did not remove his own. Harry's brow creased.

“Pain reliever,” Severus said to the unasked question.

Harry, with the help of Severus, brought is hand up to his mouth and drank the potion. Sighing after finishing the ill-tasting draught, Harry laid his head back on the pillows.

“Harry, listen to me.” Severus' voice was low. “You have been restrained on a bed for over two weeks. Your muscles are weakened. You won't be able to move much less stand without help. Promise me you will not try to get out of this bed again without me here.”

Harry, sighing, resigning his fate to be nothing but a burden, nodded.

Severus looked at the child. Every emotion was showing on his face. A thought came to the Potions master. Something to break the spiral of despair that was showing on the child's face.

“Potter, what have I told you about your emotions?” Severus took the tone he usually used when teaching.

Harry's eyes popped open. He wasn't scared. It was like in that instant something came back that seemed lost in the past week. That voice came back. Those words came flooding to the front of his mind: Control your emotions. Discipline your mind.

Harry looked over at his Professor. Even though he couldn't see clearly, he could almost see the sternness in the man's face as if he were in class.

“Well, Potter,” Severus snapped. “I'm waiting.”

“Control your emotions,” Harry recited.

With a smirk, Severus said, “Very good, Harry. Now I know that you're upset. You're hurting. I want you to listen very carefully to what I tell you. You are not, and will never be, a burden.”

“But, sir,” Harry's voice wavered.

“Never, Harry,” Severus said, cutting the child off. “Now, since you've been treated, I'm sure that you would like to get cleaned up.”

Harry nodded. Severus got up from the bed and reached for the child in order to carry him to the awaiting tub that was currently filling with warm water. When Harry felt his Professor hand go under his knees again, he stiffened, but not in fear.

“I want to walk,” Harry pleaded.

Severus had thought of arguing with the boy that his legs were too weak, but quickly dismissed the idea. If Harry was still wanting to fight and had a passion about something, who was he to deny him that?

“Alright, Harry,” Severus conceded. “But you will lean on me. I will help you into the bathroom and help you in the tub. And once you're done, you will call for me to help you out of the tub and back in here.” Severus saw that Harry was about to protest, but he cut him off by saying, “That is the only way I will allow you to stand. Take it or leave it.”

A small smile ghosted over the child's lips. He raised his arms towards the Professor in a nonverbal way of asking for help to be sat up. Severus saw the small smile and his hope that Harry would be able to get pass this seemed to grow. In that one little smile, Severus saw the look in the child that he hadn't seen since the boy's third year.

Gently lifting the child, Severus placed the boy, with the blanket still wrapped around him, on his feet. Harry bit back a groan as his weakened ankles tried to hold his weight. Harry knew that if Snape wasn't standing next to him, he would be on the floor now. At that moment, he was glad that Snape had stopped him from trying to stand up before.

Because Harry's arms were wrapped in the blanket, it made it difficult for Harry to grab a hold to Snape. For the reasons of warmth and dignity for the child, Severus insisted that the blanket stay around his shoulders. With his arm around the child's waist, and having Harry leaning against the side of him, the two wizards made the long slow trek to the en suite bathroom.

When they got in the bathroom, Severus noted that the tub had finally filled to his liking. He waved his hand and wandlessly stopped the water from flowing from the faucet. Walking over to the edge of the tub, Severus and Harry stopped. Severus pushed the blanket from around Harry's shoulders. Because of the steam that was generating from the hot water for the tub, it made it comfortable in the room when the blanket came off. While Severus tossed the blanket on the floor by the sink, Harry tried to pull at the collar of his shirt so he could take it off. He was slightly surprised when he felt a hand on his wrist stopping the movement.

“Harry,” Severus soothingly said. “Listen, I would like you to have as much privacy as possible, so I'm going to place you in the water and then we'll take off the shirt.”

After saying that, Severus leaned down and scooped Harry in his arms and very carefully placed the child into the steamy water. Severus then removed the now soaked shirt, that Harry had been wearing since the end of term, and tossed it to the floor next to the discarded blanket.

Once Harry was immersed in the water, he quickly felt his achy muscles relax in the soothing water. A sigh escaped the child's lips as he all but melted in the soothing depths of the water around him.

Severus pulled his wand out of his sleeve and waved it over the water, so that it would keep its temperature throughout Harry's soak. He then pulled two phials of potions out of his robe pocket. Quickly uncorking it, Severus poured the contents into the water. Harry, basking in the delicious good warmth that the water was providing, didn't even realize his eyes were closed until he opened them seeing his Professor pouring what looked like a potion in the water.

Before Harry could ask the question, Severus said, “This is to help soothe your muscles. I want you to soak in the water for a while. While you're here, I want you to focus on clearing your mind. I want you to find a safe place in your mind and I want you to try and build it up again. I'll be back in a little while.” With that, Severus walked out of the bathroom, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

Harry thought about a safe place. A safe place in his mind.

Harry thought back to everything that happened in the past few months. So much had happened. Harry mind wandered to that room and he felt his heart begin to pound in his chest out of fear. The next image that passed through his mind was the Hogwarts Express. For some reason that brought a bit of panic rising up in his belly. This time, Harry had to force himself to slow his breathing so that he could calm down.

The next image that came to is mind's eye was a dark room. This room was filled with jars of different ingredients. The room was dark but not so dark that he couldn't see. There was just enough light for him to walk around this room and not knock anything down. The more he looked around the room, the more comfortable and safe he became. Harry knew instantly where he was. The first thought that came to his mind was why would it be Snape's office that kept him calm? Then he thought in almost a scolding manner towards himself, why wouldn't it be Snape that calms him down? After everything Professor Snape had done for him, Harry would have been surprised if it wasn't Snape that was the one thing that could truly calm him down.

Harry had no idea how long he was soaking in the tub, and right now, his sleepy eyes showed that he really didn't care and in a few moments, Harry was going to be on his way to sleeping. He was brought back into the stage of awareness when there was a soft wrap on the door. Seconds later, the door opened to the all black blurry figure that stood in the doorway.

Severus walked in the room. He had a pair of pajamas in his hand that he got from Poppy. Under his other arm was a thick plush towel.

“Alright, Harry,” Severus said, walking over towards the tub. “Are you ready to get out and go back to bed?”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said in a sleepy murmur.

Severus knew that Harry was on his way to falling asleep. He knew that telling the child to meditate on a safe place in his head would put him in the right mindset to have a restful sleep without the aid of a very addictive Dreamless sleep potion. Letting the water drain out of the tub, Severus opened up the plush towel and wrapped around the teen and picking his up at the same time. Gently placing him so that he leaned against the tub, Severus dried the sleepy teen as fast as he could so that he could get him dressed and back into bed.

Once Harry was finally back into bed, he was wearing pajamas and Severus was tucking the child under the covers. Severus cast a slight warming charm on the child's blankets to keep him warm but not too hot. Then he turned and left the room, leaving the child sleeping peacefully for the first time in a long time.

TBC


You must login (register) to review.
[Report This]


Disclaimer Charm: Harry Potter and all related works including movie stills belong to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Bros, and Bloomsbury. Used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended. No money is being made off of this site. All fanfiction and fanart are the property of the individual writers and artists represented on this site and do not represent the views and opinions of the Webmistress.

Powered by eFiction 3.5