Harry didn't know where he was, which wasn't unusual, but what was unusual was that he felt comfortable.
Like we was floating. Kind of like he was floating on clouds.
He didnt want to open his eyes because this was just about the nicest he could remember feeling in a really long time.
Like his body was being rocked.
He didnt even feel like he needed to move. He just felt calm and comfortable.
And then everything started feeling heavy. But it was a good heavy. Like he was falling into his body.
And he fell asleep.
...
Little did Harry know that while he was feeling good, those around him definitely were not.
Dumbledore was puzzled. Hagrid had come in with little Harry in his arms and they had looked so sweet so close and comfortable together. Dumbledores eyes twinkled when he looked at the pair, glad that they had already formed such a strong bond.
But they soon stopped twinkling after Hagrid had explained what had happened.
And now he was worried. Both for the child, and for what this would mean for the times ahead.
If there was something wrong with Harry, then there would be even worse consequences for the war.
He needed something done for the boy now. Right away.
He was waiting for Severus. He always knew what to say in these sort of situations. These situations where Albus could only look at and think of all that he couldnt do. He could do so much, understand so much, but he didnt understand everything. He couldnt 'fix' everything.
And Severus understood this. Severus was one of few who saw Albus as what he truly was, fallible.
And Albus really needed that right now. Someone who could see that Albus... needed help.
And until Severus could get there, Albus had done what he thought was best.
Potions.
He had let that boy sleep.
At first it had been fitfully. With Harry, muttering so many things that concerned Albus.
He had said he was bad. Evil. Confused. So confused. Had begged for it to just stop. For the world to stop. He had begged for everything to just go away. He had begged to be let to sleep forever.
Albus couldnt let it be forever.
But looking down at the boy, he decided, that while it couldnt be forever- he could give this child 'now'.
He would let him sleep. Would let him rest.
And then. Everything for the child, could hopefully begin again.
—-
Severus was annoyed.
He was just in the middle of doing absolutely nothing important when the headmaster called for him.
Probably about something even LESS important.
He made his way down the hallways to see what the wretched man wanted with him now.
He was sure he was not going to enjoy this conversation.
And he was absolutely right
...
The second he opened the door he found a highly worried Albus. He could tell of course, right away, that something was very wrong.
He glided towards his normal chair and sat down resolutely.
He was going to need his strength for whatever the headmaster had to tell him.
He waited for the headmaster to say something. Anything. That would further cue him in to whatever was going on.
But the headmaster was very still.
The ordinary person would not think anything of it particularly. It looked as if, to the untrained eye, that the older man was just concentrating. That he wasnt particularly bothered, just focused on whatever he happened to be thinking.
But Severus knew the truth. When the headmaster got this quiet, this still, something- something big that he couldnt immediately grasp, immediately solve- was on his mind.
Finally the headmaster spoke. There was no twinkle in his eye, no smile on his face, nothing at all remotely reassuring when he looked at Severus and said-
"There is something wrong with Harry."
...
Severus couldnt believe that this was what he had been called down for, to hear about Potter. The boy was supposed to be home with his relatives, away from him for a bit longer. Of course for Severus this time period was not long enough, but he felt, no matter how unsatisfying the reminder that the Potter boy was going to eventually arrive, he was due these last few days Potter free.
But of course not. No. Potter was already insistent on infiltrating every aspect of Severus's life. Already. And he hadnt even gotten the chance to say good bye to his free time. To his sanity.
The man rambled on. Saying how Potter was... acting strangely.
At first this annoyed Severus. Because of course Potter would do whatever it took to get attention. But as he listened further and further, Severus became more and more confused.
Conflicted. Of course, the boy could be just acting. Just looking to set himself up, again, as the center of everyones universe.
But... the more and more he heard, the less it made sense.
The boy had cried.
Not the tears of a child with everything in the palm of their grubby hand, but the tears of someone- feeling somehow- in some serious way- of having something without.
The tears of someone lost, without a way of finding themselves. The tears of someone completely desperate, completely helpless.
And almost defeated.
Severus knew how that felt. He knew what it felt to feel as if, everything worth existing for, was missing. Gone. Taken from him.
And reaching out for it, wanting it so badly, and having to face the reality again and again... of not getting it. Of having the door slammed in his face again and again. Until it hurt to hope that anything would be able to fill again all that had been drained away.
What he heard from Albus, the reports of uncontrollable crying, the overheard mutterings of self hatred... it sounded as if the boy were truly lost.
But the child was still a Potter. And if the father had been good at manipulating those around him, it could be suggested that the apple might not fall from the tree.
He knew he needed to say something to Albus. He just was not sure what. But if this was a problem, he knew he would have to work to solve it.
And that meant talking to the boy.
Now.
Chapter 7