Chapter Text
The walk to the Hospital Wing was a long one. Snape on one side and the dog on the other, Harry couldn’t peel off like he desperately wanted to; they had him trapped. He cleared his throat, as if to get rid of the tense and thick silence that made even the portraits stay silent and pause their gossiping. “So, who is your dog?”
“That is most certainly not my dog,” Snape answered, glaring at the dog in question. There was barely concealed malice in his gaze, and Harry felt the need to run begin to get even more prominent.
“Well, whose dog is it? Seems weird to have a dog running around; I wasn’t aware dogs were on the acceptable familiars list.” Harry asked, edging away from the man. The dog brushed against his side. It wouldn’t have mattered, truly; this dog may be the only one he’s met that he hadn’t been scared to death of. A flash of Vernon’s sister's ugly dogs came to mind, but Harry firmly shoved it away. It was of no help now. Besides, even with its matted fur, this dog was loads prettier than Marge’s.
“Lupins.” The answer was almost spat, and his face was twisted into a snarl. The dog let out a low warning growl. Almost as if it was protective of Lupin. Harry knew that dogs can be trained but has never truly met a trained dog. Perhaps Lupin had gotten this dog professionally trained, it sure seemed like it; he hadn’t nipped at his heels all evening.
“Professor Lupin has a dog? Much less they allowed Professor Lupin to have a dog on campus? That’s cool, I guess. He seemed well behaved, at least. Better than some I know.” Snape didn’t deign his comments any response, and if anything, it made the walk seem even longer. Harry tried again, “what did you tell the dog earlier?”
“Nothing you do not know yourself,” the man griped. As they got closer, his body started to slow. Harry was going to be in deep trouble. Snape stopped and Harry realized belatedly that the dog had peeled off sometime. Lucky. “Harry…you’ve been hurt.”
Harry didn’t say anything, just stared above his shoulder. How did they know? Why did that dog seem so familiar? How did Lupin know he was hurt? Why wasn’t he contradicting him? Why wasn’t he trying harder to get away from him; away from the Hospital Wing; away from everyone?
“Despite what you think, Harry, I do not want you to be miserable. I do not want you to be hurt.” Harry finally looked at him but kept his silence. It felt as if the words would refuse to form and he would crack right in the middle of the hall where everyone could see. Harry couldn’t bear to see the consequences of his voice, so he kept his mouth shut.
He shook his head and gently gathered Harry’s arm, possibly the gentlest hold he had ever been in in his entire life, and guided Harry to the entrance doors of the Hospital Wing. “She’ll put you to sleep, Harry. For a little while at least.”
Harry’s voice was ripped through his throat, his panic evident. “What? Why?” There was no doubting where Harry’s mind was going. There was this deep, dark pit in his mind that said she would see all that was done to him and she would laugh, publish, humiliate, and whatever a bloody witch could come up with that knowledge.
“So, she can heal you.” Harry was shaking his head frantically before the man could even finish his sentence.
“I don’t need to be healed. Just give it a few days and I’ll be fine; everything will be alright. It’s not as if I haven’t dealt with this for literal years, I mean, come on! It’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go over the summers, if they find out they’ll–”
“You are not ever returning back there, trust me when I say that much at least.” Snape turned to Harry, drawing him to a stop with the intense look in his eye. “They will never hurt you again.”
“But Headmaster Dumbledore said–”
“I frankly do not give a damn about what that old coot said. I will not allow it, and I know for damn sure your crazy godfathers’ will not. Dumbledore was wrong to send another abused child to a home that could potentially kill them.
“The very same godfathers that ‘allegedly’ assisted in my parents' death, you mean. The people who had a hand in getting me to the same place we’re talking of right now.” Harry nodded as if he understood the logic in this, but his voice was filled with a dubious tone. They were now in front of the Hospital Wings entrance.
“There are a lot of things I do not know about that night, but I do know that Lupin would die before he let anyone hurt you with his knowledge. You can trust him.”
“My parents died because they trusted the wrong person.”
“I feel like it’s time to pull you from your parents' shadows, what do you think?” Snape asked, making Harry frown.
“I think that when this all goes awry, I’m going to have the biggest ‘I told you so’ moment of the century.”
“Oh, yeah? Shake on it?”
Harry slapped his hand in the professors.
*
Harry woke up with the soft light of candles hitting his eyelids. He heard murmuring, and his throat felt parched and his body tingly.
Professor Lupin and…Sirius Black was beside him, sitting on a couch that Harry had never once seen before in the Hospital Wing.
It was Black who noticed him first, and he nudged Lupin with his elbow.
“Hi, Harry. I think we have a lot to talk about,” he nodded to a jar with a small but fat rat that looked suspiciously like Scabbers inside. “I’m sure that Minevra has gone over Animagi, correct?”
*
A man in dark robes walked down the sidewalk that led to a house identical to all of the others around. He knocked on 4 Privet Drive and waited until a horse-like faced woman opened the door with a glare. Her face paled rapidly as she took in his appearance, her eyes never once darting away from him to check if any of her nosey neighbors had seen and were watching the freak upon the Dursleys’ doorstep.
“Hi, Petunia, it’s been a while.” He pushed his way past the woman, and tugged her in behind himself, letting the door swing shut. A shrill scream rang inside the barriers of his silencing and privacy spells he had erected.