As Potter is to Snape

Chapter 5

Snape dropped himself heavily into his armchair, groaning as he used his thumb and index finger to pinch the bridge of his nose, his headache growing worse. Today was certainly going about as well as he had expected that it would. Barely a few hours into this new guardianship of Potter and he had already dealt with a tantrum and threatened the boy with punishment.

Snape scoffed. Standing in a corner! Where had that come from anyway? Potter was nearly thirteen. Wasn't that too old for such things? Granted, that had been something Dumbledore had made Snape do until he was well into his teens, arguing that sometimes it was needed to give a child ample opportunity to think and correct his behavior. Snape clearly remembered hating it, but admittedly it had always had the desired effect of forcing him to really consider what had landed him there in the first place. He was sure that Potter would detest it as well. Of course, Snape reasoned with himself, there was always the chance that Potter would wake up in a much better mood and nothing would be necessary in the first place.

He shook his head as he stood back up to go into his lab to fetch a headache potion. Even if it were true and Potter woke up well-rested and in a positively giddy mood, it wouldn't change the fact that eventually, the insufferable brat would find some way to land himself in trouble, and when that time came, Snape would need to have some idea how to handle it.

Snape stopped outside the boy's bedroom and hesitated a moment before opening it and poking his head inside. Harry was asleep, curled up on his right side, his back facing the wall, one hand tucked under the pillow. Snape rolled his eyes. So much for not needing a nap. It had only been about ten minutes since he'd left the boy who had been so insistent that he wasn't going to sleep. He was just about to back away and close the door when he remembered the glamour charm that Harry had managed to place on himself.

He pulled his wand from an inside pocket of his robes and pointed it at Harry, silently saying the charm that would reveal what lay underneath. However, once he had done so, he immediately wished he hadn't. Snape felt sick looking at the molten bruises that covered much of the left side of his face. His lip had been busted open and though most of the bruises were dark purple and blue, suggesting they weren't very old, as Snape walked fully into the room and got a closer look, he could see more yellowish-colored ones that were older. On the side, just below his temple, Snape could clearly make out what he knew from experience was the imprint of a closed fist. How many times had this boy been hit?! It was evident that he had barely begun to heal from one beating before he had been subjected to another, the latest likely from the bout of accidental magic that had resulted in him blowing up his aunt.

Snape sighed. There was no way that he could allow Potter to walk around with these and not get them healed. He would need to see Madam Pomfrey. He could have a concussion and not even be aware of it. And to do that, Snape would have to tell him that he knew and he could only imagine how well that would go over with the boy. Having dealt with something similar in his own youth, Snape knew that the last thing Harry would want is for people to have proof of what was happening to him. If someone only suspected, one could lie and lie again, but once they had real, concrete proof in front of them, there was usually no denying it. There was simply no way that Harry could excuse this as anything other than abuse.

Snape raised his wand and set the glamour back in place. He wouldn't let Harry wake up and be unaware that it was gone. He would let him keep his dignity, though he would need to figure out a way to talk to him about it without him realizing that he had already seen it.

He left the room quietly and continued on his way to his lab. Once inside, he went straight to his store cabinet and wrenched it open in frustration, causing a few vials of potions to topple over. Luckily they didn't break and Severus set them back up and returned the calming potion to its place on the top shelf before picking up the headache reliever and closing the cabinet back. Less forcefully this time.