Little Harry

Albus

Snape had swiftly navigated his way through the halls of the castle and made his way to the headmasters office to speak with him about Harry. After muttering the ridiculous password to the spiral staircase he knocked on the door to his office.

Before receiving an answer he strode into the room walking straight up to the headmasters desk.

"Albus, I have just spent the past two hours speaking with Mister Potter about his life back at No.4 Privet Drive. How could you do such a thing. How could you leave him with them. You didn't check on the boy once!"

"Severus, please, slow down, take a breath. What do you know?"

"What do you mean 'What do I know' are you implying that you already knew about how they treated him?! They abused him Albus, physically, mentally, emotionally. He was even sexually assaulted and left unattended a few months ago in an empty park! He is a child for Merlin's sake!"

"Severus, that, I did not know. Yes they may not have been the nicest to him, but he is safe there, safe from Tom, and his followers, there was no other option." The twinkle still remained in his eye as he spoke. This only infuriated Severus more.

"You can't be serious old man, I have been here all along, I was the one who swore to protect him, I could offer him a safe place to live, I was here Albus, all this time!"

"But the blood protection creates a far more powerful protection Severus, you must understand my reasoning for what I did. I never knew it was this bad."

"But you never even looked for it, you just assumed. You are the reason the boy is so hurt Albus. You could have stopped this. For now I will take up guardianship of the boy, you clearly cannot be trusted with such a simple task."

Throughout the lengthy conversation with the headmaster Severus' promise he made the other night was all he could think of. He had assumed that Potter had been spoiled rotten by his relatives, how could he have been so stupid he thought to himself, this is Petunia we're talking about.

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Harry and Autumn remained in the little quarters for that day, though seemingly upset from their conversation, Harry was keen to get to his lessons, he got Autumn to take him to the classroom and they took up a desk at the back of the class behind Neville, Luna and Hannah.

Harry was given a roll of parchment and a quill as they were learning how to write properly, littles struggled with their coordination and often had more difficulty learning how to use a quill.

Harry had even less experience writing with a quill and parchment, seeing as he had grown up in a muggle home. And it was a lot harder that it looked, the ink was messy and stained the page and his fingertips, and it ran out quickly when writing so he had to keep going back for more. The ink when he wrote never seemed to dry and he kept smudging the page with the sleeve of his robes, even with guidance from Autumn he was growing more frustrated. Though he was in his big headspace this task was tricky for Harry.

"Here, let me charm the ink for you so it dries once you've written with it." Autumn intervened and tapped his ink well with her wand. "Now give it a try."

Though it was much better and a lot less messy Harry managed to write out a quick sentence "My names Harry and I am in Slytherin house." is what it read.

"That's great, well done little one!" Autumn praised him with a ruffle of his hair.

As the lesson came to an end Autumn led him to the bathroom. "Come along, lets get your hands all cleaned up and try remove the ink stains from your robes."

Autumn helped him scrub his hands clean, with a quick 'scrougify' spelled his robes clean as well and they made their way back to the main room. Harry spent some time sitting at the table colouring with the other littles whilst Autumn stood chatting with Daisy and Samuel.

"How are you feeling after this morning Autumn, I understand it was a very difficult conversation you had with Harry and Severus." Samuel asked, trying to see how she was managing now.

"I am doing much better than earlier but my heart still aches for little Harry, he has been through so so much. He is an incredibly brave little boy, after everything he has been through he is coping remarkably well."

Daisy spoke next, "Bless him, you would never realise he went through all of that just talking to him, have you noticed any worrying behaviours?"

"He has had nightmares, but luckily not last night, its highly important for a little to get enough sleep, you all know how cranky they can be if they get disturbed in the night. As I'm sure you both can see he is also far far too skinny for his age, I expect he wasn't fed properly at his relatives. He doesn't eat much here either which I'll have to talk to Madam Pomfrey about. Lastly..." She blinked back the tears stinging her eyes. "When I changed him last night, I noticed his back was heavily scarred... and bruised, still appears red and sore as well. I have arranged an appointment with Poppy for tomorrow morning, I'm hoping she can assist with how to help Harry moving forward."

"Oh poor little one. He really has been through a rough time. However, I'm sure that with time and comfort and help from you he will begin to heal, Autumn." Daisy responded with a kind voice, brushing a stray tear from her own cheek.

"I agree with Daisy, and we are all here to support you too Autumn, I know you are the perfect match for Harry and you will be there for him when he needs you most. He seemed to take a liking to Severus, also, didn't he?"

"Yes that's right, he woke up rather grumpy today but the minute he saw Professor Snape, he ran straight into his arms and he managed to get him to eat some toast as well!"

"Ahh, you can see his caregiver tendencies showing there, can't you."

"Indeed. Severus is a stubborn man, but you can't deny he is especially good with Harry. I would encourage him to spend some more time up here if it could help Harry to recover from what he has gone through." Samuel spoke with a soft smile in Harry's direction, who looked up from his drawing and waved shyly.

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After Severus had spoken with Dumbledore he walked by the great hall and ate a light lunch, checking in on his snakes and speaking to the prefects about any troubles through the last couple of days.

He spoke to a couple students throughout all years who were struggling in lessons, with anxiety or depression or those who were missing home.

He checked in with the quidditch team to make sure they were all ready for their first match and had their training schedule sorted out.

He helped a few students, who struggled with eating, finish their meals and supplied them with encouragement and a nutrient potion.

And finally, as he made his way through the halls, settled an argument that broke out between Draco and Pansy, placing a shielding charm between the two as wands were drawn. Sighing and rubbing his thumb and forefinger over the bridge of his nose he sent them on their way with a warning glare, catching Draco with a stinging hex on his backside as he turned the corner with a smirk.

Severus got to his quarters with 5minutes to spare before he taught his 5th years, following that, he would make his way to check on his littlest snake and see how he was doing after their conversation that morning.

He hoped Harry would be okay, he hated to admit it, but he really cared for the boy after all.

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