eccedentesiast || severitus

chapter nineteen | really?

tw// brief discussion of sexual child abuse.

October 25, 1991

Four days after Harry's attempt on his own life, Poppy, Minerva and Severus were having the conversation that none of them wanted to have. What now? It had been complete chaos when Severus had shown up in the hospital wing with a struggling Harry in his arms.

Sometime after their discussion, during their walk back to the hospital wing when Severus didn't want to put the boy down in fear that he would run away again, the child had suddenly seemed to realize who exactly was holding him, who exactly had just saved his life, and he had started to twist and push against Severus' chest once more.

By the time he had arrived to see Poppy and, unfortunately Minerva who had concern deep within her eyes, waiting by the doors for their arrival, Harry had been screaming once more, clawing down Severus' back in the effort to be put down. He just kept repeating, "put me down, put me down, put me down," over and over again, until they had calmed him enough to place him in an empty hospital bed.

Severus should have known that he was only faking to be calm, because once put down, Harry had immediately tried to get up and run, but seeing as Severus had suspected this, he had grabbed the boy around his skinny chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat against his forearm, and had quite frankly held him to the bed. After ten minutes, when it became apparent that the eleven year old was somehow too strong for three adults, Poppy had to resort to using a sticking charm and restraints around his wrists, one of which was still actively bleeding.

It had been heartbreaking to hear the child's screams and cries as he was stuck to the bed, thrashing so hard against the restraints holding him down that they left rashes. Severus had to sit by the boy's head, stroking his hair and speaking to him in order for him to calm down enough for Poppy to heal his wrist. Thankfully, Harry was still quite angry at him, so it was easy to get the boy to focus on him instead of what the healing matron was doing. He had yelled at Severus, with words the man couldn't believe a child his age knew. It was just another testament to the fact that Harry had to grow up way faster than he should have.

Another hour, and the boy had been forcefully put to sleep, exhausted after his efforts against the three of them. Harry's wrist was wrapped in white bandages and a cool towel had been placed across his forehead to help combat the high temperature of the boy's body after it had overworked itself in its desperation to be let go of.

Now looking back, Severus realized they could have avoided that whole situation by simply warding the hospital wing to keep Harry inside should he have escaped them in his frantic run for safety, but none of them had been thinking straight in that moment.

He was vaguely made aware of the situation around him when he heard the tail end of Poppy's sentence.

"—He needs to be kept under watch. Something like this cannot happen again, and he surely will not want to spend the next few months here under my watch. He needs to be placed on suicide watch, much as I hate to say it."

"Yes, Poppy, I'm afraid that is true. Where do you reckon he should be kept? St. Mungo's—"

"—is not safe, yes I know. I'm running out of ideas though, Minerva. I don't know where else the poor dear can go. He's—a difficult case, as we do know, and—"

God, Severus was going to regret this.

"Put him with me."

One, two...

"Excuse me?"

There it is.

Severus flicked his eyes up to the women standing before him. He doesn't remember when he sat down, but seeing as he has spent the last four days at Harry's bedside ensuring that there was nothing the boy could hurt himself with, the exhaustion was bound to hit.