Chapter 17

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I have just come back from my vacation with my class and my family. Hopefully, I'll be able to update more frequently, although I'm having quite a few extra classes during the summer.


The next morning, Harry woke up with a wet pull-up, which, thankfully, didn't leak. He did his usual morning routine by himself and just sat on his cushioned windowsill and looked out the window since it was only 7.30 am. He just sat there for a few minutes and decided to come down and have breakfast early. That way, the professor and Malfoy wouldn't have to tolerate his presence. He came down and had just placed a pan on the stove when the elf popped in the room.

"Master Harry Potter, it's not safe for Master to use the stove. Let Toppy does it" - the elf squeaked.

"It's ok, Toppy, I know how to do it" - he said softly

"But Master Severus Snape hasn't given us permission to let you do it. Toppy WILL does it"

Harry sighed dejectedly and sat down at the table. A few minutes later, Toppy placed a plate of eggs, waffles, sausages, bacon, and some broccoli down along with some milk and yogurt. Harry quickly ate them, although he wasn't able to finish the meal. Toppy assured him that it was fine. After breakfast, he walked back to his room and closed the door before any of the other two came out and saw him.

Usually, Severus would wake up early, before 7.30, but today, he decided to sleep in until it was time for breakfast. He had just opened his door to walk out when he saw Harry closing his door. He looked at the boy's door puzzled, what was going on? He decided to just leave it though, maybe it was just some phase that the boy was in. He walked into the kitchen and was informed by Toppy that Harry had had his breakfast. It just confused him even more. He walked back upstairs and woke Draco. They had a quick breakfast with Draco being as chatty as ever.

After breakfast, Severus called Harry down. When the 2 boys were both standing in front of him, he said:

"Listen very carefully, I'll be going out to get some potions ingredients and some more supplies and will come back before lunchtime. Both of you will stay home and will be good and civil to each other. I trust you can do that?"

Both boys nodded.

"If I find out either of you have done anything that you aren't supposed to, you will face consequences that you most definitely won't like." - he threatened.

Both boys nodded.

"Ok then, I'll be leaving in half an hour"

Harry just came back to his room. He didn't know what was coming now. Apparently, Malfoy wasn't that scared of his father. He dreaded the few hours he would have to spend with Malfoy alone in the boy's godfather's house. He'd better stay hidden and out of the way.

Half an hour later, he could clearly hear the blonde boy's cheery goodbye to his godfather and knew that the professor had left. He was reading his History book and playing with Bubbles when he remembered something. The potty. If he wasn't mistaken, the potty was still in the toilet downstairs. They usually used another bathroom downstairs, but the potty was still there in one of the bathrooms, which anyone could see. He started to panic. If Malfoy found out, he would never live it down. He quickly got out of his room. Even though he wasn't sure he could remove it from the wall, he had to do something, anything. He ran to the stairs and started walking down quickly.
Too late.
He could see the bathroom from the stairs he was standing on. Malfoy was standing right in the doorway, looking at something. Harry froze, what was he gonna do now? Suddenly Draco noticed someone watching him and turned to Harry. Then, an evil smirk spread his face. He started walking towards the stairs and up to them.
"Tsch, I wonder what the potty was doing in the bathroom. Knowing my godfather doesn't have a child or any other young acquaintance, couple with the fact that it has just appeared this summer, it must have been for the other occupant of the manor this summer, Potter"
Malfoy was walking up the stairs, very near Harry now. But Harry didn't want to run, it would give his enemy the satisfaction, and Malfoy was going to seek him out anyway. Not only he would be seen as a coward, but he also would have to bear the embarrassment and harassment from the boy.
"What are you doing with the potty? What a baby, Potter!!"
Draco was standing right in front of him now, and he was sneering at him. Frustrated by Harry's lack of reply and reaction, Draco threw a sudden punch at Harry's lower stomach.
Harry was shocked. The punch was hard and it nearly made him fall. Thankfully, he was gripping the stairs handrail too hard to fall. It hurt terribly. However, he still didn't react much. Malfoy kept walking up the stairs. Harry thought that due to his lack of reaction, Malfoy would get bored and go to his room. But then, he realized he would be turning his back to his enemy, and it certainly didn't sound good, especially on stairs. He quickly turned back just in time to see Malfoy shoving him. And this time, he fell.
Harry fell all the way to the bottom of the stairs, which meant 2/3 of the stairs. He tries to grasp something and stop but wasn't able to. The shove was too hard. On the way, he also bumped into a lot of places, from the wall to the stairs and handrail. By the time he hit the ground, he was hurting badly. His stomach was hurt from the punch, but now it hurt even worse. His head hurt, and his arms were sore.
He let out a yelp of pain and winced.
"Serves you right, Potter. And don't even think of telling Severus about this, he won't believe you"
And then, Malfoy walked up the stairs and slammed the door to his room.
To be honest, Harry didn't need to be told twice. He knew between Malfoy and Harry, Professor Snape would choose his godson. He didn't even have proof that Malfoy had done it to him, the brat would just say Harry climbed the trees or broke some rules and hurt himself. And Harry wasn't going to tell his professor anyway. He was used to dealing with pain alone.
Finally, Harry got up and limped up the stairs to his room.

Severus came back home near lunchtime. Draco rushed down to greet him, seemingly like his usual self. He guessed everything was alright when he was gone.
"Get ready for lunch" - he said to the boy.
When they were both seated at the table and Harry hadn't come down, he called Toppy and asked him to get the boy.
"Master Severus Snape, Young Master Harry Potter had asked to have his lunch in his room and had started eating 15 minutes ago."
Snape frowned and dismissed the elf, what was going on?
He decided to just eat lunch with his godson and take care of it later.

Harry had decided to eat lunch earlier so he would have an excuse not to appear at the table for lunch. He succeeded. Toppy had brought lunch to him and even brought a snack mid-afternoon. He hadn't gone out of his room except for using the bathroom to avoid being seen. He made sure no one was outside when he got out. He didn't want the professor to know he was injured.

Dinner was the same as lunch. Severus ate with Draco while Harry had had dinner before alone in his room. Toppy seemed to notice what was going on when he came to deliver Harry's dinner though.
At 10 pm that night, when both boys were in their rooms and hopefully, in their beds, Severus was in the sitting room reading. Suddenly, the elf popped in and glared at Severus
"If Master Severus Snape does not check on young Master, Toppy promise, Toppy will not forgive Master" - it said and immediately popped out.
Severus stared at the place that the elf had been seconds ago, dumbfounded. What did it mean?
10 minutes later and Severus was walking up to his room. Draco was leaving the next day and he would have to find out what was happening to Harry.
When he passed Harry's room, he heard a whimper. He stopped in his track and listen. He could hear crying. Harry's crying. He just stood in front of the door, not really knowing what was happening and what to do. But then, Harry started talking.
"You shouldn't have raised y...your hope up" - the boy sobbed - "uncle Vernon was true. You do not deserve attention and love, es... especially when there are some other children around that need to be loved and cared for. You stupid!! You let yourself hope and then they disappointed you.... No" - the boy's voice softened - "it's not their fault. Professor Snape was just trying to spend time with his godson, uninterrupted. It's your fault that you had stayed here and hoped for something different. You heard him. He only housed you because Dumbledore asked him to. And you should have stayed out of everyone's way, always. You did right when you stayed out of the way for them. You come last. There are so many more things that are more important than you" - he reminded himself heartbrokenly.
Sobs then filled the room and Severus slowly slid down onto the floor. What had he done?! He thought back to the last few days since Draco had come. He had been ignoring Harry, even when he suspected something was wrong with the boy. He knew he had been favoring his godson and spending much of his time with the blonde because it had been a long time since Draco stayed overnight. It couldn't excuse his actions though. He was an adult! He should have known better than to spend all his time with one child and forget the other. Harry must have been lonely and hurt. And to know that Harry had also been avoiding them just so he could spend quality time with Draco made his chest clench painfully.
After many minutes, he stood up and slowly opened the door. The sobs had stopped for a while and Severus knew Harry had fallen asleep. He peered in, the lights were out. He walked to the bed quietly, he was not even sure what he was doing. Harry was curled up on his side, asleep, his hand was holding Bubbles and his Paddington blanket close. Severus sat on a chair sadly and watched the boy sleep. How was he going to fix this mess he had created?
After a few minutes, he decided to go to bed. He was going to have a long day tomorrow.

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