Recnac Transfaerso

14 - Rescue

Harry couldn't scream. His whole body went numb, yet throbbed in unbelievable pain at the same time. He heard Aunt Petunia shrieking in the background about dealing with "those freaks" now and about blood on her white carpet. Harry stared in shocked silence at the man who was supposed to be his family. Uncle Vernon just stared down at him with cold eyes filled with pure hatred. He gasped as the knife was ripped out of his stomach and raised above his uncle's head for a final blow.

"Expelliarmus!" He heard a shout from the door, but couldn't find the strength to see who it was. He just concentrated on breathing, which was becoming increasingly difficult. He heard the Petrifying charm performed twice, but nothing was really registering in his brain anymore except for the now necessary instructions to breathe in and then out.

All of a sudden, Snape's blurry face came into view. Harry knitted his brows in confusion. Why was Snape here and why did he look worried? Nm He was saying something, but Harry couldn't comprehend the words. Finally, Snape said "Harry!" His brain understood that one, but he found he couldn't reply anyways, and the world slid softly into darkness.

After quickly "dealing" with the Dursleys, Snape grabbed Harry's wrist. Finding a weak pulse, he gathered the boy up in his arms and quickly Disapparated to the edge of Hogwart's wards. It was now night and he could see wizards still at work only because of the light shooting from their wands like fireworks. He ran as swiftly as he could toward the castle, holding the injured boy close to his chest as to now jolt him too much.

"Come on, Harry," he said, using the boy's first name only because no one else could hear him. Harry was losing a lot of blood, that much was obvious. He could feel the boy's blood beginning to seep through Snape's own robes. "Stay with me. We're almost there. Just hold on."

He sprinted straight to the infirmary. Luckily, there were only a few patients left in there now. Most had suffered injuries that could be quickly healed. He gently placed his student on the nearest open bed and closed the curtains around him all the while calling out the name of the medi-witch.

"What is it Severus?" she said, looking frazzled. She then caught sight of Harry. "Great Merlin! What in the world happened?"

"His relatives did this to him," he growled. Madam Pomfrey gasped. "His uncle stabbed him with a knife. I'm not sure what happened before I got there though."

Madam Pomfrey nodded in disbelief, but regained her senses quickly. She checked his pulse to find that it was weak. She began barking orders at Snape to bring her this or that, which he followed without complaint.

Snape was feeling the gnawing pains of guilt. If he had just told Dumbledore, none of this would have happened. He would have to inform the headmaster now, of course. On one hand, he was angry with himself for allowing this to stay a secret, leading to this, but on the other, was still convinced that it was best that not many people knew.

Finally, Madam Pomfrey had sealed up the stab wound, replenished his blood, mended Harry's broken arm, and healed his stomach as much as he could, until he had almost reached his maximum of magic his body was able to take.

"All right, well he should be all right, physically anyway. I injected a potion that should clear up the bruises within the next few days. His stomach and arm might be a bit sore, and the area around the stab wound will be sensitive, but it'll go away in a week or so," she said somberly.

"Listen, Poppy, we need to keep this quiet. Those reporters would attack this story like animals and who knows how the student body would react. We should try to keep this from as much of the staff as possible; the boy's got enough on his mind without having his professors treating him differently," Snape said in a voice barely above whisper.