Cared For

Chapter 5: Severus Snape

Updated: 1st March 2019
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During the next few days, Minerva took a leave from teaching to bond with Harry. He was still very insecure and nervous, and Minerva wanted to get rid of that from inside of him. She played with Harry and his toys for the whole day, occasionally doing some work; she didn't want to be behind in her work as well.

Now, Harry sat on the living room floor, surrounded by his new toys. He had bought many other toys, apart from his stuffed duck, which had now became his favourite. Minerva was sitting at her writing desk in her study with the door open, correcting more essays. Harry wanted her to play with him, he started to grow to like her. But she was busy checking some essays, and looked so deep in her work, so he didn't disturb her.

Minerva was deep in thought as she corrected her essays. How was she supposed to manage Harry while she taught. Asking some teacher to babysit him was out of the question as the timetables were packed with classes for all teachers, and she didn't want to take him with her, especially with the first years. At least the older grades had experience with transfiguration, but first years were quite clumsy with their wands and caused some mishaps in her class.

From the corner of her eyes, she caught Harry's eyes focused on her, the rest of his toys laid forgotten. She put down her stack of essays and walked to him.

"Do you wanna play some more?" she asked. He nodded, his cheeks slightly flushed. She took a seat on the floor and picked up one of his toys. As she played, he noticed he was slightly fidgeting and his leg was bouncing slightly.

"Does someone need to use the bathroom?" she inquired, a little too suddenly because Harry slightly jumped. A wet stain started to form on his pants and soon started to leak on the floor. Harry's cheeks turned crimson as he scooted away from the mess, making the mess bigger. He held back his tears as he made a run for it. Harry dashed towards the door and ran down the hall. He was too fast for Minerva so by the time she reached the door to chase him, he was gone.

Harry ran as fast as he could down the corridor. He was going to be in so much trouble. Aunt Petunia used to smack him if he had even a drop of an accident. Wetting the bed was bad, but having an accident while fully awake was the worst thing to do. It was also the only reason that Aunt Petunia would get mad at Dudley. He couldn't handle another whipping. His back wasn't fully healed from the one two days ago.

After going through an endless amount of corridors and stairs, he barged through a door of a room and ducked under the biggest desk he could find. Tears soon found their way to his eyes and he silently sobbed under the desk. He put his head on his lap and closed his eyes.

**Page Break**

Severus Snape was in a horrible mood today. He had given out at least 15 detentions and probably taken over 50 points in total . Dumbledore had started suspected a thing about Snape giving out Harry's address, which was another burden. His day couldn't have gotten worse until a distressed Minerva rushed over to him.

"Severus! Oh Severus, Harry's gone missing." she cried. Snape nearly rolled his eyes. She LOST the damn Potter spawn already, it hasn't been more than a week. "Please, if you see him, please bring him to me. He must be so scared." she rambled.

"Relax Minerva, he will be fine don't worry. He will turn up." Snape assured dryly. "We have the whole staff and the elves to help."

He strode past her to his quarters. He opened the door and went straight towards his study. He turned on the light and saw a heartbreaking sight, the little boy, curled up in a ball under his desk. He cautiously approached the desk and bent down. It reminded him of himself when he was younger, after his father had one of his mood swings.

"Harry?" he said in a soft voice. The toddler's head shot up like a bullet. He was a sorry sight, with an even bigger puddle under him than in Minerva's living room, with his red face and puffy cheeks. Snape's face slightly softened at this sight.

"No, 'm sowwy. Please don' be mad." he begged. Snape extended his hand to comfort the child, but Harry flinched and dug deeper into the safety of the underside of the writing desk. "Relax child, I won't hurt you, I will just take you back to Minerva." he explained.

Snape's attempt to calm him down just made him panic even more. "No! No go back! Mimmie will be mad." He screamed. Snape held back a laugh. Mimmie! What a time he would have calling Minerva that name.

"Ok then, I wont take you back then. At least come out, it must be cramped down there." He assured, holding out his hand cautiously. Harry paused for a minute. He still hadn't forgotten that encounter with him in the teacher's corridor. However, he did seem nice and he wanted to be out of these uncomfortable pants. He accepted the hand.

Snape pulled the boy out of there and took him in his arms. He was much too light for a three year old. He took him to his bed and set him there. Then he took off his pants and prepared to change him into a pair of his own shrunken pants. Nothing could prepare him for what came next.

The boy started screaming again, but much louder. His legs were flailing around and his breathing started to speed up.He was also trying to fight Snape.

"Don' hurt! Don' hurt! Pwease!" he exclaimed. He delivered one swift to Snape's chin and in the time it took Severus to react, Harry sprinted towards the door. But Severus was smarter and locked the doors leading outside the dorms. Harry pulled and pulled on the door and eventually gave up, slumping on the door. Snape picked him up.

"We don't hit others." he lightly reprimanded, earning a whimper in response. He stood him in the bathtub this time and cleaned his bits and bum thoroughly. After putting on the new pants on Harry, he carried him to his favourite chair and sat him on his lap.

"What happened?" he asked the slightly trembling child. "Don' wanna get hurt 'gain. It hurts" he said, pointing down to his crotch. It didn't take Severus long to understand what happened. He couldn't imagine anyone touching a first year like that, letting alone a young toddler. His blood started to boil.

"Don't worry, no one will ever touch you like that ever again. Don't worry." he assured the boy, who buried his head in Snape's black robes. He went to his writing desk and wrote a quick, brief note to Minerva telling her about Harry's location and gave it to a house elf. He then returned to his chair and gently cradled Harry.

Harry was close to falling asleep again when the door flew open, revealing a distressed McGonagall. Her bun was out of place, which was a first, and her eyes were occasionally fluttering shut. She ran towards the two.

"HARRY!" she exclaimed. He snuggled closer to the Potions Master. Her relieved expression turned sour. "You said you won't call her." he exclaimed, looking up at Snape.

"Harry, she won't hurt you. She is nice." Severus explained, defending her. Harry took his face out of Snape's robes and looked at Minerva. She looked so sad that it made Harry feel guilty. He made way towards her, who scooped the boy in her welcoming arms.

"Why did you run away, I was so worried." she said. "You would be mad," he mumbled, playing with his hands, "that I peed on the floor." She hugged him even tighter than before.

"Its ok. All little boys and girls have accidents. I won't be mad." she soothed. She then turned to Severus. "Thank you for finding him, Severus. I am in your debt." she said. She kissed Harry's forehead once again.

"Say thank you to the nice man." she told Harry. He shyly waved to Snape, who slightly smiled in response. "Good night, Mimmie." he said with a smirk on his face. The gal of that man! She made sure to hex him at least once this week.

The two made their way out of the dungeons, towards their room. Minerva slept with Harry on her bed for the rest of the night, her arms around his slim waist.