Please...

Chapter Five

Harry was now sitting at a small circular table, Severus across from him. After almost seven more hours of rest, with the help of a strong sleeping potion, they were eating breakfast. Well, Severus was. Harry was staring at his lap, holding back tears, and trying to avoid Severus' gaze.

He tried held back a hiccup, failing. "Don't hold it back, Harry. Believe me, it'll feel better if you let go." He heard the soft, low voice that belonged to Severus say. "And please eat something. Eat as much as you want."

Considering Harry had never been told to 'eat as much as you want', he hesitated before holding a fork in his small hands and stabbing a sliced strawberry. He chewed it slowly, savouring the new taste. He had never been allowed to have good fruit, so this was completely new to him. He swallowed, looking at Severus for assurance. When he received a small smile and a nod, he smiled back. "Stop holding it back, Harry. I promise you'll feel better." He felt Sev rubbing his arm, and that's when he let the dam break.

His tears came slowly, as he still desperately wanted to hold them back. But after further encouragement and pushes, he let everything go. Fat, warm tears poured down his face like small waterfalls. He let out small gasps, for it felt like the air simply would not go to his lungs. His entire body shook with each sob, each gasp. When he looked up, he saw a blurred Severus beckoning for him to come over, so he slid off his chair and stumbled to the black haired man.

Severus held the small child in his arms as Harry sat on his lap, soaking his robes. "It's okay... It'll be okay... I'm not going anywhere, I promise. It will all be okay." He started rubbing Harry's back, and Harry felt a warm comfort. It was an unusual comfort, one he had never felt before, even from all the comfort yesterday.

He feels safe, like this safety will not and can not leave anytime soon.

He let himself cry and did not hold back, for Severus was right. This felt better than holding it back. At some point, he wrapped his arms around Severus and buried his face in the crook of his neck.

"I- Thanks..." Harry sniffled after quite some time. "'M s-sorry...."

"It's okay. It's okay. Why don't you eat some more? We'll talk more about this when you're done. Remember, I will not send you back there or anywhere else. I promise." Harry felt calmed by the promise, but did not want to leave the comfort, so he started having an internal battle with himself. 

He chose to stay, and dug himself deep into Severus' robes.

 "What's wrong?"

"No leave." Harry mumbled. "Oh. You could have told me, here." Severus reached over and dragged Harry's plate to his side of the table so Harry could reach it. "There. You can sit here."

"Th-thank you sir..." Harry whispered. Why was this man so kind, so nice to a freak like him? "No need to call me sir. Sev is fine." Harry nodded as he picked up the next thing he wanted to try: a grape. He tried it just like the prior, but figured he liked this one less. After trying a bit of everything on his plate, he prefered strawberries over everything else, so that's what he ate the most of.

Ten minutes had passed, and Harry leaned back into Severus' robes. "Are you finished?" Severus asked. Harry nodded. That was okay, right? Or did he have to eat it all? He wanted to eat it all, but he was already full after a slice of toast and strawberries. "W-Where's Lily?" He whispered. "She's on your bed. Do you want her?" Harry nodded, so Severus drew the stick-like  thing from his pocket. After pointing it at his bed, Lily flew to Harry.

"Thanks."

Harry proceeded to wrap Severus' robes around him, so only the top of his head was poking out. Normally he would hate the darkness, but this just added to the comfort and warmth. He relaxed and buried his face into the fur once more.