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Author: Chary Story: Beloved on This Earth Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: Completed Reviews: 3 Words: 178,742
Harry woke the next morning feeling slightly better, although still not completely rested - he had been jerked awake from yet another nightmare about Voldemort only an hour or so after he had fallen asleep. Luckily, he had been so weary that despite his terror he had quickly managed to drift quickly back off, this time thankfully into a dreamless sleep till morning. Stretching lightly, he relaxed back down into the deep mattress, still basking in the contentment of a comfortable bed and a foggy mind untroubled by thought. With the slow return of consciousness however, came the unpleasant recollection of last night's events and his feeling of general well-being took a nosedive. Snape had been here, in his house! And worse even than that, Uncle Vernon was sure to blame Harry for Snape's appearance. He groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, wondering if anyone would object if he just stayed here until it was time to return to Hogwarts. With a heavy sigh, Harry pulled himself awkwardly upright, ready to begin the struggle back down the stairs to face the unavoidable confrontation with his aunt and uncle. He was very pleased to discover as he sat up that his wheelchair was placed next to the bed and a change of clothes was also within easy reach. Harry wondered who had performed this kindness; neither the Dursleys nor Snape were likely to voluntarily help him in any way, so their appearance was something of a mystery. It was a mystery that was soon solved however, when the wheelchair rose gently off the ground and manoeuvred itself closer to him as he edged out of the bed – Snape then, how odd. Even odder was the spectacle that awaited Harry in the bathroom. The Dursleys' house was very comfortable, but by no means a mansion. As a consequence the upstairs bathroom was not overly large, but plenty big enough as a rule, unless of course you happened to be confined to a wheelchair with only one useable hand. Harry had therefore been prepared for a struggle as he wheeled himself down the hall, with the chair thankfully doing most of the work. As he leaned forward to grasp the bathroom door handle, he heard a groaning, cracking noise coming from within. His hand dropped immediately to his lap and he cocked his ear, holding his breath as he listened attentively for the sound again. After a full minute had passed in silence, he warily pushed the door open and sat stunned by what he saw. The once compact pale blue bathroom had been transformed overnight into a lavish suite fit for a king. The remodelled bathroom was now huge, with white marble gleaming from every surface and large gold taps in the shape of diving dolphins that winked merrily at him. Instantly wary, because it could only be Snape who had made these changes, Harry rolled himself slowly into the room. Once inside, the door immediately swung smoothly shut behind him and he jerked round, startled, to grab at the handle, which turned easily under his touch. Hastily retreating to the hallway once more, Harry paused, staring in through the open doorway consideringly. With Snape involved, there was every chance that he was about to be met by some unpleasant surprise in the magically altered room. On the other hand, he realised uncomfortably, he actually needed to use the bathroom quite desperately by now. He considered briefly trying to make it to the downstairs toilet, but he wasn't sure yet how the wheelchair would cope with the stairs and anyway, Snape might have done something to that room, too. With a determined nod he moved forward again, this time not flinching at the sound of the door closing behind him. After some extremely cautious investigation, he was very pleased, and very relieved to discover that not only was the bathroom not booby-trapped, but better still, it was now magically equipped to make using the facilities, even in his state, a breeze. Most pressing need taken care of, he wheeled himself over to the washbasin and grinned as it obligingly lowered itself down the wall towards him with another groaning noise. His reflection stared back at him from the mirror over the sink as he began brushing his teeth. 'Dear me, you have been in the wars haven't you?' the mirror commiserated on seeing his bruised appearance. Harry gave a half-shrug, unable to answer thanks to a very enthusiastic toothbrush that was not only doing all the work itself, but also muttering darkly about the number of fillings he would soon need if he didn't cut back on the Chocolate Frogs. Teeth clean, Harry sat in the shower with the water magically avoiding his plaster-covered limbs, in an enormous cubical that was large enough for him, the wheelchair, and another twenty people besides. Once he had finished, he wheeled himself over to what appeared to be a Muggle hand dryer of gigantic proportions; sitting under its delicious warmth, both he and the wheelchair were dry in seconds. He dressed in the clothes he had found in his room, which buttoned and zipped themselves into place and rolled himself out of the bathroom. Closing the door cheerfully behind him, Harry froze suddenly as a horrible thought struck him. Would the bathroom stay that way if the Dursleys entered? Most people of course would be delighted to own an enchanted bathroom such as this one, but Harry knew the Dursleys would simply be beside themselves with rage. In truth, they were more likely to seal the room off altogether rather than accept anything magical into their normal existence. Harry opened the door again and peered cautiously in to find the room in the process of reforming to its usual size. 'Sorry,' the mirror said apologetically on spotting him. 'I thought you were finished.' 'I have, I have,' he rushed to say as the room began to stretch itself again. 'Well, do make your mind up,' the mirror tutted, annoyed. Biting back a smile, Harry carefully closed the bathroom door and headed downstairs. To his great relief, negotiating the stairs was much easier this morning than it had been last night; the wheelchair simply hovered above them and floated gently down to the hallway. Once he had safely reached the bottom, he paused again, fully expecting the Dursleys to descend upon him enraged, and instead found only utter silence. He wheeled himself, or rather his wheelchair wheeled him, into the kitchen, where he discovered the reason for the quiet. A large note was propped on the table written in angry red ink. 'HARRY,' it read. 'We are going to visit Aunt Marge for a few days. When we arrive home on Wednesday, make sure we find NOTHING out of the ordinary.' Harry blinked down at the note, surprised that the Dursleys would allow him to remain alone in the house. It seemed the fear of running into Snape again, was greater than their fear of anything Harry could do to their home while they were away. Feeling much happier now that not only Snape seemed to have disappeared, but also that he didn't have to face an angry Uncle Vernon, he rolled over to the fridge to find something for breakfast. Sadly, the fridge was woefully bare, and it appeared on further investigation that the Dursleys had taken almost the entire contents of the kitchen with them on their trip. Unperturbed, for he was used to much worse, he made himself some toast from stale bread and drank a cup of tea with milk that didn't smell quite right. Feeling full, Harry urged the wheelchair back up the stairs and set about writing a note for Ron. Unfortunately, that little task was far easier said than done. He was having great difficulty using his left hand and the quill was leaving inky blobs all over the parchment. Twenty frustrating minutes later he finally gave up; no one would be able to read it, and he might panic Ron if Hedwig arrived with a scrawled letter. He awkwardly packed his quill and ink away and was just deciding whether it was worth trying out one of Dudley's computer games single-handed, when Snape materialised in front of him. Harry let out a shocked yell at the suddenness of his appearance and instinctively urged his wheelchair away from Snape's tall presence. 'Ah, finally up I see,' Snape said with disgust. 'I don't know how you even managed to sleep through the caterwauling your family were making this morning.' 'You spoke to them again today?' Harry asked with dread. The more time Snape had spent in the company of the Dursleys, the more trouble he would be in when they returned. 'Thankfully I was spared that ordeal,' Snape replied mockingly. 'They were in the process of dragging large boxes out of the house when I arrived, and I decided against making my presence known to wave them on their way.' Harry heaved a sigh or relief, which he quickly changed to a cough at Snape's sharp look. 'Er, that's probably for the best,' he finally mumbled. 'Actually, Professor, I've been wondering why you were here - is there a problem or something?' 'Where exactly have the Dursleys gone, Potter?' Snape demanded suddenly, ignoring Harry's question. 'Oh, to visit Uncle Vernon's sister for a few days,' Harry answered, filled once again with a feeling of blessed freedom at their absence. 'What!' Snape bellowed. 'Are you telling me, boy, that that dim-witted family of yours have left you in this house alone?' 'Well yes, but I don't mind,' he added hurriedly, as Snape's already angry face darkened alarmingly. 'I'm quite sure you don't, Potter,' Snape snarled, 'but that is not the issue. Dumbledore has taken an enormous amount of time and trouble to ensure you are protected while not at Hogwarts. Not only that, my own and the other professors' valuable time has been not inconsiderably squandered in assisting him in his preparations, all so that your safety is not compromised.' He slammed his fist against his thigh and paced the length of the bedroom, his cloak swirling behind him. 'We took care of absolutely every possibility and the only thing those stupid Muggles had to do was make sure one of them spent at least two hours within the house every day, hardly difficult,' he seethed seeming to have forgotten Harry was still in the room. 'The instructions were quite specific and simple enough even for them. Now all that effort has been wasted!' Snape stopped pacing abruptly and fixed Harry with an arctic glare. 'Very well,' he said obviously reaching a decision. 'I suppose there is no alternative - you will have to return to Hogwarts until this situation is resolved.' Harry looked dazedly at Snape. 'Hogwarts, but why?' 'Because Potter, in just under twenty-four hours all the charms and protection spells placed on you and this house will no longer be active now that your loving family have left and apparently have no immediate intention to return.' 'I'm protected?' Harry asked, confused, glancing down at the casts on his arm and leg. 'From magical harm only. No one imagined even you would be idiotic enough to go wandering into traffic,' Snape said sarcastically. 'Oh,' Harry managed. 'Yes, Oh,' Snape mocked. 'Well get your things together and be quick about it,' he barked when Harry didn't immediately move. 'Wait a minute,' Harry said slowly. 'My aunt and uncle weren't planning on going anywhere until today, so why did you come last night?' he asked suspiciously. Both he and the house would be still be covered by the charms if Snape hadn't frightened the Dursleys into flight this morning. 'Because boy, when I arrived back at Hogwarts late yesterday afternoon I discovered that you had not been in your family's house for some time.' 'You can tell where I am?' Harry asked, vaguely horrified at this notion. Snape's face tightened, obviously furious that Harry had dared to question him. 'No,' he finally bit out. 'But Dumbledore can. As both he and Professor McGonagall were also away on business, he was unaware of your absence until I returned back and checked. I eventually managed to contact Dumbledore and while he was positive that you were not in danger, we were still unable to track down your actual location. The positioning spell the Headmaster set up only works when you are within this house.' Harry suddenly felt desperately guilty for all the extra work he had caused Dumbledore, especially considering how busy he knew the old wizard would be with Voldemort's return - another problem he was inadvertently responsible for. He pushed the guilty feelings aside and focussed instead on Snape once more. 'As it was thought unwise to antagonise your relatives until we were sure there was a serious problem, Dumbledore asked me to Apparate here while your family were sleeping to see if I could find out any information; an exercise, which as you may recall, did not go as covertly as I had intended,' Snape said coldly. 'As the Headmaster is currently in the process of finalising some rather… delicate negotiations, he suggested that I return this morning and carry out a few modifications to make the house useable for you. That way, you could remain safely here until Dumbledore could arrange for Madam Pomfrey to heal your injuries and the rest of us could get back to our own work. However, thanks to your idiot relative's actions, that is plainly no longer possible and is the reason why you will be returning to Hogwarts. Satisfied Potter?' he snarled. 'I suppose so,' Harry answered cautiously, not sure that even escaping the Dursleys was worth having to endure Snape's company. 'How will we get to Hogwarts though?' 'Leave that to me,' Snape said impatiently and Disapparated with a pop. Harry used the time he was gone to frantically gather his school supplies together. He was sitting swearing softly over a nasty paper cut, obtained when he had rashly tried to cram his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters into his trunk single-handed, when Snape reappeared at his elbow. 'Right, I've managed to set up a Portkey which will be leaving in…' he said, checking a pocket watch, 'ten minutes, so get your belongings together and come downstairs.' Harry opened Hedwig's cage and told her to meet him at Hogwarts; he doubted whether she would enjoy a journey by Portkey any more than he did. He pulled her empty cage onto his lap, while Snape grudgingly levitated his heavy trunk and followed him down the stairs. Just as they reached the downstairs hallway, the doorbell began to buzz loudly. 'What was that?' Snape demanded, drawing his wand and looking sharply around the deserted hall. 'Just the front door,' Harry said quickly, unsure who it could be; the Dursleys rarely had visitors, especially during the summer holidays, for fear that they might bump into Harry. 'Shall I see who it is?' 'No,' Snape said putting his wand back in his sleeve. 'We will be gone in another…. eight minutes,' he said checking his watch again, 'and I'm sure they will leave soon enough when no one responds to their summons.' Harry nodded, happy to comply; he had no desire to talk to any of the Dursley's friends or acquaintances anyway. The unknown caller however, was more persistent than they had given them credit for. Within moments the buzzer was sounding again, this time without stopping. Harry watched as Snape's expression grew blacker and blacker, until finally he stormed forward, yanking the door open with a furious jerk. Harry was suddenly very glad he wasn't whoever it was on the other side of that door. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A/N Whoops, I forgot to put this in the first chapter – how very ungrateful of me! Huge thanks to Zsenya for beta-ing this story so beautifully. Thanks also to everyone who reviewed, and to Axelle and Rugi – queens to Arthur Weasley's king of the plugs!
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