Blinded By The Dark   von Astrido
                          (a Snape adopts Harry fic)
================================================================================
                              Kapitel 6: The Bath
                              -------------------


Chapter Six: The Bath


Snape had brought Laures back to his room.
 'He is not making any sense. He won't let anyone touch him, but he just grabs
my arm and everything remains fine. And he seems to be in pain again, but why
doesn't he say anything?'

He let Laures sit down on the bed and handed him his pyjama.
"Stay where you are, I'll be right back." He ordered.
"Uh.. Sir?" he barely heard him speaking. 
"What?" he snapped harshly, maybe a bit too harsh. He saw Laures' eyes watering
dangerously. 
"Could.. could I take a shower maybe?" he asked whispering.
"I'll see. Let me get the salve for your wounds first, okay?" he replied more
friendly, noticing that he had frightened the small boy.
"Of course! Sorry, Sir."
"You don't have to appologise." He admonished him lightly. 
Snape went to his lab and took a few potions and salves he probably needed. Then
he came back. He found Laures still sitting in exactly the same position when he
had left him. He was staring into space, a pensive expression on his face and
seemed as if he was deep in thought. Snape put the vials on the nightstand and
cleared his throat to make himself noticeable. Laures jumped and jerked his head
in Snape's direction. A terrified expression on his face now. 
"It's okay, Laures. It's me, Snape!" He said in a deep soothing voice. Laures
relaxed visibly as he realized who was standing in front of him.
"Please, take off your shirt."
"Why?" he asked, his voice was quivering and he went in a defensive demeanor.
Drawing his knees to his chest and hugging his legs. The potions master was
taken aback by such a self-protective attitude. And he had merely asked him to
take off his shirt. Concerned he crouched in front of Laures and said quietly
and friendly: "Laures, I only want to heal your injuries. But I can't do that
when you wear your shirt."
"Really?" he asked timidly.
"Yes. Besides, you wanted to shower, right? Why don't you do that first and I
will apply the salve later?" Snape hated himself for talking like an idiot to
the child, but he knew that he wouldn't get anywhere if he didn't. Laures nodded
hesitantly and stood up. Snape straightened again, as well, and led Laures into
the adjoining bathroom.


After taking off the bandages, he asked:
"Are you still in pain?"
Laures seemed reluctant, not knowing what to answer.
"Laures, I want an honest reply!" Snape warned.
Harry gulped visibly, before he nodded. 
"It's alright. I won't harm you!" he reassured the shaky boy, even letting his
concern show on his face, though the boy wouldn't see it.
"Here, drink this!" he added and handed Laures a vial who downed it quickly.
Snape had mixed the pain-relieving potion with a calming draught and as the
potion took affect Laures stopped shaking so much, relaxing a bit. 

"Laures? You'll need to remove your clothes. There is a towel on your left with
which you can wrap yourself. If you wish I will turn my eyes and wait until you
are ready." He told Laures in a soft voice. Then he walked over to the taps of
the tub and turned them on. He thought if Laures was going to be washed then he
could bath properly. While he was waiting for the tub to fill, he looked out of
the small window. It was almost completely dark already and a few stars were
illuminating the sky. 

"I'm done!" Laures announced quietly. He stood, nervously shifting on his feet,
the towel wrapped tightly around himself. He had his head lowered and he'd would
have looked t his feet, if he could see. Snape sighed inaudible. The boy was a
nervous wreck. Anyone could see that and, to tell the truth, it frightened him
somehow. He really hoped the boy would recover from whatever was done to him and
be a happy child again. He would never be as carefree as other children any
more, but he could have at least a resemblance to it. 

"That's good, but you'll have to wait a little longer, because the tub isn't
filled yet." Snape replied and glanced over to the boy. He should have attended
to the injuries sooner again, he berated himself. Laures' body was still in
various shades of purple, blue and yellow, even though most of his cuts had
healed. He turned the water off and called Laures. The boy started and panicked
slightly, but he was still under the influence of the potion and calmed quickly
again. He walked over to Snape and stopped nervously a few feet in front of
him.
"Kneel down, please." 

Laures did, albeit shaking, as he was told, even though he looked as though he
was fighting an inner battle beforehand. 
Telling Laures he would grab his fingers, he led the boy's hands to the rim.
"I think you'll be able to climb in now. The water isn't very deep. I think
it'll reach your chest." 
He informed the teenage boy who nodded stiffly, gripping the margin fiercely.
After slipping into the hot water, he still didn't let go of it. Snape gently
pried the boy's finger off the margin and took them in his his hands, caressing
them soothingly.

"What is it, child?" he inquired. 
"What if I sink under the surface, when I slip for instane? I can't swim."
mumbled Laures, averting his face and blushing in embarrassment, while gripping
Snape's hand even harder.

"I don't mind. Do you want me to teach you how to swim?" he asked amiably. 

'Now, where did that come from?' 
Snape wondered. Did he start to like the small lad? Surely not, or did he? He
didn't want to know and discarded the thought.
"You'd do that?" Laures asked astounded, raising his head disbelievingly. 

"Yes, I would!" Snape stated firmly and the child breathed an barely audible
"wow". A little louder he said, though he had lowered his head again: "Thank
you, sir!"
Snape didn't know how to respond to that and skipped past an answer, starting
his lecture. After Laures' had overcome his fear to let go of him, he managed
pretty well, considering that he remembered his cousin having swimming lessons
once, where he had to watch. He swam from him to the margin on the opposite side
and via versa. Snape congratulated him and told him to foam his hair and soap
his body after Laures had climbed onto the margin. He handed him the necessary
shampoos and the black haired boy complied without a murmur. 

Stepping out of the tub, Snape wrapped Laures carefully in a large towel, trying
as best as he could not to touch him with his hands and body. Laures cringed
nonetheless when he came into contact with the towel and a light brush of
Snape's fingers and was shivering from both the cold and fear. It seemed like a
reflex to do that. Laures could only stand touching a person if he was the one
doing it. The tub had been some weird sort of protection from the other person
as well, because they had such a great difference in altitude.

Though Snape could be a heartless bastard at times, it was obvious that Larues
needed some warmth, and the only thing holding Snape back from doing something
very un-Snape-like, like taking Laures in his arms and comforting him, was his
concern that the child might panic and pull away. 

In the end, his good side won. He gently wrapped his arms around the boy's
shoulders and pulled him close. The small child stiffened instantly and
whimpered lightly, but Snape didn't let go. He rubbed his back soothingly and
tryed to calm him with whispered nothings. Laurs didn't panic again, but he
didn't relax either. However, Snape was now determined to go on with this as
long as he needed to get Laures to relax. 

Eventually, Laures' posture slackened a little and he leaned forward, resting
his head against Snape's chest.
A flicker of warmth kindled itself inside Snape, awakening long forgotten
feelings, though he remained calm and composed outwardly so he wouldn't scare
the child. But he smiled, and that in itself would have been enough to frighten
any Hogwarts student or professor. 

Loathe as Snape was to spoil the moment, they couldn't stay this way all night,
so he bend down slightly and lifted Laures in his arms. The long haired boy was
almost asleep already, and didn't protest. Snape carried him to the large four
poster bad and layed him down. Laures whined a bit at the loss of warmth and
Snape's heart contracted.
 'The child is going to make me go soft!!' 
Snape thought, surprised by this discovery. He was even more surprised when he
wasn't really miserable about this. 
He removed the towel from Laures who whimpered at the cold. His injuries looked
like they were healing quite nicely. His salve was obviously working. He got out
the the healing salve and dabbed the injuries and scars that were still visible
with it. There weren't many left, but he knew that quite a lot of these scars
wouldn't fade with the salve. It was a pity that such a young child had to bear
so many scars, even though he couldn't see them anymore. He even had scars in
his face that would stay. One faint white line ran across his left cheek, one on
his forehead that was shaped quite oddly. It was a diagonal line with two
vertical lines that didn't touch each other, but ended on the diagonal one. 

The whole thing wasn't very large, just covering a quarter on the right of his
forehead. His long black hair was shiny and silky, framing his pale face and
giving it an almost unearthly quality. 
He was startled that for the second time this day he had felt something akin to
affection and admiration towards a mere child. What was wrong with him? It
started to worry him greatly. Normally, he knew exactly what he felt, because it
was what he wanted to feel. These strange feelings couldn't be good if he
couldn't name them, could they?
'Is there a potion to stop this odd feelings?' 
Shaking his head he dismissed it. It had been a very long and trying time for
both of them. Of course he was behaving a little strangely.

Snape dressed Laures in the pyjama he had had on before and tucked him in. He
planted a soft, feathery kiss on his forehead and left to go to bed himself,
leaving quickly before he did any other odd things. He didn't know what had got
into him. 

++

Breakfast was uneventful the next morning. A house elf had appeared - in that
odd way that house elves just seem to - and guided Laures to the dining room.
They ate in relative silence, just the occationally clatter of the dishes was to
be heard.

Laures was sitting nervously on the edge of his chair, sipping his warm broth
from a spoon. He was very nervous, because a silent Snape was never a good sign.
Also he felt completely awkward after what happened the day before and he wasn't
sure what to expect of him especially when he couldn't see what mood he was in.
He had behaved so un-Snape-ish that it was scaring. 

His mind wandered to what had happened yesterday evening. That Snape would allow
him to take a bath and not just a shower was astounding enough, but that he even
taught him the basics of swimming? That was simply nutters. Snape had always
hated him, so why was he so nice? What happened to the Snape he had known for so
long? If last night wasn't just an odd dream, Snape had hugged him. Actually
hugged him. Snape had reached for him, and Harry thought he was going to hit
him, or maybe try and drown him in the tub now that he'd made Harry feel like he
could trust him. That sounded like something Snape would do. The last thing he'd
expected Snape to do was to give him a...hug! Hugs and Snape just didn't go
together, but it had felt...nice. It had felt...good.

'It's quite an odd feeling that he is so nice to me, but it's not bad. I hope I
won't get Snape mad at me that he gets a reason to throw me out.' 
"How do you feel this morning?" Snape asked him with the same amount of feeling
he'd use to ask how the weather is.

"I'm fine, Sir!" he replied politely, but void of feelings, too. He sighed
mentally. He had thought that ysterday had changed something between them, but
obviously it hadn't. Snape was as cold-hearted as ever and he was just a burden,
a nuisance who had to be taken care of. He didn't understand why the professor
had picked him up in the first place if he didn't like children. 

And he didn't understand why he felt so dejected at the thought that Snape would
just take care of him because he had to and not because he cared about him. 
"What's wrong, child?" Snape asked, sounding concerned again.

"Uh... nothing." He replied, shaking his head. He must have made a sad face, if
Snape was asking him what was wrong. He was acting so different than Harry knew
him and he couldn't get used to Snape being so...nice.. It was a little
unsettling.
"What do you think to do today?" he inquired.
Harry shrugged. What was there possibly to do for him? He couldn't read, because
he was blind, so he couldn't do his homework. His books weren't here anyway, he
realized. He wondered what might have happened to them. Did the Dursleys leave
them where they'd been in the cupboard under the stairs? Or had they burned his
school things? He wasn't sure whether he wanted to know.

"You are lucky that I have free time so I don't really have to do anything
except brewing potions for my own purposes!" Snape told him. 
Harry lifted his head hopefully. What did he mean with that?
"You can occupy youself with something you still can do whatever that is. I'll
be able to help you while I'm brewing." Snape proposed in a somewhat friendly
tone, though it had a strange undertone.
Harry nodded and didn't ask further, not wanting to infuriate his professor with
nosy questions. He knew from his lessons at Hogwarts that it wasn't healthy to
ask too much questions at once. Snape seemed to be in a good mood this morning,
so he didn't want to spoil it.

He sat awkwardly in his chair, not knowing what to say or do now. Ne was
nervous, because Snape was so different from school and now he was silent as
well. He really wished he could watch him now, to see why he was so quiet. Was
he peeved?? Or is this silent nature his real self? What, if he didn't know what
to say, too? Harry was utterly confused, didn't know what to think or feel. He
was overwhelmed by so many different feelings and bemusing sensations invading
him from around. He had never known that he was so dependant on his eyes to help
sorting this out or taking in the sensations on a different way. 

Clumsily resuming laddling his now cold soup, he thought about what he could do
at all without his eyes. Ceratinly, there wasn't much, but maybe he could do
something. There had to be something. He didn't want to sit around being bored,
or to get on his professors' nerves when he'd been so kind to take him in.

Suddenly he heard someone or something hissing lightly. As far as he knew there
was no one with them and a snake he would have understood, so that only left
Snape.
"Erh.. Sir?" he asked hesitantly, but Snape didn't answer. Apologetic he called
him again. At first there was no response either, but then Snape let out a low
grunt. Worried, he asked him if he was alright, but Snape didn't reply
directly.

"Binka!!" he called, panting slightly. Harry frowned. What was wrong with his
professor? Then there was a loud crack somewhere to the left and a high pitched
voice inquiered.
"What can Binka do for you, master?" 

"Go and get Socrates, then take him and Harry outside. Don't let Harry roam
around unsupervised! I must leave!" Snape instructed, pushing his chair back
with a scrape and hurrying out of the dining room.
After a brief moment's confusion, Harry remembered that his professor had acted
much the same way when he, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagal and Professor
Dumbledore had gathered in the Headmaster's office, and he had felt the Dark
Lord's call through his Mark.
He grew even more worried. He had seen in his visions what Voldemort would do to
his servants. Snape had been there sometimes, too, and he always left heavily
injured, because Snape wouldn't provide Voldemort with the infromation he
seeked. 

What did Snape do when he was hurt? Did his house elves provide for him? Or was
there somebody else in this house? He remembered the people he had run into in
the stables on his second, had it been his second?, day here. What was with
them? What would they do?

He was pulled from his musing by the house elf.
"Laures Sir." 
"What?" he replied rather scared. He was frightened by the thought to be alone
for quite a while. He wanted someone to be here with him. 
"You are to follow me, Laures Sir!" the house elf squeaked and bowed. Not
feeling hungry anymore, he got up and followed the elf, feeling insecure,
because he'd never walked without something to hold onto.
"Uhm, Binka?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, Laures Sir?" the house elf squealed happily.
"Can I have some robes or something else to wear?" 
He might not have been able to look at his own appearance anymore, but he just
couldn't bring himself to walk around the house in pyjamas. That much dignity
was still left in him, thank you very much. 
"Please, follow me!" the house elf said, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him
along.

TBC


Vielen Dank für die lieben Kommis an Sinia, Pummelluff and DarkEye. 

Wenn jemand lust hat diese ff zu übersetzen, dann möchte er sich bitte bei mir
melden. denn ich habe definitiv keine lust dazu.

cyu as^^

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