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Life Will Never be the Same Part One

Summary:

Severus Snape gets the discovery of a lifetime when the wards fall during the summer, investigating, he finds the boy who lived trapped within a cage in the basement of the house that was supposed to love and care for him. Seacrets come undone well caring for the boy.

Chapter 1: The Discovery of a Life Time

Chapter Text

Thank you to the beta of this chapter, Faykan

Chapter one-The Discovery of a Life Time

Severus would never forget the things he witnessed during his time as a Death Eater; he would never forget those horrors. All those innocent people he harmed because of his uncontrollable anger and inability to see the error in his ways, but this… this had to rival the worst things he ever encountered during his time as a Death Eater.

He failed Lily; the only person he ever loved… and he failed her. He still remembered that night, how the house shook with thunder as he made his way up the stairs, stepping over James body to find Lily. He remembered falling to his knees and taking Lily’s body in his arms, looking at her widened eyes, once filled with life; now empty.

He made a promise to her that night; he promised to look after her son, Harry Potter, to do everything in his power to make sure that he was safe. But as he looked at Harry now, he knew Lily would be so disappointed in him. 

He couldn't prevent the tear that slid down his check as he looked at the boy, his heart pounding in his chest with grief. The boy was laid out on one of the beds in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, appearing as nothing but a pile of skin and bones. Severus took in a shaky breath as flashes of the past few hours reentered his mind. 

It had been the middle of summer, with Severus working in his personal lab on his latest potion, when suddenly the alarms went off, the alarms that told him that the wards that kept Harry safe had fallen.

Safe… the wards haven't done anything to keep Harry safe. 

He hadn’t even bothered to turn off the flame under his cauldron as he ran out of his chambers and down the halls of Hogwarts to the gates, where he was finally was able to apparate.

Everything became a blur after that. He remembered going down the stairs to the basement of the terribly house, the smell hitting like a ton of bricks, forcing him to bring his arm up to cover his mouth and nose as he gagged.

Lighting the tip of his wand, Severus had thrown the door open and beheld the disgusting scene. Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, the chosen one, was trapped within a small cage, sitting and covered in his own urine and feces. At that moment Severus turned around and vomited. He couldn't remember what happened after that, not even how he got back to Hogwarts and up to the hospital wing. 

Severus didn't even realize that he was standing over the boy, tears running down his face, not until Poppy came in from her office. 

“S...Severus?” Poppy asked, shocked at what she saw in front of her. 

“Please… you need to help him, please,” Severus said quietly, so unlike his own voice as he looked up at the Matron.

Poppy’s mouth dropped as she made her way over to the still figure on the bed, “Severus… I’m a school nurse, you need to take him to St. Mungo’s,” Poppy said, tears running down her face as she saw the famous lightning bolt scar that was hidden beneath all the dirt and grime.

“You know I can’t do that, he’d be in danger… they’d lock him up” Severus said as he brought his hand up and cleared away his tears. 

“Severus… I…”

“Damn it woman!” Severus yelled, losing his temper, “Didn't you work at the emergency ward at St. Mungos for seven years before you came here? Do your job!

And with that Poppy pulled herself together and took out her wand, casting a medical scan on the boy to get a list of his injuries. And what a list it was, the scan went on for nearly ten minutes before it finally stopped, the sheet of paper that was conjured falling on the bed. 

Poppy took in a deep breath before she picked up the sheet and read off the injurers, each one getting worse as she went on.