At first only confusion registers in Harry's mind. He hasn't felt this warm and safe since the morning after he won the house cup for Gryffindor. There can only be one explanation. Jumping to attention Harry finds that he's woken up in a bed for the first time in months.

Even at Hogwarts Harry wasn't always good enough to sleep in a bed. Instead, the Headmaster had been kind enough to glamor his small pallet so that his roommates wouldn't find out about his punishments caused by his shameful displays of weakness and sometimes blatant disobedience.

The room Harry finds himself in is very decent considering whoever ought to know how poorly he was behaving just the previous night. At least he thinks it was the previous night. Sometime they would go overboard with his punishments and he wouldn't wake up until days later when he would recieve yet another punishment for laziness. No matter how weary he feels at the time.

Shifting in bed, the slight boy decides that he'll be much more useful doing something rather than sitting around. Making a move to get off the bed Harry freezes, cheeks flaming with embarrassment and shame. Feeling the sheets around him, Harry finds them soaked along with his pants and the bottom half of his shirt. All clothes he knows he doesn't own and clearly doesn't deserve judging by the way they are now ruined.

The young Gryffindor is no stranger to wet sheets as he's woken up in them more often than not but to relieve himself on a bed that doesn't belong to him when he doesn't even know where he is or who he's with is beyond mortifying. Not to mention the punishment he will have to endure at the hands of Dumbledore when he catches word of his newest mistake.

Hobbling into the attached bathroom on legs that seem much too thin to support his body, Harry finds various cleaning products under the sink. He strips down the bed and throws the covers and his ruined trousers into the hamper in the bathroom leaving his pants so that he's not walking around half naked.

Spraying the mattress with cleaner, Harry gets to work scrubbing out the yellow stain. He's not sure how long he does this for before he hears footsteps coming from down the hall heading in his direction. Quickly putting everything away the frightened child goes to kneel by the door with his head bowed just as he's been taught to do. Although he doesn't know who will come through the door there is no way he will be seen out of position in case that person decides to tell Dumbledore who will ensure that his punishment is 10 times worse.

The sight was not something Severus thought he'd walk into when he enters to check on Potter and administer his potions. He knew the boy was awake due to the wards set up around the room, but to find the child on the floor and the bed unmade is a shock. It isn't until he notices the slightly faded stain that everything clicks.

"Potter?" the boy flinches at being suddenly addressed as Severus realizes that he isn't going to move without prompt.

"P-professor?" the child glances up before quickly averting his eyes back to the teacher's polished black dress shoes. "S-s-sorry about the m-mess." Severus really hopes that the stuttering is a side effect from the crucio he had been subjected to the previous night and not an overwhelming fear of the man. While he does enjoy installing fear in his students in order to maintain order in the classroom, never should a child be too afraid to even make eye contact with an adult.

"It's quite alright. Accidents happen," pulling out his wand, Harry flinches again trying to stutter out another apology but seemingly unable to, fear gripping onto his vocal cords.

"It's alright. Calm down. Harry. I only wish to set the bed right and then we can have a little chat. Alright?" After the bed is made with new, clean sheets and the child is redressed, it takes a few more minutes to coax Harry to come and sit on the bed. In the end, the boy chooses to sit at the very edge, furthest away from the potion master, nervously playing with his fingers.

"Harry, do you remember much of last night?" Severus needs to know how much damage that unforgivable caused the boy before he can administer the proper potions in order to best help.

"G-got punished," he thinks for a second. "S-so you were r-really there?"

"Yes, I was present when the ghastly events took place. How did you know?"

"I f-felt your mm-magic. You and t-two o-others," a violent shiver racks the poor boy's body followed by his stomach growling.

"How about we finish our discussion at a later date. You must be famished," at the boy's nod, he calls a house elf and orders it to bring down the tray he prepared in the kitchen.

"Harry, do you think you can stomach some breakfast?" Severus asks reaching for the small bowl of fruit.

"N-no thank you, sir. I'm not hungry," Harry states even as he stares longingly at the meal.

"How about we try some fruit and toast, then see how you feel," Severus ignores his words. The malnourished Griffindore only manages three slices of watermelon and half a slice of toast before he deems himself full.

"Can you eat a little more? No?" at the shake of his head Severus banishes the food before he starts taking potion vials out of his pockets, placing them on the now empty tray.

Harry carefully picks up one of the vials as if afraid Severus will suddenly strike out and attack him. That's probably what the boy is used to. Shaking his head slightly he quickly places it back on the tray.

"Thank you for r-r-reminding m-m-m-me. I don't d-d-deserve to b-b-be he-lped nor your k-kindness," he struggles to get out the words perhaps too terrified.

"No Harry. These are for you. You have to take it and several others each day." Severus tries to catch the child's eye but they're firmly planted to the ground. "Do you understand?"

The pair sits in silence for five minutes before Harry works up the courage to speak again.

"Is it going to hurt? I don't wanna hurt anym-m-more." The potion master isn't as shocked at the boy's words as he would have been not two days before. Although a lot has happened in the past few hours.

"No, I can guarantee this will not harm you in any way. Now that's not to say it'll be the worst taste you'll ever have in your mouth but it definitely won't hurt. These are strictly for your benefit." Severus decides that he'll repeat the phrase as many times as the boy needs to hear it.

Even more cautious than the first time Harry picks up the same vial from earlier and brings it to his mouth. Pouring a quarter into his mouth Harry immediately gags and ends up spitting up the navy liquid all over himself before starting to panic, crying silently.

"I'm s-s-s-s-sorry. I'm sorry. Do b-better. I'll--" Harry tries to rush out with stuttered breaths.

"Hush little one. Everything is fine. You are alright. A lot of children find it hard to take potions. I only fear that you won't like the alternative."

"A- al-alternative?"

"Yes. Gabby?" Severus calls. Almost instantly a pop sounds throughout the room startling Harry and causing him to flinch.

"Hush, it's alright Potter," Severus attempts to console the frightened child. "Thank you, Gabby you may go back to the kitchen." Harry doesn't see what the professor takes from what he now realizes is a house elf.

"As I said, Potter, many children have a tough time taking these kinds of potions especially when it's this numerous." Harry squeaks when he's suddenly lifted into Snape's lap and forced to make eye contact with the man. "You are most likely going to hate what I have to do but I swear that this is strictly for your benefit."

Harry soon finds out that it's a baby bottle that's in his most hated professor's hand and instantly starts to struggle against his arms.

"No... please... I don't want that. I - I'll take the p-potions like a b-big boy. No baba! No!" the boy's speech starts regressing the more he seems to panic. Severus tries to calm the child but whispered encouragements and promises of safety fall on deaf ear as he only continues to cry and struggle all the more.

Through the chaos neither one notices Bellatrix fluttering into the room until she takes Harry into her arms despite his flinch and struggles and starts bouncing him.

"What's the problem? Why is the baby so fussy?"

"Not a baby!" Harry exclaims but it's muffled due to the position of his head firmly in her neck as she continues to bounce and sway in hopes of quieting the boy's sobs.

It proves to work when after 5 minutes Harry goes completely quiet only the occasional sniffle coming through.

"There we are, deary. Now I think it's time for someone to get something in their tummy before anything else exciting occurs." Before he could process Bella has him reclined in her lap as she sits in the desk chair. Severus helpfully hands her the bottle with the special potion concoction. Harry, much too tired to resist anymore, accepts it and starts suckling the teat. As soon as he properly latches on Harry can't remember why he was so dead set on refusing the infantile contraption anymore. This is the most soothing thing he's had in a long time. Not only is the milk the perfect temperature and fills his belly in a way that isn't too heavy but he can also feel all the aches and pains he's put to the back of his mind completely disappear.

Before he knows it, Harry is once again fast asleep still suckling on the bottle in Bellatrix's lap.

"Isn't that precious?" she looks up from her inquiry of the black haired child to Severus. "Tom requires an audience with you," at the man's confused look she continues. "Although the sight of little baby Potter in my lap has warmed my heart that's the reason I came to see you. Now off you go. No need to keep the man waiting longer than absolutely necessary. I'll watch the baby while you see what needs to be done to make Dumbledore pay for all his misgivings and manipulations on the good people."