Whelp II The Wrath of Snape

Harry? Specifically, I mean.'

Severus' eyes narrowed, but his tone was nothing if not polite when he answered. 'A fair bit.'

Molly's eyes widened with surprise. 'Harry's spoken to you then?'

'About the Dursleys?'

'Yes. Or about today's situation, particularly.'

Severus sat forward. 'What happened?'

With a frown, now, Molly said, 'So, he didn't tell you?'

'Tell me what?' He considered hexing her on the spot, but forbore to do so, at least until after she answered his bloody question!

Instead of answering, though, she asked something more. 'How do you know about what happened to him, if he hasn't spoken to you about it?'

Severus gritted his teeth. 'It doesn't matter!'

'But it does, Severus,' she said, in a tone that implied she was speaking to a small, dull child. 'Harry needs to talk about these things, and if you aren't encouraging him to do so, he will keep all those feelings bottled inside, and we'll see far more episodes like today.'

Severus found that he was gripping his wand through the pocket in his robes, and it took a supreme act of will to let it go. And another to unclench his teeth. His voice was dangerous when he growled, 'Tell me what happened to Harry today. Now.'

Molly looked startled, as if she couldn't imagine Severus taking umbrage with her obtuse behavior. But then she sighed. 'He panicked, when I made a move to help him with his writing. I tried to take his hand in mine, to show him the proper way to hold a quill, when he turned pale as a ghost, ducked under the table and fled the castle.'

Severus gaped at her for several moments before he found his voice again. 'Obviously you found him.'

'He had gone to Hagrid's. He was still pale and shaky when I got there, but between Hagrid and myself, we got him to tell us what was wrong. Now, I would like to know how much you know about how the Muggles treated him.'

'Why?'

'Because when I asked if he had told you, he said he wasn't supposed to speak of what happened to him there. I imagine it was one of their rules.'

Taken aback, Severus nodded slightly. 'He's said as much before. But . . .' He waved a hand helplessly. 'He doesn't want to talk about them. I have to drag him through every mention of them, every conversation in which their specter is raised.'

'He may not want to,' Molly said quietly. 'But he must, nonetheless. Or he will never truly recover.'

Since Albus had said much the same thing, Severus was more convinced than he would have been otherwise. But he did not want to upset the boy, and he knew speaking of his relatives upset him.

'You used Legilimency, didn't you?' Molly asked, into the quiet that followed.

He stared.

'On Harry, or on the Muggles?'

Feeling like a fish out of water, suddenly, he heard himself say, 'Both.'

Her frown returned, multiplied. 'It's a dangerous habit to get into, Severus. A great uncle of mine was a Legilimens, and relied on it so heavily he