"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding towards Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringott's carts."

Harry readily agreed to this, but as soon as the half-giant was out of sight, he immediately doubled back on himself, making a beeline straight for Gringotts. He'd noticed something on his earlier walk through and, given the opportunity, he decided to investigate further. Once inside, he headed for it— a list of services that could be procured within the bank. There it was, under Wills and Inheritance: Guardianship of Dependent Children.

The bank was a thrumming hive of activity, and no one seemed to notice Harry as he picked his way through the crowds. He nervously approached a wizened goblin seated beneath the sign at an individual desk, set aside from the hustle and bustle of the bank of tellers Hagrid had taken him to earlier. At Harry's approach, the goblin raised his head from the parchment in front of him, fixing him with an expectant stare that seemed to demand, "Well?"

"Um, hello," said Harry, hesitantly. "I'd like to look at my parents' wills please, if I may?"

“Are those carnations?”

Harry looked over to see a tall, thin man wearing dark clothes. Harry thought that he must be rather hot in the summer heat. “Yeah. They are.”

The man nodded, then asked after a slight hesitation, “Do you recognize me?”

Harry shook his head, flummoxed. “Should I?”

The man sighed. “Yes.”

“Oh,” was all Harry could think to say. “I’m sorry.”

Keep looking. For oddities. You will find them.

Takes Place: 5th summer - Snape flavour: Canon Snape, Snape is Desperate
Tags: Kidnapped
Categories: Teacher Snape > Professor Snape

Harry Potter is no stranger to life turning out completely different to what he could have ever expected. He was an abused boy with murdered parents who turned out to be a wizard and the target of a dark lord after all. Given everything that had happened since he entered the wizarding world, he was used to his life being turned upside down. However, as the world gets torn apart by Voldemort's raging war in his 5th year, Harry is about to discover that everything he thought he knew all this time was a terrible lie and threatens to destroy everything he's created.

One-shot story set after So Close and before Far From Perfect. Severus and Harry are caught by surprise by a delegation of Gryffindors and teachers coming to terms with their new dynamic.