When they got back to their automotive vehicle, Snape demanded to drive. After a few protestations from Hoppity and much bullying from Snape, Harry once again found himself tucked behind the driver's seat, fearing for his life. Their packages were tossed in the back seat of the SUV to make room for the bags of food that they were to buy next.

Snape slid in the driver's seat and Harry soon heard the sound of a buckle being closed, the sound of a key being placed in the ignition... and turned. No success. The engine made little turn over noises but didn't start.

"Severus, perhaps-"

"I'm perfectly capable of turning on this primitive Muggle invention without your help!" Snape cut in peevishly and turned the key again, this time starting the engine.

Harry prayed that Snape was a competent Wizard in everything, even driving for the first time. Snape released the car from park, put it in what he thought was reverse, and tapped the gas pedal. Harry shut his eyes and Hoppity yelled as the large car peeled out of its parking space like a startled Hippogryff. Snape slammed the breaks and they all rocked backwards.

"Ah, Severus," Hoppity ventured, "perhaps-"

"No." Snape said hotly. "I just require practice."

I'm going to die, thought Harry.

"Funny," said Hoppity. "When I said the same thing you wouldn't let me drive!"

"Quiet." Snape bit out, distracted. The car was placed into forward and then Snape tapped the gas pedal, much more sedately this time. They inched forward, then sped up to a walking pace.

Snape drove like an old lady.

"Severus you're going too slow! Let me-"

"Shut up."

Hoppity scowled. "Now I was never that mean to you when you asked to drive."

"Be quiet, please." Snape said, changing what he had said earlier. The car sped up to a speed approaching acceptable and they pulled out to the main road.

It was a while later (during which they were honked at several times) before Snape pulled into another parking lot, this time supposedly to buy food. Harry looked out the windows to see that the large building's logo featured a huge lit up shopping cart, the top over spilling with vegetables. Figured, he thought.

Snape parked the automobile with only minor difficulty and once the car had been turned off, Harry undid his seatbelt, very much alive, and glad that he had survived his second drive with a Wizard-kind at the steering wheel.

As soon as he got out of the car, Hoppity grabbed his hand in what was quickly becoming a familiar practice and pulled him along after a quickly storming Snape. As they walked through the car park, they passed a woman with a shopping cart full of bags, a baby strapped into a carrier on the small front seat and Hoppity smiled at it before pulling Harry along, more quickly than before. He wished that he had thought of asking to change into his new shoes in the car, as he was still wearing his old yucky ones. He could hear them lightly slapping on the pavement. If he had his new trainers on his steps would probably have been silent and he would be able to keep up with Hoppity better, he was sure.

When they finally reached the entrance, Snape was waiting for them, still looking as sour as ever. Hoppity let go of his hand and quickly walked over to the carts and pulled one out with relish.

"Aha!" she exclaimed triumphantly and was given several strange looks. A couple pushing a cart with a small boy in the front seat passed them, glancing curiously as they went by. Hoppity pushed the cart over to where Harry and Snape stood, looking sheepish but still good natured, giving no explanation.

"Alright so what will we be getting? Biscuits? Tarts? Creams? Crips? Fizzy drinks?"

"Nutritional food." was Snape's curt reply. He pointed sharply to the front seat of their cart and looked menacingly down at Harry. "Either get in or get back to the automobile, Potter, either way you are not wandering around loose in the store."

Harry looked at the little metal and plastic seat bewilderedly. He could not be serious. No way. What, was he five? Well, okay he was a little close to that age now but there was no way that he was going to be placed in the cart and pushed around like a baby.

Snape's face was stern as barked out a "Well, Potter?"

(…Vegetables, fruit, potatoes, bread, butter, almond butter, porridge, meat, fish and a million spices and herbs later….)

Harry felt bored and trapped in the little shopping cart seat. He swung his legs idly as Snape pursued yet another spice bottle. Hoppity shifted from foot to foot and finally with an air of defeat occupied herself with reading the store newspaper.

Snape had been looking at the bottles for forever, it seemed. Forever and ever and ever. He kicked his feet against the back of the cart, trying to get a reaction out of Snape, trying to get the man to somehow remember that they weren't at an apothecary, that they were supposed to go back to the house sometime before the day was through and he was getting hungry. All this food around him and nothing to eat… and there was a wonderful smell coming for over there…

Snape showed no sign of reaction, sniffing a bottle with an intense look of concentration. Hoppity was still engrossed by the newspaper, her head hiding behind pictures of juice, canned fruit and dishwashing liquid. He let out a sigh and slumped sideways.

The sounds of the large shop filled his ears, the background music some interesting classical piece, voices talking and carts being pushed down aisles and a child chatting energetically nearby. The shop itself was unlike any food place he had ever been to, which was actually not very surprising since he hadn't been to very many. Most of the floor seemed to be hardwood and the packaging of all the food looked unfamiliar. He thought that it was a specialty shop because 5 minutes ago he recognized a box of crackers in someone's cart as the ones his aunt used to have to order by the telephone to be sent to them through the mail for Dudley's special diet. They were supposed to be able to fill you up because they were whole wheat and had a whole bunch of other special things in them. For as special as they were they still tasted like cardboard.

He sighed again and watched as Snape picked up another spice bottle and studied the ingredients. Why was he even doing that? Didn't the font label say what was in the bottle? He put his head down morosely. Maybe that would speed time up.

He was startled when a hand was placed on the handlebar next to him; a potion stained hand. He looked up to see Snape standing next to him, still intently looking at a label, this time of a large cylinder thing that Harry thought was salt. Was Snape finally done? Harry perked up, anxious to be moving on.

He was elated when Snape set the cylinder thing in the cart and straightened up, making no move to go back to the shelves of spices. Yes! Surely Snape could not spend such a long time in any other part of the store.

"Come along, Smirkett." Snape said and started to pull the front of the cart along, incidentally pulling Harry along too from behind.

"Come along, Hoppity!" Harry called out to her, fearful that she would be left behind.

Hoppity lowered her newspaper to see them moving rapidly away. "Oi!" she said and quickly folded the newspaper and hurried to catch up. Once caught up, she smiled at him and reached out to push the cart from the handlebar in front of Harry, steadying it.

They went down several more aisles, adding more groceries before ending up in a large cheese area. There were several tables spaced out with cheese samples speared through with toothpicks and every once in awhile was a sample of bread.

"Ou, cheese!" gushed Hoppity.

"Ou, cheese!" said Harry.

"Hmm, cheese." said Snape.

They quickly pulled the cart, and Harry, over to the closest sample dish.

"What kind is this?" Hoppity asked, eagerly reaching for a sample and popping it into her mouth.

Snape looked at her, appalled that she actually ate it before knowing what it was.

"Colby." Snape informed them reading off of the card placed to the side, then picked up a sample when Hoppity showed no illness from the taste.

"It's not bad." Hoppity told him, placing the empty toothpick in a small cup off to one side that seemed to be there for that purpose.

Harry reached out towards them, hoping that his grasping hand would prompt Hoppity into handing him a sample too. He was gratified when she did so and he popped it into his mouth to taste. He thought that it was alright, it tasted good to him but he was hardly an expert on cheese.

They moved on to the next sample, which was New York sharp cheddar, which Hoppity said tasted, different but not bad. Harry had to agree and Snape just made a 'hmm' noise. Next to it was some sourdough bread, which they tried to some satisfaction.

After some Irish cheese that Hoppity said tasted like nothing Irish, and some traditional goat cheese, they moved on to a bright orange block. True to form, Hoppity snatched up two bites, handing one to Harry and popping the other in her mouth without learning what it was first.

She gave a great big shudder, her face screwed up as if in pain.

"American." Snape informed her, somewhat amused, and made no move to pick up his own sample. Hoppity wordlessly ran back over to the Irish cheese and popped three samples in her mouth at once, pulling the toothpicks out hurriedly so she could chew.

Snape silently reached out and plucked the sample from Harry's motionless hand where it was still untouched and tossed it in the bin.

Hoppity came back, still chewing and gave another shudder. "Well I had always wondered what American cheese tasted like. Now I know- plastic."

They tried one last safer sample, parmesan, before moving away to the juice section where Snape searched for Pumpkin juice to no avail, finally settling on apple cider and carrot juice instead.

Their last stop was for bottled water because Snape said that the tap tasted funny and could have 'any number of impurities in it'. It just so happened, that across from the water and fizzy drinks were boxes of gummy sweet snacks. Hoppity looked at them while Snape loaded the bottom of their cart with gallons and gallons of water.

His surrogate mum for the summer picked up a box of sweet snacks with pictures of alligators on the front and Harry watched, interested, as she made to put it in the cart.

Snape's voice brought her up short as the man grabbed the box from her hands and roughly placed it back on the shelf. "No. You've already spent more on the boy than he deserves."

"But he's been so patiently during this trip. He deserves a treat." She implored.

"Begging does not become you, Smirkett, and it will most assuredly not work on me. His treat is sitting in the car, several packages deep, or have you forgotten about the mountain of toys you bought for him?" Snape's face was hard, unforgiving. "He does not need anything else." He said with finality.

Hoppity's lips pursed, but she made no move for the sweets again, pushing the cart as Snape pulled it to the checkout aisle.

They waited in line for awhile and then when it was their turn placed their food items belt. As soon as Snape's back was turned, Hoppity winked at Harry and picked up a small red and yellow carton from a nearby pail and hid it quickly under the turnips on the belt so Snape couldn't see. From the brief glance Harry had been given of the little red box, he knew that the front had a picture of a circus cages with animals in them. Animal biscuits! He smiled broadly back at Hoppity and tried to pretend that nothing was amiss, lest Snape become suspicious.

Snape paid for the food while Hoppity and some store workers placed all their purchases in bags. Soon, Harry found himself being pushed out through the car park still in the cart. The pace this time was more sedate as the cart was quite full and heavy, especially from all the gallons of water placed on the bottom.

Hoppity and Snape made quick work of loading the back of the car up as Harry sat quietly in his seat. He wondered whether someone would remember to help him out or if he would have to ask politely.

The number of bags still in the cart dwindled and Snape was the one who was left with the last bag to place. Hoppity had placed hers directly before and disappeared around the driver's side quickly. For assumedly being a spy, Snape sure did miss a lot of things. Snape placed the last bag haphazardly on the top of the pile of groceries and slammed the boot closed. Only when Snape turned around, did the man seem to realize that Harry was still stuck in the front seat of the shopping cart.

Snape scowled but walked over to the cart. He reached out and hastily lifted Harry out of the cart from under his armpits and plopped him back on the ground. The second Snape let go, Harry quickly got away and around to the side of the automobile, not wishing to have to take care of the cart or be forgotten and left behind himself. He opened the door and climbed in, quickly shutting it behind himself before Snape could call him back.

By looking out the darkly tinted windows, Harry watched as Snape shoved the cart away. The man stood still, sardonically watching the cart roll slightly downhill and hit a curb, bouncing off to rest. Snape then turned around and strode purposefully towards the driver's side of the vehicle; the side where Hoppity now sat with the window somehow rolled down. Harry rationalized that it was a manual window before turning his full attention to watch the drama that was sure to come.

"Out." demanded Snape, once he realized where she was.

"What! Why? You had your turn now it's mine!"

"This is not some childish issue that can be solved with the golden playground rules such as sharing and fairness." Snape said, resolute. "Now get out of my seat."

"No! I want to actually get home before tonight."

"With your skills we wouldn't even make it." Snape hissed out.

"Severus, you drive slower than an old woman."

"And you drive like a menace!"

"I refuse to get out! You'll have to force me if you want you way!"

Harry's breath caught for a brief moment as Snape looked like he was considering it, but it seemed that the man's sense of propriety won out at the end as he only folded his arms furiously and glared down at Hoppity, still in the driver's seat.

Hoppity's voice was smug as she held out her hand. "We'll just have to take turns. The keys, please."

Snape's lower lip jutted out in a sneer, but he jerkily handed the keys to Hoppity, then went around the automobile to ungraciously fold himself in the passenger's seat.

It was a quiet drive home, the only incident when Hoppity turned too sharply into the driveway and almost knocked over the outside postbox. Pulling into the drive, Hoppity reached up and pushed a button in the front that Harry hadn't noticed before, opening the garage door. She drove the car into the garage and stopped it with more skill than she had shown previously, the garage door closing behind them as Hoppity pressed the button again.

In a flash, Snape had slipped out of his seat and out of the car. Harry unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, wandering around the back to see what Snape was up to. Snape had opened the boot and with a flick of his wand had all the packages levitating in the air and floating out of the back of the automobile. Hoppity came around by that point to help, stopping short when she saw what Snape was up to.

Hoppity's eyebrows shot up. "Severus, what are you doing?!"

"I think that to be obvious," sneered Snape.

"You can't use magic like that! For Merlin's sake, put those bags down before someone sees it. We're supposed to be Muggles!"

Snape gave her a withering glare. "Merlin? Is that an acceptable saying for Muggles? Since you're the expert perhaps you can clarify it for me, I was almost positive that it wasn't. As for this," he said moving his wand minutely upwards, bobbing the packages and bags, and continuing scathingly, "Who, pray tell, is going to see what I'm doing, incased as we are in these four walls?"

Hoppity glanced at the garage door, and Harry did too; The small windows on the door were tinted darkly, not even giving the excuse that people could see in. Hoppity's face screwed up as if she were searching for a crushing answer. She finally settled angrily on, "Whatever happened to 'Yes, Headmaster, I agree to go on this trip and pretend to be a Muggle'?"

Snape just raised an eyebrow, clearly showing that her answer was pointless to the argument.

"Well what of tracking charms then?" Hoppity tried. "Are we even licensed to use Magic in this country? Do we need to be licensed? I don't even know!" She threw her hands up, emphasizing her lack of information.

Snape looked as if he were thinking on it, the bags slowly lowering with his inattention. Harry distractedly wondered what would happen if he tried to pull a bag away. Would it break the spell, dropping them all or would the bag be stuck in place and unmovable? Was it worth trying out if the result might be that they fell and broke Snape's spell?

"And what about Muggle recorders?" Hoppity asked, pushing her advantage. Harry promptly left his thoughts of breaking spells to listen in on this new interesting topic. "They have devices that can watch you and capture your movements like photographs. There could be one on the ceiling right now!" Harry looked up, not seeing anything. "Or in front of the house. We would have a difficulty explaining it to the local authorities and then to the national inquisitors if we tried to Obliviate the local ones… we could start a national incident and then where would our anonymity be?"

Snape looked alarmed at the last, his eyes darting about suspiciously. "You... may have a point." he conceded as he hastily spelled the packages down.

Harry wondered at Snape's alarm of being discovered before his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a bag being shoved into his arms.

"Take it, Potter." Snape glared and he obeyed if only to stop him from glaring at him.

After many trips, most of the bags were placed in the kitchen, covering the table, the counters and the floor. Hoppity was the one who decided to start unpacking the bags already in the kitchen to make room for the ones that still needed to be brought in.

"Hey Harry," Hoppity called him from where he was busy taking out boxes of food from a brown paper bag. "This is yours." She said, grinning as she held out the black toy Fluzy in its brightly coloured packaging for him to take. She then rooted around the bags, pulling over the large one that contained his train set.

It was at that moment that Snape walked into the kitchen, carrying several more bags from the garage. Spotting the items Hoppity was pulling out his face twisted hatefully. "Any toys out of his room will be taking a one way trip to the bin! And no amount of squalling will convince me otherwise."

"Severus!" Hoppity cried out, appalled. "You can't just throw his toys away!"

Snape sat his bags down on the last empty spot on the table and folded his arms. "I can and I will. If the brat can't keep after his personal property then he doesn't deserve to have any."

Hoppity was just looking at Snape as if she couldn't believe that someone could do such a thing.

Believe it, Harry thought as he leapt up and started to ferret out the bags from the toy store. He planned to move them to the other room, and once he had them all together he would move them up to his room. That way, he would know if Snape threw anything out.

"Well! I'd just have to keep buying him new ones then!" Hoppity said, indignant on Harry's behalf. She got up and started to help Harry gather the bags of toys.

Snape just sneered. "So you admit that the boy is completely incapable of being responsible with his personal property- why reward that?"

Hoppity squinted at Snape. "He's six! Of course he won't be able to look after his things."

Snape just snorted and left the room to supposedly gather more bags from the garage. Harry thought that it was a rather mild reaction from Snape but just considered themselves lucky.

With Hoppity's help, he was able to get all the bags of toys up to his room and put away without Snape tossing any out. When it came to the scooter, however, Hoppity stopped him in the kitchen before he could take it up to his room.

"You can keep the scooter in the garage, Harry. I hardly think that he'll throw that one away. It's a 'mode of transportation' and not a toy, and it's grey and silver coloured besides."

Harry looked down at the large box that he was attempting to lug through the house. The scooter was a foldable one so it was bent double inside. "I don't think that he would agree." He said and made to continue with it up to his room.

"Don't be silly, Harry! Here, I'll ask him." She walked over to where Snape stood half in the cupboard, putting away bags of grain. "Severus, you won't throw this scooter away if we leave it in the garage will you? After all, it's a mode of transportation."

"Is it his?" Snape asked, absent mindedly from where he was organizing food stuff.

"Ah, yes." Hoppity replied hesitantly.

"Then yes." He said, smirking.

Harry certainly hadn't expected anything less, but it seemed as if Hoppity had. Her mouth had dropped open and she was now getting flustered at Snape's unreasonable attitude.

"Well, well- how would you like it if I threw something away of yours?" She demanded, casting about the kitchen for something to threaten him with. Not finding anything belonging to Snape, she finally snatched up a spoon. "This spoon?! How'd you like that?"

Snape gave her an incredulous expression before sneering his most terrifying sneer, earning an 'eep' from Hoppity. "You are a blithering idiot. If that is the best you can do, then by all means, go ahead."

Hoppity seemed to screw up her courage before walking over to the sink and placing the spoon in it. "No, I won't because I'm nicer than you."

"More childish too, it seems." Snape said blandly.

Hoppity just stuck her nose in the air at the insult. "Come along Harry, we'll put your scooter in that spare room." She continued loudly so that Snape could hear, "It's going to be Harry's room too now since he has to keep all his things away and it's more than should be stuffed in his bedroom!"

"And whose fault is that?" Snape bit out sarcastically.

Hoppity just ignored him, taking the scooter from Harry and carrying it upstairs. Harry followed cautiously. He'd never seen anyone fight so long or so often with Snape. It was entertaining at first but now he didn't like it.

Hoppity placed his new scooter in the first room and exhaled loudly, blowing out the tension she had seemed to build up before. "Well now, there you go." She crinkled her nose. "He's certainly a hard man to get along with." She reached out a patted his head. "Don't worry Harry, I'm sure that we'll all get along soon."

Harry didn't think it likely, but he hoped so.

"Why don't you stay up here and put away your new toys? I'll help you open them first, of course."

Now this made Harry wonder why she wanted him up here and away but dismissed the thought as inconsequential. If she wanted to argue with Snape some more he didn't want to be around anyway.

They went to Harry's bedroom and Hoppity left briefly to get a pair of scissors. She then sliced through all the tape on the boxes so that Harry could open them and left him with the instructions to take his time with putting them away.

Once she had left, Harry walked over to his bed and picked up Roofy. He couldn't forget the threat Snape had given him while they were clothes shopping and he didn't want anything to happen to his dragon. He hid him under the bed, to wait for him tonight and then turned back to his new toys. He thought that he should keep all the boxes, just in case, so each time he was done with the packaging, he moved it into the spare room that was now his. The irony didn't escape him that he now had a spare room and was using it to keep the bits of things he didn't want around but wanted to keep anyway.

He arranged his new dragons, knights and Wizard dolls along the top of the dresser and then placed his box of crayons, drawing pad and wakie talkies next to them. His beanbag chair was situated in one corner of the room and upon further reflection, Harry decided that he wanted to set his train set up in his second room because it would have more space there and wouldn't have to be put away. He carried the train set, still in its box, and placed it in the middle of the floor for him to set up later.

He went back to his room and placed his gooey lizards on the bedside table, right in the nook that the "X" shaped legs made. Standing up to survey the room, he realized that he still had things to put away. He had never had this much stuff in his life! He shoved the game system, still in its box to another corner of the room since he really didn't know what to do with it yet; He thought that it needed to be connected to a telly to work but now he wasn't allowed to take it out of his room… he still wanted it in this room though, even if he couldn't use it.

The paddle balls were placed over his gooey lizards on the bedside table, making a sort of cave for them to live in. He placed the bubble bath on his bathroom counter and left the black Fluzy on the floor next to his dresser still in its packaging to figure out later. All that was left were his glowy stars and Lego sets. He leaned the star package against the side of his bedside table for later and turned to the Lego sets.

Well… Hoppity had told him to put away his toys and to take his time with them. He couldn't put his Lego's away until they were put together could he?

Harry happily sat down to finish the job Hoppity had given him.

Quite a while later, Harry looked up from where he was trying to figure out how to put together a spacecraft from many tiny rectangular blocks when he noticed a figure standing in his doorway with his peripheral vision. It was Snape, holding several large shopping bags. The man's lip curled up in distaste as he surveyed the small boy surrounded by small plastic bricks.

Harry glared up at him, perfectly aware that he was in his room and not breaking any rules.

"Your clothes." Snape bit out as he dropped the bags in the doorway. "Put them away." He then turned and left.

---------

The next morning found Harry sitting on the floor in front of the telly, watching a Muggle cartoon about some animals on a farm. The show was interesting even though he didn't really know anything about it and it kept getting interrupted by advertisements every five minutes. Hoppity was behind him reading a Muggle Studies manual or something or other, sheets, papers and books spread out on the coffee table before her.

Harry had gone to bed early, his way of coping with the time change, and woke up before the sun rose. He put on his new clothes and new shoes and walked around his room a bit to watch them blink and then had amused himself by looking at his new toys for awhile before venturing downstairs. Finding himself alone, he partook of the rare treat of watching the telly. That's where Hoppity joined him, after convincing him to have some toast with butter and jelly for breakfast.

He felt really good in his new clothes, the cotton soft and smelling like the department store still. It was really nice to be able to sit here and watch the telly without fear of being reprimanded and devote his whole attention on the rectangular box. He was enraptured during the commercials about a rabbit's yoghurt, some ice lollies that looked like crayons and could seemingly write on walls, a new fun park and a radio controlled helicopter. He wrinkled his nose at the commercial of girls wearing glittery plastic jewelry and totally lost interest in a weight loss commercial that just showed people saying how good it was.

He heard a sound outside over the noise of the boring testimonials that sounded like laughter. Children's laughter. Curious, Harry looked behind to see Hoppity still working on whatever it was she was working on before getting up and walking to the window behind the telly. Separating the shades and peering through them, Harry caught sight of a woman and two little boys walking past the house in the empty road. Watching them, Harry realized that only the woman was walking, one small boy was in a bright tricycle low to the ground and the other boy was wearing skates over his shoes and was half rolling, half walking along side the woman, who Harry supposed was their mum.

He watched them for a minute, this time clearly hearing their laughter and loud voices.

"Benny has a blue hat, a blue hat… Mikie, stay out of the street." the young mother called when the boy in skates started to roll farther than she wanted.

Harry was startled when a hand landed on his shoulder and a body was pressed close to the window next to him. His head whipped around to see who it was and he breathed in relief when he realized that it was just Hoppity. She must have quietly got up to see what he was looking at as she was now peering out the window, a funny expression on her face that Harry was unable to decipher.

"Say Harry, do you want to meet them?" Hoppity asked, her face this time definitely happy as she clasped her hands animatedly.

He just nodded and Hoppity spun around and still smiling broadly, led him out of the room, out of the door and across the front garden to where the people were now stopped, watching them approach.

Hoppity fearlessly stopped in front of the woman and gave a friendly smile. "Hi, I'm Hoppity! We just moved here from England."

Harry found himself being pulled over and forwards by Hoppity, catching the curious eyes of the boy in skates who had come back to his mum and was now clinging shyly to her. "This is Harry. He's six." It felt so odd just walking up to these strangers and introducing themselves but Hoppity was the one who did it and she was a little odd and the woman didn't seem put off so he guessed that it was alright.

"Oh, Hello!" The mother said cordially, shaking Hoppity's hand. "Welcome to the neighborhood. Wow, all the way from England! Let's see, this is Michael," she said pushing her son in skates slightly forward. "He just turned six this June. Benny is the little one over there," she motioned at the little boy in the primary coloured tricycle. "He's almost three and my name's June. So when'd you get here?" she asked, sounding actually interested.

"Oh just yesterday. We had to take two flights…"

Harry zoned Hoppity's chatter out as he looked at the boy that was around his age. Lightly skinned with brown hair and brown eyes and a childish face, he didn't look mean.

He took a step forward and introduced himself cautiously. 'Hi, I'm Harry."

The little boy glanced up at his occupied mother one last time before rolling forwards. "I'm Michael. Who's your favorite super hero?"

Ah, erm… he couldn't remember any... there was Marvin the Muggle which he couldn't say because he wasn't a super hero and was a Wizarding character… he remembered when he was younger that the kids on Privet Drive like to play James Bond.

"James Bond?" He tried.

Michael screwed up his face and for a moment Harry feared that he'd said the wrong thing. "Ah, well he's okay but the Ninja Turtles are awesome!"

Nina Turtles? "Erm, they're cool."

Michael nodded knowledgably. "Ninja Turtles are the bestest! I got Donatello for my birthday, he's the smart one, but I like Michaelangelo best. They love pizza." Michael turned around and tugged on his mum's arm. "Mom! Mom! I wanna show Harry my turtles!"

"Okay sweetie." Michael's mum said before turning back to her conversation with Hoppity.

"Come on, Harry!" Michael yelled as he started to wobble back down the road from where they had come from.

Harry glanced back at Hoppity to see that she and Michael's mum were starting to leisurely follow; Michael's mum was calling out to the littlest boy on the low tricycle and walking at his pace. Harry's name was called out again by Michael and this time Harry ran after him to catch up.

Michael's house was almost next door, only one house was in between them. Michael took off his skates in the road and ran up to the door, pushing it open and calling out to Harry to hurry up. Harry did so, feeling weird as he went into someone else's home as the person who invited him in was a little kid, but Michael's mum didn't seem to mind. She was still following slowly in the road, happily talking to Hoppity as Benny trailed behind them in his tricycle.

Michael's house was big, just like his house was but it was shaped differently inside. He reluctantly followed Michael up the staircase to his room with exuberant prodding, noticing on the way that this house didn't have a balcony area like his did, instead they had another room.

After Michael showed him his room and large collection of Ninja Turtle memorabilia, including several sets of action figures, Harry was lead around the house looking for the missing Michaelangelo and Donatello dolls. They finally found them in the kitchen, where Michael's mum was making up some sandwiches and still talking to Hoppity. Benny was standing in a chair, smashing his sandwich bits flat.

Michael moved a chair over and stood on it so that he could get to the very large action figures in the middle of the table, catching his mum's attention.

"Here Mikey, here Harry." Michael's mum said as she placed two identical plates of food in front of them. "Eat up!" Harry was strongly reminded of Mrs. Weasley and he moved to obey, crawling up on a chair next to Michael and picking up his sandwich. He hadn't realized that he was hungry until the food was placed in front of him.

"But I wanna play! I don wanna eat!" Michael whined loudly.

"Harry's eating."

Michael glanced at him and Harry was unsure if Michael would be mad at him now.

"You can't play until you finish your lunch." Michael's mum said firmly.

At that, Michael pouted and rebelliously tried to stuff a sandwich half in his mouth.

"Drink your milk, Mikey." His mum said, apparently unaffected by his antics and returning to her conversation with Hoppity.

Harry watched, mesmerized as Michael spent several long moments trying to chew and swallow the sandwich half he had stuffed in his mouth. It seemed that the boy had forgiven him of his earlier betrayal as he finished his food easily, happily drinking his milk and munching away on the crisps his mother set out.

After lunch, Michael gathered up his two newly located Ninja Turtles and they went upstairs to play for awhile. They had an epic battle between all the Ninja Turtles action figures and some army guys amidst the mountains of a blanket which was resolved when a blanket monster swallowed the army guys whole. They then made some "pizza" for the Ninja Turtles to eat out of clay. Michael then thought that the two biggest Ninja Turtles should explore the undiscovered country otherwise known as the backyard. They went downstairs and Michael told his mom that they were going outside.

"Remember the rules!" she called out to them as they opened the back door and went outside.

"Okay!" Michael yelled back, letting the door slam shut behind them.

The back garden was a large patch of green grass surrounded by a low metal fence with a few trees and bushes in the corners. There was a small rectangular sandbox on the far side and a large trampoline on the side closest to Harry's house. Several toys littered the ground.

They settled in the dry grass in the far side of the lot under a tree and Michael handed him the large turtle figure with a purple bandanna and a staff. "You can be Donatello." Michael said as he picked up the one with an orange bandanna that Harry recently learned was named Michaelangelo.

"Okay." Harry said and positioned the turtle's arms and legs in a walking position best for exploring.

They settled in and had a long adventure with the two Ninja turtles scouting the terrain and being attacked by the local flora. Right when Michelangelo was about to attack a mutant acorn, Hoppity came out through the back door.

"Harry, I'm going now but you can stay and play if you want. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Harry replied, waving Donatello's staff at the acorn.

"You know the way back, right?"

"Yeah, it's that way." Harry looked up and pointed.

"And you know which house it is, right? The brick one, number 402."

"Yes, I know. It's only one house away." Harry said, humoring Hoppity's worries. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself and finding his way back, it amused him that she was worried about him.

"Just be back in time for dinner, okay?"

"Okay. Good-bye!" Harry replied obediently and watched as she exited the backyard through a door in the fence that he hadn't noticed until now.

"Huah!" Michael yelled and made his Ninja Turtle kick the acorn away.

They played for several more hours, attacking sand monsters in the sandbox and making a secret hideout under the trampoline. Michael's mum poked her head out several times to check up on them but left once she was satisfied that they were safe.

After several more hours of adventures, (he was having so much fun!) and a game of leap frog, they ended up near the trampoline. Michael looked back at the house before using a plastic chair to climb up on it.

"Hey, Harry have you ever been on a trampoline before?" he asked, sitting on the black tarp and bouncing a little.

"No," Harry replied and got up after him. He couldn't ever remember being on a trampoline before but he knew that you jumped on them.

"Oh, okay then. Mom says that little kids can't jump on them without a grownup around but we're not little kids so it's okay. I'll teach you." With that, Michael stood up and showed Harry exactly how fun a trampoline could be.

---------

Severus Snape walked out of the front door of house number 402 in a sour mood. It was nearing dinner and the Potter brat still hadn't returned, hence this ill-fated errand. The unruly child was undoubtedly having too good of a time to even consider remembering his assurance to come back.

Earlier when he had come up from his make-shift laboratory, Smirkett requested that he collect the boy and he had only acquiesced because the wreck of a woman was nervously twittering about, seeing to a meal that he didn't wish to contemplate until he was forced to consume it. He could still picture the twit hopping around the kitchen, trying to prepare some concoction and freaking out when something in the oven caught on fire…

When he had left, the downstairs smelled of burnt roast, the smoke and odor wafting through the air repugnantly. He was glad to have escaped it in hopes that by the time he got back the smell would be gone.

He did not aspire to play Chef regularly for this disastrous family unit but he would if only to ensure his own survival. And that of Potter. The thought left a bad-taste in his mouth, but he could not deny that if left to the twit's hapless cooking skills and non existent sense, the boy would be living off of burnt scraps, sweets and Muggle mockeries of food that were made up of who-knew-what. The boy's magic would probably turn itself out on a diet such as that and then… well he did not fancy having to face Albus and Poppy and explain why their precious golden boy was malnourished and narcoleptic.

As for the Muggle kitchen gadgets, well once he applied his formidable intelligence they would hardly be difficult to figure out. He thought that he already understood how the Muggle stove worked, as strange as it was without a fire underneath and knobs to control the temperature.

He contemplated what else the Muggles might use instead of the usual magical cooking implements as he walked up the front lawn of the house where Potter supposedly was. He heard laughter from the back garden, only strengthening his assurance that this was the right house, and that Potter was shirking his promise in lieu of amusement. Well, he would certainly have something to say of that! He reached the side gate that the twit had told him to use to get to the backyard and stopped short at the scene that he was met with.

A pint sized Potter hovered high in the air, gleeful as he plummeted back to the earth in the disguise in a large raised mat, before being flung up to soar in the skies again.

"Ready Harry?" another pint sized rascal asked, bouncing just as exuberantly as Potter. The boy rose in the air and executed a bulky flip, landing with force and launching Potter up higher with his bounce.

Snape watched, half horrified and half unbelieving as Potter attempted the same feat. The child didn't quite make it a full 180 degrees and Snape's breath caught as the small boy fell to the mat in an awkward position on his back and part of his neck, He felt a catch of fear and hated himself for it. Gravity relentless in its consistency bounced the little boy back up and down on his side as his momentum slowed. If the boy killed himself…

"Are you okay Harry?" Potter's playmate asked, sounding very worried. Potter rolled over and cautiously rose to his hands and knees in the center of the in caved round mat. He shook his head around and looked up at the other boy with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, it was just a weird landing but I'm okay now."

The other boy smiled back and started bouncing around on the mat. "I wish we had swings, then we could jump off of them and land on the trampoline and launch the other up even higher."

Snape felt his stomach clench again. He tried to convince himself that it was anger at the boy for being so foolhardy. "Potter!" he barked out imperiously.

The brat's head whipped up quickly and spotted him, his playmate slowing his bouncing at this intrusion.

"Get over here now!" he demanded, gratified when the boy made to obey immediately but still highly irate.

"Ah, I'll see you later Michael." Potter said as he maneuvered off of the raised mat.

"Okay, Harry." The other boy said curiously.

The second Potter was in reach, Snape latched forcefully onto the back of his neck. He ignored the protestations and forcefully steered the brat along, briskly marching them back through the side gate.

He inattentively heard a back door opening and a woman's voice call out. "Michael? Were you jumping on the trampoline when you weren't supposed to?" and ignored it, tightening his hold on the back of Potter's neck and brusquely herding the small boy back to their place of residence.

He didn't let go until they had walked through the front door and had it closed behind them firmly, and then only for a moment. Undoubtedly wishing to avoid any discussion, Potter made to escape but he reached out and snatched the boy back before he could go far. How dare the little miscreant be so foolhardy, so stupid to risk himself like that and then expect to not face the consequences? By Merlin, the boy could have killed himself, and who knew what the foolish child would come up with next, perhaps jumping off roofs! He had a piece to say with this boy and he would be heard.

In the near distance he could hear Smirkett still making a racket in the kitchen with several Muggle gadgets, singing some inane song. All for the better, as he did not wish the twit to interrupt them and fawn over the boy in a mistaken attempt to protect him. She would be just like everybody else, doting over the boy and forgiving him of any and all misdemeanors, no matter how serious they were.

Now in the safety and privacy of the front room, he forcefully turned the brat around to look him in the eyes, holding on to his upper shoulders. It took little effort to call upon his usual hiss as he looked down at angry green eyes.

"You stupid child, we are far, far away from any Medi-wizards. If you injure yourself, you shall have to deal with Muggle practices. Do you know what they do in Muggle medicine? They cut people up and sew their wounds closed with string. And do you know what they do with broken bones? Nothing! They leave them alone because they can't-do-anything!" He lightly shook the boy to get his point across. "If you break your neck, it will stay broken!"

The little boy's eyes were opened wide, his face showing his shock and confusion. He could tell that the little miscreant was missing his point so he decided to enlighten him.

"You are forbidden to jump on that thing again, lest you break your neck!"

Instantly, the boy's previously confounded expression turned angry and outraged. "I don't have to do anything you say!"

Snape's nostrils flared and he narrowed his eyes at the blatant disrespect. "Indeed you do. I am partly responsible for you during this absurd little holiday and I fully intend on hand-delivering you to Dumbledore when this is over, healthy and in one piece." He narrowed his eyes threateningly. "Believe you me, Potter, I have the means and right to enforce your cooperation and obedience to that end. Now, you can either discontinue your death defying stunts voluntarily, or you can face the consequences, namely staying in this house every day as soon as you get back from lessons at that school. It is well within my power to keep you in this house and away from any bad influences. Well then, what will it be? Will you agree to obey or must I exercise my custodial position?"

The boy had had a mildly confused expression on his face during his tirade as if his little six year old brain couldn't fully comprehend what he was exactly being threatened with but then Potter had the gall to glare, frustration evident. Snape felt no remorse as he stated the next, turning and walking commandingly from the rebellious child. "Very well, you shall remain indoors-"

In a fit of desperation, the whelp ran after him. "No, wait! Okay, okay-"

Snape paused and looked down at the little boy, one eyebrow raised expectantly.

"I won't do it again."

Snape turned around and bent down to confront him face to face. "I will not do it again, Sir. I won't tolerate disrespect from you, Potter, and I won't be lenient on any misadventures you choose to partake of. You are not infallible, Potter! You should know better than to risk your neck for a bit of fun!" He hissed incessantly. Did the brat have no sense?!

Potter's fists were clenched at his sides. Snape took delight in the angry pout plastered on his face. "You just don't want me to have any fun!"

Snape leaned closer and looked into his eyes, smirking cruelly. "Whatever gave you that idea?" His eyes then narrowed. The boy looked quickly away and Snape wrenched his face back, forcing him to meet his eyes, searching for the easy thoughts floating across them. "Have you been clearing your mind before going to bed?"

"What? Why should I have?" Ungrateful, petulant brat.

"Potter listen very carefully." His grasp tightened on the boy's chin to convey the importance of this next lecture. "If you wish to succeed in the slightest of protecting your mind from the Dark Lord, you will do exactly-as-I-say." He forced Potter's head to nod up and down as he said the last, pushing the lesson in before letting go. "Exactly. That means without complaint, excuses or any of your usual laziness." He stood up, using his full height to convey his authoritative position. "We will start Occlumency lessons Wednesday." By then, Potter should be better adapted to his new state and location, and he would have come up with the proper lessons for a mind of six.

Potter's fists clenched again, but this time his face was a pinched of petulance and apprehension. He thought to reassure the boy that their lessons would not be nearly as demanding and difficult as they had been during the school year but he quelled the urge. Let the brat suffer.

He walked away towards the kitchen to see what sludge Smirkett had cooked up and whether he could salvage it, noticing that the burnt smell had not wholly dissipated.

---------

That night, Harry went to bed early as he was used to, situated in his usual nest under the bed, his Roofy clutched under one arm. His toys were all put away and his new shoes were back in their shoebox because Harry liked actually having a new shoebox and new shoes to put in it.

To be sure, he was worried about the Occlumency lessons Snape said they'd be starting. He knew that he couldn't use magic yet and probably wouldn't be able to for the whole summer and Snape knew that! Yet the man had said that they were going to continue Occlumency…

He still remembered falling to the floor in the dungeon again and again and again as Snape broke through his mind and riffled through his memories. It made him feel sick thinking about it, but he knew that he had to learn Occlumency. And if Snape was here and said he was to start Occlumency lessons again, well then that should be a good thing because he needed to learn it. He didn't want to lose any of his friends the same way-

His breath hitched.

No.

No, he wasn't to think of it anymore. He fiercely tried to put it out of his mind, instead concentrating on something else.

He needed to learn Occlumency and the first thing you did was to clear your mind before you slept. Harry focused on that and tried to do it, even though he didn't think he had ever really done it right before. Thoughts came into his mind and he tried to push them away…

Snape shaking him in the front room, telling him how stupid he was to have jumped on a trampoline... he had been confused at that because it hadn't been really dangerous at all, Snape was a git and just didn't want him to have fun, but he had been afraid because Harry had landed wrong and he had seen it.

He had promised not to do it again. Harry yawned and rolled over carefully. He could still have fun, just not fun on a trampoline…

He was supposed to go to school tomorrow and maybe he'd have fun there too. Maybe Michael would be in his class. He'd have to tell Michael tomorrow that he couldn't jump on the trampoline any more.

When Snape had grabbed him he had been scared but he had been glad that he grabbed his shoulders and not his arms…

He was just drifting off to sleep when his bedroom door opened quietly, spilling light in from the hall.

There was a pause, then an anxious "Harry?" It was Hoppity come to check on him.

Now definitely awake, he thought about whether he should call out to reassure her or if he should just lay there under his bed until she left to go look for him elsewhere and jump back on top of his bed to pretend that he had been there all along.

Before he could do anything though Hoppity spoke again, "Harry? Why are you under the bed?"

Caught, Harry reluctantly crawled out from his pile of blankets under the bed to peer up at Hoppity, who had just turned on the lights. He blinked several times, trying to clear his eyesight from the new light, and was soon able to make out Hoppity's confused and anxious face. Suddenly feeling embarrassed at sleeping under the bed, he focused on her left shoe. "Well, erm, I just wanted to."

"Oh, but Harry, little boys aren't supposed to sleep under their beds. What's wrong? Is your bed uncomfortable?" Hoppity approached the bed and felt along the mattress.

"Ah, no. I just didn't want to sleep up there." Harry said, feeling self-conscious and unable to explain himself.

Hoppity turned a confused face at him. "Why ever not, Harry?"

He fiddled with the hem of his pajama shirt. "I just didn't want to sleep on it." He repeated, not knowing what else to say.

"Well, would you sleep in your bed if I tucked you in?" Hoppity offered kindly, but unwilling to accept his excuse.

What should he say to that? Weakly, Harry just nodded.

"Okay, come here Harry." Hoppity said warmly as she tugged out his blankets and pillow from underneath the bed, pulling out Roofy too. She smiled at the sight of the plush dragon nestled in the blankets before picking up the pillow and placing it at the head on the bed, then bending down to pick up the dragon too.

Harry just stood by her, unsure of what to do.

"Okay, up you go!" Hoppity crowed, shaking out a top sheet, Roofy tucked securely under one arm. Harry obediently crawled up on the bed and sat in the middle of it, watching Hoppity's movements closely as he waited to see what happened next. He could only ever remember being tucked in before by Madame Pomfrey and she had always done it with a spell or had just straightened his covers.

"Now lie back, Harry dear." He did so unsurely and the sheet was draped over his supine form, Roofy tumbled out from under Hoppity's arm and onto the bed when she straightened her arm out too much. "Ops! Here you go," Hoppity said as she picked the lost dragon up and snuggled it in the crook of Harry's arm, adjusting the sheet over both of them.

This tucking-in business was rather odd, Harry decided. He felt as if he were some ancient artifact like a Egyptian mummy case being covered up with a white sheet. The feeling passed, however when Hoppity placed the heavy duvet over him, the childish colors chasing the clinical thought away. She pushed the far edge of the duvet down between the wall and the bed, trapping it in place before moving to the bottom and tucking the blanket and sheet between the mattresses. She then moved up and sat next to where Harry lay, smoothing the blanket around him.

"There we go," Hoppity crooned, straightening the edge below his chin and showing extra care where Roofy lay buried, moving the duvet under the plush dragon's head so that he could 'breathe'. "Isn't this much better than sleeping on the floor now?" Hoppity reached out a tentative hand and brushed the hair back from the side of his forehead, careful to avoid the scar.

There was a tender feeling in his chest, sort of like butterflies. He wasn't sure if he at all liked it.

"We should put your glow-in-the-dark stars up tomorrow." Hoppity said thoughtfully as she looked up at the ceiling, still stroking his head. "After school. It's your first day tomorrow and you need to rest up for it." She stopped and messed with the covers one more time and made to get up.

"I'm fifteen you know," Harry's said defensively, suddenly scared and wanting to prove himself. Her movements stopped as she looked down at him. "I can take care of myself, and tuck myself in and feed myself even, if I have to. I know how and I've done it for awhile too."

"Oh, I know Harry. But you look six to me." She brushed his forehead one last time and got up to turn off the lights. Her silhouette was framed by the light from the hallway.

"Goodnight Harry-bean."