Dumbledore glided through the early afternoon school corridors, his feet landing softly on the stone hallways. A plan was developing in his mind.

Early this morning, Harry Potter's home had been attacked by Death Eaters. Luckily, the Order members who were on duty at the time were able to whisk Harry away before he knew what was going on. They brought him directly to the school. Dumbledore was not willing to risk the chance that Harry's heroic impulses had not been quelled after the latest confrontation with Voldemort. The most trusted Order members were all under orders to bring Harry to Hogwarts if there were any possibilities of an attack on his residence on Privet Drive. And indeed there had been. A hastily scribbled note owled to him in the early hours of the morning had warned him of the attack, and he had seen that extra Order Members went to watch over Harry right then, and there. Up until this morning, the summer had been very low-key, and uneventful. It seemed to be a planning summer for Voldemort, and thanks to the intelligence gained from agents in Riddle's inner circle, the Order knew much of his plans for the coming years.

Yet, the Order was not completely free of spies either. For some time now, they had been suspicious of a leak in the Order, and with the attack on Harry's hidden residence it had just been proven. Order Headquarters was no longer safe.

He thought back to the events that had taken place that morning. At exactly 5:04 am, a contingent of Death Eaters had apparated outside of Privet Drive. Hearing the 'Pops', Auror Tonks had managed to climb up to Harry's second floor bedroom window with assistance. She portkeyed with Harry to the gates of Hogwarts, just as the first curses had started to fly. It had been a close call. Dumbledore did not wish for Harry to be in any more conflicts in the war until he was ready for the last deciding one.

When all the smoke had cleared from the scuffle, the Ministry Aurors, and various Order Members had managed to capture four more Death Eaters, and had severely injured several others. This small victory was heightened when it was discovered that the Death Eater that Remus Lupin had gone after, and incapacitated, was one Peter Pettigrew. Dumbledore was glad that Remus had been the one to finally apprehend him, and gain closure to Sirius' innocence. Unfortunately, not everything had gone as smoothly.

When the ministry officials had unmasked the captured Death Eaters, they had unmasked an unconscious Severus Snape.

Coming out of his musings, Dumbledore found himself in front of the Hospital Wing doors, and readied himself for the conversation that was to follow.

He pushed open the doors, and entered. The first thing he saw was Remus, bloody, and sitting on a Hospital bed as Madame Pomfrey worked on his arm. To the right, down the middle of the large hall, was Alastor Moody, his back pressed against the wall. Dumbledore could feel his magical eye looking at him from here. On the left side of the hall, the young man of his thoughts was huddled on the second bed from the end. He appeared to be focused on his schoolwork spread out before him, but like Moody's magical eye, Dumbledore could feel Harry's attention discretely focused on him from the distance.

Dumbledore gave a subtle sigh, and decided to check on the injured party before addressing Harry. It would be best to focus on the boy with no other distractions. Earlier, when Pettigrew's capture was reported to him he had been told that Remus had been injured, but he was not told how badly. Now worried at the sight of all the blood, he worked his way over.

Remus had a pinched look on his face as Pomfrey worked around him. Upon closer inspection, Dumbledore was able see that the left sleeve of his robes had been torn completely off. Long scratches marred his arm, blood covering the wounds and clotting then. Immediately alarmed at what this could mean for someone with lycanthropy who had just captured a man with a silver hand, Dumbledore was unable to hold back a gasp of alarm.

"Remus-"

Madame Pomfrey came to the rescue with a professional explanation as usual, "Not to worry Headmaster, he'll be alright. The majority of the blood is from a cutting hex, although he was slightly scratched across the cheek with some silver." The nurse finished dressing the wounds on his arm before addressing both of them. "It wasn't life threatening, but it will leave a scar, and he'll be a bit weak for a few days."

The nurse turned Remus' face to the side to inspect her handiwork, and Dumbledore caught sight of a jagged cut slightly shorter than the length of a pinky finger. Small strips of medical tape crossed it, and Dumbledore could see a greenish tint to the wound beneath them. His eyes roved over Remus' face, and met two tired amber ones. Dumbledore could fathom some of the emotions the man must be feeling now. He had just captured the traitor who had ruined all of his friends' lives. A traitor with whom he had been friends with once, and grieved. Now he was all alone.

Remus looked about to say something, but Poppy cut in, "Now Dearie, you shouldn't try to talk just yet. It would put stress on the wound."

Remus blinked his acceptance of her instructions, and she bustled around packing her medical instruments.

"Albus, I would like to keep him here at least overnight. He's lost quite a bit of blood, and I'm afraid of complications from the silver."

"Of course. Remus you may stay as long as you need." He was suddenly reminded of what he had said in front of Harry some years ago, Hogwarts will always be a sanctuary for those in time of need. He refrained from voicing it out loud, knowing that the boy was listening. He was unwilling to do anything that might anger him further and a statement like that, after denying the boy sanctuary every summer, would be unkind. Unforgivable.

Remus allowed the nurse to tuck him in bed, and Albus barely managed to hold back his hand from soothing out the worn, and drawn out look on the man's face. "Rest well, my boy. I'll come to see you in the morning."

A barely perceptible nod and Remus closed his eyes to rest. It was now time to talk to Harry. He mentally prepared himself to speak with the boy. They had left each other on uncertain terms at the end of the school year, and Dumbledore was unsure whether he would be met with anger, indifference, or acceptance. He hoped that it wasn't the first one, but prepared himself for it nonetheless.

As he passed Alastor, his old comrade nodded slightly at him and silently excused himself further away down the large hospital hall. Harry was seated on a bed, his eyes fixed steadfastly on the work spread out in front of him. A quill spun idly in his right hand. He must have been waiting here for a long time, and got someone to bring him books from the library. Dumbledore really did not know if anyone had gathered the boy's things from Privet Drive yet. He felt a pang of guilt from neglecting Harry until now, but knew that he had truly been unable to come earlier. It had been a very busy day from all the eventful occurrences, and unfortunately he had had more pressing business than seeing to a fifteen year old boy.

As he approached the bed, the boy from his thoughts looked up and regarded him with a blank expression.

"Harry."

"Professor."

He conjured up a flowered armchair, and sat down next to the bed. "Might I ask how you are doing, Harry?"

"Fine, Sir." A pause. "Better." The boy looked down at his quill. "Is Sirius cleared now?"

Dumbledore was only happy to follow this line of questioning. "Yes. They decided to go through all the evidence in a trial this morning. Sirius was found innocent, and The Ministry has petitioned to award him First Class Order of Merlin post-humously for his efforts in the war against Voldemort."

"And... Pettigrew?"

"I'm afraid that he did not survive capture." and leave it at that.

"Oh." A silence reigned before, "Will I have to go back to the Dursleys'?"

He felt a weight on his chest. Not this year. "No. I feel that it would be quite unwise to leave you in their care when Voldemort has just discovered their location." There was no change in the boy's expression. Dumbledore decided to confide in him, "In fact, I find myself at a bit of a problem. Harry, I will not lie to you. It is now positive that we have a leak in the Order."

The boy turned to regard him, "A leak?"

Dumbledore looked at him gravely. "Yes, this last attack proved it. After the encounter last summer orchestrated by a Ministry official, we made sure that your location was only known by Order Members.

"But now it is clear that Order Headquarters is no longer safe for you, and all the Order Members are in greater danger. It is uncertain which of those who had been silent members of the organization, have now lost their hidden identities." Silently, he studied the boy's grave countenance. "Harry, I know that you would like to spend the summer with the Weasley's, but now that Molly and Arthur's positions may be disclosed, I fear that placing you with them would gather notice, and endanger their family more than they already have."

Harry looked withdrawn before his face gave a glimmer of hope. Dumbledore forced the next sentence out.

"I am sorry to say that Hogwarts is not an option either. Besides the school rules that do not allow students to stay over the summer, there are also more practical reasons why you cannot stay here. During this time of year, the wards are usually dropped, and strengthened in increments. There also is the danger of unexpected visitors or an attack from Voldemort while we are understaffed."

Harry was looking down at his quill again. "I have no where else to go."

Dumbledore leaned forward suddenly, "Harry, I will always have some place for you to go." He shut his eyes briefly. "Please understand that for as many mistakes that I have made, I have always had your best interests in mind. I've always tried to give you as much as I could."

There was a long moment of silence.

Harry shut his own eyes, and gently exhaled before opening his eyes again. "It's ok." He placed the quill down. "I've talked to some Order Members. I think I understand it better now."

Dumbledore felt somewhat elated knowing that Harry was able to trust him a little again. Harry might even forgive him in time. He didn't deserve it, but even now it frustrated him that he still was unable to come up with anywhere else he could have left the boy all those years ago. Leaving him with blood relatives on his Mother's side was not only essential to sustain the blood protection Lily had left him, it also kept the Boy Who Lived from becoming a ward of the inept Ministry. He himself had no legal claims to the boy, and if he had tried to hide him away all those nights ago, it was inevitable that at some point he, and anyone involved would have been caught, and punished, and Harry would have been made a ward of the Ministry anyway. The side of the Light would not have been able to afford any such blows.

At the time, it had been easy to make the decision. He had thought that the Dursleys would have at least cared for the boy. He deeply regretted his decision, yet even now could not come up with a better plan that would have been able to both maintain his influence on the Wizarding World as Hogwarts' sane Headmaster, and kept Harry safe from those who wished him mortal harm.

The only positive thing from this situation was that Harry did not need to take the time, or chance of reassuring his relatives of his well being every time he was whisked away in an emergency. They did not even have to ask for the Dursleys' permission for anything off the record. They Dursleys didn't care if Harry did anything dangerous, and would not try to stop him from running off if they didn't have to see him again for awhile.

"Harry, I've come up with a plan for your safety for the rest of this summer, but I would like your agreement on it before it is put into action."

He waited until he had the boy's full undivided attention before continuing, "I feel that the best course of action would be to hide you out of the continent with adult Wizards whom I trust to look after you."

"Out of the continent?"

"Yes, several Wizard embassies owe me some favours. Harry, how would you like to visit America?"

The boy blinked. "America? Well erm, I've never been outside the country before. Well except for Hogwarts, I think. Wouldn't it be hard to get there?"

"No, you would travel with your guardians the Muggle way. You could leave tonight. You would have to be deaged, and pose as a Muggle family though, Harry, to appear less suspicious."

"Wizards posing as Muggles? Wait, deaged?!" Harry asked, a little incredulous. He seemed to doubt the plan.

"Don't worry Harry. I'll find someone suitable for the job! As a child, you would be free to have a relaxing summer, and any minor mishaps could always be blamed on the cultural differences between the countries."

Harry was still wary, "Headmaster, I'm not sure that I like that deaged part. What does that mean? Won't I loose my memories?"

"Ah, you have nothing to worry about,” Dumbledore said, a little relieved that Harry seemed to be at least considering it. “I have managed to procure a rare deaging potion that allows one to retain their older memories, and most of their thought processes when they are deaged. They may seem a bit fuzzy, but in times of danger you will be able to think, reason, and act like you do now as a fifteen year old. You will still be able to use your magic as effectively as ever. The potion will simply make you look, and be able to act like a child again."

Harry still seemed unsure but nodded his acceptance nevertheless. He seemed to be thinking about something, and Dumbledore gave him time to voice his question.

"What about my connection to Voldemort?"

Dumbledore sat back and spoke confidently, "Harry by now you should notice that the closer you are to Voldemort, the stronger the connection becomes. If we use reverse logic, then the farther away you are to him, the less you will be able to be affected by him. Where you are going should be far enough away that you will only feel a twinge from the most intense anger. You will able to have a free summer for once. A summer to enjoy."

Harry appeared to like that idea, a glimmer of hope in his down turned eyes.

"Thank you for trusting me on this Harry." Dumbledore stood up, and banished the chair before checking a pocket watch from one of his pockets. "Ah, nearly time for tea. I'm sorry that I must leave you stranded here in the care of others but I have many things to take care of before tonight. I'll come down, and get you after dinner." He gave the boy a careful smile. "Please stay put. I know that no one expects you to be here, but it's best to be careful in the meantime."

Harry looked a little glum at the prospect of staying in the infirmary for any amount of time under the watchful eyes of Mad-eye Moody, but managed a "Yes, Sir," before returning to his quill, and his books.

Dumbledore turned, and left the boy to his work. He passed a sleeping Remus, nodded in parting to Alastor, and then preceded out the Hospital doors.

I will not fail you this time Harry. I will make sure that I find someone to spoil you, and someone to protect you.

Dumbledore walked briskly through Hogwarts’ halls back towards his office. He was expecting a very special guest for tea today. After passing the guard Gargoyle, and a quick trip up the revolving stairs, he arrived at the still opened door to his office.

As he entered, he spotted a mess of curly reddish brown hair from behind one of the floral printed armchairs placed on the left side of the room. As expected, it was his great niece, twice removed, Hoppity Clementine Smirkett, who was to be the newest applicant to the newly opened position of Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts’, though she didn't know it yet. He delighted in the happy meeting that was to come. It was a welcome change from how the rest of the day had been. He shut the door behind himself and approached with a fond grin.

Hoppity turned at the sound of the door closing, her bespeckled face lit up with a matching grin, a half-eaten scone was perched in one hand.

"Ah, my dear how wonderful it is to see you again!"

She joyfully stood up to embrace him, the scone still in one hand and Albus hoped that she would manage to hold on to it, and not leave it in his hair by accident.

When she let go and stepped back, he happily noted that the scone was still in her hand, and not floating around in his hair or beard. "Oh! Papa Albus! I was just waiting here for you, I didn't hear you come in. These scones are simply scrumptious, the best I've ever had!" The last statement was emphasized by an enthusiastic bite as she sat back down in the plushy chair.

He turned and sat down on a matching overstuffed chair next to her and poured the tea before plucking a scone for himself. "Yes, I must agree. I've told the same to people on many different occasions, but they never seem to agree..."

He watched as Hoppity took a sip of tea. How long had it been since he last saw her? Three years? Four? He took a moment to study her face and see how the years had been to her. She hadn't aged much. She still wore the same glasses- black, round rims in front of hazel eyes, which were now intently focused on another scone. She still had a lightly freckled nose, although they seemed to be lighter than the last time he saw her. Her fuzzy hair was piled up in an attempt at a bun, stray stands stuck out teasingly around her face. She wasn't very remarkable looking, except perhaps for the odd way certain curls of her hair liked to stick out.

She looked up and caught him looking. She smiled at him before nervously straightening her dark teal Wizard robes. "I'm rather fond of these old things, I've had them forever but if I get the job at the Ministry like I plan too, I'll have to wear the old stuffy kind." She reached out for a biscuit.

"Yes, quite. I do feel as if a little decoration on one's robes is ever so nice. If you ever tire of listening to an official you could just watch a star or moon float by." He sipped his tea. "I must apologize for not seeing after you as much as I should have these last few years. It seems I just get busier and busier as the years go by."

She just shrugged off his apology good naturedly, "I've been awfully busy myself."

"So have you finally decided what you wish to do now?"

Munching on the biscuit, she stifled a laugh, thankfully blocking crumbs from flying everywhere. "Oh yes, I think this is it. Of course I had thought the same about the geographical mapper, the witches' nanny, and the book editor jobs too..." she ticked off the jobs on her fingers, "And we can't forget about the Honeyduke's tester or the magical zoo keeper jobs either, but maybe I'll really like this one. Hopefully." She scrunched up her nose thoughtfully. "It was really too bad about the Honeyduke's tester job though. It seems that one can get sick on too much chocolate after all."

Dumbledore gifted her with a chuckle. "And just what is it that you have decided to do now, my dear?"

At his signs of interest, she sat up straighter, crossed her legs and started to motion animatedly. "I've decided that I want to work at the Ministry in Muggle Relations. Muggles are just fascinating people so I decided that it would be fun to work with them. And a job at the Ministry would be a nice stable one. Aunt Helga's been after me forever to find something stable."

Albus was surprised to say the least. Hoppity lived up to her name, always jumping from one thing to another, rarely interested in anything long, although he shouldn't be surprised at her choice to work with Muggles. She had always had a preoccupation with them and had gotten high marks in all her Muggle classes, even through all the various temporary obsessions.

"I've just completed a two year course in Muggle Studies at the School for Wizard's Higher Education in Cambridge."

"Really?" Well of course he had known that, but sometimes when he acted as if he was uninformed or senile people tended to supply him with more information.

"Yes. Well at first it was just the required basic introductory class that everyone has to take, but it fascinated me so much that I decided that I wanted to work with Muggles in some way. We even took a two-week long field trip into the Muggle world, and were forbidden to use magic! I passed with flying colors of course although my partner had a bit of trouble in her computer job and quit a week in." She sat up proudly. "I am now fully qualified to interact with the Muggle world."

"Ah, lovely, just lovely. I've often thought that Muggles were fascinating too. Quite brilliant some of the things they come up with. Have you come across those elektroc keyboards?" Hoppity shook her head. "No? Oh well they are quite fun, you need to try one sometime. I'm afraid I don't remember, did you say that you wished to work at the Ministry too?"

"Well there's not really many jobs around that interact with Muggles, except for Obliviator squads and I've never been particularly good with memory spells... a representative at the Ministry seems like the best alternative."

He really shouldn't, but he needed someone that he could trust. "Well my dear how old will you be this year? Was it thirty?"

"I'll be thirty-two in December."

"Ah, to be young again. I think you'll do nicely."

She picked up her teacup and took a sip, a puzzled frown on her face. "Sir?"

He gave her a kind smile. "I find myself at a bit of a problem. It seems that my current Professor of Muggle Studies has just quit to spend retirement time with his family, and I am in need of a new one. You are intelligent, old enough to be a professor and have passed all required examinations for the position and most importantly, I trust you."

Hoppity was clutching her teacup tightly, a flabbergasted expression on her face. He hoped that it was shocked happiness and not incredulous terror.

"Gah- gah-"

"Yes, well I don't need your answer now-"

"Yes!" Hoppity leaped up, her eyes opened as wide as they could while she gave Albus an admiring expression. She reached out and grasped his arm and excitedly shook it. "What do I need to do? Should I come back in through the door and have an interview? Oh, but I should have worn nicer robes-"

He smiled and gently extracted his arm from her fervent grasp and ushered her back to her seat. "No, no, my dear. None of that. But it wouldn't do to just hire you on the spot. I'm afraid too many people would think me of favouritism! Ah, but how about a little test first?"

She blinked. "A test? What kind of test?"

"Well, perhaps... yes, I would think that a foray into the Muggle world before the start of term would do nicely! I have two wizards who I need to hide in the Muggle world in that large United States country across the ocean, and it would be very convenient if you could look after them."

Her mouth dropped. "The Americas?" A blink of the eyes before she visibly straightened up and burst into a bigger smile. "Well that sounds easy! I'm positive that I will be able to pass this test with flying colors. You can count on me!"

Wonderful.

"I'll just let you use the floo to go home and pack then, my dear." He opened and studied his rune pocket watch. "I'll expect you back here at eight o'clock tonight."

"Alright Albus, you can count on me!" Hoppity practically bounced over to the sitting door next door.

All he needed now was a third party for this venture and then he would then start to call in those favours.

Dumbledore consulted his runes watch one more time, and then set off in search for the final person to join in this adventure.

He found him at the top of an unused tower, one of the few that offered spots of shady protection from the still bright sun at this time of day. He was sitting on top of one of the end turrets, leaning back against the cool stone wall and looking out at the surrounding landscape. Dumbledore had no doubt that he was away from his usual places to discourage any chance, or intentional encounters after the events this morning.

The old Wizard knew that he was aware of his presence but waited until he was acknowledged.

There was a short moment of silence before a bland, "Headmaster."

"My dear boy, call me Albus," he insisted.

A warm summer breeze wafted between them, heightening the response of silence and the solitary atmosphere the man was trying to indulge in.

Dumbledore sighed and delved straight in, "Severus, I have made plans for you to accompany Mr. Potter to America. You will be escorted by the new Muggle Studies Professor, and pose as a Muggle family."

That got his attention. Dumbledore was glad that he didn't fall off the turret and onto the emergency wards. Instead he easily slid off the stone blocks to confront the older man.

"Posing as Muggle Family with Potter? In the colonies?"

Dumbledore addressed him seriously, "Severus I'm afraid that is your only option. It is best for you to lay low for awhile, away from both Voldemort and the Ministry since we were forced to disclose your spy status. While testifying complete allegiance to me under Veritaserum may not be enough for the Ministry to completely trust you, it is enough for Voldemort to wish you dead.

“I know that you were willing to suffer a short stay in Azkaban for the ruse, knowing that Voldemort had plans to overtake it soon, but I simply was not willing risk it. We have discussed this before and will come to the same conclusions. If I had allowed you to follow through, we would have lost much and gained nothing. There would not have been any chance for you to return to us.

"Severus, you are too important to the Order and to this school to loose either by death or design."

Another moment of silence reigned. Dumbledore continued.

"We both know that there is a leak in the Order, I can trust no one else with Mr. Potter's safety. And while you are safely hidden away, you will be able to devote your time on those potions we discussed earlier as well. Perhaps even have time to work on some of your own personal projects. It is only imperative that we have the antidotes before the school year starts."

Long familiarity allowed Dumbledore to tell that he had managed to partly convince the younger man.

"Has the boy agreed?"

"He has agreed to be deaged and placed under the care of two adult Wizards, yes."

Severus sneered. "Yet you have not told him who will be accompanying him."

Dumbledore admonished him. "I know that there has been conflict between you in the past, but we cannot afford for it to continue! As the older, more responsible party and his Professor, it is your duty to put it behind you and move on. Harry will be deaged to six years old and will be quite unable to keep as intense a grudge."

"I make no promises, but I will... try."

"Thank you, Severus. That is all I can ask for."

"What potion will you use on him? I assume that it will be a potion since there are no stable deaging spells that would last for any length of time."

"Ah, I could feel that question coming,” Dumbledore said knowledgeably, “I managed to procure a bottle of Dusky's Second Childhood Tonic.”

Severus mulled over this briefly. "So he will retain his memories and be able to regain his faculties in a crisis."

"Indeed." Dumbledore thought that that was a clever advantage to using this particular potion.

"That's a rare and complicated potion. A Ministry regulated level 2 potion, if I'm not mistaken."

"You are not." His eyes twinkling, Dumbledore offered up no more information. Severus let it drop.

"And the new Muggle Studies Professor? I assume she's a woman unless you intend to dose someone with a gender changing potion. If that is the case, let me assure you in advance that I am quite allergic."

"Oh no, my dear boy. I do not wish to give Mr. Potter any parental gender role issues. My great niece accepted the Professorship position this morning and has agreed to come along."

Severus had a blank look on his face before he gave off a practiced sneer. "Your great niece. Does she know what she's getting into?"

Dumbledore twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles. "Don't worry Severus. I have full confidence in her capability of managing both you and Mr. Potter in the Muggle world."

Severus looked dubious. "I suppose that we shall be leaving shortly?"

Dumbledore opened his rune pocket watch one more time and studied it. "You'll be expected in my office at 8 o'clock tonight. That should give you plenty of time to pack your potions supplies." Not to mention enough time for him to actually make the plans.

Severus nodded and turned to go.

"Ah, one more thing if you please. It would be best if you use a different wand for the duration of the trip since your current one was just catalouged by the ministry, and will no doubtedly be tracked. In fact, it would be best not to use magic more than absolutely necessary."

"A wise precaution. I shall be up at your office at eight. If I may be excused Headmaster-"

"Yes, yes. Off you go! The new password is Krispy Kreme." Dumbledore waited for the expected retort of “What kind of inane password is that”' but he was disappointed when it didn't come. He supposed that the other wizard simply didn't care to know how he discovered what Krispy Kremes were while talking to American Embassaries through the floo...

The sun had just started to set, and Harry was still sitting idly in the hospital wing. Low sunlight ran patterns across the room and the occupants. An empty tray lay forgotten on a side table.

Mad-eye Moody was still sitting at his sentinel position across, and halfway down the hall. Since Dumbledore left, the only time Moody had moved from his spot was to inspect the house elf, and tray that had been brought Harry his dinner earlier. Thankfully, he did not feel the need to escort Harry into the hospital water closet earlier. If he had done more than just follow Harry with his magical eye, Harry had been quite sure that he would not been able to keep quiet about it. There was only so much a teenaged boy could handle in one day, and being baby-sat to the loo was not one of them.

Harry tried to reread the chapter about shielding once more before giving up and placing the book closed on the foot of the bed. He was an odd, bundled combination of excitement and apprehension for the trip. He felt guilty that he was looking forward to a summer without Voldemort while the Order Members and Wizarding community couldn't, but he also had never really been out of the country before. Well not for any sort of holiday. He was anxious about being deaged, but he was also looking forward to having a real holiday before he may-or-may-not die. His thoughts were rambling down a bad path. He distracted himself by recalling what had happened so far that day.

In the early morning, Harry had been rudely awoken to the sound of "pops" and Tonks falling into his room from the window. Only the fact that she had knocked over the lamp, chair, and Hedwig's cage when she had entered, and been able to correctly answer a question ("What animal's nose did you wear to make Ginny laugh at Order Headquarters?") had persuaded Harry to use the Portkey, and not stupefy her on the spot.

He had been upset with her at first, but had quickly agreed that it was best that he not get involved with another confrontation with the Death Eaters until he had to. Knowing about the prophecy, and talking with Remus and other Order Members this summer, had helped him focus on his main goal of stopping Voldemort. It had hurt to disregard his hatred and planned revenge on Bellatrix and Pettigrew in favour of the bigger picture. Distractions could only hinder him and there were other people who were willing, and even hoping, to get at them. Like Remus.

Remus had written him every day and even visited a few times at night, explaining how Sirius used to be, and how Azkaban had changed him... how close he and James had been and how he screamed at night in his nightmares begging for forgiveness... his fits of depression. He had never been quite right after his incarceration, and while Remus missed and grieved him terribly, he felt that it had been a kind way for him to go. He had died protecting his godson as he had wanted to, and now he would be able to find the closure and forgiveness that he had been unable to in life.

After escorting him up from Hogwarts' gate to the front doors, Tonks had lead him to the Kitchens to have a "proper Hogwarts breakfast" while the excitement died down. Harry sensed that it was her way of apologizing for portkeying him out of his room that morning, and even though he had been apprehensive and a little frightened of the thought of anyone he knew getting hurt or killed, he tried to go along with her plan and wait until there was further news. After so many years trying to figure things out for himself, he decided that the Order and Dumbledore realized by now that it was easier just to tell him. Or so he hoped. They had then wandered to the library where Mad-eye Moody had found them hours later, nose deep in books about defense. It was then that Harry had learned the outcome of the attack that morning. His relatives were unharmed (unfortunately), as were most of the Order Members, and Ministry Aurors who arrived after he had been portkeyed out. A few Death Eaters had been captured either alive or dead, and Moody said that there had been some commotion about their identities that Albus Dumbledore and the Ministry were trying to straighten out.

Moody then relieved Tonks of her 'Harry-sitting' duties and escorted Harry to the Hospital wing. It was lucky that Harry had had the foresight to bring along some of the more interesting Defense books from the library because he had been stuck here for hours with only Moody and a busy Nurse for company.

He looked over to where Remus lay sleeping. When he had come in, bleeding, Harry had had a moment of fear. Remus was the last of the Marauders that he could trust and Harry had desperately wanted him to remain alive. He had jumped off the bed when an abrupt "Potter!" from Moody had stopped him midstride. Moody probably thought that Remus was an imposter or infected with some other crazy paranoid thing. He would have ignored it and continued if Remus hadn't raised his head and reassured him that he was okay, "Just some minor scratches, Harry. Nothing Madame Pomfrey can't take care of." The nurse had bustled in then and Harry had reluctantly returned to his designated bed, still keeping a watchful eye on the werewolf as the Nurse administered to him. When Pomfrey had run to a supply cabinet on the other wall Remus had given him the first news of Wormtail's capture. "I got him Harry. For good this time." It was a hollow victory, and Harry could see it in Remus' worn expression from there.

At least Harry now knew the identity of the Death Eater that had tied up both Dumbledore and the Ministry for so long.

Harry was snapped back to the here and now as the doors to the hospital wing opened and gave off an audible whine. Harry recognized Dumbledore's pointy hat entering the wing, soon followed by the rest of the old Wizard. This time he looked tired and happy, as opposed to the just plain tired he had looked earlier, at the end of the year.

"There you are Harry!" As if he had expected Harry to be able to go anywhere else? Harry swung his legs over the bed and stood as Dumbledore approached. Moody eyed the Headmaster suspiciously from his position. "Let's take a trip up to my office, shall we?"

Harry followed the other man out. When Moody made as if he were to follow, Dumbledore stopped to dismiss him. "Thank you Alastor. I believe that you are expected at Headquarters."

Moody nodded, "Of course." and hobbled out. Harry thought that there had been some hidden message given, but he had missed it.

They took the now memorized trip up to the Headmaster's office, and Dumbledore gave the password, "Krispy Kreme" to the Gargoyle.

Once they arrived, Harry was relieved to find the shelves just as full as they had been before his outburst at the end of the year. Dumbledore walked over to a short cupboard and pulled out a small wooden box.

"I procured this awhile ago, yet have not had a use for it until now." He opened the box and Harry could see several small glass vials placed within the velvet lining. He extracted one and Harry could see that it was filled with a clear liquid. As Dumbledore lifted it up and inspected it, the light from the setting sun caught on the liquid and illuminated it to a bright, illuminescant swirl of color. Harry thought that it rather looked similar to the colors from large soap bubbles, only more vibrant. Dumbledore uncapped it and held it out to Harry, his eyes twinkling. "Your deaging potion."

Harry reached out and took it, but decided that he should learn more about it before he just gulped it down. "Sir? May I ask how long it will last?"

"It should last until you take the antidote, Harry."

"Which will be?"

Dumbledore gave an irritating smile. "When you get back to the school." As if warding off Harry's annoyance, he continued, "This particular potion, once swallowed will transform your physical body into its six year old self. It will start to react immediately and usually lasts years before a person reverts to their older age. Don't be alarmed, I have the antidote here in my office for you to take when you arrive back at Hogwarts, at the end of the summer. If by chance you need it before then and are unable to find me or it, Hogwarts' potions master can always whip up a batch for you."

Yeah right, as if Snape would do anything for him now. "And I'll be able to think and use my magic like a regular fifteen year old, if I need to? Well, as regular as me."

"Yes of course, Harry. You will just need to cope with a smaller body. Now drink that up and I'll get a change of clothes for you."

Harry hadn't thought about that. He supposed that once he shrunk into a six year old's size he wouldn't fit his clothes anymore. They would rival anything as ill-fitting as he had worn as a child. He hoped that Dumbledore had some children's clothes that were less crazy than the old man's robes.

As Dumbledore half disappeared into another cupboard, Harry took a deep breath to prepare himself to swallow down the potion as quickly as possible. In his experience, most potions tasted worse than decomposing sludge. As the first drops of potion touched his tongue, he was pleasantly surprised.

It tasted wonderful, of sunshine, grass, swing sets and excitement. It was a rushed feeling of the few happy childhood memories he possessed when he had been able to escape his repulsive relatives, and truly been free. He could have eagerly drunk a gallon. He could feel the tingle as it traveled down to his stomach. The moment it reached it, he started to change.

It felt odd, sort of like falling from a low height on a broom. The room seemed as if it was growing, yet he could see his arms shortening into his sleeves. Dizzy, he shut his eyes.

When he opened them, it was to see the world in a different way. Everything looked brighter, more colorful and bigger. The clothes had he had been wearing were still draped on his form, almost comically. His trouser legs pooled at his feet, and his shirt hung to his knees. Harry was surprised to realize that his spectacles hung off one ear, and that everything had looked so clear without them. He folded the spectacles in one small hand. He had an odd urge to explore the office and all the strange contraptions in it, but he ignored it and concentrated on his memories, just to make sure that everything was still there. He still remembered his name, that he was supposed to be a fifteen year old Wizard, and the Boy Who Lived. Other memories took more concentration to recall; like that Remus was resting in the Hospital Wing, how Dumbledore had flown away on Fawks from Umbridge last year and how to do the Patronus spell. It was a little fuzzy, but definitely there. Reassured, Harry finally gave into his curiosity and studied the items on Dumbledore's desk.

Just as he tried to reach out to inspect an odd clock on the desk, the Headmaster came bustling over. He was carrying a pile of clothes, which he thrust into Harry's arms.

"Here you go, my boy! Now just head over to this room over here and get changed." Dumbledore strode over to a small door nearby and held it open, beaming at him.

Harry shuffled over.

"There's a mirror and a small trampoline in there, should you wish to become more acquainted with your small size."

As Harry disappeared through the door, the old Wizard called out to him, "Take your time. I'll just be out here."

Hoppity Clementine Smirkett fell out of the floo of the Headmaster of Hogwarts' sitting room. With her came several boxes of luggage for the holiday. She tried to tidy her messy hair, and brushed the soot off of her Muggle garb. She had shed her Wizard robes in favour of a long, shapeless dark teal dress. She was so excited! A job at Hogwarts and a holiday to America, she was so lucky!

She turned to her luggage and regarded it. One large box for clothes, another for her necessary Muggle devices and textbooks, and another smaller bag with random things she wished to keep near her. It really would be rather inconvenient and cumbersome to carry it all around with her. Oh! She should have shrunk them before using the floo. She wanted to smack herself for being so thick, and quickly shrunk the two larger boxes before anyone came in and saw what she was doing.

Then she placed the shrunken luggage into the smaller bag and picked it up. She was sure that she was prepared, she had even jumped over to Gringott's and exchanged some of her money into American dollars. Carrying her bag, she walked over to the closed door to Albus' office, and lifted her hand to knock.

Before her hand impacted with the door a loud, "Come in!" was heard. She wondered how he did it, and entered the office. Her great uncle was sitting behind his desk, playing with some contraption, and beaming with a large smile.

"Welcome back, my dear! So glad you could make it."

She felt another thrill of excitement at that and hurried over before the desk. "Oh, Uncle Albus this is brilliant! Thank you so much for allowing me to do this!"

"Not at all, not at all. I just hope that you enjoy your holiday. It will give a new dimension to your Muggle studies' resume as well." He put down the object that he was playing with. "Well please sit down."

She sat down in a conjured armchair in front of the desk.

"I suppose I should give you the details now. The two Wizards whom I need to hide are key players in the current war efforts and need to stay safe until school starts." He paused before continuing. "I've made plans for you to pose as a Muggle family."

Oh. He hadn't mentioned that earlier, but it didn't seem that big of a deal.

"One of the Wizards has been deaged so it would please me if you looked after him. He has grown up in a Muggle environment so he should adapt easily. I arranged for Muggle flight to transport you to America. There also are arrangements made to enroll the boy in a local year round school and to give you a job there so that you will able to be near in cases of emergency.

“He has taken Dusky's Second Childhood Tonic so he will be able to act his true age if he needs to, but it would still be best if he is close to either you or your partner at all times just in case."

Hoppity nodded and pretended that she remembered what Dusky's tonic was. Oh well, her uncle's description seemed to explain it well enough. The secretary job was news to her, but she was confident that she would be able to pull it off. When she had spent the two weeks in Muggle society for her class, she had been a personal assistant, which was probably similar.

"The other Wizard who will be accompanying you is Hogwarts' Potions professor. Just so you are informed, he will be working on some special potions projects for me during the holiday."

A small door opened at the other side of the room and they turned towards it. An adorable little boy entered, wearing Muggle trousers and a dark blue shirt with three cartoon frogs smiling on the front. Each frog was a different shades of green, one was teal, and there was a caption that said "Ribbit!" below them. The boy had dark, messy hair, large eyes that she could tell were green from here, and looked a little flushed.

"Hoppity, meet Harry Potter." Wait, Harry Potter?! Her eyes moved up the forehead to barely make out a scar hidden by his fringe.

"Harry this is your new mum." By the look of his expression, Hoppity could tell that the child had not been told of this earlier either. Smiling, she left her seat and crouched down so that she was eye-level with the boy and offered her hand.

"Hello, Harry. My name's Hoppity. I'll be taking care of you." She said kindly, feeling a little strange.

The boy took her hand and shyly smiled back. "My name's Harry."

It was then that the office door sprung open to reveal the ugliest man she had ever seen. She stood up to regard him. He was slim, with a hooked shaped nose and dark dirty hair tied back from his pale face. He wore black slacks and a long sleeved buttoned down white shirt. It was a little old fashioned, but Hoppity gave him points for trying. He had a small case held in one hand. Was this the man that she had to pretend to be married to? She had to remind herself why she was doing this again. The Muggle Studies Professor position, the Muggle Studies Professor position...

Dumbledore rose up to greet him. "Ah, Professor Snape. We were just having introductions."

"Hoppity, this is Professor Severus Snape. Severus, Hoppity Smirkett, the tentative Muggle Studies Professor."

She approached and offered her hand for him to shake. The man ignored it and crossed his arms. He gave her a look of contempt. "Hoppity? Did your parents mistake you for a House elf when you were born or is that some inane nickname?"

Rather offended, she answered hotly back. "Hoppity is my real name, but you don't have to use it if you don't like it!"

Harry piped up, his fights balled up in anger and his brow furrowed. "Wait! Snape's going to be my new father?" Poor lad.

Snape sneered. "A little slow on the uptake there, Potter?"

"Enough!" Dumbledore was a spectre of anger from behind his desk. "You will cease any disagreements here and now. There is absolutely no room for any animosity or childish rows on this trip." Her Great Uncle was as serious as she had ever seen him. It was unsettling. "I expect you to get along to the best of your abilities."

He took a breath and donned a more relaxed countenance. He motioned with his hand. "Shall we try this again? Hoppity this is Severus Snape. He will be joining you on holiday. Severus, this is my great niece Hoppity Clementine Smirkett."

She resolutely offered her hand again, and this time Snape took it and gave a curt nod over it.

Placated, the old man turned to Harry next. "Harry, Professor Snape will be escorting you for your safety as well as his own. I hope that I am correct in assuming that you will be able to show him the proper respect while he is looking out for your welfare?"

The boy had a sullen look, but relented. "Yes, Sir."

Albus clapped his hands. "Good. Now I have some things for you." He pushed over a medium sized box across his desk that she hadn't noticed before. "Hoppity, this is a tea set. I've been told that it would be useful during your stay in America." He then opened a top side drawer and took some items out. He approached Snape, handing him a pocket watch and a ring. He then turned to Hoppity and gave her a matching one. His eyes twinkled. "I feel that these would be essential."

They put the rings on and Hoppity watched as Snape opened the pocket watch and looked at it, making a disgruntled look before pocketing it.

Albus' eyes twinkled more brightly. "I do not expect you to have a need to use them, but in an emergency, the rings can be used as a portkey to Hogwarts. They will only activate if the phrase 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon' is uttered in Latin. I can only stress the importance that they only be used in an emergency since they will consume a great deal of energy from the travelers, as well as from Hogwarts. A portkey trip for such a distance will not feel at all pleasurable, and you will most likely faint upon arrival. If possible, it would be best to use them while they are touching each other to augment their power and lessen the affects."

Oh. No wonder they were going to travel by Muggle means. The customary Wizard travel for long distances could be tracked and the only untrackable option seemed to be quite painful.

Albus then walked over to Harry. "My boy, if I may see your wand?"

Harry looked taken aback, but slowly pulled his wand from the waistband of his trousers, and hesitantly handed it over. Her great uncle then pulled out a short wand from the folds of his robe and handed it to the boy. It was a medium-dark wood, looked no longer than a pencil, but was just as thick as the normal kind.

"This is a temporary wand, Harry, made especially for your use. I'm sorry but in your current state, it would be all too easy for you to misplace or loose your regular one. This temporary wand is strong enough for a Stupefy or Expelliarmus, but does not have the same potential for complex or powerful spells as a real Wizarding wand."

Albus peered at the boy from over his spectacles. "Harry you are still being monitored for the Decree of the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, so please refrain from doing any magic intentionally for the remainder of the holidays. Even when you turn sixteen, you will still be in a six year old body and the Ministry may not be able to tell the difference." His eyebrows lifted as if he had just thought of something. "In any case, I don't believe that any messenger owls would survive the flight over the ocean."

The little boy's eyes widened at that, but Albus had already turned to Snape and handed him Harry's wand.

Harry made a sound of disbelief and outrage before his mouth fell open in shock. "Why are you giving it to him?" The Potions professor seemed to think the same thing, but took it nonetheless, and slipped it up a sleeve before looking at the boy with a superior air.

"Harry I have every confidence in Professor Snape's ability to look after it for you. In this way, it will be close to you just in case."

Harry shut his mouth and fumed, his fists clenched. Oh dear.

The old man then extracted some papers and documents from a voluminous fold in his robes. "Your new last name is Biggerstaff. Here are your new Muggle IDs and airplane tickets." He handed them to Hoppity and after looking at them briefly, she placed them in her bag. "Your flight will leave at nine o'clock so you best get a move on. I'm told that an Agent 'D' will meet you when you arrive and take care of any other arrangements."

Albus then walked around to the front of his desk, and pulled out a stripped purple and red sock from the top drawer.

"Your portkey to the airport." He then shook Snape's hand, hugged Hoppity and patted the head of a still scowling Harry. "Alright, then. Hold on!" He held out the sock, and she and Snape held on to it. Harry still hadn't budged, so she grabbed his hand and pulled him over. Albus smiled kindly and then exclaimed, "Oh wait! Let's not forget that tea set."

With movements that defied his age, he picked up the box still on the desk and deposited it into a surprised Snape's arms. "All set then?"

Harry reached out and grabbed the sock.

"Farewell, I'll see you when the school year starts. Activus Portensias."

And with that, Hoppity felt the familiar navel pull as the portkey activated and set her on her journey...

Portkey had never been Harry's favourite means of Wizard transportation. He had shut his eyes during the awful ride, and still had them shut tightly when they landed in a sickening lurch. It was because of that, that the first thing he noticed was the noise- a constant murmur of voices, low music, footsteps and the sound of rolling wheels.

The next thing he noticed was that Hoppity had steadied him when they landed, and that he was still clutching one of her arms. He quickly let go, a little embarrassed since he didn't know if she would mind. He didn’t know how he felt about her. In some way, it was like she was replacing his mum, but that would mean that Snape was replacing his dad as well. He wouldn’t ever be able to think of Snape as his dad so he figured that he would never be able to think of Hoppity as his mum either. In a way, he was glad. If Dumbledore had got a friendly, loving couple to look after him then he would have been in danger of loving them back. But this was okay. He’d never love Snape so he was safe. He could give Hoppity a chance, and like her without forgetting himself.

That decided, he looked around his surroundings curiously. They had landed behind some tall plotted plants in what appeared to be an unused hallway. Empty phone booths ran along one side, while the other wall only had a large colorful advertisement hung up in a black frame. The plants cut off their view of the main corridor, but through the leaves Harry could see people walking briskly by with colorful luggage. It didn't look as if anyone had noticed their arrival. A loud announcement was made over an intercom stating that Flight A-45 was delayed.

He turned to see Hoppity searching through her bag while Snape put down his case, and shifted the box he still held to a more secure position. Harry really had no idea how the man managed to hold onto his case, the box and the sock while being portkeyed. Too bad he hadn't dropped something on his foot.

Harry was still peeved at the thought that Dumbledore had given Snape his wand. A wand is very important to a Wizard, and Harry felt almost as if Dumbledore had betrayed him when he handed Harry's wand over to Snape. Well, he would just have to find a way to take his wand back without Snape noticing. That settled, Harry decided to take in as much as he could of the airport. He had never been to one before, and he felt a thrill of excitement at the thought of going on a plane.

Hoppity pulled out some strangely colored pieces of paper and looked at them intently. "Alright then. I think we are supposed to find gate J-26."

Snape gave her a dour look. "You think."

Hoppity studied the tickets once more. "Almost positive. Now all we need to do is figure out where we are, and where that is."

"I refuse to carry your tea set while you traipse around getting us lost," Snape’s tone was biting.

Hoppity gave a startled look and then smiled. "Well should I carry the tea set while you get us lost? I can hardly be expected to carry the box, and navigate this place at the same time."

Snape's expression did not change. Another announcement was heard over the noise that Flight A-42 was now boarding. A thunderous motor cart rolled by. They all turned to look as it flashed through the plants. Harry noticed that it had a red flag on a thin pole that almost brushed the ceiling.

"Let's try to catch one of those. That way no one will have to carry anything, and we won't get lost." Hoppity looked pleased with her plan.

They exited from behind the potted plants, leaving behind one striped purple and red sock, and entered the chaos. Harry's wide eyes took in everything. People in all shapes and sizes quickly walked past from where they were standing, carrying an assortment of bags and boxes on wheels. The walls were covered in advertisements and signs. There were open side rooms filled with chairs, and lines of people, and the far walls were covered in windows, showing the darkening evening. Nearby, a baby started wailing. His attention quickly shifted to a man dressed in a sharp pilot's uniform, pulling a black bag on wheels strolling quickly by, giving a smile and a nod at Harry's wide eyed gaze.

Snape's voice distracted him from his marveling, "And how do you propose we catch one of those monstrous contraptions?"

Hoppity looked lost for a moment before answering. "Well, we will just have to wait until an empty one comes by and erm... stop it."

Giving a snort, Snape set down what he was carrying, and leaned against the wall, expectant. "By all means, go ahead," he said derisively.

They waited there for a couple minutes, just watching people walk by, and listening to random announcements. Harry tried to read some nearby signs, and almost panicked when they felt more like pictures than words. He concentrated harder, and was relieved when he was able to understand what they said. It took effort, but he could still read. It felt odd being a younger size, he noticed. His body felt strange and uncoordinated. Reaching out to grab something, his hand would fall short of his target, and flounder in midair before compensating. It was quite frustrating.

When they heard the approaching noise of a motor cart, they watched for it, but were disappointed when it was clear that it already had passengers. They had to wait a few minutes more before hearing the sound of another motor cart, but this too was occupied. Hoppity resolutely turned the other way to await the next cart. Harry had the strange desire to do something to help her. He watched as the last cart went by and noticed that it was slowing down. It stopped about twelve adult paces away.

"They're getting off," Harry said, coming closer to Hoppity.

"What was that Harry?"

"The people are getting off that one."

"Oh good!" Hoppity turned to look, and then bounded after it. Harry tried to keep up. His smaller strides made him feel as if the floor stretched out underneath his feet and grew longer as he ran after her. Snape followed at a more sedate pace with the tea box, and his case.

Hoppity had managed to catch the motor cart just as its riders had got off.

"Excuse me!"

The driver of the cart, a young lad with red hair and a freckled face, turned and smiled at her. "Can I help you Miss?" Harry liked him immediately.

"Yes, may we ride your motor cart to our gate?"

"Of course! That is what I am here for. Just hop on and I'll get you there in a jiffy. Do you need help with any luggage?"

"No. We're all set.”

Yes, Hoppity was very pleased with her plan. Smiling broadly, she helped Harry into a seat and settled in the front passenger spot. The driver looked surprised when Snape came up, and placed the box and his case into the back, and settled warily in a seat, but he didn't say anything.

"Gate J-26 please."

"That's quite a ways. Good that you caught me or you would have had to walk for ages."

The cart started with a lurch, and the lad did a wide turn around, honking his horn, and waiting for the people to get out of the way.

"What time does your flight leave?"

"Erm, nine o'clock I think."

"That's real soon! Luckily, you managed to find someone who specializes in speedy deliveries," he said with a cocky grin.

There was one last long honk and then they were off! They whizzed past Gates, people and little shops. The wind blew in Harry's hair, and he sat bug-eyed, watching everything go by with a grin. The loud noise of the engine and horn, and the flag at the front of the cart warned people to get out of the way, but the driver did sharply executed turns around the people who didn't get out of the way quick enough, thrilling him. It wasn't anything like the Knight Bus, but it was just as fun in his younger state. Next to him, Snape had clutched onto a railing with both hands. Harry stifled a giggle then turned away at Snape’s glare.

Harry looked up to watch the signs to go by. It was too difficult for him to read what they said while in motion, but he was able to recognize the letters on the different gates. All the signs now read 'C'. He thought that 'J' was a long way from 'C' in the alphabet but couldn't remember exactly how far, and he didn't feel like concentrating on thinking about it right now. They passed "D", and traveled up a very long, carpeted ramp. At the end of the ramp, the driver made a quick turn left. As they went past a similar ramp labeled 'E-H', Harry looked behind them to see a different wide corridor filled with people in different uniforms guiding people in Muggle clothes through strange doorways, and their bags through odd machines. The doorways reminded Harry of the kind in Muggle stores and Libraries that beeped when something stolen tried to go through.

The cart zoomed on a right arc, and then sharply turned left. Harry turned around in favour of seeing where they were headed. They were racing down another ramp, it was mostly empty which Harry was glad of, because at the speed they were going, the cart would not have been able to swerve around a marble let alone a person. They were going so fast that Harry was sure that the driver had lost control and they were going to crash when they exited the ramp! He held onto his railing in elated terror and gave a whoop of glee. This was great!

Harry was almost disappointed when the brakes were put on, and the cart rushed out into the main corridor only slightly faster than normal. They then swiftly drove past all the 'I' gates, and a small restaurant. Finally, they made it to the last of the 'J's.

The driver counted each one out loud. "Let's see here... 22, 23... 24 ah! Twenty-six! Here you are." He stopped the vehicle, and let them off. Harry couldn't help but notice that Snape seemed glad to finally get off as he quickly grabbed his case, and the tea box, which he set on the ground. Hoppity situated her bag on her shoulder. "Enjoy your flight!" He smiled and waved at Harry as he zoomed off in the other direction in his motor cart.

Hoppity seemed a little unsteady. "Well, then," she said. "Let's sign in, shall we?" When Snape made no move to pick up the tea box, she made a grunting noise, and slid it across the carpet with her foot.

There was a line of people with their luggage leading up to a desk where two women in uniform worked on computers. Harry followed his new guardians in line behind an elderly couple. He could see outside through the big windows on the far wall. Large airplanes and small cars rolled by on the lit up pavement. He watched, fascinated as a plane in the distance sped past, its front lifted up in a strange angle. He noticed a low roaring sound, and felt a thrill of anticipation. He was going to go on one of those! His vision was cut off when it went behind the section of wall behind the desk. He would have liked to run over to one of the windows and watch it, but didn't want to test the patience of his new guardians. Snape would probably drag him back by his collar if he wandered off, and tie him to something.

The line moved quickly, and pretty soon they were at the front, facing the desk. Harry couldn't see over it, so he just occupied himself by looking out of the windows which were a lot closer now.

A chipper voice rang out. "Welcome to British Airways flight 177. Do you have your tickets, photo identification, and passports?"

He watched as Hoppity handed over what he assumed were the necessary items to a lady behind the desk. She peered over the desk at him and smiled, before spotting the tea set box.

She gave a practiced smile to Hoppity. "I'm sorry Ma'am, but that package is too big for carry-on. I can stow it away under the plane for you."

Harry had no idea what that meant, and it didn't look like Hoppity did either. It would look less odd if a child asked a question than an adult who should supposedly know better, so he ventured a question.

"What does that mean?"

The lady turned to him, and adopted a condescending baby voice. "There's an area in the plane for big things underneath the seat area. If everyone brought all their bags, and packages with them to their seats, there wouldn't be enough room for the people. That's why we have rules to make sure that everything will fit in the right places. I will label your package with the same information on your tickets so it will end up where ever you do."

Hoppity hefted the box, and set it on the desk with some difficulty. "Sounds good to me."

There were some printing and tearing sounds, and then the lady placed the box underneath the desk with a thump. "Thank you for flying with us. If you'll wait over in the seating area, we will begin boarding momentarily."

Harry was startled when Hoppity took his hand, but let her lead him over to some seats facing the large windows. They sat several seats down from the end, and Harry barely noticed as Snape stood in a corner facing away from the windows. A large plane was touching down on the long strip of pavement. This close to the outside, Harry could feel a low roar in his ears as flaps on the plane's wings stood up. He had an urge to leap up and jump around, that he barely quelled by swinging his legs excitedly. He was going on a plane!

They sat there for several more minutes, watching planes land, and take off until the planes got so far away that all they could see were colored specs of light. From where they were sitting, Harry could see part of what he thought was the plane they were going to go on. Most of it was hidden at this angle by a wall that jutted outwards, but Harry could see a long wing, part of the side with windows, and the tail that seemed miles away.

A melodious tone rang through the room, followed by a musical voice on the intercom. "Ladies and Gentlemen Welcome to British Airlines. This is flight number 177 to the United States of the America. We will now commence boarding for first class seating, anyone who needs assistance, and those with small children."

The intercom clicked off and Hoppity looked at Harry. He looked back.

"Well I don't know what first class is, but do you think you're considered a 'small child'?"

Harry looked down at himself and shrugged. "I guess so. Let's go!" He leapt up with a smile, and took her offered hand, and led her to the short line of people. As they waited, he pulled on her hand excitedly. "I'm going on a plane!"

"Yes Harry, you're going on a plane." She grinned, and then gave a squeal herself. "We're going on a plane!"

Behind them, Snape gave a grunt of annoyance. He was ignored.

They line moved quickly and soon they were at the front. A young woman in a dark blue uniform smiled, and asked for their tickets. As Hoppity dug through her bag, the woman gave a special smile at Harry. Looking back shyly, he felt an urge to tell her something, perhaps hello. "I'm going on a plane."

The woman gave a little laugh, and smiled wider. "Yes you are!" she declared as she took the tickets from Hoppity, and tore off the sides. She then handed the larger pieces back. "Just go through that ramp, and you'll be greeted by the crew."

Hoppity took his right hand once more, and they quickly walked through the doorway, and up and down a covered winding ramp that sounded hollow beneath their shoes. Harry could hear Snape following. This must be the first time I've heard his footsteps, he noted absent mindedly. As they walked, the tingle of excitement burned bigger and bigger in his tummy.

They turned the corner and Harry saw the opening to the plane. A large piece of the plane had been made into a door, and Harry could see that it was still connected to the plane by the biggest hinges he had ever seen. The covered ramp led right through the opened door, and into the plane. But the last part of the ramp looked much more temporary than the other parts- it was only a long metal plank. As they came closer, Harry could see out a small, plastic window that they were pretty high up. The last of the walls and ceiling were only made of an accordion shaped plastic, and Harry could see the outside world where the plastic didn't meet the body of the plane. Hoppity must have noticed too, because she slowed down, but Harry wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing. He ignored his own feeling of fear, and bravely strode ahead, pulling Hoppity behind him.

They made it to the main floor of the aircraft, and stood behind a man with a briefcase. The man turned and moved away, and Harry was rewarded with a view of the crew. Two women and a man, all dressed in crisp slate blue uniforms looked at him and smiled. The first woman with blonde hair in a smart bun bent over to greet him. "Hello there. Welcome aboard."

He shook her hand enthusiastically. "I'm going on a plane!"

They laughed, and a middle aged man with a pilot hat addressed him kindly, "You are on a plane." He then shook Harry's hand. "I'm Captain Rover. I'll be your pilot tonight. Don't worry, I'll make sure you have a safe trip."

Hoppity shook the pilot's hand next, and when prompted, gave the second woman their tickets, moving in front of Harry in the process.

"If you'll follow me, I'll lead you to your seats." Harry gave one last glance at the pilot, who was shaking Snape's hand quickly, and followed the brown haired assistant, and Hoppity down the navy blue aisle.

Harry looked curiously around as he walked. He had never been on a plane before, and he wanted to be able to remember everything. The first section seats were large and made of leather. The walls were a strange cream plastic color, and there were oval shaped windows on every row. The ceiling had open compartments, and Harry could see some people putting their bags in them. In the next section, and the ones afterwards, the chairs were all of a bright blue plush material. Each row had three clusters of seats, the one in the middle looked bigger than the ones on the sides. There were white pillows and what looked like headphones on every seat. The plane was so big! Monstrous! He wanted to run around and examine everything, but when he stopped to look around once, a gentle prod in his back from Snape's case, and a "Don't dawdle, Potter." kept him moving.

They passed several sections, curtained areas, and walls with plastic doors before turning left and crossing the plane to the other side.

The woman stopped after the last wall, and motioned to a row of three seats facing it. "Here are you seats!"

Hoppity quickly settled in the seat next to the window, and Harry followed, moving the pillow and headphones to the side so he could sit down. Harry noticed that there were little tellies in the wall facing them. White plastic rectangles were below them. Snape placed his case on the floor, and sat in the remaining seat, dumping his pillow and headphones on Harry's lap disdainfully. Prat. Keeping the extra pillow to make a complete set of smaller, softer armrests, Harry moved to dump the headphones back on Snape, but the flight attendant who was still hovering by, noticed.

"Would you like me to take those for you, luv?"

Harry reluctantly handed the extra headphones over to the smiling woman. He had really wanted to retaliate on Snape.

"My name's Kathleen, and I'll be around if you need anything during the flight. What's your name?"

Harry did not know if he should tell her, but Snape was staring ahead, trying to ignore them, so he figured that it would be okay. "I'm Harry!"

"Would you like a blanket Harry? It sometimes gets cold on airplanes."

Harry didn't know what to say, so he nodded.

"May I have one too?' Hoppity asked brightly.

"Yes, I'll just be right back." Kathleen smiled and left, disappearing behind the nearest curtained area, which happened to be right in front of them. She emerged minutes later with several grey wool blankets, and spread one out over Harry.

"Thank you."

"I have a little boy around your age. Is this your first time on a plane?"

"Yes, Miss."

The stewardess beamed. "Aww, he's so polite! Well don't worry, Harry. You'll be perfectly safe on our airplane." She then offered a blanket to Snape.

He regarded her with cool eyes and folded his arms. "No. Thank you."

Her smile faltered for a moment before resuming. "Well if you need anything just push the orange Call button above your heads,” she told them before turning to Harry. “You should put your safety belt on now, luv."

Harry picked up the strange buckles curelessly, looking for a way to connect the metal pieces.

"Here, I'll help you." Kathleen reached over to buckle Harry in, tightening the belt snuggly over the blanket. Hoppity mimicked her actions with her own safety belt, as did Snape the moment Kathleen left, disappearing back to the front of the plane.

They sat there in silence for several minutes. Harry watched the people settle down in their seats, and peered out the small oval window. It was very dark outside, and Harry could barely make out a grass field and lighted pavement. A large motor cart rolled by, hauling long covered storage racks. He could hear a few low conversations in the background. Hoppity fiddled with the lights, and air vents above their heads. She smiled at Harry and opened his air vent, blasting him and making him giggle. She moved it around, hitting different parts of his head, and blowing his hair in different directions. He couldn't contain his snickers when the air hit certain ticklish spots. After a minute of this, an annoyed Snape reached up and shut it off.

"Stop acting childish."

Harry thought that he was talking to Hoppity, but wasn't sure. He was supposed to act childish after all.

After waiting for what felt like a very long time, the flight assistants walked up and down the aisles, shutting the overhead compartments. There was a slight jolt, and Harry felt another thrill of excitement, anticipation, and a little fear. He swung his feet out. A soft tone was heard as a little sign with a seatbelt was lighted. Sound was sent through the intercom and the little tellies turned on to play a short movie about airplane safety, and what to do in an emergency, as the plane moved slowly in different directions. Harry thought that using their seat cushions as floating things in water was a funny idea, but the plane sized emergency slide looked fun. The tellies shut off, and the flight attendants checked everyone's seatbelts while the Captain's voice came over the intercom.

"This is the Captain speaking. Welcome to British Airways flight 177 to the United States of America. The estimated flight time is 6 hours 45 minutes, with a 5 hour time gain in transit. We are on a Boeing 747, the largest civilian jet in the skies. We will be taking off in about 7 minutes."

The Captain signed off and a woman's voice was heard next. "Please stay seated with your seatbelts securely fastened. Keep all trays in the upright position, and keep all luggage either under the seats or in an overheard storage bin. Thank you and enjoy the flight." The main lights inside the plane dimmed, but the lights overheard were on, thanks to Hoppity's fiddling earlier.

Harry watched out the window as the plane moved slowly along. He could see blinking lights and cones outside, and a man with bright flags waving them around. He kicked his feet spasmodically. The sound of the air systems grew more noticeable. The wait was unbearable. Hoppity was peering outside the window intently, and Snape was sitting straight in his seat looking ahead, his arms clutching his armrests.

All of the sudden, a load roaring sound started up. This was it. The plane started forward, quickly building speed. He held on to his pillow armrests and took a deep breath. The front of the plane lifted. Next to him, Snape stiffened. After a few seconds, the plane lost contact with the ground completely. Harry eagerly looked outside the window, watching as the world got smaller and smaller. They left the large pavement, and field zone surrounding the airport. Plane softly turned to one side, giving Harry an excellent view of the surrounding area. Automobiles on the nearby lighted roads turned into the size of bugs. Buildings also shrunk, and looked more like play things. Harry felt an uncomfortable feeling in his ears, and tried to swallow. The airplane gradually stopped climbing, and returned to a level position.

He continued to watch the scenery outside the window, and just felt how the plane flew. It was so much bigger than a broom or a hippogriff, or even a theastral. He could feel the engine vibrations, or maybe it was just the air going past? He wasn't sure. The airplane made slight dipping motions. Flying in a plane felt wonderful! He rubbed his ears some more. It felt similar to how his ears popped when he dove deeply on his broom, only this time it wouldn't go away. A musical tone sounded, and the seatbelt light turned off. He continued to look out of the window.

Kathleen walked past, but came back to stop at their row, smiling. "Is everyone alright here?"

"Yes, thank you." Hoppity said.

She must have noticed Harry rubbing his ears. "Is the air change getting to you, luv? It might help if you have something to chew and swallow." She looked at Hoppity expectedly.

Hoppity looked helplessly back.

"Don't worry. We'll be handing out some snacks and drinks shortly. Just sit tight." She moved down the aisle, leaving them alone once more.

Hoppity fiddled around with the buttons on the armrest of her chair. "Let's see if the tellies work, Harry."

Her telly turned on to show a boring looking man talking to an equally boring looking man. Harry found the power button on his own armrest and his telly turned on to show what looked like a cooking program.

"Now to change the picture...” Hoppity mumbled.

Harry flipped through his channels, all silent. He settled on some duck cartoon characters. He looked at Snape, who was still staring ahead with a look of boredom on his face. He wondered if Snape wanted to watch his telly too, and was pretending that he didn't, or if he felt that Muggle entertainment was beneath him. Oh well, his loss. Harry took his headphones, and plugged them in a small hole in his armchair. He thought that it was the right place and was rewarded when faint sounds were emitted from the headphones. Hoppity turned to him in surprise.

"You have to plug them in." He explained. She followed his example, and Harry slipped his headphones on his head over his ears, swallowing several times to try to alleviate the funny feeling in his ears with no success.

A few minutes later, a stewardess he didn't recognize came by with a cart. She said something Harry couldn't hear, so he slid his headphones off.

"You can lower your trays." She said pleasantly, demonstrating with Snape's, pulling down the white plastic rectangle below the tellies. It unfolded and pulled out further. Seeing that Harry couldn't reach his, she smiled and did the same to his. "What would you like to drink?" She asked kindly as she passed out napkins and little pretzel packages. Snape once again passed his off to Harry. This time Harry was only a little bothered, since he was a little hungry.

"What do you have?" asked Hoppity.

"We have coke products, orange juice, apple juice, milk, chocolate milk, water, coffee and tea."

"I'll have some water please."

The nice stewardess turned to Harry.

"Can I have some chocolate milk please?"

The lady poured out water and chocolate milk in clear plastic cups, and set them on their trays. Harry echoed Hoppity’s "Thank you" and attempted to open his pretzel package as Snape ordered coffee.

The stewardess then placed a coffee in front of Snape then moved on to the next row. Hoppity reached over and opened Harry's pretzel package once she noticed that he was having trouble. He happily snacked on them and drunk his chocolate milk and his ears felt a little better afterwards.

A few minutes later, Kathleen came by with a different cart, this time collecting garbage.

"Hello, Harry. Do you feel better now?" she asked while clearing his tray.

He nodded. "A little."

"Well I've brought you something to color if you'd like." She held out a booklet and a small package of crayons, and at Harry's nod, set them down on his now cleared tray.

Harry eagerly opened the book. It was a short story, five pages long, about a girl and boy who went on an airplane and all the things they saw. Harry quickly set about giving the scenes color with his eight crayons, including three different shades of blue. When he concentrated on not breaking the crayons, and staying within the lines, coloring became less enjoyable so he decided not to worry about that, and promptly broke a blue crayon in half. Next to him, Snape had pulled out a notebook, a quill, and a bottle of ink from his case, and was now writing intently, obviously paying no attention to Harry whatsoever.

After Harry colored in the most interesting pages, he amused himself by adding in things on the last page. He drew a witch's hat on the little girl, a wand in the little boy’s hand, and fireworks in the sky. They needed pets, he decided. An owl for the little boy and an orange cat for the girl. By the time he had finished the last whisker he realized that he was tired of coloring. He put down his crayons and looked over to the oval window, seeing only darkness beyond.

Hoppity had her headphones on and was intently watching a show about blenders. Snape was still focused intently on a book or some notes. This was going to be a long plane ride, he thought as he rubbed his eyes. He sat back in his chair and rested his eyes.

He soon fell asleep to the sound of the engines, gentle murmurs, and the scratching of a quill.

There was a funny roaring sound in his ears. Hmm... what was that? Disoriented, Harry started to wake up. What was that? And why was he waking up? The world gave a dip, and he remembered. Blinking and rubbing his eyes, Harry looked around. He was still on his seat on the darkened plane. Someone had laid his chair back and tucked him under his blanket. His tray was still down. He yawned tiredly and rubbed the last of sleep out of his eyes. The plane did another funny rumble and the seatbelt sign lit up with a musical tone. A crayon rolled off his tray to the floor. The murmur of voices in the background grew louder, more distinct.

"..going on?"

"Turbulence... seatbelts."

"Fine... sleep..."

Harry looked to Hoppity. Her telly was off and she was leaning against the wall on a small pillow, asleep and snoring softly. Past her, Harry could see nothing but dark fog outside the window.

A noise, indicating that the intercom had turned on was heard, followed by a male voice. "This is the Co-pilot. We've just hit some minor turbulence." The plane gave another couple of dips during his announcement, as if proving his point. "Everything is perfectly fine, but we ask that you stay in your seats with your safety belts on. We will be landing in about 30 minutes. Thank you."

The plane did a deep dip as the intercom signed off. It felt strange and fun. Not quite as exhilarating as a broom, but a different kind of fun as he had no control over it. He wanted it to do it again.

He turned to look at Snape. Harry was faintly surprised that the man was sitting ramrod straight, his arms folded and eyes closed with a clear look of discomfort on his face. His notebook and quill were nowhere in sight and the tray had been folded up. The plane did another deep dip and Harry saw the man's features tighten.

Kathleen walked past in the aisle, then backtracked once she saw him.

"Oh, you've woken up Harry!" She hurried over. "Are you okay?"

The plane did another couple of short dips as he nodded. "What's happening?"

"Oh! Well Harry, we've hit turbulence. Shall I explain it to you?" She continued with an animated voice. "Well, you already know that airplanes fly through air. When the airplane starts moving very fast on the ground, the speed from the air underneath them pushes up on the plane's wings and the airplane lifts up into the sky." She mimicked a plane taking off and then flying with her hand. "The plane then flies through the air. Only different parts of the air move at different speeds so when an airplane goes through these different parts of the air quickly, the plane moves a little." She moved her 'plane' up and down randomly. "That's what we call turbulence. Usually it's just little bumps that no one notices," she made slight, quick up and down motions with her hand. "But other times we cross bigger spots of differences, and the plane moves more noticeably." She moved her 'plane' up and down a large amount several times swiftly, the real plane actually dipped a few times too, as if following her example. "Up and down. Up and down. See? Nothing to worry about."

Snape moved suddenly, undoing his safety belt and springing from his seat. Slipping past Kathleen, he headed up the aisle purposefully, and before he disappeared behind a metal door, Harry could see that his face was a sickly grey.

The Stewardess turned back to Harry and blinked. "Oh. Well, I'm sure he'll be alright." She looked at Harry, a concerned look on her face. "Are you feeling poorly too?"

"No Kathleen." He said, shyly smiling. He was surprised that she cared.

She smiled back and patted his head, then bent down to pick up the crayon that had dropped. "All the same, you shouldn't try to read or write- erm, color. It might make you feel sick. Would you like to listen to music or watch the telly instead?" She placed the crayons back into their box.

"Okay." He found the headphones on the side of his seat, still plugged in, and put them over his ears. Kathleen waved to him and left, taking the crayons as well he noticed. He would have liked to keep them. Oh well. The plane banked sharply to the right and dropped a little. Harry relished the feeling for as long as it lasted. He then pressed the button on his armrest to turn on the telly, and shifted in his seat, finding a more comfortable position. The same cartoon from earlier was playing again. He watched it for a few minutes, then started to flip through the other channels. There was a cooking show, an odd chat show, a boring movie, a music video channel, a sitcom, infomercial channel, another boring movie…

Snape returned to his seat, looking a little better than the last time Harry had seen him, but still a little harrowed. Noticing that Harry was looking at him, Snape gave him a silently challenging look.

Harry refused to look away. He pulled down his earphones. "Are you feeling better Sir?"

The eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes."

Turning away from Snape, Harry turned back to his telly, pulled on his headphones, and continued to go through the channels. Another infomercial, sports channel, the Airline's channel, and a movie with a swamp monster. He stopped on the swamp monster movie. Watching it, Harry soon found out that it was a nice swamp monster, who saved a little girl's life and her dog and who now was running away from the police.

The plane started to do a strange dip. It felt more... controlled and Harry's ears popped. He rubbed them underneath the headphones. He heard that funny sound that signaled that someone was about to use the intercom through his headphones, cutting out the sound of the movie.

"This is the Captain. We'll be landing in about ten minutes. Right now we just need to drop a little altitude in preparation to land. At this time, we ask that all passengers remain seated with their safety belts on until the light goes out on the ground. Thank you."

The plane did another controlled decent as a woman's voice came over the intercom next. "Please stay seated with your safety belts on until after plane lands and stops any and all motion on the ground. Place all trays and seats in the upright position. Make sure that all overheard compartments are closed and locked. If you need assistance, flight attendants will be walking down the aisles momentarily. Thank you for flying British Airways."

The plane did another short lowering and this time banked to the left. Snape's face had a pinched look to it. As if casting about for something to distract him, the man spotted Harry's coloring book, still opened to the last page with the fireworks and girl in the witches' hat. He grasped it and quickly flipped through it, scanning the pages with a contemptuous air. Git. Harry could just imagine the twit marking his artwork with red ink where he had gone outside the lines, or used colors that he disagreed with, or didn't scribble in the 'right direction'.

Harry was shocked and surprised when 'The Git' tore off the last page and tucked it into his case. He noticed Harry's confounded expression and raised an eyebrow. He spoke sardonically. "Can't leave clues, now can we?"

He was saved from a response by Kathleen bustling over.

"Do you have any trash to throw away?"

Snape wordlessly handed her the coloring booklet. Git. Twit. Scoundrel. Calling him names in his head made Harry feel slightly better. The stewardess looked surprised for a moment before taking it and dropping it into the bin in front of her. She then leaned over and locked Harry's tray back into the closed position.

"You'll have to sit up now, luv." She helped him find the right button and his chair straightened slowly. Hoppity woke up during the commotion.

"Are we landing now?" She asked, yawning.

"Yes M'am. In about five minutes." Kathleen took the pillow and blanket that Hoppity handed to her. Following her example, Harry then handed her the pillows he had snuck at his sides at the beginning of the flight, but opted to keep the blanket. It was too cold on the plane to give up just yet.

Snape looked annoyed at the amount of object passing that was occurring over him, but before he could say anything the plane gave another controlled decent and banked to the side again. The man swallowed and Harry turned his attention to the window where he was amazed to see a city of lights through the darkness. He watched, enraptured of the city outside the window and enjoyed the movements of the plane until they landed, his movie forgotten.

The landing itself was a thrilling rush outside the window. The things outside grew exponentially bigger the closer they got to the ground and then a great jolting 'Thump'! They had landed with a bump, the airplane still moving fast on the runway, a loud roaring sound in their ears as they were flung slightly forward. Fun! The plane slowed down, then moved very slowly, making turns. Next to him, Snape was breathing unsteadily, a light sweat had broken over his forehead. Served the git right. Twit. Scoundrel.

"Wasn't that wonderful?" Hoppity asked, stretching her arms in front of her.

"It was utterly repulsive. I can't be off this horrid contraption quick enough." Snape dabbed at his forehead with a plain white handkerchief. Trust Snape to spoil any fun.

At Hoppity's uncomfortable look Harry felt compelled to help her out. "Well, I liked it."

Snape scoffed. "Of course. A dangerous, whimsical Muggle flying device. It just screams 'Potter' and 'featherbrained Gryffindors."

Git. Twit. Poopey pants. Ou, he liked that last one. Although Snape did have a point. He had driven that car with Ron to Hogwarts his second year. And there was something about a flying motorcycle...

The plane was still moving and the Captain's voice came over the speaker once more. "We've arrived at the airport at Gate I-12. The current time is eleven thirty-three at night. It is a nice seventy two degrees outside with clear weather."

The plane did a slight jolt and stopped moving. The safety belt light turned off with the now familiar tone, and Harry could hear people unstrapping their belts and starting to take their luggage down.

Snape quickly undid his own belt and stood up agitatedly. "Hurry up. I want to get of this thing as soon as possible." He picked up his case as Harry slid out of his own seat and Hoppity gathered up her bag.

They shuffled slowly up the aisle, following a mass of other passengers. As they passed Kathleen, she waved and gave a special goodbye to Harry.

"Goodbye Harry! Stay safe, luv!"

When they finally reached the front exit of the plane, the pilot and a few flight attendants lined up waved cheerfully goodbye and thanked them as they exited.

It felt strange being on the ground again. Harry had gotten used to the vibrations and slight movement of the plane while it was in the air, and now a level, steady ground felt awkward.

They walked up a short ramp this time and entered the airport gate area. The first thing that Harry noticed was that the carpet was a grey blue and that benches of black seats surrounded the gates. This airport had its gates arranged in a very large circle, the middle of the circle was a marble looking floor leading to a wide hallway. A few people were milling about, and waiting on seats.

They stood there unsure for awhile before Hoppity spotted a woman in a dark navy business suit, dark sunglasses and a large gold coloured "D" pin on her jacket. Clasping Harry's hand, she pulled him over to her, Snape followed.

"Agent D?"

The woman turned to them and nodded. "Yes." Her eyes shifted around, taking in Harry and Snape." We made arrangements for you to take a shuttle to another airport. It will leave in two hours so you have plenty of time to get something to eat in the meantime." The best was to describe the Agent was bland. Bland looks, bland accent. Only the large 'D' pin made her stand out in any way.

Hoppity blinked at her. "Erm, what's a shuttle?"

"It's just another short flight."

"Wait!" Snape butted in, looking flabbergasted. "Do you mean to say that we have to get on another of those abominable flying contraptions?"

The Agent turned to look at him coolly and murmured quietly, so that only they could hear. "Sir, it's standard procedure to change flight plans at the last minute to confuse anyone who might wish to track you. In any case, it was never confirmed that you would only go on one flight."

"Well then, if you are so used to changing schedules, change it again! No more planes!" Snape hissed out, incensed.

The Agent was slightly fazed but managed to keep her voice calm and low. "It's not that simple. Either a two hour plane ride or a two day car drive and I can assure you that the plane ride is much preferable. In any case, I'm sorry but you don't really have a choice."

Snape looked like he was about to say something more but Hoppity butted in. "That's fine. Did you say something about food earlier?"

"Yes. I'll escort you to the food area. There's a motor cart standing by."

"No. We'll travel by foot." Snape was adamant.

Agent D was a little surprised but nodded and motioned for them to walk on. Harry was a little disappointed at not being able to get another ride on a motor cart, but he was feeling much too cranky to argue. He was hungry and hoped that someone would give him something to eat, and not forget about him like the Dursleys' liked to do. Hoppity clasped his hand and pulled him along. He was getting used to that by now.

They walked down the wide corridor, Snape and Agent D in the lead. The pace was fast and Harry felt like he was doing double time just to keep up. They walked on and on, past gate after gate. Some areas were eerily vacant, while others were held crowds of people. They passed several souvenir and food carts and little stores that were closed and locked up, and a couple that were still open.

Harry felt so very tired, but did his best to keep going. He was very glad that he didn't need to carry anything. The excitement of being in a new place and the pace helped him stay awake, although the fast pace did push his tolerance.

The group exited one wing and found themselves at a large hall filled with escalators. Agent D led them to the down escalators. Harry watched as Snape comically paused at the first step to watch the steps move, then timed his boarding before placing both feet on the same step and balanced as he was swept downwards. He and Hoppity followed with no problems, although Hoppity did pause a little before stepping on. The escalator lead to a super long underground hallway, and Harry sagged a bit at the thought of walking to the end of it. Fortunately, after the first section of concrete walls were passed, the corridor widened and they came upon a long row of metal doors. Large colorful writing was posted over the doors. Harry wondered briefly what the doors led to before a large, fast train barreled by. The train slowed and a melodious tone was heard over an intercom.

"This is loading area J. Next stop is loading area I." The doors opened and a few people exited.

"What's this?" Snape was wary.

"Just an underground train, Sir. I suggest you follow me unless you wish to walk several more miles." And indeed the corridor looked like it went forever. Harry didn't think that he would have been able to make it that long.

Agent D quickly walked on, and he gratefully followed her, pulling Hoppity along. Snape, rather than be stranded alone, followed them in peevishly, the door shut behind him. The train car was different than any train car Harry had ever been on. There weren't any places to sit, just tall metal poles and overhead handles. Agent D casually grasped a handle, Snape and Hoppity followed her example. Next to Hoppity, Harry quickly grabbed onto a pole as the train started to move. It didn't go very fast, only the first movements were enough to knock anyone off balance although it did make several turns. The train made several stops, each time stating what loading area they were at and what the next stop was.

They got off at loading area C and found the escalators to the higher level. They walked a little ways to a breakfast restaurant, there were pictures of breakfast food on large cardboard signs suspended from the ceiling. Some tables were placed in the corridor and were roped off from the main walkway. Harry could see other tables and booths further within the restaurant. Agent D led them to a table in the roped off area, then excused herself to collect their food. Hoppity sat down and Snape positioned himself diagonally across from her. Harry gladly sat next to Hoppity, across from Snape.

They sat there awkwardly, and Harry felt himself grow tired with the moment of forced stillness after the grueling pace earlier. Their guide came back with a young waiter carrying a huge tray with three plates and several glasses and some other things. The waiter placed their plates and glasses in front of them and pulled out silverware from his front pocket apron, all while juggling the tray impressively. The plates all had large, round, grided pastry things, eggs and some sausage. Harry's food had been thoughtfully cut up into tiny bits.

Harry looked at Hoppity's round grided pastry curiously, as his was unrecognizable of its intended shape. Hoppity poked at it. "What is this?"

The young waiter seemed to think that the question was aimed at him because he was the one who answered. "That's our Summer Slammer special. Golden Belgium waffles with rich butter, delicious scrambled eggs and New York style sausage with a side of fresh fruit."

Fruit? Harry poked around his own plate with his fork. Ah yes, there was one cut up strawberry and half a slice of a peach hidden underneath the waffle bits.

The waiter then set down a coffee cup in front of Agent D and a covered metal gravy boat in the middle of the table. "Here's the maple syrup. We also have strawberry, blueberry, peach and raspberry syrup if you'd prefer." The waiter paused, giving them ample time to reply but no one voiced anything. Snape speared a sausage and Hoppity was still poking at her waffle. The Agent looked disinterested as she looked in the opposite direction and stirred her coffee. Harry would have liked to ask to try them all but didn't say anything as he thought that the adults would scold him for being gluttonous. The waiter took the last thing off his tray, which happened to be a large pitcher of orange juice, and turned the tray to rest under one arm. He started to pour the juice into their glasses one handedly. Harry watched transfixed as ice clopped into the glasses with the juice. "Would you like anything else to drink?"

"Erm, how about a cuppa?" Hoppity was the one who braved the initiative.

The waiter blinked, clearly confused. "A cup-pah?"

"Tea?"

The waiter was still lost. "Oh, Tea! Is that a brand? We have iced tea."

"Ah, never mind."

Snape was sneering at his plate.

"Well. If that will be all?" The waiter took a step backwards, indicating his intended departure.

"Yes, thank you." The waiter turned and fled. Hoppity started to cut up her waffle.

Harry ate a few bites of waffle bits. It tasted a little sugary but bland. Maybe some syrup on it would taste better? Harry didn't want to ask for it, and didn't want to seem rude by reaching across the table to get it, so he waited and sipped his juice to see if Hoppity would pick it up to use on her own waffle. It would be an opportune time to ask for it just after she finished using it. Harry was soon gratified to see her reaching out for the metal syrup container and waited until she poured an overflowing amount ("Ops!") on her waffle.

"May I have some too?"

"Sure you can, Harry." Hoppity smiled at him and poured syrup over his cut up waffle a bit more carefully than she had her own.

The rest of the breakfast passed away quietly, just the sound of silverware on the plates and chewing sounds was heard. Harry ate his food steadily but wearily.

He was startled when Hoppity suddenly pushed back her chair and stood up. She had finished quickly while he had been sluggishly plodding away at his food.

"I'll just pop over in that store for a quick look and see."

The agent nodded her head, unbothered and Snape was ignoring everything as usual. Harry was too tired to answer. He didn't exactly want to be left here with Snape, but the Agent seemed like she was going to stay put so he guessed it was alright. "Well then. I'll be back in a jiffy." Harry watched as she made her way across the corridor to the gift store and disappeared inside. He rubbed his eyes and made new endeavors to finish his breakfast.

---------

Snape cautiously sipped a glass of what had been termed 'orange juice'. He briefly wondered if it were really made of oranges, or if it was named so idiotically because of the color. He grimaced at the overly sweet taste and placed the glass back on the table.

He was feeling a great deal better now that he was on stationary ground, and off of that horrid flying machine. He didn't think that the food had helped much, the sweetness almost made the meal unpalatable. Needless to say, he was not looking forward to another Muggle trip through the skies. He couldn't believe that he had been coerced into this fiasco. How did the old man convince him to do such things? Babysitting Potter, indeed. His only consolation was that he could hand over the responsibility to Smirkett and brew in peace while she and the brat were away, doing whatever it was that little children and witches pretending to be Muggles did during the day.

And it was 'Smirkett'. He refused to contemplate calling her 'Hoppity'. It was ridiculous. He couldn't see himself calling her by her middle name either. Wasn't Clementine some sort of fruit? Awful. There was no way in Hades that he was going to call her by some childish nickname like 'Clemmy' either. He shuddered at her friendly nature.

The bubbling twit had engulfed her breakfast in a sickeningly animatedly way and then had bounded off to pursue trinkets across the hall, leaving him alone with the grubby, disgusting little boy and a toffee-nosed hag. Not that Smirkett's company was much better…

It was even more irritating that he couldn't be certain that the hag he was sitting next to, the one who seemed solely responsible for forcing him onto yet another plane, was even a witch or a Muggle. It unnerved him to be dependent on such an unknown. They didn't even know her real name, or if she was who she claimed to be. He had only consumed this meal because there were very few potions that could be mixed in with food, fewer that would remain potent through any food preparation, and all had strong flavours that could not be masked well enough without giving themselves away.

Snape leaned closer to the 'Agent' in the pretense of reaching for the salt. She moved out of the way, but the close contact was enough for Snape to catch and concentrate fiercely on. Not a Muggle… but not a witch?

He reached forward again, this time for the pepper. Never mind that he had finished breakfast and his plate was clear. The Agent gave him a puzzled, yet still bland glance and he covered by placing the salt and pepper shakers on the side of the table. By now he had gotten enough closeness to tell. The calm and muted magical energies coming off of her was the kind he associated with Squibs... not completely magically dormant, but enough that no magical Institution would accept her. A cross between a squib and a low powered witch then. Her cool demeanor and clear mind was probably the only way that she was able to harness any magical energy she possessed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Snape could see Smirkett dancing past glass walls and bright displays. No doubt pawning through everything she could get her senseless hands on.

Potter was slouched in his chair, one disgusting hand wrapped around a fork as he made pitiful attempts to eat while trying to stay awake.

It would have been endearing if he didn't find Potter such a nuisance. Sticking his irritating, dirty little nose into everyone's business... Snape pulled himself back to the matter at hand: the Agent. She was too cool, too blank. He didn't trust her. He'd have to find out, preferable with no one the wiser, least of all the snot faced boy who couldn't keep his hands to himself. Potter was almost asleep... now this young with such lowered defenses a slight suggestion would push him over the edge...

In a motion masked by a stretch, Snape snaked his wand out in his right hand, the one away from the Agent, and focused his magical energy into the palm of his hand. He made sure that he kept one eye on the Agent as he had the entire time since he first laid eyes on her. A quick shake, and the wand was re-holstered. Snape then focused and waved his palm under the table at the little boy across from him with the intent of Sleep. This close, it wouldn't take too much energy.

The fork was dropped, the head lolled to one side. The spell had been a little more powerful then he had intended it to be. Oh well. He gave an inward smirk. He did not envy the one who was to wake him when it was time to move on.

From here, he could see a bit of drool start to slide from the unpleasant child's mouth. He grimaced, and observed that the Agent was just as bothered by it as well. Of course, any undercover agent worth their salt would be able to detect such things unconsciously... even if they didn't wish to acknowledge such. He was reminded of the Occlumency lessons with Potter and ruthlessly shoved them out of his mind and under a rock.

Time for business. Snape turned to the Agent, she wasn't startled, but his quick motion caught her attention. As it should.

He strengthened his mental walls and prepared himself to delve in. The first question was the hardest. "Do you support the Dark Lord?"

A blink. Probably surprise at such a question. He caught her eyes, using that contact and her surprise as an accessible entrance.

"No."

He pushed against mental barriers that were surprisingly structured for a squib. He could tell that she was telling the truth. "Do you wish harm on anyone in this party?"

"No."

A little deeper. Her thoughts were so transparent, but so organized. He allowed himself to admire it for a moment. Everything he touched just fluttered away as if extraneous. Irrelevant and inconsequential. Either she didn't have any defenses against Legilimency or she was allowing him to see. Or maybe, there wasn't anything there. He was unable to find anything contrary to her answers.

"Are you involved in any plans to harm or otherwise endanger anyone in this party."

"No."

He ruthlessly reached in for any feelings of ill intent, digging into every corner to unearth any threats. There were none. Everything just slipped through like mist… no feelings of enmity at all. No evil plans.

Satisfied, he leaned back, withdrawing fingers from her mind. She looked a little disoriented and narrowed her eyes at him. She seemed to be able to tell that he had done something... but since his intent was for their safety and not to harm her there were no discernable effects. Perhaps a slight headache, but for a mind as logical and structured as she had, she should be able to just ignore it.

A walking machine... he thought with cool appreciation.

Snape was pulled from his thoughts as he sensed Smirkett coming towards them. The twit was carrying a shopping bag and looked a little unsure before spotting them and giving a soft smile. Snape pretended to ignore her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she approached the table and spotted the slumbering brat. He smirked as he anticipated the difficulty she would soon face.

---------

(rewind…)

Hoppity browsed the shelves of the medium sized gift shop. She wanted to get something for Harry to eat during the next plane ride. She had felt so negligent earlier when the flight attendant, Kathleen, had suggested that she give him a snack when his ears were bothering him and looked at her to produce something. She had had nothing to give him, and resolved to rectify that for the next ride.

The shop was stuffed full of little souvenirs, T-shirts, spoons, magnets and coffee mugs. There was a large wall devoted to different magazines. She passed some shelves full of some odd games and small toys. She studied the miniature planes and airport sets briefly before turning to a large rack full of plushy animals and dolls. There were many small bean filled animals and a cute set of plushy dolls in pilot and stewardess uniforms, with painted on smiling faces.

Moving down the rack, she passed some medium sized furry jungle animals and some green stuffed dragons. She could clearly tell that they were indeed dragons and not some strange Muggle lizards. She picked one up to study it closer. It was as long as the length of her forearm and hand and mostly green with small ridges along its back and down the tail. Small wings laid flat against its sides. She lifted a wing and saw an odd shiny purplish metallic texture on the underneath parts. She turned it over to look closer, and noticed the same metallic texture patterned on its belly. The short stubby legs had three small brown claws sewed at the ends of each foot. The dragon had an open mouth full with triangular white felt teeth, giving it a happy expression. She closed its mouth with one hand, and the dragon gave off a "Roar!" sound, startling her. The dragon looked decidedly fierce now that its snout was closed. She let go, and it sprung back to its happy expression. She was absolutely delighted with the dragon.

The perfect idea formed in her mind. She could buy it for Harry! She resisted the urge to clap her hands as they were full of plush dragon. What a marvelous idea. That way, she would be able to buy it and see it once in awhile and Harry would be able to enjoy it. The poor boy was all tuckered out from their traveling in the middle of the night. She was sure that he would appreciate a dragon plushy as he didn't even have anything to play with or even hold on to. This gift would be a marvelous way to help perk him up a bit. She was surprised that the child hadn't had a tantrum yet. He seemed young enough and certainly tired enough to have one. She had noticed that he had almost fallen asleep in his breakfast several times that morning, erhm, night. Hopefully this toy would brighten his spirits enough that he wouldn't have a tantrum yet. She smiled to herself and tucked the dragon beneath one arm. Now for a snack...

She quickly pursued the endless candy and snack aisles, coming across some jelly beans. Ah, I have always wanted to try the Muggle version. She picked up a medium sized packet. This will have to do. She didn't want to leave her traveling companions alone for too long. She quickly walked to the middle of the store to get in line to pay, and dug in her bag for that American Muggle money she had exchanged for earlier that day. Finding it, she pulled it out. The man in front of her bought a magazine and moved away. She approached the counter and placed the dragon and candy on it. The young cashier quickly rung it up.

"That will be twenty-eight dollars and twenty-five cents." The cashier placed her items in a white plastic bag.

She pulled out a green piece of paper with 20's marked on the corners and gambled by placing a similar bill with 10's on the corners. Oh, she hoped that she had given the right things, it would be ever so embarrassing if she had given the cashier the American equivalent of knuts instead of galleons.

The cashier didn't notice her nervousness and just took the bills and quickly exchanged them with one bill back and some funny coins. Pretending that she did this everyday, Hoppity took them back and dumped them in her bag, picked up the white bag the cashier held out to her and turned to go. As she walked out of the store, she half expected the cashier to call after her, demanding that she pay the right amount of money. She breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the small shop without any interruptions.

She soon spotted her traveling companions still sitting in the same spot as they were before. The Agent seemed a little nervous and was giving Snape a wary glance. Snape looked considerably calmer. It seemed as if something had happened between them while she was away. Shrugging it off, she walked towards them and looked at Harry. The poor boy was fast asleep, his head leaning back and sideways on the chair. On closer inspection, she could see a bit of syrup dribbled down his face and onto the top of his shirt. He looked adorable, but sticky. Maybe she should have him wash his hands before giving him the dragon.

At that moment, the Agent spoke up. "We should leave pretty soon. There are restrooms nearby that we can stop by."

Good idea. Hoppity leaned over Harry and held onto one of his upper arms, giving him a light shake. "Harry, it's time to wake up now, luv." His eyes still closed, the boy gave a pained expression, then an upset one before giving off a nearly inaudible whine. He opened his eyes crankily and crossly blinked at her. She could feel the Agent and Snape's eyes watching her unobtrusively.

Wishing for something to distract the boy, she smiled brightly and pulled out the stuffed dragon. "Look Harry! Look what I got for you! It's a dragon!"

Harry's expression was definitely a puzzled one. It was much better than the churlish one before. Brows furrowed, he blinked up at her. "For me?"

"Yes for you."

He paused before asking, "Why?"

She was startled for a moment. Perhaps he was just out of sorts, or didn't think that he knew her well enough to accept a gift. "Why not? Don't you want it?"

He made a tentative reach for it and she pulled it back. She felt mean for thinking it, but his resultant slightly hurt and lost face was so cute. "You can have it as soon as you go wash your hands, alright? You don't want it to get all sticky, now do you?"

The boy shook his head 'yes', then 'no' and made to stand up. She moved back, giving him room and placed the dragon back into the bag. The Agent and Snape stood up as well. Hoppity carefully grabbed one of Harry's hands that looked the least sticky and then followed the Agent to the restrooms.

Agent D stopped in front of a door with little symbols of a girl and a boy and a wheelchair. She motioned to it and then opened the door. "He won't get lost in there."

Hoppity let go of Harry's hand. "Well okay." As he walked to the door she suddenly remembered the syrup on his face. "Harry don't forget to wash your face too!" The door shut behind him. She set down her white bag against the wall next to the door for Harry to see when he got out and then made her way to the nearby sign that said "Women" and had a symbol of a person with a skirt on it. She turned to the Agent, addressing Snape in the process. "I'll just be in here."

By the time she returned, Harry was already out and waiting. His collar was slightly damp, letting her know that he at least attempted to wash his face. She was slightly surprised and pleased that he hadn't just gone in her bag and taken the dragon out by himself. That meant that he was a surprisingly well mannered little boy. She quickly picked up the white shopping bag and pulled the plush dragon out for him. She had said that he could have it as soon as he washed his hands and she would never go back on her word.

"Here you go, Harry!"

She was rewarded with a smile as the boy took in from her. "I can keep it?"

"Of course you can!" Hadn't she already said that she bought it for him?

Hoppity was startled when she heard Snape give off a disgruntled grunt nearby. She had forgotten that the sour man was around while she was enjoying Harry's happy expression.

"If you are done lavishing him with gifts and bribing the miscreant, I believe that it is time to go."

Harry gave off another adorable look, this time an annoyed one at Snape. True to form, the man ignored it.

"Yes, it's about time to go." The Agent said. "We're going to Gate B-12. We'll have to take the underground one more time." And with that, she briskly set off, leading them over to the down escalators and back to the train loading area.

As Hoppity pulled Harry along, the tired out boy struggled to keep up with the fast pace. They lagged a small distance behind the others and had to run the last few steps into the train so as not get left behind.

Snape sneered. "Having problems keeping up, Potter? Perhaps you should have left the dragon behind." Harry held his new plushy closer as he reached out for a metal pole. The train started up smoothly.

"Or you could always carry him." The Agent blandly stated.

Snape looked revolted at the mere idea. Harry looked horrified. He nearly lost his balance as the train turned a corner.

Hoppity felt compelled to break the distressed silence, but Snape beat her to it.

His disgusted expression changed into one of contempt. "Ah. Well even if either of us were so inclined, he is clearly too big to be carried. It would be cumbersome and only slow us down."

The Agent looked at him out of the corner of her eye and lifted an eyebrow derisively. "Ahmm." She said in her usual uncaring tone.

Hoppity looked down at Harry. He might be a little too big for her to carry comfortably, but Snape could manage it. She decided not to push it. The train stopped and they got off at "Loading Area B".

"Harry, let me carry that dragon for you. It will be easier to keep up that way." The little boy reluctantly handed her the plushy and she paced it back into its bag. They then chased after the retreating Agent and Snape. She felt like they were playing some odd game of Catch up with them. It was a blessedly short walk after that to Gate B-12.

The Agent said that they were already checked in, so Hoppity lead Harry to some empty seats facing the windows to wait. The Agent and Snape opted to sit nearer to the check in desk. She handed him the dragon again and he studied it. He noticed the tag on one ear and opened it. "What does this say?"

Hoppity leaned over to read it. "It says, 'Hello, my name is Rufus'. But I suppose that you can name him whatever you want. Or give him a nickname, like Roofy even."

The boy sounded it out. "Roofy." He turned to her, smiling. "I like it."

"Then Roofy it is!" She suddenly remembered something. "Oh, and watch this!" She reached over the curious boy's arm and firmly closed the dragon's snout, eliciting a roar.

Harry gave a half snort, half giggle, quite delighted. "It's funny that this one roars with his mouth closed." He said and closed the snout himself, making the dragon roar again. There was a smile on his face.

"Well that's Muggles for you." Hoppity said fondly. It felt wonderful to see Harry so delighted and know that it was because of something she did. She decided that she was going to try and get him to smile that way as many times as she could without spoiling him in the process.

They sat there for awhile watching the airplanes roll past. Soon, the boarding announcement was heard over the intercom.

"I suppose that's us." They wandered over to where Snape and the Agent were sitting.

"We should wait until most of the plane is seated." The agent said. She motioned to the empty seats next to her, and they sat down, Harry in between the Agent and Hoppity. He was still clinging on to his new dragon. She was so glad that she bought it for him now. They sat there watching the other passengers disappearing into the exit. When the crowd thinned out, Agent D stood up. "Let's go."

They got in line and the Agent was the one this time to give the flight attendant their tickets. They walked down a short ramp that only turned once or twice before approaching the entrance of the plane. This time, only two stewardesses and one steward were waiting to greet them. "Welcome to American Airlines." Hoppity smiled at them as they walked past.

The plane itself was a lot smaller than the one they had been on earlier. There were three seats on the left side and two seats on the right side. It also only had two sections, Hoppity could clearly see the back of the plane. The seats were a bluish-grey with multicolored stripes down the center. When the Agent motioned at two of their seats, Hoppity let Harry have the window seat this time and sat next to him. The Agent and Snape settled behind them. She had just tightened her safety belt when a woman with three children and lots of bags noisily bustled up the aisle and stopped in the empty seats across from them. The youngest was a toddler in the woman's arms, Hoppity thought that it was a girl, the oldest was a girl maybe 8 or 9 years old and the middle child was a boy who looked to be only slightly older than Harry.

"Now sit down, you two and behave! No fighting or I'll never take you anywhere with me again." Hoppity supposed that the woman was their mother. The girl immediately slipped in the window seat.

"I wanted the window seat!" The boy yelled.

The mother's voice was immediately heard to play go-between. "Stop that, right now! Your sister got there first. You can have it next time."

The boy pouted and bounced into the middle seat, trying to disturb the girl next to him as much as possible. The aisle seat remained empty. The aggravated mother moved to the row behind them which already had a passenger in it and sat down with the baby on the end seat.

The boy bounced up and down. "Is the propeller at the front of the airplane just a big fan to keep the pilot cool? Because if you were to make it stop, wouldn't the pilot start sweating?" The boy gave off a laugh and the girl gave him an irritated look.

"No one thinks your jokes are funny, Dennis."

The boy sat up. "Well you're wrong 'cause I'm someone and I think they're funny." He then pretended to laugh obnoxiously. "Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha."

The mother tried to place the toddler in the seat next to her but the child wouldn't let go of her. She finally managed to place it in a seat and it started to wail. Hoppity could feel a headache coming on. She could just imagine Snape's reaction... perhaps a muscle on his forehead was bulging. Haha. She managed to restrain the compulsion to turn around and see by looking at Harry instead. She was a little surprised that he was watching the little boy intently.

Just then the safety belt light flashed on and the blowing air sounds got noticeably louder. Flight attendants walked down the aisles and closed the over head compartments.

"Harry have you put your safety belt on yet?"

She looked down to see the little boy tightening it. "Just now." He said and turned to look out the window. She almost laughed she noticed his feet swinging again. It was still dark outside, so it was rather difficult to make out anything, especially with the inside lights reflecting off the plastic window.

Dennis' voice rang out again, "Hey, what does Geronimo say when he jumps out of the plane?" By his laughter and his sister's "Be Quiet!", Hoppity assumed that he had just told another joke. She had no idea why it would be funny. Maybe Geronimo was some sort of mute character and couldn't speak.

There was a crackle as the intercom turned on. "This is the Captain speaking. We'll be leaving as soon as we get clearance so just sit tight."

The two children across from her next engaged in some odd argument about whether Dennis was touching his sister.

"Don't touch me."

"I'm not touching you. You're imagining it."

"You're touching me!"

"No I'm not."

A pause, then "You're touching me again! Mom, tell him to stop touching me!"

The mother recited as if bored. "Dennis, stop touching your sister."

"But I wasn't touching her!"

The mother got up and somehow managed to coax her son to sit in the aisle seat, since it appeared that it would remain empty during the flight.

Hoppity did her best to not appear as if she was watching the family. She was starting to get worried that Harry would start acting like the children were. No, maybe it was just American children or this family in particular. She looked down at Harry, he was looking out the window and clutching his new dragon in his arms, his feet kicking out randomly. He was very quiet and well behaved in comparison. Maybe she was just lucky. Or fortunate. She doubted that Snape would tolerate badly behaved children. Oh, she hoped that the man would be able to control himself and not berate the noisy family next to them. The poor children would probably start to cry... and then the mother would get angry... she resolved then and there that if Snape began to do any such thing that she would have no choice but to jump in and save them.

The plane started to slightly roll backwards and flight attendants moved to the middle of the aisle. A woman's voice came over the speakers, "Welcome to American Airlines. Please fasten your safety belts by placing the flat part in the buckle until it clicks. In cases of emergency, everyone is to stay seated with their seatbelts on. If the overhead compartments above the seats open, take the yellow masks and place them securely over the face..." The standing flight attendants showed how to buckle a safety belt and how to place the masks on with similar objects. They then pointed to all the nearest exits while the woman's voice narrated their motions. After they demonstrated the correct way to hold on to a floating pillow, the flight attendants walked down the aisle and checked everyone's safety belts.

When a steward reached Dennis' row, he was met with a little resistance.

"Why do I have to wear this thing if plane crashes kill everyone on the plane anyway?"

The flight attendant had a look of bewilderment on his face before answering. "This plane is not going to crash. Safety belts are just a precaution."

Behind her, Hoppity could hear Snape angrily muttering to the Agent about never getting on another Muggle death trap ever again.

Dennis looked as if he was going to argue some more.

"If you don't wear it then you won't be allowed to stay on the airplane."

The girl leaned over to her brother and grinned evilly. "What if a door opens during the flight? You don't want to be sucked out of the plane, do you?"

His eyes opened wide, Dennis quickly put on his seatbelt and tightened it.

"That's a good kid." The steward patted him on the head. "That would never happen by the way. And if it did, someone would probably grab you by the leg before you blew out."

The flight attendant moved on. Hoppity heard Snape behind her again, this time muttering about obliviating the whole experience as soon as he could. She looked down to see how Harry was doing. He had an odd look on his face.

"Don't worry, Harry. The man said that it would never happen. And if it ever did, you could always levitate yourself to the ground."

The little boy nodded, looking a little relieved. He turned back to watching out the window as the plane slowly rolled along.

The take off was just like the last flight, if a little louder. When Harry started to rub his ears this time, she was prepared.

"Harry, I bought some jelly beans. Would you like to try some?" She asked, taking the package out of the white shop bag from beneath her seat.

He had a small smile. "Sure."

She opened the bag and held it out. He took a small handful and she was astounded when he picked up yellow brown speckled one and popped it into his mouth. Hoppity didn't know any pleasant flavours with that colouration. He's a lot braver than I thought he was. Either that or he has strange tastes. She waited for the disgusted look that was sure to follow.

Harry turned to her and shocked her by smiling. "That was banana." He leaned over and motioned her closer. Whispering conspiratorially into her ear he said, "Muggle jelly beans all taste good."

She looked down at his largely amused eyes. "They do?" Feeling very brave, she picked out an ugly brown one and promptly ate it. Mmm... At Harry's questioning gaze she answered "Carmel, I think."

They sat there for a few minutes just trying jelly beans. They mostly tasted fruitish, but didn't taste nearly as good as Bertie Bott's. She supposed that it was a tradeoff for skipping all the bad flavours.

Harry ate a white and yellow one and made a face.

"I thought you said that they all tasted good."

"Yeah, but this one tastes like bad butter."

She barely stifled her laugh. "Better bad butter than baby snot. That's what I would have guessed it was if these were Bott's."

Harry made another face but nodded. He picked out one last red bean ("Cinnamon.") before settling away from the bag. Hoppity took this to mean that he didn't want any more. Putting the beans away, she noticed that the boy across the aisle was now playing on what looked like some odd flat toy in his hands, and had some sort of candy sticking out of his mouth. Odd beeping sounds were coming from the toy. She could still hear the baby behind them whimpering.

Dennis made a disgusted moan and flung himself back into his seat. "He killed me again!" The little boy twisted in his seat to peer back at his mother. "Hey, do you think that they'll let me go up front and watch the pilot?"

"I don't know. Ask a flight attendant."

Dennis undid his safety belt, then stood up in his seat to press the orange call sign above his head. A minute later, the same steward as before came down the aisle.

"Do you need anything?"

"Umm… do you think that I can watch the pilot?"

"Let me go up and ask, okay?"

Dennis nodded with a grin and the flight attendant disappeared up the aisle.

"Hey, I want to go up too!" His sister said.

The mother stood up and leaned over the back of their seats. "You'll have to ask, and if they let you don't push or touch anything unless they say you can, okay?"

There was a chorus of low "Yeah's" and the mother sat back down. Several minutes later, the flight attendant returned.

"Okay. He says you can come up."

The girl perked up. "Can I come to?"

"Sure."

Hoppity looked down at Harry. Once again, he was watching the scene enraptured.

"Would you like to go too Harry?"

He appeared a little startled to be asked. The flight attendant must have heard her question because as he turned to let the other children out into the aisle, he looked at Harry. "Would you like to come along?" He asked and then glanced at Hoppity as if seeking permission. She smiled and he glanced back at Harry.

"I don't want to be sucked out a door."

The flight attendant gave out a harsh snort of a laugh. "Ha!" He held on to the seat for balance and tried to compose himself. "Oh, I'm sorry." He said, wiping his eyes. "You won't get sucked out a door."

"Yeah." Dennis spoke up nearby, jumping up and down. "My sister was just being stupid before." He was promptly hit by said sister. "Ow."

Harry looked embarrassed at his earlier statement. He slipped off his safety belt and stood up. "Okay, let's go!"

Hoppity sat up and pulled her knees in so that Harry could get past. "Have fun!"

The three children excitedly ran up the aisle followed by the flight attendant. The last thing heard was another joke from Dennis, "Would you ever need an ejector seat on a helicopter? How would it work?" and an unexpected answer from Harry, "I reckon that it just throws them through the sides or the bottom…"

The baby finally settled down and the passengers left enjoyed a long moment of quiet. There were murmured comments like "Finally" and "About time" through out the section.

Hoppity leaned back in her seat and rested.

The children came back a blessedly long time later, Dennis's high voice heralded their return.

"I'm going to be a pilot when I grow up. Or one of those walkie talkie guys. Or maybe even be a test pilot and just test out all the buttons all day."

"That's dumb." His sister said. "I'd make a better pilot than you anyway. You'd probably crash the plane."

"No I wouldn't."

The children came into view, the older girl in front, then Dennis, trailed by a head shorter Harry. The flight attendant followed them up. "Okay kids. Settle down now, here are your seats."

The girl ignored the steward, slid into their row and continued their argument. "Yes you would, you're always crashing in Fighter Pilot." As if on cue to a fight, the baby started crying again.

"No that was you! Hey, Harry come sit next to me!"

"Erm, are we allowed to switch seats like that?"

"Of course we are!"

Harry quickly glanced at Hoppity and she tried to put the most encouraging face on that she could muster while in the presence of a wailing toddler.

"Well okay." The little boy slipped in the row and sat next to Dennis.

"If someone held a fancy dress party on an airplane, would they call it a flight of fancy?" Harry just smiled as Dennis choked up in laughter. "Hey Harry, do you have a Game Station Module?"

"A what?"

"One of these?" Dennis reached into a bag under his seat and pulled out the game he had been playing earlier.

"Uh, no. Sorry."

"That's okay." He turned to address his sister. "Lydia, give me yours so I can play against Harry."

"No way!"

"Gimme it! It's not like your using it!"

"No!"

Suddenly, Hoppity felt a movement behind her. She could hear the Agent quietly speaking. "The plane trip is almost over. Please just sit down Sir." Hoppity craned her neck to see Snape stepping over the Agent and ignoring the low pleads. Her worst fear that Snape had run out of patience had just occurred. He stopped in the aisle and towered over the mother. His tone was irate and highly annoyed.

"Kindly quiet your children or I will find a more permanent solution." Amazingly, his harsh voice was heard over the wailing toddler and the fighting children.

Hoppity undid her safety belt and turned around in her seat. Oh no, oh no! What should she do? If anyone did magic then they would have to obliviate the entire plane and she wasn't any good at obliviating spells! Plus, someone would notice their use of magic! Oh no, oh no...

"Is that a threat?!" The mother stood up and matched Snape's glare. The children immediately quieted down, but the toddler only screamed harder.

Ah! I should have done something sooner! But really, what could she have done?

By this time, all the children, including Harry, had turned around and were peering behind their seat back cushions. The flight attendant ran back down the aisle to play interference.

"Is something wrong here? Sir?"

"This woman cannot keep her infantile brats quiet. Her children are proliferating irritants and have been the entire flight!" Snape spat out.

"Sir, I can find you another seat if you wish." The steward interceded bravely.

Snape narrowed his eyes at the mother, before curtly turning to the flight attendant. "Very well."

"Ah, right this way." The steward was visibly relieved that Snape had given in so easily, but was obviously still nervous as the glowering man stalked after him up the aisle. The tension in the area noticeably relaxed as soon as Snape left the area.

The mother made several rude remarks as soon as Snape was out of hearing range.

The rest of the ride was much more peaceful. The children had quieted down immensely and played congenially with silent toys. Even the toddler had calmed down, crying again only when the plane started to land.

When the plane finally stopped on the ground and the safety belts turned off, Harry waved goodbye to Dennis and his sister and joined Hoppity and Agent D in the crowd moving up the aisle. The noisy family seemed content to wait until the plane nearly emptied because they stayed in their seats. Either that or they wanted to avoid Snape. Hoppity wished that she could do the same.

Snape had apparently forgotten his case in his haste to escape the 'brats' and Agent D now carried it with both hands. They found Snape waiting in a row near the front of the plane. The seats here were twice as big as the ones that they had been designated. Snape seemed to be in a much more agreeable mood until he caught sight of Harry. His face turned into a grimace when he noticed the little boy.

"What took you so long?" He growled out at them, and took his case from the Agent.

"There was no way we could have got here faster than we did." Hoppity admonished.

"No matter. We shall exit now." Snape cut in line and joined the mass shuffling out of the exit. As soon as they reached the ramp, he strode ahead, passing several people. Hoppity hurried to catch up, pulling Harry along.

She felt bad for dodging past slower people but managed to get off semi polite 'Excuse us' and 'I'm sorry's'.

When they finally got into the open area, the Agent took the lead and guided them more sedately through the small airport. They walked through several sections, corridors and down an escalator before finally ending up in a very large hall. The Agent led them to a side desk where a sign overhead read 'Car Rentals' and stopped at the empty desk to wait.

Snape was snide. "What business could we possibly need here?"

"Your destination is some ways away." The Agent said as monotonous as usual.

"I thought that that was the reason for a second flight!" Snape had an incredulous look on his face which Hoppity found quite funny. She would have laughed except she feared his retribution later. Since she didn't know if this Agent was Wizard or Muggle, or even knew that they were Wizards, she decided to help explain before things got sticky.

"Severus, airplanes are only for long distances. Automobiles are used for everything else."

Snape pointed an accusing finger at Hoppity. "I suppose that this is your grandfather's idea of fun. Are we to test every single Muggle transportation device now?"

"Please, he's my great Uncle. And no. I'm sure that he's not doing this at your expense. Automobiles are the only way to travel locally."

The Agent blandly commented. "You could always walk the twenty or so miles."

"Please no!" Harry bawled out desperately. Hoppity secretly shared his sentiments. She would not be able to walk another one mile, let alone twenty after this long day.

A middle aged portly woman approached them from the other side of the desk. "Hello, welcome to our car rentals. How may I help you?"

The agent wordlessly handed over some papers and ID, which the woman looked over briefly. "We've been expecting you. Okay, I'll be right back." She took the items and disappeared behind a back door.

Snape fumed silently. Harry sagged tiredly against a pole. The Agent looked as she always did- bland and Hoppity was just ready to get settled in the place where they were going to stay. They waited for a few minutes for the Rental woman to come back. When she did, it was with several forms and a set of keys. The Agent took the forms and started to fill them out with a pen that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Jimmy's bringing your specified car over now, it should be waiting outside that door when you go out. It's a black Sedan."

The Agent finished with the forms and passed them back. "Thank you."

"Thank you for choosing our car rental. Enjoy your trip!" The chipper woman answered brightly back. Hoppity could hear Snape grinding his teeth next to her. She was quite tired of those similar phrases too.

Agent D took the car keys and led them out through the doors and to the awaiting black car. It was of a medium small size and when the young driver saw them approach, he got out of the car and held the door open. The car looked funny somehow.

Hoppity was several feet away behind their group and pulling a half asleep Harry along. She was tempted to just pick him up, he was small enough to carry for ten feet, so she did.

He was quite startled when she bent down and scooped him up. "Wha-"

"Shh." He was heavy but not overly so if carried in the right way. She stomped over and dropped him at the back door, before opening it. "Hop on in Harry." The Agent had already settled in and Snape was just starting to slip through the front door on the other side. As Hoppity slid into the car right after Harry, she finally figured out why the car looked so strange. The steering wheel was on the wrong side!

She closed the door behind her and the Agent pulled away from the side.

"Seatbelts, please." She said blandly. There were a few moments of confusion while they tried to figure out how the belts worked and where each buckle went. Hoppity tried two different buckles before figuring out which one was the right one, and which way the buckle faced. The Agent fiddled with something in front and cool air started to come front the vents.

"What are you doing?" Snape asked.

"Turning on the air conditioning. If it bothers you then close the vents on your side."

Snape did no such thing but studied the control panel buttons intently and watched the Agent drive. Hoppity looked outside the car window. The roads that they traveled were very wide with plenty of room for even the largest of automobiles to navigate comfortably.

"We have managed to find a furnished home for you to stay in." The Agent said. "It has three bedrooms, 3 and a half baths and all the other necessary rooms including a den beneath the house. Should you need anything, credit cards will be allotted to you for purchases. The limit should be adequate as long as you don't decide to buy a luxury boat or a new car. A vehicle is available for your transportation."

Hoppity glanced over at Harry. He had fallen fast asleep. All for the better, she supposed.

The Agent continued, "Ma'am, a secretary job for you has been set up at the Little Ridge Elementary school."

"What's that?"

"A public school for children aged 5 to 11." Hoppity did not miss Snape's almost hopeful expression.

"Public school? Isn't that a bit young?"

"We were informed that the child was six years old."

"Yes he is, but I thought that Harry was going to live at the house."

The Agent gave her a funny look through the front mirror. "He is." Snape's scowled then resumed studying the Agent's driving.

"But you just said that he was going to a public school."

The Agent took a moment of silence. "Public schools are the usual local schools that all children are able to go to. Children start in the morning, have lunch there, leave the school in the early afternoon and go home to eat and sleep. The schools are funded by taxes."

"Oh. You mean state school."

"If that is what you would better understand it by, then yes." Hoppity nodded. "Now as I was saying before, a secretary job has been acquired for you to be near the child during school hours. You both start Monday. You should try to come up with shared anecdotes to tell the neighbors. Are there any questions?"

"How will we find our way around?"

"A map will be provided with the major places highlighted. Are there any other questions?" She was met with silence. "Good. We should arrive in about 20 minutes."

The rest of the car ride was spent quietly. The Agent finally entered a suburban town and wandered through streets full of medium sized houses oddly in all different shapes and sizes. All of the homes had large patches on grass in front of them as a sort of front garden and some had concrete pavement lined next to the road. It was odd that the pavement allowed room for a strip of grass in between it and the road.

"Here we are." The Agent said as she pulled up in the driveway of a red brick house with a large rectangular shaped silver automobile in front. The driveway was on the right side of the house. A couple of bricked steps lead up to the front door and low bushes were planted along the front of the house under a wide front window. A large brass number next to the front door read 402, another odd occurrence as Hoppity had never seen a house number above 100 before.

Hoppity took a deep breath and unbuckled her seatbelt. This was the place that she would be calling home until the Hogwarts' school year started.

"Harry... oh Haarryy. Wake up Harry-bean." There was a soft patting feeling on his cheek. He made a mumble and turned his head away from the irritating patting. That action nearly caused him to fall over and he woke up with a start.

"It's about time, Harry." Hoppity was smiling down at him from the car doorway. It all came back to him, the deaging potion and the flight across the ocean... had they finally arrived? He sure hoped so because right now he felt horrible. He just wanted to be left alone and sleep here. No wait, he didn't because the car was uncomfortable and he was so tired of sitting. He wanted to go lie down somewhere and sleep. No wait he didn't, because he felt slightly sick and didn't think that he could sleep. Maybe he wanted to eat something and run around... He didn't know what he wanted! He made a cranky groan and rubbed an eye with his fist. He wanted everything to just go away.

"Now come on Harry. You'll feel better in a little bit once you wake up." Hoppity leaned over and undid his seatbelt. "Come out now."

As he let her help him out of the car he noticed that they had stopped at a residential area. Medium sized houses with lots of space between each one lined the darkly lit road. It seemed odd that they had so much space between each one. He shivered slightly in the cool, damp air. The sun had just come up and the sky was several different morning shades of dark blue, pink and orange. As he walked around the car on wobbly legs the first thing he noticed was that they had parked in the driveway of a two storey brick house with white curtained windows. There was a large garden in the front of the house, full of green grass and a couple of trees before it reached the pavement. How odd. It was also odd that the garage was on the right side of the house while the front door was near the middle left. "Are we here?" He mumbled.

"Yes, Harry." Hoppity said kindly.

His earlier discomfort turned into curiosity. He wanted to see what was inside. A 'thump' directed his attention to the back of the car. The boot was open and Agent D had just dumped a medium largish box down on the driveway. Two other boxes were already waiting next to it. As the Agent slammed the boot closed, Harry caught sight of Snape. The greasy man had been hidden by the boot when it was opened. A nightmare. I must be dreaming, this is too surreal. I would never be a child again with Snape to look after me in America in real life. I'm either dreaming or insane. He pinched his wrist hard, not expecting to feel anything. Ow! Well that definitely hurt. I heard that you can't feel pain in your dreams and since I felt pain, I can't be dreaming. He rubbed the tender spot and looked around. The world still looked bigger than usual and Snape was still there. He felt doom encroach upon him. Hey wait! I shouldn't be scared of him! He's just a big greasy git. He noticed Hoppity standing next to him, holding the dragon she had given him. And I have a nice lady to look after me. Maybe I won't have to see Snape at all! In slightly better spirits, he toddled after the Hoppity to the Agent.

Agent D placed a large envelope on one of the boxes and set down two sets of keys. "The boxes contain items to help you fit in, one box for each of you. The envelope contains any necessary documents you may be asked to produce and a map of the area." She then pulled out some small cards and passed them out to Hoppity and Snape. "These are your credit cards and your driver licenses." Snape studied his cards intently. "Do you have any questions?"

"Erm, yes. How do you use these ones?" Hoppity asked cautiously as she held out a red card.

The Agent didn't appear as if the question was unwarranted. Harry thought that she was a witch, but couldn't be sure. "When you purchase something, just swipe the card through the machine and sign the receipt with the name on the card." Harry wondered why she stressed the last part until he remembered that they were supposed to have new last names. He couldn't remember it right now but resolved to ask Hoppity later. "You may need to show your license as identification so carry them around at all times. Are there any more questions?"

No one had any. The Agent pulled out a small card of paper and handed it to Hoppity. "Here's my cell phone, work phone, fax and e-mail if you ever need to get in touch with me. I'll leave you to get acquainted with the neighbors." The Agent then briskly got back into the car, turned on the engine and drove away without even a wave, leaving the three Wizards standing alone in the driveway.

They stood there for a moment before Snape snatched up a set of keys off of the middle box and strode towards the front door. Hoppity grabbed the other set and the envelope and hurried after him. Harry followed. He wanted to see what was inside. He expected to get his own room and was excited to see it. Snape unlocked the front door and they all followed him into the house.

They walked onto a sort of wide entrance way with a wooden floor. A few feet away from the front door began a wooden staircase to the second floor. On the left was an open door that looked like it lead to a toilet. The wood floor beneath their feet opened up on the right to a large sitting room with off-white carpeting, two blue sofas, a wicker armchair and wooden furniture. It probably was more like a parlour, but Harry couldn't bring himself to call it that because the furniture looked as if they belonged more in a living room than a parlour. All the walls that Harry could see from here were of white paneling and the back wall of the sitting room was actually a divider. The divider was only long enough to visibly separate the sitting room from the kitchen area beyond it. A single painting hung on its white paneling, the only decoration in the room. Passageways to the kitchen were created on both sides of the divider; one was next to the stairway and the other was on the far side of the room where one would expect the wall to close in a corner. Instead of a corner, the area opened up into a small corridor. On the right wall in the sitting room before the corridor opened up and after the smaller sofa were two doors, placed side by side. From what he had seen so far, the house seemed so much more spacious than 4 Privet Drive. Even the front garden was a large patch of grass and there was plenty of space between the building and its neighbors.

Snape purposefully strode around the wicker armchair and past the low table that was in front of the larger blue sofa.

"I'll be downstairs setting up my lab and later resting." He said as he walked. "I hope that you can manage to purchase some food, preferably soon." With that he opened a door that presumably lead to the basement and shut it behind himself. A second later, the door was reopened and Snape stepped out. He had a stern look on his face as he glared at them. Harry was puzzled until Snape closed the door and disappeared into the other one. He barely covered his mouth in time to cover his laugh when he realized that Snape had walked into the wrong room!

Next to him, Hoppity was stifling her giggles. "Oh Merlin!" She wheezed out and collapsed onto the nearby wicker armchair.

Still full of glee, Harry looked around the sitting room. I have to tell Ron what Snape did as soon as I get home to Hogwarts. He would probably fall right out of his seat with laughter! Harry looked around the room a second time. Besides the large blue sofa against the back and the long low table in front of it there was also a two seated sofa and a small table and lamp against the 'door wall'. There was an empty bookcase in the front corner and another one across the room along the stairway wall. A Muggle telly was placed in front of the white curtained windows.

"Oh!" Hoppity said and twitched in the chair. "It's as I feared, it's just as uncomfortable as it is ugly." All of a sudden she shot out of the chair. "Ah!"

"What!?" Harry asked, alarmed.

Hoppity felt along the brightly colored seat cushion. "There are sticks sticking up on this chair!"

This time Harry was unable to stop his laughter. "Haha ha!"

Hoppity looked a little embarrassed but laughed along. "We'll just not sit on that one."

Harry bounced on the long couch. "This one's comfortable." He jumped off of it. "Let's explore the house now!"

"Ah, you go along. I'll just bring those boxes in, shall I?"

"Alright." Harry turned to run off but paused. Shouldn't he help Hoppity bring the boxes in? "Do you want help?"

"No, that's alright dear. You run along and explore. I'll be alright."

Harry didn't need to be told twice. The first thing he did was open the door that Snape had first opened. It lead to a garage. He closed it and after giving the corridor after the doors a cursorily glance, he ran into the kitchen area. A square table with four chairs was behind the divider and a ceiling fan was above it. Counters and large appliances lined the left and back walls. The back wall also had a couple windows and a door that lead to the outside. Harry moved on and found that the right wall lead to another room, this one large and empty save a fireplace on the far wall and another ceiling fan.

Not very interesting, Harry thought. When he turned back to the kitchen, he noticed a door on the left wall in between two counters. Opening the door, he was disappointed to find that it only lead to a large pantry full of empty shelves. He quickly shut it. That's not someplace I want to spend any amount of time in. And I won't! Racing to the front of the house, he skipped the door under the stairs. Probably just another cupboard. He was a little anxious to find his bedroom, as if only seeing it would allay his fears of being placed out of the way in another cupboard or in the garage or in some other place intended for rubber boots, mouldy coats and brooms. Hoppity was nowhere in sight, but a box had already been placed in the entrance way while he had explored the back of the house. The door next to the first staircase that he had thought lead to a toilet did lead to one, but it also had a washer and dryer and a large bucket of laundry cleaner in it.

As he walked out of the toilet he was met by the sight of Hoppity placing a second box laboriously down.

"Hi Harry. Have you found anything interesting yet?"

"No, but there's a washer and dryer in there." He said, pointing at the lavatory door.

"Oh good. Muggles always use those." She said and walked back outside. As Harry mounted the stairs he supposed that Wizards always used House elves or did spells to wash their clothes.

At the top of the stairs was an empty landing with the same white carpeting as the sitting room. It wrapped behind the stairway and a white banister was placed around the stairwell to make sure that no one fell down by accident. Several windows along the walls let the bright sunlight in and the landing was engulfed in a warm glow. Harry thought that it was a very nice place.

And now to find my room! A corridor with a wood floor ran down the middle of the upper floor. Harry crossed it and opened the first door. It lead to a very small room with a single window. It was very empty. I hope that this isn't mine, Harry thought as he shut the door. He moved down and across the hall to open the next door. This one lead to a large room with a bare double bed, two bedside tables with a lamp and an alarm clock on the closest table and a single empty bookcase. A pile of blankets were folded and placed on the end of the bed. One painting of flowers hung on the wall with the door that he had come in by. There were two other doors on the left wall. The first one contained a small closet. The other connected to an ensuite bathroom. Wow, that's nice.

Harry doubled back and moved on to the next door across the corridor. His first thought was Mine. The room had dark blue walls covered with white paint specks to simulate the night sky. A small single bed was pushed into the left corner and blankets were placed on the end just like the bed in the other room. There was a white bedside table next to the bed. It was a flat top with the leg part in the shape of an "X". A small wooden dresser was placed on the right wall and empty shelves were placed above it. Next to that was a door which upon further exploration proved to lead to another bathroom. They sure have a lot of bathrooms here, Harry thought as he played with the tap at the sink. It was a strange sink as it only had one handle to turn the water on. After some experimentation, Harry learned that the tap could rotate to the sides and depending on how left or right you turned it while it was on the 'up' position the water came out different temperatures. Wizard.

He turned off the tap and dried his hands on the back of his trousers. There was a second door in the bathroom that led back out to the corridor. The next door across the hall was a linen closet full of towels and different blankets. After that was a second staircase, which Harry skipped in favour of investigating the last door.

The room was definitely the Master bedroom as it was bigger than the others. It contained another bare double bed with blankets folded at the end. The bed was a dark wood with two square bedside tables and a long dresser to match. A lamp and an alarm clock were placed on the tables just like the first room had been. There was a single painting on the wall of a fruit bowl and a ceiling fan was placed above the end of the bed. The carpeting was a dark grey and the wallpaper was an interesting grey pattern that reflected the light differently if you looked at while moving around. Harry played with it for awhile, moving his head around and watching the swirls on the wallpaper change as he did so. He soon grew tired of that game and looked around the room once more. There was another closet and another door that also lead to an ensuite bathroom, this one also bigger than the others. It had two sinks, a large bathtub and a shower. Harry tested out both of the sinks to see if they had different temperatures and was slightly disappointed to find out that they both had hot and cold. It would have been interesting if when you brushed your teeth you had to try to get a medium temperature of water by switching back and forth between the sinks. Oh well.

He exited the bathroom to find Hoppity staring at the wall and moving her head around. He gave out a small laughing sound and she turned around and blinked at him.

"These walls are really... interesting." She said sheepishly, settling on the right descriptive term after floundering for a couple seconds. "Oh Harry, let's make all the beds quickly and then go through your box. I've brought it up from downstairs for you and placed it in your room."

"Alright." He really didn't want to make any beds and would have rather seen what was in the box first but he knew that Hoppity would get mad at him if he didn't help.

Harry followed her to the bed and together they placed the sheets on and tucked them in around the sides. It was a little frustrating for Harry, who was used to being able to reach the middle of the bed, to be able to only reach what his smaller body would allow him. He was always surprised when he reached his arms out to pull a sheet and his arms straightened out only halfway of where he usually expected them to end. The second time he did this, he rubbed his face agitatedly. Hoppity mistook this action as being upset at the chore after a long day.

"Don't worry Harry, this won't take too long."

They then placed the duvet on top before placing the pillows underneath it at the head of the bed. The room looked slightly less bare when they finished.

"Oh well," Hoppity said as she surveyed the room. "We'll just have to pick up some things to brighten it up a bit." Looking at the wallpaper once again she rubbed her forehead. "Now that I've noticed how those swirling things move, they won't stop!" She glanced conspiratorially at Harry and then said with a smirk, "I think I'll be gracious and let Professor Snape have the master bedroom." He smiled tiredly back at her. Now that he knew the room was going to be Snape's, he didn't want to spend any more time in it than necessary. It was as if the cold Potion Master's demeanor was moving into the room, making its displeasure known at Harry's presence. He gave a slight shudder.

Hoppity had moved towards the door and stood there now, looking back at him. "Alright, my bedroom next, unless you'd rather I have the star one." She said lightly.

He looked uncertainly at her before understanding that she was teasing. "No, I think I should have the star one." He said, following her out of the room and yawning. They quickly made up the double bed in what would be Hoppity's room and then moved to the 'star' room and did the same to the little single bed.

Harry's bed ended up with white sheets with yellow stars outlined in a slightly faded black. The duvet was a dark blue covered with space rockets, stars and brightly colored balls of rock.. It was also slightly worn, but that was hardly noticeable unless one looked close.

"Well this looks nice." Hoppity said as she looked around. "Kind of strange that there are stars on the walls and floor, but not on the ceiling." She mused. And indeed the ceiling was white. Harry just shrugged and eagerly scooted down on the floor to the box to open it. Hoppity joined him.

They soon pulled out four sets of clothes (all too big), some small plastic building block sets, a pack of some vibrant battle game cards that looked the worse for wear, some scuffed action figures (one was missing an arm, another a head), a rocket ship and some used books. It also contained a new toothbrush, fruity toothpaste and some shampoo. They piled the objects around the box, out of the way next to the walls.

Harry felt himself faintly nodding off at the end. His earlier adrenaline rush while running around the house had already worn off before he sat down to open the box and now he was once again struggling to stay awake. He was so... just so annoyed that he couldn't manage to stay awake today. He felt as if he kept falling asleep every few hours and he was so vexed that his body kept shutting down when it was time to be awake. His face screwed up on its own accord and he rubbed an eye unhappily. He didn't want to sleep and he shouldn't have to, but his body didn't seem to want to take no for an answer. He was just so tired.

"Harry, why don't you rest here while I go out and buy some food." Hoppity suggested carefully.

Harry looked up at her with one bright green eye. The other was still covered by a hand, which he dropped as he turned to face her fully. "But I wanted to come along." He said softly.

Hoppity was quick to reassure. "I know Harry-bean but you can come next time. You look like you need a bit of a rest now, and it wouldn't do for you to fall asleep on me at the shop. There will be plenty of opportunities later and we just made up a nice bed for you to sleep in."

Harry nodded reluctantly. He was tired and hungry and he probably wouldn't be able to manage to last the trip as he was now.

"That's a lad. I'll get you something nice to make up for it, okay?" Hoppity asked as she helped him off with his shoes and pulled back the covers.

"Mhm, okay." Harry yawned and crawled in.

"With any luck I'll be back before you wake up." Hoppity tucked the blankets in around Harry. Now that he was lying still, he noticed that he felt faintly as if he were still on the airplane. He decided that he liked this feeling as well as the feeling he got when Hoppity smoothed the blankets around him. "Oh, and let's not forget your Roofy." Hoppity turned around and picked up the stuffed dragon from on top of the small dresser. "Here you go." She said and placed him in Harry's arms under the covers. "I put him in my bag during the car ride and placed him up here when I brought your box up." Harry was barely conscious but managed to smile and mumble out his thanks as his eyes closed...

---

(rewind)

Snape looked up at the ceiling of his temporary lab in the basement as a series of light footsteps ran across the floor overhead. He frowned irritably and unshrunk his set of master scales and set them up on a table that just happened to be down here. He cast a recalibration spell just in case the shrinking spell and demanding transportation afterwards had unaligned them in anyway.

By now, he was resigned to his fate. He had work to do and it was safer to do it here than at Hogwarts. During the midsummer the castle was deserted of most teachers and visited by many people delivering supplies or visiting the Headmaster. Any number of nefarious villains could have had access to him under the pretense of the most innocent business. To stay at Hogwarts over the summer would be to condemn himself strictly to his rooms and nowhere else, without company, except for house elves and the occasional visit from Albus for a bothersome tea right when he was in the middle of a critical step in his brewing. Later on in the summer, closer to when the school year started it would be safer and the old coot would be less likely to bother him on a whim as the headmaster was wont to skip gaily along the halls the week before the students arrived, casting learning enchantments everywhere.

Yes, he was stuck here with Potter but that didn't mean that he had to look after the brat. He would do what he had to, but no more. Albus had told him to try to not use magic while he was in hiding but he had no intention to completely stop using magic and live like a savage Muggle. As long as he was careful and only used his magic secretly and cautiously no one would be the wiser. If he did anything illegal and the American government actually bothered to track such magic, well, he would just have to wait and see if they sent him the equivalent of a Ministry owl before he stopped. He doubted that anyone would be able to tell where he was or that he was using magic, least of all his old crabby comrades who wanted him tortured and killed most painfully. He had a new unregistered wand, was exiled to some far off country and had already cast a block for magical tracking in the basement; He would cast a low grade one around the house later at a more opportune time just in case. He felt quite safe here, if one discounted all the mundane and dangerous Muggle things about.

The underground room Snape had commandeered as his new temporary private lab was quite large. It was unfinished with partly painted white walls and a floor that was made of that strange Muggle material that was as hard as a rock but smoother and bigger than rock or stone could be. They must have melted bits of rock and set them down here to cool and create the floor, he rationalized. It would be easy to clean up any stains he would no doubt incur by melting the floor again. Two bare light bulbs illuminated this first room, which had at first taken him some time with a Lumos spell to locate and figure out how to turn on.

A smaller, second room was sectioned off of the first. He decided to store some of his more volatile ingredients in there as well as the ones sensitive to light. There were a few articles of furniture down here, no doubt left by the last inhabitants and Snape was more than happy to find a use for them. A square folding table, a flimsy metal bookcase, empty boxes, kitchen chairs and a strong oak table all found uses. He briefly wondered why anyone had put or left an oak table down here but assumed that either the last Muggles to use this place had had a use for it or the people who were in charge of their living necessities left it here on purpose for him.

His cauldrons already set up, he moved on to the multitude of glass bottles still shrunk in his case. The case was charmed to cancel any size spells on items removed from it and so, made unpacking much more easy than it could have been. Snape placed the first of the glass jars on the shelf against the wall. It had been a tedious task yesterday shrinking all the ingredients, placing others in a portable Wizard space and still placing the most delicate ones in their original size in his case so that they fit with all his other potions equipment without breaking anything or placing any ingredients near any others that they reacted unfavourably with. It was with understandable relief that unpacking would take much less time than packing.

The quick set of footsteps was heard again as they ran overheard and he glowered darkly at the ceiling. Hardly substantial building materials, he thought sourly and resolved to cast some strengthening spells at the walls and ceilings at his earliest convenience. And maybe some silencing spells too. It wouldn't do to hear the brat and the twit whenever they walked by overhead. All the same, he decided to do the more delicate preparations and potions during the day when they were away and unable to bother, pest, annoy or aggravate him with their presences.

He turned back to the shelves and placed the jar of hellebore next to the Jinx fluff. Before the incident that resulted in his capture by the Aurors yesterday, he had created and delivered a potion to the Dark Lord that he now had to find a way to render useless. Usually he was able to create a key during the brewing process that could be used later to purposefully render it inept but this time he had been rushed and risked a chance by switching two ingredients that otherwise would have no affect and added one last rune in the equation during the critical apex. It had been his intention to build a key later based on the changes that would at least give some protection.

It now meant some difficult Arithmancy, potion equation balances and a great deal of chance that he discover the solution; it was quite a task which would prove either easy or impossible depending on how inspired his rushed choices had been when he made the potion and how favourably the fates looked on him now. He had already finished the first set of Arithmancy earlier in the week and made great headway on the second and third sets before he had gotten ill on that horrid Muggle flying machine.

There were also several other potions he needed to concoct for the Order: a magic strengthening elixir, a variation of a loyalty potion or something similar to catch the traitors within their midst, a potion to lessen the affects of Dementors, anything else that would help the Order in any small way and… they also desperately needed something to help with intelligence gathering. The number of trustworthy spies unexposed in the enemy's ranks was dwindling and they needed something, anything to help. Even the werewolf Lupin's canine nose was useful to pick up clues and just last week uncovered a traitor using Polyjuice trying to infiltrate the ranks.

And there was something else, something he had decided not to tell anyone in case any altered habits tipped off the very people they had to mislead. He would have to deal with that last item by himself, and hopefully not alert anyone of it in the process. All in all, it would be an eventful summer with just his research and brewing to keep him occupied if nothing else.

Perhaps he had better find a way to lock or protect his store of potions ingredients in case Potter had any 'bright' ideas and tried to get into them as he was wont to do. He knew that the little cheat had broken into his private stores and stolen Gillyweed two years ago no matter how many times the twerp exclaimed the contrary.

He smiled as he came up with several ways to dissuade the boy from entering his labs, the most benign being a zapping spell on the doorknob of the door leading to the basement keyed to his touch alone.

There was one final slam of the front door that he could hear muted from here and then silence. Hopefully she took the brat with her, Snape thought and resumed placing bottles of ingredients on the shelves and contemplating ways to keep Potter out of his lab.

---

Hoppity turned the steering wheel and pulled into the parking lot of what she thought was a large supermarket, or at least somewhere that sold food. She had been driving for quite awhile, trying to figure out how the map worked, and what all the very large shapes on it were. Luckily, the roads had seemed very empty so when she finally realized that she was driving on the wrong side of the road, no one had been around to notice. She had passed a huge shopping center earlier and a lot of funny colorful shops along the main roads. As for the supermarket, she had driven around for a very long time until she finally managed to find this one - Super Foods. With a name like Super Foods, this shop had to sell food.

She was quite sure that she was lost and wouldn't be able to find her way back, but she managed to push the nagging thought to the back of her mind as she carefully parked the automobile in an empty spot. She turned off the car and made sure that she had the keys before she locked the doors and stepped out. While in her Muggle studies class, she had managed to loose exactly one car and locked herself out a total of three times. Luckily during those times, the instructor had been able to help but this time she didn't have that luxury. She supposed that she could always use locator or unlocking spells, but she felt that if she really was going to be a professor of Muggle Studies, she should be able to live like a Muggle without cheating.

Hoppity briskly walked in the direction of the entrance of Super Foods. As she walked through the car lot, she noticed people coming out of the sliding supermarket doors, noisily pushing odd metal wire carts full of brown and white bags. She felt a little apprehensive as she hadn't brought any such cart along with her, and hoped that it wasn't that necessary. The outside of the large shop was covered with strings of colorful flags and large flats of plants. As she passed through the glass sliding doors, she found herself in some sort of large foyer filled with the funny metal cart things folded upon each other. More colorful flags were placed throughout the room. There was also a large pile of lime green bottles stacked up on the far wall with a sign that read $.79 a liter. Hoppity felt fairly lost and puzzled over the carts for a moment. Was she allowed to take one? How? She was used to buying things in small shops and markets in the Wizarding world and this was the first time she had encountered any such large things. She had always stuck to small food shops while in Wizarding England or ate meals in restaurants and cafes. She watched as a young woman walked from outside and immediately yanked a cart away from the pile. After extracting the single cart, the young woman turned it around and walked past her into the main shop.

Well, alright. Hoppity thought. I just need to pull out a cart like that woman did. She inched towards the carts, not sure if they were really a pack of dangerous metal creatures ready to attack and roll over her. She reached a cart and managed to place her hand slowly on the yellow rod placed at the top, she become encouraged and placed both hands firmly around the rod and pulled hard.

She soon found herself in a heap on the floor, the cart painfully smacking into her shin. "Ow!" So it was a dangerous creature! Hoppity quickly sprung up away from the cart, holding her bruised shin.

"Ma'am?" A young male voice asked her. She quickly turned to discover where the voice was coming from. A young man wearing a bright reflective orange jacket was looking at her with concern. "Are you all right?" He said as he quickly walked over and steadied the cart.

"Erm, yes." Hoppity said feeling embarrassed and quickly standing up. The young man pulled the cart over to her almost carelessly and she carefully took the cart from him. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Shrugging away the embarrassment, Hoppity pushed the cart forwards and past the sliding doors. She was first hit with a blast of very cold air and then overwhelmed by the shelves of what seemed like thousands of vibrantly colored packages. How was she supposed to find anything in here?

She stopped at the first aisle. It was bread. Loaves and loaves of bread in colorful plastic wrappings, at least 50 different kinds! Quite bewildered, she picked up the first couple of loaves of bread and studied their wrappings, trying to figure out what kind they were. Happy Farms brand? White bread... wheat bread, potato bread... Wonder bread? What kind did she want? Hoppity wanted to moan in frustration. Suddenly she picked up another shopper's conversation.

"...has to be a quick trip just for dinner and the next few days before we pick up your sister at ballet practice so don't make this difficult. No complaining." A woman dressed in Muggle business clothes swiftly pushed an empty cart past her. A little girl toddler sat in the top seat of the cart as an older boy followed them along. An irritating, loud ringing sound went off and the woman (the children's mother, Hoppity assumed) dug into her handbag with a practiced movement. She pulled out what looked like one of those odd portable tellyphones.

"Jones here…," the woman absently chatted on the phone. An idea popped into Hoppity's head. When you don't know what to do, the first rule in Muggle Studies was to mimic the Muggles. Every first year student knew this rule. The woman was distracted, shopping, chatting on her phone and pulling her son away from the donuts. This was her chance! The woman had said that she was going to buy things for dinner, which was exactly what Hoppity needed, it would be safe to trail her and buy whatever she bought.

Hoppity followed the family as they sped around the Supermarket, grabbing whatever the mother grabbed while trying to remain inconspicuous. It wasn't hard, Hoppity thought as she placed a pineapple in her quickly filling cart before quickly proceeding to the newly vacated lettuce area to search about for the same package the woman had thrown into her cart. The woman was distracted by her mile-a-minute phone conversation and her children ("No, you cannot have that! Put that back!" "Stop yelling!" and "Mommy's trying to talk.") for Hoppity to feel as if she needed to use much caution.

It was almost like a game, trying to find the same items without being too obvious about it, and Hoppity felt herself actually enjoying it. She mimicked the woman, opening egg cartons and looking at the eggs inside, without really knowing why. Maybe to make sure that the carton was full? That was the only reason why she could come up with to look in an egg carton as Wizard eggs baskets always had unbreakable and cushioning charms placed on them. When the woman placed her carton of eggs in her cart, Hoppity did the same, moving a bag of chips over to make room for the eggs on top of a case of canned fizzy drinks.

After exiting the pasta and dry food aisle, her cart now laden with several boxes of creamy orange looking pasta, she followed the noisy family into the freezer section. There, the mother perused the frost covered clear freezer doors, obviously searching for something in particular. She stopped at one door, still on the phone ("No, don't let them go with that one. It's much too bland and we need something different...") and opened it, pulling a large frozen box out. The girl toddler had somehow managed to get the shop newspaper and now proceeded to rip it to shreds, throwing strips of paper everywhere. The young boy was whining for a box of Muggle treats and the woman kept telling him "No" and returning to her phone conversation.

As soon as they moved off, Hoppity hurried in to look for the similar shaped package. The family had moved down the aisle and the children were now screaming for some odd Muggle treat- it sounded like "pop sickles" but Hoppity wasn't sure. Luckily, she was able to easily find everything in that aisle that the family picked out, including the "pop sickles" which Hoppity was pleased to realize turned out to be ice lollies!

She followed them faithfully down a last few aisles, even rounding back with them to pick up some milk before they ended up at the checkout. There, she placed her cart in line behind them and tried to ignore the now howling boy as he wailed for his mother to buy him the box of sweets he still held in his hands. After a minute, the mother finally ended her phone call and took pity on the boy, grabbing the treats from his hands and throwing it in the cart with a sharp warning that that was all he was going to get.

Hoppity looked down at the items in her cart. She had managed to get everything the mother had picked out, except for the toddler diapers, and the Muggle treat that the boy convinced his mom to buy him, she had no idea where that was and she didn't wish to go back and look for it. She was startled when the woman turned to her and addressed her.

"You've been following me all over the store." The woman didn't sound mad, just slightly interested. Oh no, she had been noticed! I guess I'm not as good as being sneaky as I thought I was. Time for the cover story.

Hoppity wrung her hands, hoping that the woman wouldn't make a big deal of it. The boy wasn't paying attention to them, instead looking at a display of sweets. "Yes well, I just moved here from Britain and I'm sorry but I wasn't exactly sure of what to buy here so err I figured it was safe to pick out what you did. I'm so sorry but I didn't know what else to do."

Luckily the woman seemed more amused than anything. "Oh don't worry about it." She said with a wave. "So you just moved here? Where did you move to? You sound British." She added as an afterthought.

"Ah yes, we just moved into Crescent Ave from England. We as in my, erm- husband and son."

Ignoring the boy, who had started to tug on her shirt, the woman leaned over and offered her hand to shake. "My name's Martha, Martha Jones. I live a block over from Crescent. I have three of my own although sometimes they seem like animals." She stopped and looked down at the boy who had started to whine once more, holding out some sweets in one grubby hand. "Stop that Bobby! I said nothing else!"

After scolding the boy, Martha turned back to her to talk while throwing food items on the stationary black conveyer belt. "I'm so glad that Little League is over, all those hours just standing around... Soccer season should be so much better." At Hoppity's lost look she continued. "The new Fitness Center chain has set up all these kid sports clubs all over. Everyone's been joining in since they're not that expensive and it gives the kids something to do, get them out of the house and out of my hair!" The woman gave off a rioting laugh. "Soccer's my favorite season since the kids burn off a lot of energy running around and the games are so long. Less time to mess up the house, right?" Another laugh. "Bobby's in the Tiger group as usual. Have you signed your kid up for anything yet? Even though the season has already started I've heard that some groups still have spots open for the next week or so."

It seemed as if all of the children here belonged to some sort of sports club. Perhaps she should sign Harry up for something. "I'll look into it." She promised to the woman who had just answered another phone call on her portable tellyphone while stacking more food items on the conveyor belt.

---

(some time later)

Hoppity pulled up the driveway and turned off the automobile. She knew that she had been gone for an awfully long time, but she had gotten lost on her way back. She had been so relieved to finally find the road that they lived on and even more relieved that she managed to find the right house. Luckily, all the houses here looked different which helped immensely when looking for a certain one.

Laden with bags, she walked up the front path and opened the front door. The house was unpleasantly cool inside. She was surprised to see Harry resting on the couch in his thick duvet, resting tiredly, one cheek resting on an armrest. The telly played quietly in the background. As she walked across the front room, his eyes opened weakly to watch her go by. She moved to the kitchen to place down her bags and was pleasantly surprised when Harry followed her in without his blanket. She placed the first two bags on the kitchen table. The poor boy must be positively famished, I'm surprised that he isn't complaining. She decided that something should be put in his stomach right away as it may take some time to make dinner and he hadn't had anything to eat since the early breakfast at the airport.

She quickly unpacked the bags, pulling out a carton of milk in the process. After finding a glass in one of the cupboards, she poured a glass for Harry and placed it in front of him. "Drink that up Dear." He did so silently and rested his head on the table.

Hoppity took two more trips to the car to unload the groceries and on the second trip back, she found that Harry had started to take the food out of the bags. What a good boy. After everything was unloaded from the car, she plopped the last bags down on the floor next to the table. As she started to unpack, Snape entered the kitchen, presumably from upstairs. His face looked pinched and drawn as if he had either just woken up, or was filling ill. He wore grumpiness like a cloak.

He pawned through the items on the table, briefly studying several with a disdainful air. "Is any of this actually edible?"

She was a little surprised at Snape's brusque comment but she rationalized it to her self that Wizards didn't know what Muggles ate... herself included, and any Wizard would be surprised and skeptical at some things. "Erhm, yes of course!" She pulled out a large frozen dinner. "We'll have this! This is umm..." she peered at the package. "...La sanga. We'll just pop it in the oven and it'll be ready to eat in 20 minutes."

Snape had a very dubious look on his face, but Hoppity ignored it and turned to preheat the oven. Still standing at the table, Snape went through the groceries, studying the packaging and reading the ingredients lists. "This isn't food... I had heard that Muggles liked to recycle things from trash... Although I had hoped, obviously this insane practice wasn't limited to food after all."

Hoppity continued to place the random food items away in the cupboards. Harry placed the milk in the fridge.

Disgruntled that he was being mostly ignored, Snape picked up a packet of cheese-filled Soy dogs and studied the packaging. "What is this? There are fifty ingredients on this list! They made a "hot dog" out of beans and... four different types of salt and random enzymes?" Snape threw down the soy dogs in a fit of disgust. "This is chemical waste disguised as a demented parody of food."

Hoppity tried not to pay attention to him as she placed eggs in the fridge and told Harry to go sit down. He really was such a sweet boy, such a contrast to the sour man mocking her purchases.

Snape picked up a carton of plastic bottles and furrowed his brows as he looked at the brightly colored text. "Flavoured water?" He asked incredulously and then set them roughly down. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Did you even manage to get the most basic food staples?" He asked acridly. "It seems not. I demand to be included in the next shopping trip tomorrow morning to purchase real food. You obviously are incapable of doing so yourself."

Hoppity was starting to get angry and a little hurt but she tried to conceal it. "Well I'm sorry, but Muggle American food is quite different than any Muggle food I've ever seen! And thank you, I did manage to get eggs, bread and milk!"

"Wonderful, we can all have soggy egg toast three times a day for as long as we are exiled here. I'm sure the Hogwarts house elves would be jealous at your cooking skills, since you seem to think that you can entertain our palates with only eggs, bread, and milk!"

"I managed to get perfectly acceptable things, it's your fault for refusing to eat new food!" She waved a box of Dung-ho's around and knocked over what she thought was a jar of jam.

"I should hope so as it seems that the "new things" you purchased are inedible and would most likely kill me! And if they didn't, then the barbaric Muggle hospital practices used to cure me of any food poisoning would!"

Snape pulled out a chair and sat down in a huff across from Harry, who was sitting with an upset but guarded expression on his face.

Hoppity made herself calm down. They were all in bad moods after such a harboring trip, and from lack of food. She was very surprised at how quiet and good Harry was being. He probably just responded that way when fatigued; the type that suffered in silence without complaint. She'd have to watch him closely while they stayed here in case he became too hungry and tired again. The oven 'dinged' and Hoppity placed the lasagna in it and set what she thought was the timer to what she hoped was 20 minutes.

She finished placing the last food products away and tried to come up with what else to have with the lasagna. She thought she knew how to heat things up on the stove but she didn't know how to cook frozen vegetables or any meat without her Muggle class cooking notes and she really didn't want to go upstairs to get them in front of Snape. She could open one of those funny complete salad packages. They could try those strange frozen treats afterwards... well she doubted Snape would want to. They would try the microwave another day; she was deathly afraid of them after a soup packet had exploded in one in her Muggle class and caught on fire.

---

After dinner, Harry excused himself to go to bed early, bringing up the duvet he had left on the couch earlier with him. He was tired and there really wasn't really anything else to do. After slowly brushing his teeth and changing into a pair of overlarge pajamas, he crawled into bed.

The blinds on his window were closed and the sun had only started to set so it wasn't as if the room were dark but just the same, the room felt overwhelming in the prospect of sleep, it was too big and bare. It was a nice room, but he felt exposed. It took him only a minute to decide what to do. He took his duvet and pillow and climbed down to the floor and crawled under the bed. There on top of the carpeting he made himself a little nest with his blanket and pillow. Now feeling safe, Harry drifted off to sleep and dreams.

As much as I would like to say someone found Harry sleeping under his head in a nest of blankets, I can't because no one did. Harry woke up early that morning and made his bed with no one the wiser.

After a bland breakfast of eggs, toast and funny tasting milk (they didn't have any salt or butter, although Hoppity and Harry did try some jelly on their toast), they left the house to find the nearest clothes shopping area since Snape refused to touch anything from "his box" and all Harry's clothes were too big.

"I think I'll buy some clothes too." Smirkett said in the driver's seat of the car, as she buckled her safety belt. "I've always wanted to shop in an American store!"

Wonderful, Snape thought as he positioned his own safety belt carefully. She obviously was forgetting that she had already shopped in a Yankee store, spent much more time than was acceptable and did a foul job of it as well.

Smirkett started humming as she started the car engine. Humming! Snape had to restrain the urge to whack her, this whole ordeal was severely testing his resolve and patience, a well placed smack at that obnoxious mass of hair would make him feel so much better.

Potter was in a seat behind them, legs hanging off the front of the seat since he was too short to reach the floor now. He was buckled in and blessedly quiet despite the large amount of sugary jelly he had on his toast this morning. He made a mental note to prevent the brat from having sugar when he could, as this good behaviour was undoubtedly just good luck on his part. He knew too well how little children usually acted when such crazy substances were introduced; they were terrifying little balls of energy unable to sit still, wanting everything and making a pest of themselves at every opportunity. No, no more sugar for Potter.

Hoppity pulled the automobile out of the drive and even by Snape's limited knowledge he could tell that maybe letting the twit drive wasn't a smart idea. First, she had some minor difficulties turning the automobile to face the right direction, driving the car scant meters back and forth. Traveling through the residential streets, they nearly missed colliding with another automobile and they were all very alarmed to realize that she had been driving on the wrong side of the road!

"Ops!" Smirkett said sheepishly. "I thought that I had gotten over that from last time."

"Last time?" Snape yelled, holding onto the door handle of his seat for dear life. He should have realized then that he should have demanded to drive.

35 unnerving minutes later and they had finally arrived at the shopping centre.

Snape got out of the automobile slightly unsteady. He had demanded to drive during the trip several times, but Smirkett had ignored him and continued on, saying that everything was fine. And everything had been fine until she missed that last stop sign… Well at least they were safe now.

He was only slightly placated to see that Potter seemed shaken as well. It felt odd looking down so low and seeing a childish face on his own personal antagonizer, but from what he could discern, the boy was slightly pale and unsmiling. If it were possible, his already strangely large eyes that had seemed even bigger without his trademark spectacles looked even bigger.

He had been unsure as to his ability of operating this Muggle device safely which is why he had let Smirkett drive them thus far, but after seeing her abysmal navigation skills, he decided that they would be safer with him winging it.

"You." Snape spat out as soon as the twit had walked around the automobile and was within hearing distance, "Are not driving again."

Smirkett looked chagrined but managed to laugh. The nerve of her! "I just need to get used to it again." A passing automobile drove by, displacing air and blowing Smirkett's unflattering dress around and his hair, which was down today, in his face.

"No. You are not driving again." Maybe the thought would make it to her brain this time instead of leaking through her ears.

"So who will be driving then? You?" She asked. Her eyes behind her spectacles were crinkled the way Albus liked to when something amused him. It was infuriating.

Snape glared at her, wiping the smile off of her face. "Yes, me." He was positive that even Goyle could drive better than her.

"But you don't even have a driver's license!"

"Indeed I do." Snape smirked. Agent D had so thoughtfully provided him with one yesterday.

"Right." Smirkett said, obviously unconvinced but willing to drop it for now. It did not matter. He would get his way when they came back to the automobile later.

Smirkett clasped Potter's hand and pulling the boy along, led the way through the dangerous Muggle vehicle lot to the nearest entrance of an extremely large building which Smirkett had claimed was a Maul.

They walked through the glass doors and into a large indoor shopping center. Small shops without doors ran along the walls and one large shop was directly to their right. The hall looked as if it went on for quite some distance; people milled around, some with bags and some without. A small resting area with a tall indoor clock tower was placed in front of the department store entrance. The large store itself just happened to be tailored to the older populace. Naturally, being Wizards, Snape and Hoppity didn't know of the difference between department stores, which was just as well as Snape probably wouldn't have appreciated the styles and cheap materials of the more 'hip' stores. Of course, Harry could not be expected to know of the differences either; he had never really gone shopping with his aunt and was basically six years old now.

"Well," Smirkett said breathlessly. "I think that we should split up and meet back here in say… two hours?"

"One." Snape said, eying Potter with distaste. Hair as unruly as ever, dressed in a too large maroon shirt and the same trousers as yesterday, the boy was looking at his shoes apparently uninterested in their conversation. He was loath to spend anytime with the brat but he would have to take him if he wanted to leave this shopping place in a timely manner. Women always took twice as long to do anything, and he refused to wait around for that twit.

"Ah, how about an hour and half? We can meet back at this clock tower when we're done."

"Acceptable." He would be able to get the needed garments for both himself and Potter within the time slot. "Potter!" Snape barked to get the boy's attention. Once the brat was looking at him he continued authoritatively, "Come with me."

Potter looked surprised, and then glanced at Smirkett for confirmation, no doubt giving her an imploring look that she saved him from the big mean potions professor. Alas, it was not to be, Snape thought, triumphant that Potter wouldn't get his way for once. Smirkett just smiled at the boy, no doubt relieved that she didn't have to ask him to take the boy.

Potter had a slight look of rejection as he walked over to where Snape stood. The man roughly pushed any sympathetic thoughts away, he refused to let the brat manipulate him. He strode off toward the entrance of the store, forcing Potter to follow in his wake unless he wished to be left behind. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the twit waving quickly good bye which the boy returned before turning and tripping to catch up.

Snape led the way through the department store, Potter following him like a lost puppy. They wandered around purposefully for some minutes before he located a sign leading to the children's sizes. It appeared to be down one level so he led the way to the down escalator, making sure that Potter got on before him least the nuisance run away or try to prank him by not getting on at all and forcing him to walk up the moving stairs, comically staying stationary.

With such thoughts burning in his head, Snape glowered at the little boy two steps below him. He'd like to be able to push the boy and watch him tumble down the moving stairs to land in a painful heap at the bottom. Fortunately for Potter, he was able to quell the urge. But just barely.

After getting off the escalator and making several wrong turns, they found themselves immersed in thousands of frilly girl dresses. It was a short walk thereafter to find clothes that looked like they were made for little boys.

I can't believe I'm doing this, Snape thought as he browsed through the nearest rack of little boys' clothes. The little snot faced brat shifted restlessly near him. He wanted to get this shopping trip over and done with. Deciding that the clothes he was looking through were too small to fit Potter, he moved to another rack.

"Potter, what size are you?" He asked, glancing down at the boy.

"How should I know?" Potter replied petulantly.

Suffering silently, he deigned not to answer. The clothes in this rack were also too small so he continued through the next. Quickly browsing through this one, he was about to move on when he heard a disgusted sound from Potter. He looked down at the brat and then actually bothered to look at what he had in his hands; it was a little boy sailor suit.

Snape felt a sardonic smirk gracing his features. Potter was trying to pretend as if he hadn't made any indication that he disliked the garment in his hands, gazing away at a different rack indifferently.

The smirk grew wider. "I think that this would be appropriate." Potter's shocked green eyes snapped back to look up at him. He felt a sort of evil glee boiling up at the little boy's horrified expression. "Yes, this will do nicely."

"No!" Potter wailed adamantly. "I'm not wearing that! It's not even my size! It's for babies!"

He looked down at the outfit in his hands. While a little too small for Potter, it was clearly for a little boy, not an infant. He bent down to suggest maliciously, "There are always resizing spells." He felt a wave of euphoria at Potter's distressed face. He was now quite glad that he had had to take the brat along with him.

"You're not supposed to use magic!" Potter lectured indignantly.

"Says who?" he asked dangerously. The nerve of that pint sized child lecturing him.

"Dumbledore!"

"And just how is he supposed to know? I don't suppose you plan to write him an owl, do you?" Snape challenged. The brat had no response. "I thought not."

Potter just stood there, miserable. Ah, heaven. Now to find the most embarrassing outfits for the boy, this should be fun.

He ignored Potter's hateful glare, it was hardly effective in his child state, and continued to look through the racks. He spent a few more minutes browsing the racks, only finding one more outfit that was diabolical enough before he decided that he had ought to move on to their real errand; finding the brat clothes that fit him that he would actually wear in public. The embarrassing outfits would do well as a threat to keep Potter in line. Who knew, the twit might actually like them.

Moving on, he finally found the section that seemed to have the sizes of clothes he sought, Potter following along sulkily.

After browsing through clothes, and pulling out random items that seemed like they might be suitable, he was very relieved when an older sales assistant approached them. Clothes shopping was not his forte, he really had no idea what to pick and Potter wasn't being much help either.

"Can I help you?" The elder woman seemed kind and more than willing to assist. He contemplated it. Yes, he needed help but he didn't have any wish to stand around and watch someone pick out clothes for the brat. He also still needed to find some Muggle outfits for himself still. A solution formed in his mind. He could leave the boy with the assistant and get both done leisurely.

"Yes, the boy needs a complete wardrobe… at least 10 various outfits. I will come for him within an hour," He instructed the surprised, yet accommodating clerk. Bending down, he glared menacingly at the brat and hissed so only he could hear, "Behave or your dragon toy will bare the consequences." The boy's brow furrowed as his lower lip protruded in anger. Indeed, he could rip its head off to have as a nice wall decoration and use the rest to scrub out cauldrons all while the brat watched, squalling in grief.

Assured that Potter wouldn't go anywhere or misbehave, Snape handed the two small outfits he had tortured the boy with to the old Muggle woman. "I'll be purchasing these as well." He instructed her, knowing that no matter how much the brat protested, the woman wouldn't 'misplace' them since she ultimately wanted a sale.

One last sneer at Potter and he strode off in search of the men's section, in a convivial attitude after tormenting the brat and then shirking with ease the ill-fated responsibility of choosing clothes for the boy.

He soon found it on the lower level and efficiently sorted through the various garments for anything acceptable. Maybe the boy would get lost or kidnapped and he wouldn't have to ever see him again. One can only hope. A Potter-free summer… he indulged in the pipe dream. Maybe he could 'forget' to pick the boy up.

No, he couldn't do that. Dumbledore would have his hide, no the whole order would have his hide as well as Potter's little fan club, namely the whole Wizarding world. Not to mention that little problem of the boy's importance in the war against the Dark Lord, whatever that was, Albus refused to tell. And of course, the twit he was stuck with, Smirkett, would probably drag him back to get Potter and then proceed to give him a sound earful, creating a scene in the process. He had NO desire to be berated by any relation of Dumbledore's, and certainly not in a spectacle by this nitwitted witch.

He needed to get him like he said he would, anything else would be inexcusable and undesirable to the extreme. As much as he wished otherwise, he couldn't let Potter get lost or kidnapped, not that those scenarios were likely to happen at all. Potter would be waiting for him and he would pick him up, and that was that. No one would take the boy, the fact that he had thought of that in the first place was ridiculous.

A few minutes later, he caught himself staring at an emerald green shirt and wondering whether Potter was alright still. No, he demanded. The boy is fine by himself.

The annoying ping of uncertainty about leaving the boy alone came back and he roughly shook it off. He's perfectly alright. The old woman had obviously been a store clerk and he hadn't felt any ill intent from her, only a desire to help them pick out clothes. His dark mark was inactive, there were no Death Eaters anywhere remotely close. There was nothing to fear.

It was even unlikely that the boy would be kidnapped. The store was rather deserted, they had been the only customers in the children's area and the boy now held the store clerk's complete attention. He shouldn't let this bother him, it was irrational. No one would want the boy anyway.

Just the same, the faster he completed his business, the faster he could check up on the boy.

---------

Harry tried on yet another pair of trousers and shirt the old lady, Edna she had said to call her, gave him. She had been surprised at first when Snape had left Harry here with her and told her to pick out clothes for him but she was a nice lady and took him along through the store, even asked him what he wanted. It was a new experience for him, he had never been able to have a say in what he wanted to wear before, even Hogwarts robes were standard required and dress robes didn't count. He didn't really remember what little kids wore so he hadn't been much help but he did point out some shirts he liked. Most of the shirts Edna had picked out had collars or buttons on them and the trousers looked nice. He liked best how everything was new. New things, he smiled.

Edna had first had him try on clothes to figure out what size he was, but after picking out several outfits it seemed that she was coming up with random reasons why he should try more on, smiling happily as he emerged from the changing room in each outfit and telling him how nice he looked. He felt as if she were dressing him up like a little doll, and it was even worse when her coworker, another old lady, came by to join in the fun. The reasons they came up for him to try on the outfits sounded silly to Harry, who never had anyone before want to make sure his shirts actually fit, let alone whether the buttons on the shirt didn't conflict with the trousers. Edna had called the trousers 'pants', he figured that she was crazy and didn't know any better, or maybe because she was older she forgot. It seemed an awfully strange thing for a person who worked selling clothes to forget that pants were underwear, not trousers. Anyway, when she said pants, he knew now that she meant trousers, it had been strange before when she suggested they pick out some pants right away and he had thought that she was going to pick out his under clothes first thing.

He exited the changing booth to show the elderly women how different the collar on this shirt looked than the shirt he had had on previously.

"Oh, you look so handsome!" The first woman cooed. "Yes, this shirt looks much nicer with the stiffer collar, what do you think Lucida?"

"Oh, it's adorable! How about this shirt next?"

Harry inwardly groaned. Not another one. "Don't we have ten yet?" he asked fitfully, looking at the big pile of clothes and hoping that they would give up. He didn't want to be ungrateful but he was getting tired of changing clothes so many times.

Edna eyed the pile. "That's more than ten," she said smiling and not at all abashed at the fact that she had gone over the minimum. "We want to make sure that we have enough outfits for your daddy to pick out." Harry sputtered and choked at the woman calling Snape his 'daddy'.

Edna gave him a concerned look but he soon recovered.

"I don't think that he will do that Ma'am." He said as politely as he could. There was no way Snape would go through his clothes when he didn't have to. Maybe Snape would make sure that those embarrassing baby outfits were there just to be spiteful, but Harry hoped that he had forgotten about them. He had yet to manage to get them away from Edna. She wouldn't listen to him when he said that he didn't want them, she said that they were probably for a present for someone else or for a new baby brother. Yeah right. And Harry couldn't tell her that they were meant to be for him- she would never believe that they were going to be enlarged with magic.

"You're right, we have enough." she said, taking pity on the adorable little boy. He was visibly relieved until she mentioned what was next. "We have to pick out some underwear and socks anyway. Why don't you go change back into your clothes?"

Harry wasn't too keen on the idea of picking out his underclothes with the lady, but he really didn't have a choice. Glad that the dress-up game had ended, he agreeably went back into the changing booth, leaving Edna to sort through the collection of clothes.

Once the door was shut he quickly, but carefully changed his shirt, trying not to rub or touch anything against the bruises marring his upper arms. He had first noticed them last night, surprised at how bad they looked. He knew that the one on his right arm was from when Vernon literally dragged him into the house and up the stairs a couple of days ago, among other things, but the one on his left puzzled him. He didn't know where it came from, but he supposed that he just didn't remember getting it and it was just showing up now. The first one though looked a lot worse than it had yesterday morning. It was probably just the kind of bruise that got worse before it got better or maybe a side affect of the potion.

He hurriedly took off the store trousers and changed into the street ones he had come in with before stuffing his feet into the slightly worn white trainers that he had left laced up. They were alright for shoes, much more comfortable than the usual deflated hand-me-downs he had always gotten from his cousin but he still would have preferred something nicer and not second hand.

When he exited the changing booth, Edna was sorting the last of the pile making sure that they had everything he needed; lots of colourful and plain shirts and trousers (both long and short), a small brown belt, a blue sweat shirt with pockets, a pair of pajamas, and a yellow slicker, which she had called a 'raincoat'. Edna had insisted on the last even though Harry didn't think he would need one.

Harry was especially proud of the red shirt he picked out, it had a large picture of a lion on the front, and was sure to annoy Snape. He reminded himself once again to hide Roofy, his dragon stuffed animal, as soon as he got back to the house. It would just be like Snape to take his dragon away even if he was good. And he was good, he always was. The Dursleys were just mean and Snape was just a git.

Edna took the clothes that he had just changed out of and placed them on the pile. Edna's friend excused herself to go help another customer, taking the clothes with her to drop off at the register while Edna took Harry over to the under clothes area. There she proceeded to pick out several pairs of white cotton vests to wear under his shirts and packets of plain white y fronts.

"Do you like these ones Dearie?" Edna asked holding out a package of briefs with cartoon characters on the bums. Harry felt his cheeks turn pink, and nodded to stop her from picking out more packages until she was certain she found one he did like. He chanted in his head, Better than Snape, better than Snape. He'd never see this woman again in his life. Edna also picked out several pairs of white, beige and brown socks for him.

"We don't have shoes here so if you need them you'll have to tell your daddy to get them from another store." He still was shocked at hearing this lady refer to Snape as 'his daddy' and he sneeze choked again.

"Oh my, maybe you should visit a doctor, that cough doesn't sound too good." Edna said worriedly.

Harry just nodded, covering his mouth with his hand to get control of himself.

When they were finished, the kind lady took him back to the long cash register desk and placed a chair next to it, motioning that he should climb up it and sit on the counter. He did so and moved so that his legs were hanging off of the edge. He noticed that there was a tray of biscuits on the counter too and eyed them. He knew better than to ask for any or to look at them longingly. No one ever gave him cookies, and especially nice ones like these. Edna placed the underclothes near the register on top of the pile of clothes they had picked out earlier, covering up the two distressing baby outfits. He had to figure out a way to get rid of them before Snape came back.

"Would you like a cookie?" Edna asked, moving the tray of biscuits nearer to him. He was very surprised but decided that they must be stale or maybe no one usually ate them so they went to waste.

"Yes, please." Harry said shyly, his earlier mission forgotten as he happily picked out and munched on a biscuit with chocolate icing. It was quite good and fresh so she must have offered them to him because no one ate them and they usually ended up in the bin.

He sat there for quite awhile, munching on a total of three biscuits and kicking his legs idly all the while before he began to wonder whether Snape would come back for him or not.

Snape wouldn't just leave him here, would he? He wasn't so sure… Whenever he went anywhere with the Dursleys, which was never very often, he had to make sure he stayed near them, they would have left him at every opportunity, they even orchestrated some. He still remembered that one time they had left him at a park… a bobby had got him back home and Petunia had acted all relieved that he was back in front of the bobby, hugged him spitefully, crushingly hard and said that Vernon was out looking for him now (he was really taking Dudley out for ice cream), and as soon as the officer had left she had slapped him hard and shoved him into his cupboard for two days. Even now, he still didn't know whether or not she had hurt him because he had found his way back to 4 Privet Drive, or if it was because he had bothered a bobby and brought attention to himself.

The minutes ticked by, Harry forlornly swung his legs against the counter, making almost unnoticeable thumps. Was Snape supposed to be here by now? He didn't have a watch, but he had always been a good guesser of time. It felt now like it had been longer than an hour. Perhaps Snape had never had any plans to come back for him. The spiteful man didn't like him at all… but he had said he would come back. But so had the Dursleys…

He must have left him. Even Edna was checking her watch now. He felt a sad, angry ache creep up. No one had ever wanted him around, no one had ever cared if he got lost or never came back. He should disappear and make everything easier.

He was suddenly reminded of his best friends. Ron and Hermione would care whether he came back or not! And Hoppity! He had forgotten about her. Hoppity wouldn't leave him here, would she? She would come back for him when Snape showed up at the clock tower without him, right? She had seemed like a nice lady, had even got him a dragon at the airport. He wouldn't be left behind this time.

But the doubt crept up. Hoppity hadn't looked too put off when Snape said that he would take him. She had looked… relieved. Relieved that she wouldn't have to look after him and wouldn't have him following her around. His relatives were right, he was a bother.

And his best friends had been hurt because of him. Harry Potter, the bother.

He refused to think of what to do if he really was left here. He tragically clung to the hope that someone would come, no matter how slim it seemed now.

When Snape's forbidding scowl turned around the corner with the frilly baby dresses, Harry was so relieved he could have cried. But he didn't, only babies cried. He came back, he thought with disbelief. He came back for me. The scowl didn't look quite so mean now, the face didn't look quite as horrible. He came back for me, even though he's supposed to hate me, even when the Dursleys wouldn't have come back. Even though I'm a bother.

The man wasn't carrying any bags or clothes so Harry assumed that he either shrunk them or didn't buy anything. When Snape approached the register he glowered at him, but Harry didn't glower back. His look of relief and wonder must have shown on his face because Snape made a puzzled uncomfortable face before turning away.

Harry didn't even object this time when Snape purchased the clothes, including the baby outfits.

"All set then? Good." Snape said curtly and after placing the smallest bag in Harry's arms, he gathered up the rest of the bags. Harry waved goodbye to Edna, very relieved that someone had come for him and that he didn't have to spend the next few hours with her until someone called a bobby to come take him away.

Snape led him up an escalator and out of the store. Once back outside the department store, Snape walked to a deserted corner and looked around to make sure that no one was looking. He looked down and scowled at Harry before flicking his wand out of a sleeve and quickly shrinking the bags and placing them in a pocket. Harry thought that his movements seemed slick like a double agent's would be.

Snape noticed that he was still watching and glowered down before swiftly and dismissively moving past him to a bench under the clock tower. Harry followed, and sat down too. Snape glowered again more darkly, then stared resolutely forward, the tap of fingers on his folded arms the only indication of how impatient and annoyed he was.

They sat there in silence for a full minute. Bored, Harry swung his legs idly.

"Stop that." Snape said harshly.

Harry looked up but stopped. He shifted in his seat. There was an itch on his arm and he dutifully scratched it. The seconds ticked by. He watched a group of teenagers walk by, wearing brightly coloured clothes. One was carrying a skateboard.

He shifted around again and looked up at the clock. The numbers were in Roman Numerals and all the hands seemed to be the same length. He decided he didn't really need to know what time it was and went back to swinging his legs before remembering that he wasn't supposed to do that. The itch was back. He scratched it, and one on his ankle that just appeared before shifting around in his seat again.

"Potter! Stop moving around, you're being a pest!" Snape hissed, his face turned to glare down at him.

Harry pouted angrily but the affect was lost as Snape had gone back to staring irritated at the clock. He sighed and his legs swung out unconsciously before he could stop them.

"That's it!" Snape spat out. "Stop unless you want a nice wallop!" Snape threatened, tensed up with one fist raised menacingly.

Harry glared right back. How could he have ever thought that the man was remotely less mean than he had ever been? Git. His chin jutted out and he hugged an arm close, careful not to touch the bruises on his upper arms that were covered by his short sleeves.

It was a long, still three minutes before Hoppity finally arrived with armfuls of shopping bags.

She was oblivious to the tense atmosphere. "Oh am I late? I tried to be as fast as I could. Oh Harry, you're such a good boy to wait so patiently!" She said, smiling at him. Snape scowled openly and stood up, waiting for her to collect herself.

Ignoring Snape, and still smiling at Harry she asked "Did you get everything you need? Shoes too?"

"No, the lady said that they didn't sell children's shoes there." Harry dutifully informed her. He was glad that Hoppity had mentioned shoes since he might be able to get some new ones now too. All in all, this was turning out to be a pretty okay shopping trip.

Hoppity thrust a couple of her bags at Snape, who growled and thrust them back.

"Oh come on Severus. It wouldn't look right if I carried all the bags. You could always hold Harry's hand if you'd rather."

Snape snatched up the bags at that statement and sent a glare in her direction. "Why didn't you just shrink the bags like a normal witch?"

"Don't be silly! Someone would notice if I walked out with several bags and they disappeared minutes later. Honestly, you can't just shrink things. Muggles will wonder where they went. Now let's look for a shoe store. These malls are quite marvelous. We'll have to come back soon just to look around more."

"We will do no such thing. You however may travel at your leisure. I certainly could care less where you went."

She gave Snape a dark squinty look from behind her black rimmed spectacles, before grasping one of Harry's hands with her free one and briskly pulling him along. A few stores down, she stopped in front of a huge toy store.

"No. Absolutely not. The last thing the brat needs is to be spoiled with more toys."

"Oh, but Severus, boys his age need lots of toys. It would seem strange if he didn't have more in his room, and we don't need to look more unusual than we already do." She said dryly and walked a couple meters over to a bench in the middle of the hall, dropping her bags and the bag Harry was still holding at Snape's feet. She pulled Harry along to the entrance of the store. "Now Harry-bean what would you like? Anything you want." She said optimistically.

Harry looked back at Snape, who was still standing in the middle of the walkway, scowling darkly in his direction.

Turning back to Hoppity, Harry decided that he didn't care what Snape thought. Hoppity was beaming at him and Harry basked in the moment of being able to pick out his own toys. He really shouldn't be interested in playing things anymore but a strange shiver of anticipation and excitement had made its way through his tummy when he looked at the tall bright displays that reached to the ceiling.

He changed his mind, this wasn't turning out to be just an okay shopping trip, it was turning out to be a great one!

At the entrance, a life-size mechanical mannequin astronaut waved at them with stiff awkward movements and loudly welcomed them to 'the Galaxy Toy Store'. All around him things were in motion, a huge toy carnival wheel, made entirely of colored rods spun around, a singing plant was dancing on a low table to his right, next to a toy puppy that somersaulted. Two radio controlled racecars zipped by them followed by two little boys, while on the left a little girl hopped on a piano mat and made an awful musical racket. There was a bin full of action figures another one full of large balls. From where he was standing, Harry could see aisles full of dolls, toy cars, books and games. Large tacky signs hung from most of the shelves declaring a "Sale!".

A loud "Toot toot!" drew his attention to the ceiling to see suspended upside-down plastic pools and gigantic stuffed animals that to be perfectly honest, were rather scary. It was then that he saw it; Miles and miles of train tracks winding around the store while a rather large red train sporting the store's logo sped around. He was reminded of the Hogwarts express. He had always wanted a train to play with, he wouldn't stomp on the track like Dudley had during the winter hols back in primary school when the engine had kept stalling.

Harry turned back to Hoppity, who still held his hand excitedly. She was hopping around like a school girl and gave him a grin when he looked at her. She was definitely related to Dumbledore.

"I think I'd like a train set."

One train set, paddle balls, a rainbow beanbag chair, Lego sets, dragons, knights and wizard dolls, a 96 box of crayons, drawing pad and colored bubble bath later found them looking at a bright display of console games. A teenaged sales assistant had approached them earlier about the time they had been looking at bean bag chairs with a vertical cart to pile things in and he now trailed them, pushing the cart and toys along, explaining anything they showed interest in.

"These are our console games," he told them and then pointed out a certain box. "This one is one of the more popular items. It's an older, but more stable system and a lot of great games are coming out for it now. Timmy Rocket 2 is coming out next month, another hot game for the summer. We've already had 40 preorders and it's going to be hot, especially for a little kid's game."

Hoppity nodded her head understandably. "And what does it do exactly?"

Harry perked up, curious to see what the guy would say. It would be hard to explain to someone who didn't know what game systems were, which he doubted Hoppity did, without mentioning other game systems. He knew what a console game was, of course, because his cousin had had several and had flaunted it constantly in front of him. He was never really allowed to watch but when he was little he used to sneak in the room sometimes when no one was paying any attention to him.

"Do? Um well you plug it into your TV and turn on the game and umm play by using the controllers," He tried, obviously hoping to have answered the right question.

"A huh." Hoppity said undecided. "And these are really fun?"

"Yeah, very fun! Every kid either has or wants them."

"Oh, okay then. We should get one."

Harry just nodded his assent and the store assistant pulled out a box from behind the glass case, explaining that the system came with one controller and two free games and that the instructions of how to set it up came in the box. He smiled broadly, it would be nice to be able to try this Muggle necessity finally. He imagined taunting smugly in Dudley's face that he could play now too. Just as quickly as the emotions had come, they sadly blew away when he wondered why he should be allowed to have fun. He had too much to do and too much to be accounted for to just slothfully sit around playing video games.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Hoppity blew past him to get to the next aisle. "Come on Harry!" She exclaimed happily. He followed slowly to stand next to her and look at the different outer space toys on the shelves while the poor Sales assistant followed, pulling the laden cart behind them. Hoppity was looking perturbed at the large plastic and plushy aliens on the shelves, all with overly large bug eyes to make them cute. Harry thought that they looked rather disturbing and apparently Hoppity agreed because she made a face before moving on to the glow in the dark area.

There, under a black light they found packets of glow in the dark stars brightly illuminated under the light that could stick to the walls and ceilings.

"Wouldn't these be great to put on the ceiling of your room Harry-bean?" Hoppity grinned, the black light making her teeth and eyes glow slightly.

He smiled back in spite of himself at the sight and nodded to agree with her, something he was becoming very adept at. He rubbed at his forehead, having a slight headache and glanced around the aisle to see what else was there while Hoppity looked through the different star packets.

He found a few bins filled with different toy reptiles and amphibians. He played around with the rubber snakes before spotting a box of three gooey, jiggly lizards on a lower shelf. He picked up the box and felt a lizard through a manufactured hole in the front plastic cover. It was gel feeling, only not wet or sticky at all. He poked it a few more times, relishing the way it moved and felt. A strange want welled up in him. He wanted these. He could get them too.

"Do you want those Harry?" Hoppity asked kindly, as if she could tell.

"Yes," Harry challenged, surprising himself. He picked up the box and placed it fondly in the cart on top of the glow in the dark stars. It was time to have fun this summer, Dumbledore had said so, so he was going to.

They continued down the aisle, picking out some wakie talkies that Hoppity thought looked quite fun before turning into the next aisle, which just happened to be the girls' section. Hoppity fawned over the baby dolls. "Ouu... how about one of these Harry-bean?"

His six year old boyness insulted, Harry scowled and folded his arms. "Well you can buy them for yourself but I'm not playing with them."

Disappointed, Hoppity put down a baby doll in a frilly dress and followed a quickly retreating Harry to the next aisle where the sales assistant recommended the newest scooter (everyone has them now), which Hoppity said they had to get, even if it was just to fit in.

When they finally reached the cash register, Hoppity spotted a stack of squat furry mechanical pets with sleepy eyes and beak-like mouths. Harry thought that they looked somewhat like funny baby Hippogriffs. Hoppity asked the girl behind the desk what they were.

"Oh those are Fluzies. They were really big last year. Mechanical pets, you turn them on and they play with you. When they hear music they dance, and you can teach them new tricks. If you place more than one together they talk, and sing, and play with each other. It's really cute."

They bought two, a dark grey one for Harry, a white and butterscotch one for Hoppity.

Hoppity giggled. "Should we get one for Snape too?"

Harry imagined a black Fluzy singing happily next to Snape while he made potions. He then pictured a broken Fluzy in the recycling receptacle, springs hanging out from its ears... poor Fluzy, it wouldn't have lasted a minute.

"Oh well, I didn't think so either. It was worth a thought."

The total come out around $300 but Harry wasn't sure if that was a lot or not. Hoppity didn't seem to know either, but she swiped her credit card and signed a sheet of paper the girl gave her as another helper packed their items in big white bags and placed them back into the cart.

Hoppity handed him one of the smaller, special bags that had things he had picked out himself, namely his new gooey lizards, crayons, and glowy stars and then gaily pulled him along by a hand to the entrance of the mall while the sales assistant followed with the cart.

As soon as Snape was visible, Harry could tell that their jaunty excursion into the toy store would cost something.

To say that Snape was not pleased would be an understatement. He had moved to a bench in the middle of the walkway under a tree and was presently surrounded by bags and was in his 'scowling position', legs and arms crossed, eyes narrowed and his jaw tightly clenched with what Harry was sure was angry irritation.

Harry childishly tightened the hold he had on his bag of new gooey lizards as Hoppity pulled him along closer to the fuming man.

The sales assistant followed behind them with the cart, now full of white plastic bagged packages.

"Here you go, Ma'm. You can just leave it at the mall entrance and someone will come for it later. Thanks for shopping at the Galaxy Toy Store!" With that, the teen did a funny salute and disappeared back into the store.

They turned to face the Wrath of Snape.

"Well, if you are now finished spoiling him rotten, I have been waiting here for nearly an hour as you gluttonously bought out the entire store. The only reason why I did not leave you here was because I did not have the car keys!"

"Well you always could have joined us-"

"I. Think. Not. We are never coming here again."

Just as well that they hadn't bought that extra Fluzy. It would not have even made it to the car before Snape flung it away in a fit of rage.

Snape stood up as Hoppity started to load the clothes bags from earlier onto the cart, hanging several on the handles.

"Hurry up. If I hear that blasted astronaut one more time I will blast it."

Hoppity threw the last of the bags into the cart and pushed it along after the quickly retreating Snape, Harry running next to her.

A few minutes later and the pace had slowed considerably. Snape was still stalking through the hall, people scattering before his forbidding presence, but the absence of the talking astronaut and the fact that they were moving to accomplish something now seemed to have calmed him down slightly, even if his temper did seem to still be on a short string.

Some delightful smells wafted through the air and Harry felt his stomach twisting in hunger. Hoppity made an effort to catch up to Snape with the cart and made it, walking next to him, draped over the handles of the cart.

"You just need some sugar Severus." Hoppity suggested playfully.

"No, I don't." Snape said shortly.

"Well some food at least. We have so much to do still and we'll become irritable unless we eat something soon."

Harry thought that Snape was already irritable, but didn't say anything since Snape had stopped walking and looked as if he was actually considering it. He crossed his fingers.

Snape's dark eyes glanced over him casually, then the man nodded curtly to concede to her point.

They ended up getting some strange fried vegetable plates that Harry didn't like very much, but the grownups seemed to. He ate it anyway, glad to have something to put into his stomach.

After the early lunch, they found themselves walking down the hall again, looking for a place that looked like it sold children's shoes. Harry trotted gaily beside Hoppity and the loaded cart, happy with his new toys and even happier that it seemed that he would actually be getting new shoes. Snape seemed to be in a better mood now after the meal. Well maybe to say that Snape was in a better mood wasn't quite right since the man was still in a bad one; he just seemed less wound up and ready to strike at anything and everything.

They soon came upon a small shop that had training shoes placed all along the side walls. Snape made a beeline to it and they followed him in. As soon as they entered, a man dressed in a collared maroon shirt and a silver whistle approached them.

"Can I help you?"

"Shoes for the boy and be quick about it." Snape instructed curtly.

The sales assistant looked a little startled at Snape's brisk manner but recovered quickly. "All right. The children's section is just over here." He beckoned and they followed him over to an area of wall covered with many different pairs of child size trainers, Hoppity left the cart in the middle of the store, within view. The man turned to Harry. "What kind of shoes do you want?"

Harry looked blankly back at him. He had never really been able to pick out his own shoes and now did not know the difference between all the different kinds.

The man had an amused smile on his face. "Well the new blinking cross training Turbo Air 7's came in earlier this week. Everyone has been asking for them and I'm sure we have them in your size." He prompted.

"Those sound okay." Harry said tentatively. He had no idea what Turbo Air trainers were. They sounded like they had rockets attached to the sides. He imagined himself wearing rockets trainers and blasting around the Quidditch pitch. He decided that they had to be great.

"Well just sit down here and I'll measure your foot to find out your size." Harry sat down on the chair the man pointed to and was surprised when the man knelt and took off his shoes. Hoppity settled down in the chair next to Harry and looked on. Snape pretended to browse the shoe selection, but Harry noticed him glancing back at them a couple of times. The salesman then pulled over a strange metal oval device with knobs and lines with funny numbers next to them. "Now just stand up and put your foot in this."

Harry did so, feeling a little silly. The man looked at the device and fiddled with some knobs before standing up. "Alright I'll be right back with some for you to try on. Don't go anywhere." He said smiling and then turned to walk away. Harry watched him until he disappeared into the back of the store.

Harry then looked around the store at all the different pairs of shoes on the walls. Next to him, Hoppity was doing the same. Snape pursued a stand of shoes in the middle of the store idly, facing away from them.

The man soon came back, carrying three shoeboxes with him. "Here you are kiddo." He said as he sat them down on the chair next to Harry. He opened the first box and took out a shoe. It was white and dark blue with shining silver trim. The name Turbo Air 7 was placed on the side in a super cool logo of dark blue and silver. The back was translucent plastic. No rockets, but they still looked wizard!

The man deftly laced up the trainer and handed it to Harry before pulling out the other one. "Can you put them on yourself?"

Of course he could! "Yes Sir." Harry said as he quickly stuffed his foot in the shoe and fumbled with the laces. These new stubby fingers aren't working right, he thought agitatedly as he tried to make a loop with one of the laces unsuccessfully. Any five year old can tie up their own shoelaces! Why can't I?

"Here, let me help you Harry." Hoppity said, reaching over to take the laces away from him. Harry scowled but was distracted as the salesman thrust the second shoe at him. He quickly put it on and Hoppity reached over and tied this one as well before he had even had the chance to try.

"Now stand up and walk around in them to see how they feel." The salesman ordered.

Harry did so. They felt springy, light and cushiony. Wow. He really liked them. He looked down at his feet and was surprised when he noticed a small red blink coming from the back. He looked over his shoulder, down at the backs of the trainers and took a couple of experimental steps. They blinked! Harry was even more enamored of them after that little discovery.

"How do they feel Harry? Do they fit right?" Hoppity asked.

"Yeah, they feel great!"

"Glad to hear that." The salesman said as he knelt down to feel Harry's toes through the shoes to make sure that they did indeed fit. "Do you want to try any others out too?"

"No." Snape said brusquely.

The salesman was in no way deterred. "Are you sure? We also have the new alternative to shoe laces for sale. You don't have to tie them, just twist them and they come in 4 fun colors."

"I can tie my own shoes." Harry said darkly. He wasn't some baby who needed velcro or whatever else.

"Well alright. I'll just ring these up. Do you want to wear those out of the store?"

"I'm allowed to?"

"Sure. All I need is the code on the box."

"No, Potter. Take them off. It's uncivilized to wear one's purchases while exiting from where they were purchased."

"But the man just said I could wear them!" Snape was silent as he merely gave off a cold, expectant look. Harry turned to Hoppity for backup but he was surprised when she seemed to agree with Snape.

Harry pouted to himself, as he sat down to put on his yucky old shoes on again.

When they stood at the cash register, Hoppity spotted bags of socks in a nearby bin. "We should get some of these as well." She said as she dug through it, pulling out several large packages of white cotton socks. Some of them had strange symbols on them, Harry noticed, as she handed some to him and turned back to the bin. "Severus would you like some too?" Snape just glared at the offending cotton monstrosities and looked away.

"Guess not." Hoppity murmured.

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."

The next morning donned bright and sunny. Harry got up soon after the sun, disoriented at first at his surroundings, the bright colors of his room and toys were an unfamiliar sight to him. Everything came back to him as soon he noticed his smaller size though, and Harry got out of bed energetically, heedless of the artificially cool air in his bedroom.

Today was to be his first day of school! Well okay, maybe it wasn’t his first day of school, but it was his first day going to school for this summer... this different summer, a new place with new clothes... a new start. The kids couldn’t laugh at him or push him because he was wearing ugly old clothes or because Dudley told them too.

Harry quickly opened his small chest of drawers and pulled out a new set of clothes, a white pair of pants, a short sleeved collared red shirt and a pair of tan trousers. The store smell was still on them and Harry spent a moment breathing it in and enjoying the novelty of it before moving to the bathroom. The tile was cold to his bare feet after the carpeting of his room and he thought about laying down a towel on the floor before his shower but in the end decided not to. When he was at school he usually took a shower after Quidditch practice, but when he didn’t have Quidditch he always took a shower in the morning. That had happened a lot last year… he shoved the thought out of his head before the feelings he had during that time could come back.

Hastily, Harry got ready for his day at school, hopping through the shower and getting dressed in his new clothes. After he was dressed he checked his new outfit in the bathroom mirror, buttoned the couple of buttons at the top of his collared shirt and made sure that the collar and short sleeves were straight. Lastly, he went back into his room and put on a new pair of white socks and wiggled his feet into his wonderful new trainers. The socks were so soft and fluffy and with his new cushiony trainers on, Harry felt like he could walk on air! He hoped around a few times, just to make sure that he was still grounded. He was a little disappointed and reassured that he was- he was a normal boy today.

Lastly, Harry went back into his room and stopped before the small wand on his bedside table. He made a face at it but picked it up anyway and placed it in a back pocket. Now ready, Harry went to the stairs and almost tumbled down them, literally, before he caught himself on the railing. He still wasn’t so coordinated in his new size so he took care to go down the stairs safely and found his way to the kitchen.

There, Snape sat morosely at the kitchen table, glaring darkly at his glass of juice. The man was wearing his Muggle clothes of black pants and a white buttoned down shirt again although they were different than the ones Harry had ever seen him in before. Hoppity stood in front of one of the kitchen counters, doing something dressed in a light blue suit looking dress. Her frizzy hair was up as usual and she looked to be mixing something in a bowl. Harry assumed that she was making breakfast. He could hear and smell the bacon cooking from here. Yesterday, he had hesitated against fixing or helping with breakfast with his new guardians, unsure as to what they expected, but now affronted with this familiar scene Harry felt more comfortable. He had always at least helped with breakfast, often did it all himself, and he knew that he would be expected to help now.

The bacon still sizzled and by the smell Harry knew that they should be turned by now… years of being hit with hot pans had ingrained it into his being. Hoppity was still mixing stuff at the counter, seemingly unaware of the bacon that was about to be burnt. So it was to be his job then.

Harry looked at the stove and noticed that he was a little too short to see over it and into the pan. Under Snape's dark scrutinizing eyes, Harry hurried over to the nearest chair and very quietly moved it to the stove so that he could stand on it. The sizzling sounds and Hoppity’s humming drowned out any noise that he might have made. Now more assured than ever that he was doing his job, Harry got in top of the chair and surveyed the pan, the bacon definitely needed to be turned by now. He spotted a pair of tongs on the side of the stove and moved over to reach them with his short arms. When he was dully equipped, Harry reached out with the tongs and started to carefully flip over the first piece of-

“Harry!” Hoppity’s terrified voice broke his concentration and he startled, badly, knocking his hand down and glancing off of the edge of the hot pan. He sucked in a breath as white hot pain shot through the back of his right hand and Hoppity hurried over to confront him. No doubt to berate him on taking so long to get ready this morning and now burning the bacon. Harry flinched when she bore down on him and roughly grabbed the tongs from his hand.

“What were you doing, Harry? What were you thinking? Are you hurt?” She asked frantically. Harry didn’t know what to answer. He was confused.

During his silence Hoppity’s face went from perplexed to understanding to angry and she went on to berate him for real this time. “Harry! If you wanted bacon you could have just asked!”

From his chair behind them, Snape gave a loud snort.

“And you!” Hoppity said, rounding on Snape. “How could you just let him do that?”

Snape just narrowed his eyes. “Simple. I just sat here and watched him. You could have had any number of opportunities to stop him if you weren’t so lost in your little world. Don’t worry though, Potter puts himself in danger for his selfish desires at his every convenience so I’m sure that you will have plenty of opportunities to make it up in the future.”

Harry clenched his hand into a fist, ignoring the slight twinge of pain from his burn. It wasn’t true that he put himself in danger because he was selfish, things just happened to him! He never asked for any of it.

“Well you could have at least stopped him!” Hoppity said, her mouth in a frown.

“And spoil my chance of witnessing your ineptitude? Never.” Snape said, in mock seriousness.

Hoppity’s frown deepened before she determinedly wiped it off and turned back to Harry. “Now Harry, if you want bacon next time just tell me okay? You could hurt yourself.” Mutely, Harry nodded. He didn’t really want bacon, he was happy with just toast but should he tell her that he was just trying to help? No, he decided resolutely. She might not believe him or she would think that he was odd. He was supposed to be a normal boy today, and he didn’t think normal boys helped make breakfast. Plus, there was no way that Snape would believe him and he didn’t want to start another argument between those two.

“Oh dear,” Hoppity said as she surveyed the bacon pan and quickly moved it over to a different burner on the top of the stove. “I suppose I’ll just have to start over.”

Ignoring the very burning bacon, Harry allowed Hoppity to lead him back to the table and next to a seat.

“I want you to have a special breakfast for your first day of school, Harry. Do you want anything in particular?”

Eggs, was Harry’s first thought. “Erm,” he started, suddenly shy as he stood next to the table. “Could I have some eggs please?”

“Of course, Harry-bean!” Hoppity said, beaming and almost hopping to the stove.

Hoppity left him and Harry sat in the chair. From across the table Snape looked at him with narrowed eyes. Harry fidgeted in his chair and looked around the table for something to do. The places were all set and he reached out for his empty glass. His burn was not bad but it was still uncomfortable. If he poured himself a glass of juice he could rest the hurt against it and it would feel better.

He stood up a little on his chair to reach over the table for the juice carton sitting in the middle. He pulled it towards himself, and still halfway standing, he unscrewed the top of the juice container and then started to pour with one hand. He immediately realized that that was a mistake as the carton, slippery with perspiration and too bulky and heavy for his small hand, slipped out of his grasp and crashed to the table. Juice splashed all over the table and onto the front of his shirt even as his seeker reactions had him reaching out and snatching up the container with both hands to right it. Unfortunately, he over compensated and the slippery carton dropped from his small grasp a second time, toppling over to its side and guzzling the liquid out. He was able to quickly right the carton this time but the damage had already been done. Juice had splattered all over the table top, his arms, his shirt and was now dripping onto his trousers. Wonderful.

“You stupid boy!” Snape spat out and Harry flinched at the tone as the man leapt up from his chair, presumably to escape the rapidly swelling juice puddle though he needn’t have bothered; the juice was all trickling towards Harry’s side.

Harry just wordlessly looked at the large mess he had made. He was slightly aware of a gasp from Hoppity before she quickly came over to pull him away from the dripping mess. In her haste, she unknowingly pressed down on the bruise on his right arm and Harry leapt out of her grasp, prompted into action. He had to clean this up! But with what? Harry cast his eyes around the kitchen looking for any kind of dish towel or rag or even serviettes but he the only thing he spotted were the serviettes on the table, one of which was completely soaked. The others seemed fine enough though so Harry hurried to the table and stood on his tip-toes to reach them. He started to mop up the juice with the serviettes as best he could with his considerably short reach.

He was aware of Snape glaring down at him and Hoppity twittering through the kitchen trying to find something else, but Harry just tried to clean it up faster. He got up on a chair and leaned over the table to reach the middle of the table. It was his mess and he needed to fix it. The serviettes didn’t hold much liquid however and Harry was distressed to discover that he was doing nothing more than pushing the juice around. His relatives were right, he was ungrateful and didn’t deserve anything. He had just ruined the first new clothes he had ever got and had just ruined breakfast for everyone. He didn’t deserve a special breakfast and Hoppity would soon realize that he was a horrible little boy and take away his toys and shove him away and throw him in a storage closet and Snape would just laugh at him and treat him like he always did. Harry blinked his eyes, refusing to cry. He never ever cried.

“For Melin’s sake!” Snape barked from where he stood to one side and brandished his wand to angrily mutter a quick cleaning spell at the table. The spell cleaned away the juice and drained the napkins and Harry felt it harshly scour over his hands, drying them. The spell died down and Harry dropped the clean serviettes and stepped away from the now dry table. He was dismayed to realize that his outfit had missed the benefits of such a spell; his shirt was still cool and wet.

“Severus! I thought that you had agreed not to use magic!” Hoppity yelled from where she was gathering up more serviettes to clean the now non existent mess.

Snape’s upper lip curled as he looked at her with distaste. “The brat was just making his mess worse and I’m sure anything you attempted would not have been much better.”

“You could at least cleaned Harry up too!”

Snape just pocketed his wand and sat back down at the now clean table and crossed his legs. He gave her a challenging look, “So you would have me break your own rules when it suited your purposes?”

Hoppity just stood there and Harry, feeling ignored, tugged at his shirt, trying to get the cool wet spots away from his body as he waited for this latest drama to continue and hopefully end soon. He didn’t mind being over looked but he was unsure as to what he should do. Go back upstairs and change again? He didn’t want to seem rude by just walking away but neither did he want to call attention on himself by asking to leave as the latest battle between his temporary guardians seemed to commence. He didn’t have to wait long, however before the smell of badly burning eggs spread through the room, cutting off anything Hoppity might have said in her defense.

“Oh no,” she lamented.

Snape slammed his hand down on the table furiously. “I am tired of your incompetence. Sit down and do not move an inch from that spot!” he spat out threateningly, one long white finger pointing at the seat next to where Harry was standing, still trying to keep the wet splotches of his shirt away from his skin. “And you,” Snape hissed as he turned sharply to the little boy. “Go away and change your clothes. Do not return until the meal is ready. You’re already ruined this day enough without getting underfoot and spilling something else!”

Harry glared at Snape but left without protest. He could feel the glare of Snape on his back all the way until he turned at the staircase. He tried to keep his mind blank and not think of anything as he went back upstairs to his room and changed out of his shirt. It smelled like orange juice and was still wet so he folded it and placed it on the counter in the bathroom on top of the pile of dirty laundry he had left earlier. He tried not to think as he sighed and wet a flannel to wipe the sticky juice from his arms and chest. The drying water left him feeling cold and he wasn’t sure that he got all the juice off but unless he wanted another shower it was the best he could do.

His trousers had a large wet spot on one upper leg so he took of his trainers so he could change out of his trousers too and used the wet flannel wipe the stickiness on his leg away. Now that he was alone and in the privacy of his own bathroom, he turned on the tap all the way to cold and placed the burn on his hand under it. He stood there for a minute, shivering in the artificially cool air before turning off the tap and going back to his room. He pulled out another short sleeved shirt, a blue buttoned down one this time (all his shirts seemed to be of the buttoned down type), and another pair of trousers and quickly put them on.

He spent a few minutes in his room, looking at the toys he had before pulling his laced-up trainers on and slowly starting back downstairs.

When Harry made it back to the doorway of the kitchen it was to see Snape standing at the stove, expertly tossing something in a frying pan. Hoppity sat at the table facing at him, looking subdued but when she spotted him she smiled and beckoned him to come closer. Harry just shock his head no and pressed himself closer to the door frame to wait until Snape looked like he was done.

He caught the frown Hoppity sent his way out of the corner of his eye but he ignored it and kept his attention on Snape. He rubbed one eye tiredly with a fist, he had just woken up but already it felt like it would be along day.

He didn't have to stand near the door for long before Snape finished what he was doing and with a concentrated but stern expression carried the frying pan to the table. Only when Snape had seated him self did Harry walk into the kitchen and tentatively place himself in his seat.

Snape looked up and gave him a darkly annoyed look before picking up his utensils and beginning to eat. Harry looked down at his own plate. There were two fried eggs and a piece of toast lightly buttered. It looked like the bacon had not been remade and Harry was chagrined to know that it had been his fault that they didn’t have any. Even so, he wouldn’t have wanted to eat bacon anyway after the burning smells this morning and was glad that it hadn’t been remade.

He picked up the toast and started to nibble on it. Someone had poured some juice in his cup halfway but he ignored it. He had wanted eggs earlier but now the site of them on his plate made him feel odd.

“Eat up Harry-bean.” Hoppity said, smiling, and Harry wondered how she could still be so happy this morning. “You have a big day today and you’ll need your strength!”

Harry dutifully picked up his fork and nibbled at his eggs. They tasted really good and once they reached his stomach he felt better.

The meal continued in silence, only broken at the end when Hoppity informed Snape of their plans for the day. “We’ll be leaving soon and taking the car. We should be back before three.”

Snape stayed silent but inclined his head to show that he heard.

“Alright then.” Hoppity said and then straightened up from her chair, picked up her plate to place in the sink. Harry followed her example, reaching up to place his plate on the counter next to the sink. He didn’t want to drop it in the sink and break something. He left his untouched glass of juice on the table.

“Here you go Harry,” Hoppity said as she handed him a plastic grocery bag. “I made you a lunch.”

Harry took the oddly shaped bag from her, wondering what she had put in it.

“Good bye Severus.” Hoppity said as she picked up a matching bagged lunch for herself and herded Harry out of the kitchen and towards the garage where the car was. The last glance Harry got of Snape was of the man sourly frowning as he looked into his glass of juice.

The ride to the school was mostly uneventful, Hoppity made a couple of wrong turns but they still ended up safely parked outside the entrance early before school started.

Harry got out from the back seat of the car and with his lunch in one hand and Hoppity holding the other, they set across the car park to the school. An elderly man wearing a bright orange vest and holding a Stop sign smiled and waved at them as they went through the last part, the ground painted in a white diagonally striped subway.

Harry looked up at the school as they approached it; made out of a dark monotone brick, it was mostly a single storey tall, except for a higher part of the building that Harry assumed was a gymnasium or a canteen. The entrance was covered by a long arch painted in a bright red. There were a few trees here and there poking up through the cement but they were all scraggly and young looking with the lower branches cut off.

Hoppity lead him to the front double doors, which were painted a light blue and pulled them open, doing an impressive juggling trick by not dropping her own plastic bag lunch. The entered the building and passed a second set of double doors which were propped open.

They stood there for a moment, just looking around at the inside of the school; the floor was of a marble tile looking material and the walls were made of white painted cinder blocks. Several doors were on the right wall and on the left was also a door before a large expanse of wall covered in brightly drawn cartoon characters and posters.

“Well let’s find the office, shall we?” Hoppity asked and at Harry’s nod she pulled them to the first door and walked in.

They entered a chaotic office where a sleepy looking Asian woman sat, deeply drinking something from a cup. Hoppity introduced herself and asked her where they should go and after rifling through a filing cabinet, the lady told them where to go and handed Hoppity some papers. "You’ll want to drop him off before coming back. His class is room A-16 and his teacher is Jane Alkins. You go out this room, down the hall, turn right and then take the next left. It's on the right.”

Hoppity took the papers, mumbled the directions under her breath and thanked the lady before pulling Harry out of the office and back into the hall.

“Okay, a right, left, on the right, room A-16. Okay. Come along Harry.” And then they set off to find his classroom. Harry looked at the walls curiously, many more cartoon characters adorned them with lots and lots of posters and artwork.

As they made their way, they passed a few children, all wearing bright colours and large knapsacks or holding bright plastic lunchboxes. The children mostly ignored Harry as he and Hoppity walked past, although more than one looked curiously at the bulky plastic bag he carried in one hand.

They soon found the classroom and walked in. It was a brightly lit place with one wall made up almost completely of windows, posters everywhere and things hanging from the ceiling. Small desks were placed in groups of four with brightly coloured chairs. A green chalkboard was on one side of the room, but half of it was covered with posters and more artwork.

Several play areas were in the room and a few children were already there, moving around, playing, running and generally creating chaos.

An elderly lady with grey hair and a slightly hunched over back approached them almost immediately. She wore a dark purple dress and an interesting necklace made of large beads.

"Hello!" she said in a rasping voice. "Can I help you?"

"Ah, yes. This is Harry and it's his first day!" Hoppity said, smiling as she pushed Harry in front of her.

Harry felt acutely visible as several children glanced curiously at him before continuing their play things and the old lady bent down to address him. Just why had he agreed to do this again?

"Hello Harry." The teacher said loudly. "I am Ms. Alkins and I will be your teacher. Say goodbye to Mommy and we'll find your desk now, alright?"

Hoppity smiled, but Harry looked up at her in alarm as the realization hit that he would really be left here, alone to fend for himself in this unfamiliar territory. He couldn’t remember what school was like when he was this young in Surrey, it was sure to be uninteresting and harrowing and well, boring! Just what did one do in lessons this young, recite letters and count numbers all day?

Why couldn’t he have just stayed home and played lego’s?

“Aw, separation anxiety?” the old woman asked Hoppity throatily in an understanding voice.

What? No!

“Don’t worry, Harry, you’ll be able to see Mommy at the end of the day.” She said condescendingly.

Augh, he was starting to not like this lady at all.

The next comment was address to Hoppity in an ‘adult’ voice, "They will all be done at 2:30 and you can pick him up or he can wait outside at the bus stop."

“Alright. Goodbye, Harry!” Hoppity said smiling and apparently oblivious to Harry’s stricken face. “Have fun!” The teacher lead him away and Harry glanced back to see Hoppity's fuzzy hair disappearing through the doorway.

He was lead to a small desk near the back of the room. There was a name card taped across the top that said ‘Harry’ and the chair was a bright green. "This will be your desk Harry," the old woman said hoarsely. She pulled out a red folder and a plastic tray holding a box of crayons and two large pencils from within the desk. "And these will be your crayons and pencils, and this is your folder. You will put all your work in your folder for safe keeping.” Harry looked down to see that the folder also had "Harry" written across the top of the front in a big black pen.

She continued to lecture him in her loud raspy voice. "Now Harry, we have rules in this classroom and if you don’t obey them you will get a demerit, but when the whole class obeys them the whole class gets a star. When the bell rings you are to be at your desk sitting quietly in your chair or you will get a demerit. Whenever you hear the bell on my desk it means ‘Everyone stop what you are doing and be quiet’. You are to obey all the instructions given.

"Yelling is not allowed. You are not allowed to fight or to throw anything. If you have a problem you are to see a teacher or a grownup in the classroom. Don’t talk to any strangers if they come in the classroom or outside on the playground.

"Miss Kincaid is our student teacher and you are to listen and obey her too. If I am busy and you have a problem or need something you can just ask her. She is over there." An old, bent finger pointed at a young brown haired woman in the front of the class talking to a little girl.

“Do you understand all the rules Harry?”

He nodded then voiced his assent. "Yes ma’am. Erm... what should I do with my lunch?" He asked plaintively, holding up his funny plastic bag.

"There is a cubby in the back for you to put your backpack and lunch and your jacket if your bring one. I'll show you your spot." She led Harry to the back where there was a section separated by a low wooden wall where several lunch boxes already sat on shelves at shoulder height.

Harry was shown his spot and he placed his oddly shaped package next to a pink unicorn plastic lunch box and a green dinosaur one. He could see several brown plastic bags along the shelves but no plastic ones like he had. He decided not to worry about it since it was just something to have his lunch in. Something in his bag fell over and he spent several moments trying to right it on the shelf so that the bag would stay put.

He was then lead back to the main classroom and told that he could play until the beginning bell began. He decided to just sit at his desk and look around, feeling alien in this strange place.

As if on queue, a large amount of students poured into the classroom and then the bell rang and the small children found their seats and quieted.

A very small dark haired boy sat across from him. He looked a little dorky with thick round glasses and lime green croakies connecting to each ear piece and dangling along to back so that he didn’t lose his eyewear. A girl with a long dirty blond ponytail sat next to him and a black girl sat diagonally from him.

The morning seemed to pass very fast for Harry. If felt as if the class never did anything for more than a few minutes. First they all stood up and recited some pledge, Harry just stood up pretended to follow the mumble as he placed his hand over his heart. Then they sang some strange song about America or something, which sounded quite awful with 20 young off key voices and then the teacher came over to Harry’s desk and made him stand up and introduced him to the class.

“This is Harry,” she said in her horrible croaking voice, “and he is new today. Let’s welcome him and say hello.”

“Hello Harry.” Twenty high pitched voices sang back. Harry was allowed to sit back down and the teacher walked back to the front of the classroom to tell them all about her trip to some gardens and the birds she saw.

After her short story telling the class had a whole bunch of quick lessons. Harry dutifully followed the other children’s examples and did work sheets and basically followed instructions. He wrote out lines of M’s both upper case and lower and coloured in pictures of monkeys, mirrors and mistletoe.

It was ridiculously easy to just print out a letter over and over again on top of a dotted practice one. It was even easier to circle and colour in pictures of objects that started with that letter. Harry completed three worksheets before they moved on to another lesson about shapes.

The teacher and the student teacher moved through the class and checked up on the children’s progress over and over again. When the student teacher came by his desk the first time she smiled and introduced herself as ‘Ms. Kincaid’ and put a Good Job sticker on his top worksheet and complemented him on how round his O’s were.

Lunch time was a relatively lonesome affair. The other children ran back to get their lunches and milk cartons were passed out to some students. Harry self consciously retrieved his plastic bagged lunch with the children in his group when they were told they could and brought it back to his desk.

The teachers both left and a new woman came in the room to watch them. Some of the children across the room acted up when the lunch teacher turned her back and threw wrappers and bits of food around, a larger boy in particular with spiky dirty blonde hair was very active as he tossed crisps at a boy sitting across from him.

The classmates sitting in his cluster of desks around him eyed his bag strangely and he noticed that the green dinosaur belonged to the boy across from him and the pink unicorn belonged to the black girl across from him. The girl with the long dirty blond hair next to him had a large rectangular bag from which she pulled out a small lunch set, different food items in little trays all covered by a bright yellow film with holes so that one could see in.

All around the room, students had opened their lunches and started to eat. Harry undid the knot at the top of his plastic bag and wondered what Hoppity had made for him.

He pulled out two sandwiches, both wrapped in clingfilm, a bag of crisps that was also wrapped in clingfilm, a bottle of flavoured water, a can of what looked like chocolate milk, a package of small chocolate cakes and at the bottom of the bag was another clingfilm bag of pretzels.

“Ouu! You’re not supposed to have that!” the girl next to him squealed as she looked at his lunch items. “I’m telling.”

Harry looked at her, then his lunch confusedly as the girl got up and ran to the lunch minder. The girl came back followed by the minder and Harry looked at her confusedly as she reached out and took his can of chocolate milk away.

The lady looked at the aluminium can strangely, and then at the large assortment of food items before starting to lecture him. “Tell your parents not to send you to school with any metal or glass bottles or I’ll have to take it away.”

“But my mum gave that to me and I want it.” Harry protested as the woman made to turn away and walk off with his chocolate milk.

“You can have a milk carton this time instead... Harry.” The woman consoled him and read his name from off of his desk. “But only today because we have one extra.” She left and came back with a small red carton of milk and a straw despite Harry’s angry pout and didn’t give his can back even though it was his.

The girl next to him started to make miniature sandwiches from her tray and when she looked at him he glared but she just stuck her tongue out at him self satisfied. What a little brat, the older part of him thought as he opened the milk carton and tested it. The milk tasted awful and he pushed it away.

He opened the wrap around the sandwiches and lifted the top piece of bread to see what they were made up of. One looked to be made of sandwich meat but the other seemed to be peanut butter and jelly, only the jelly looked more like a bright orange gelatinous mass. He wondered if this were some American thing or a Wizarding thing and took a few bites of each sandwich. He nibbled on the crisps and pretzels and had some difficulty opening the bottle of flavoured water- in the end the lunch minder came back and took it upon herself to end his struggles and open it for him even though she didn’t ask if she could. He ate both little chocolate cakes and then cleaned up his mess by placing the left over bits of food back into their strange Clingfilm bags and placed everything back into the large plastic bag.

A very large round trash tin on wheels was pushed through the classroom by the lunch minder and the children threw, tossed and placed their food wrappers in it. When the bin came to his table the lunch minder, the same lady who stole his chocolate milk, snatched up his neatly packaged plastic bag and dropped it into the bin without his consent. He hadn’t eaten all of it and it seemed a real waste to just throw it out but his protest died on his lips as he watched a boy throw a half eaten tuna sandwich and an opened bottle of milk in next and he realized that he didn’t really want it now.

The lunch minder and the rolling trash bin moved off and Harry was resigned to the fact that as a child he would be expected to act a certain way and that adults would trample over him now and do what they thought was best.

It was a peculiar thought and something that he had always chafed at but now although it still frustrated him, it had this strange comforting feeling to it. He didn’t understand it and he wanted to kick the feeling away.

The lunch minder called for the class’ attention and Harry got up and joined the children to stand in a long line to be marched out for recess.

He had no choice but to adapt. Maybe then it wouldn’t bother him so much.

The class was lead noisily through the hall and through double doors to an outside play park. The ground was a black pavement and some bits of it were painted with large shapes. A few things were scattered around like a jungle gym and climbing bars and some strange tall poles with a huge bucket on top with holes shaped out of it which looked to be made for some ball game.

A fence ran around the perimeter of the area only it seemed to go on for awhile. Harry’s class was led through to the part at one end and lunch minders stood between them and the rest of the large park as a sort of invisible boundary, from behind Harry could see other children playing.

One of the minders had a large cart from which balls and outdoor playthings were passed out. Several boys started a game where they threw a small ball off of the tall brick wall of the school.

Harry just stood off to one side, not getting in anyone’s way. He met several children but none of them seemed to be very interested in him, except for one large boy who had been playing the ‘ball off the wall’ game and chased the ball over to where Harry was sitting when it got away.

The ball stopped right in front of Harry and Harry picked it up and gave it to him. The other boy noticed his shoes right away.

“Are those the new Air Turbo 7’s?” The bigger boy demanded.

“Yes.” Harry said curiously back wondering about their significance.

“Do they really blink three times with every step?” A jealous tone tinted the question.

“Yeah,” Harry said and took a few steps to prove it. Some other children noticed and came over to see but the one boy looked at them strangely and then turned away to go back to his game and the other children left too leaving Harry alone until a bell rang and they were all gathered up to go back inside.

When they entered the classroom after recess Harry was faced with a strange dilemma. Mats were placed on the floor of the darkened room and the children went to them and seemed to find a particular one before lying down on them. A large fan in the corner of the classroom was on and made a loud, deep whirling sound, muffling any conversation. Harry just stood to one side wondering what he was supposed to do. The teacher was busy across the room trying to convince two recalcitrant children to lie down. She managed to convince them before seeing Harry and walking over towards him.

“Are you going to be difficult too?” Ms Alkins asked him in her croaking voice once she reached him.

Harry just shook his head ‘no’ wondering what everyone was doing but luckily the student teacher, Ms Kincaid, came to his rescue.

“Harry probably just doesn’t know what’s going on.” Ms Kincaid suggested before turning to him. “Harry, you might not take naps at home but at school everyone has to take a nap after recess unless they want a time-out. You don’t have to sleep but you do have to lie down and be quiet for the whole time.”

As much as he opposed the idea, Harry supposed that he had little choice. He followed Ms. Kincaid to an empty mat on the far side and lay down on it. He stayed awake for the whole long time, listening to the fan and the other children breathing and moving around. Sometimes a quiet voice or a giggle would break out but after the first few minutes it became quiet and Harry grew bored.

After ‘nap-time’ the children got up and put their mats away. The rest of the day passed in a blur for Harry. They had a few more lessons, including an art time before the ending bell rang and they were dismissed. He found himself following the other children out of the classroom to the front of the school.

Luckily, Hoppity was waiting for him outside the office still inside the school and he spotted her immediately and broke away from the throng. Ms. Kincaid noticed and tried to stop him but once she realized who he was trying to get to, he was able to escape and run up to her.

They waited awhile on a bench in the hall until the commotion died down and then Hoppity lead him out to the car.

The first day wasn't so bad, he mused as he was tucked into the back seat. It had been long and his lunch was a little odd and except for the time the girl tattled on him and the nap time it hadn’t been too awful.

He still had rather played with his Lego’s all day though.

“Hoppity?” Harry ventured, still unsure if he was allowed to call her that. She hadn’t ever corrected him before but they were alone now and she might. ‘Mum’ felt a little too personal and awkward unless they were in public and he couldn’t just call her Miss or Ma’am or Professor. Snape called her ‘Smirkett’ but that seemed rude for Harry to use after she introduced herself as his new mum for the summer.

After no corrections came and instead she gave a questioning “Hmm?” he was reassured and continued with his question. “Are all American schools like this one?”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” She answered. “I think that this one is special. I’m told that most American schools are seasonal and aren’t in session during the summer. I heard that you’re in some special program where all the children going into first grade are in your class until they are ready to advance. Was it very different, Harry?”

“I don’t know, I don’t remember Muggle school very well.” He answered and looked out the window. There was something else he wanted to ask her but he couldn’t remember what it was so the rest of the drive passed in silence except for Hoppity’s quiet humming.

When they passed Michael’s house, Michael was waiting in the front yard and waved and chased after them through the grass when he saw Harry through the tinted window of the back seat. Harry remembered what fun he had had the day before and really wanted to have more.

“Can I go play with Michael today?” Harry asked as the car continued briefly down the road to their house.

“Of course dear,” Hoppity replied nonchalantly as the car pulled into their drive. “Just be back in time for dinner.”

The car stopped and Harry quickly undid his safety belt and leapt out of the car and started to run, before turning around, running back, closing the car door and then running off.

The last thing he heard was “Have fun Harry!” before he ran across the neighbor’s front garden and met Michael who just happened to have his Ninja Turtles.

---------

Hoppity placed her bag in her room after her long first day as a Secretary at Little Ridge Elementary school. It had been a little over whelming being introduced to how everything worked and to the contraption on her desk called a computer. She only had basic information about such things and it had been a struggle pretending that she used them all the time. She thought that the bright screen had given her a headache but it might have been from the large pile of folders waiting for her on the desk.

All she wanted was a nice cup of tea... her eyes flew open. Whatever happened to the tea set Albus had given them? She started to panic. Had they left it at the airport? She needed that tea set! Needed it! Wait- hadn't the woman at the airport say that it would end up wherever they went? So where was it?

It was probably lost or late. Although she doubted it, maybe the house already had a tea set in one of the cupboards downstairs. She was extremely dubious but it was worth a check. When she got down to the kitchen, she noticed Snape pursuing the cupboards. Noticing that she had entered, he turned to her. "Where is that blasted tea set I had to carry all over the airport?"

Heheh. “Erm, I don’t know. Didn’t you have it?”

“Don’t play coy! You know very well that you were the last person with it in possession before you turned it over to those Muggle people at that flying place.”

“Ah, yes, but the lady assured me that it would end up wherever we are.”

“So where is it then?” Snape ground out.

Hoppity thought for a moment. “Well we ended up at this house so it’s probably somewhere in here. Have you checked all the cupboards?”

“Not all of them.” Snape finally admitted.

“Well I’m sure it’s here somewhere!” she said brightly and got up to start searching and Severus joined her to search anew.

They checked all the cupboards in the house and all the rooms to no avail. The box Albus had entrusted to her was no where to be found.

They congregated back to the kitchen where Hoppity checked the large cold box, known to Muggles as a refrigerator, just in case they had sent it in there but there was only the food they had purchased inside.

“Maybe the Muggle magic was faulty.” Hoppity hazarded to the sour man sitting at the kitchen table.

“Don’t be ridiculous! Muggles don’t have magic. As the new Muggle Studies Professor you, more than anyone else, should know that!”

Hoppity could practically see her worth as a teacher in Snape’s eye decrease to the negatives. She had thought to put Muggle things in terms a grown Wizard would know but it seemed as if she underestimated this particular one. Badly.

“Yes they do! They just use it differently.” Hoppity said hotly, trying to justify her reasoning. At Snape’s semi-interested raised eyebrow she continued. “It’s just different- like electricity... and radios and the telly…” she trailed off. She could tell that the man at least half believed her as he didn’t contradict her and had turned his attention away to idly play with a pocket watch with which he had pulled out.

The quiet clicks of the chain links swinging against each other caught her attention through the stillness of the house. Apparently Snape noticed it too and the watch was stilled. The silence remained, increasing as she was forced to notice it.

“It’s quiet- too quiet. Where’s the brat?” Severus asked suddenly.

“His name is Harry and he’s playing at his friend, Michael’s house.” She said exasperatedly.

“You trust the boy without supervision to not kill himself or get into trouble?” his tone was incredulous and she couldn’t understand why.

“Well of course! He’s not a baby and he’s just next door. Besides, he’s promised to come home before dinner.”

“Just like yesterday, I assume.” Snape asked dryly, with no little sarcasm.

She just stood there silently, trying to come up with a reply. “Well, it was good of you to go get him.”

The man scowled. “I suppose you expect me to go collect him as well then?”

“Well if you wouldn’t be opposed…” she asked nicely.

The watch was opened and the man glanced at it before closing it and replacing it into a pocket and sitting back in his chair. He made no move to get up.

“I thought that you were going to go get him?”

“I changed my mind.” Snape bit out curtly.

Any further questioning was interrupted when the front door opened and a messy haired, green eyed boy practically flew into the house and into the kitchen to tell her that he wasn’t late.

“I will be tutoring the boy, starting tomorrow.” Snape informed them the next morning at the breakfast table.

Harry’s toast paused on the way to his mouth as he looked up at Snape, startled. He had mostly forgotten about the Occlumency lessons.

“Tutoring?” Hoppity asked curiously.

Snape placed his fork on his plate brusquely and placed each hand on either side of his breakfast plate. “The brat may think that he can fool around this summer playing child but the Dark Lord will not afford him such luxuries.” He said viciously as much to Hoppity as for Harry. “The blessed title of Boy-Who-Lived unfortunately carries some less than blessed side affects and Potter must be able to overcome them. It is most important that he be able to do so.”

“Oh, of course.” Hoppity said breathlessly as clutched her glass of juice in one hand.

Harry glared at his toast, wishing to kick Snape. He knew that he needed Occlumency lessons but Snape didn’t need to tell him all that again and in front of Hoppity; reminding her again of his fame. And now that she was star struck over the ‘importance’ of these lessons he wouldn’t be able to go to her to interfere if Snape’s lessons were overly harsh.

And he called him a brat too. Git.

“Twice a week, Potter, starting tomorrow at four o’clock. Do not be late.” Snape informed him imperiously.

Harry just glared at his toast harder. He needed Occlumency lessons but that didn’t mean that he had to like it.

“Potter, did you hear me?” Snape asked dangerously as he leaned toward over the table.

“Yes, sir.” He replied and bit a big chunk of toast.

For the rest of breakfast, Hoppity would give Harry overt glances and smile at him when she was caught. Harry was in a sour mood and he was sure that both Snape and Hoppity noticed but neither mentioned anything.

Harry finished the last of his orange juice and dutifully followed Hoppity to the kitchen sink to place his dishes on the counter. This time when Hoppity handed him the Muggle plastic grocery bag, no doubt containing his lunch, Harry was suddenly reminded of yesterday’s lunch mandate.

He bit his lip and looked up at Hoppity who was doing something on the counter. “I’m not allowed to bring aluminium cans or glass to school.” He informed her.

“Why?” Hoppity asked stopping her movements to tie the top of her own plastic bagged lunch.

“I dunno.” Harry said, shrugging and holding the bag up.

“We must have missed the memo,” Hoppity said distractedly as she took his bag from him, untied it and took out a can. “Muggles are so strange, they always have unusual rules that they expect everyone to know...” she mused as the knot was retied. “Here you are.” She said smiling as she handed the odd bag back. “Did you know that you have to staple sheets together in the same exact spot every single time? I had to redo half of my staple jobs yesterday.”

Harry just shook his head no, he did not know that.

They started for the garage door when Snape’s voice stopped them.

“Don’t forget to buy tea.”

“Of course Severus.” Hoppity replied. “Have a nice day.”

---

The school day for Harry went mostly as it had the day before. He mimicked the other children during the short exercises, listened to a lesson about the weather and filled out weather worksheets with clouds, suns and raindrops. They played a matching game and had some more little lessons before Harry got up with his group to retrieve his plastic bag for lunch.

He had learned the names of the children sitting around him when the teachers came by and addressed them. The dark haired boy sitting across from him with the big round spectacles was named Benny and he tended to sniffle a lot, if Harry had a tissue or a handkerchief he would have given it to him. The bratty girl next to him was named Jenny and she practically sang when the student teacher, Ms. Kincaid came around and spoke to her. The little black girl named Nisha seemed to be her friend, they kept chatting to each other about what colour they should make the clouds and whether orange or yellow was better for the rays of the sun.

The morning passed quickly and soon it was lunch time. It seemed that the order of tables allowed to get their lunches changed every day and this time Harry's group was one of the first excused to go to the back cubby.

Harry had already started to unpack his lunch when a large blond boy, the same one from yesterday who asked him about his sneakers, stopped on his way back from the cubby and snatched something off of the desk of the small boy who sat across from him.

“Hey!” the small boy yelped and turned in his seat. “Give that back!”

“Give what back.” The bigger boy taunted.

The smaller boy looked up to where the adults were, his eyes appearing distorted and larger through the frames of his thick spectacles, and Harry found himself following his gaze. The lunch lady had just entered the classroom and the teachers were standing at the door with her, talking.

“What you took!”

“Nuah!”

“Give it back!” the little boy cried, his face beginning to turn red and splotchy.

By then, the adults noticed and the lunch lady practically ran to them, bearing down on the situation.

“Benny! Bobby! What’s going on?”

“He took something from my lunch.” The speckled boy wailed.

“No I didn’t!”

“Bobby,” the woman started threateningly.

“What? I didn’t take nothing.”

“Anything, you didn’t take anything.” The lunch lady corrected.

“Yes he did!” Harry found himself saying.

The lady sighed. “Bobby empty your pockets.”

“No and you can’t make me.”

“Empty them or you’ll have to stand with the teachers during recess the whole time and won’t be allowed to play.”

Bobby pouted but pulled out a smushed packet from within his short trousers. He glared hatefully at Harry.

Benny gave a hiccupping sob at the sight of the mangled packet as the woman started to berate the bigger boy and ushered him off.

She came back moments later. “Are you okay Benny?” The little boy cried harder. Uncomfortable at the display of tearful emotion, Harry tried to come up with something to help make him feel better. He opened his own half-packed lunch bag and looked inside. Spotting the two little cakes at the bottom of the bag, same as yesterday, he pulled them out.

“You can have one of these.” He offered and the crying stopped immediately. Benny blinked from behind his enlarging round spectacles, the tears on his lashes darkening them and clumping them together wetly.

“Aw, thank you Harry.” The lunch minder said and pulled the offered cake to Benny. “Look, Benny, Harry gave you a cupcake!”

Benny looked up at him and gave a timid smile. “Thanks.” He mumbled shyly and took the cupcake from the lunch minder’s hand.

Seeing the conflict resolved, she smiled, got up and left. The rest of the lunch period passed in chaotic loudness although neither Harry nor Benny said a word.

Outside during recess, as Harry stood by himself off to the side surveying the play park, he noticed that the bigger boy (Bobby, he thought his name was) had to stand next to the lunch minder for half of the time. As soon as he was released, he came straight for Harry.

“Why’d you tell on me?” the spiky blond boy demanded.

Harry looked at him incredulously and stepped down from the wooden plank he had been standing on. “You stole something from his lunch.”

“So? He’s just a crybaby. I would’ve gotten away with it if you didn’t tell on me!”

“You’re just mean and a bully.” Harry accused.

“Yeah? Well you talk funny and you dress funny. No wonder you don’t have any friends.” Bobby taunted cruelly.

Harry looked down at his clothes. It was true that they looked different than the rest of the children’s on the playground but he couldn’t help that. They were clean and new and fit him. It should have been enough. He couldn’t help how he talked either, no more than anyone could help being a Wizard or a Muggle or a Squib.

“I have friends and they don’t care what I wear.” He retorted. “And you talk funny to me.”

“You don’t have friends. If you had friends then you’d be playing with them.”

“Well I don’t see you playing with any of your friends either, now do I?” Harry demanded. Bobby’s face just screwed up at this bit of logic and the boy gave Harry a shove and then left.

As Harry watched the bully walk away he fingered the wand in his back pocket. He would have liked to throw a tripping hex at the bigger boy but he knew better than to do that. He pushed the wand in deeper before tightening his fingers around it. He had nearly forgotten that this was the abnormality of a wand that Dumbledore had fostered him into taking. The old man had first tricked him to turning over his real wand and then he had given it to Snape! Snape!

That had been a rotten trick. It was his wand and he would have been able to look after it. When he was little he had never lost any of his prized possessions unless the Dursleys took them away from him and the Dursleys were hardly here now. He wouldn’t have lost it, it was his wand.

And now greasy, slimy, gitty Snape had it. Harry felt shivers of dismay as he thought of his wand in Snape’s possession. If he was lucky the man would just have his wand coveted and on display on a wall or something but for all Harry knew the man could be using it to smash beetle guts or butomer puss.

Harry felt an anguished frustrating wail rise up at the unfairness of it all. He may have to sit down and take it when an adult threw his lunch trash away or allow himself to be lined up and lead around with the other children like a string of ducklings but there were some things that he refused to give into. Being deprived of his real wand was one of them.

Determined, Harry resolved to get his wand back tonight. He’d hide it in a drawer or tape it to his leg if he had to but he wasn’t going to let Snape have it back. He had the rest of the day to figure out how he was going to get it.

---

He found Hoppity waiting for him in the same hallway near the exit as before, sitting on a bench. He separated from the throng of exiting students and made his way over to her.

“Hello Harry-bean, how was your day of school?” Hoppity said, beaming.

“Mm, it was ok.” Harry said quietly as he climbed up to sit next to her. He peered up shyly from under his fringe and remembered a bit of courtesy. “Erm, how was your day?”

Hoppity gave a great big beam of a smile and half-hugged, half patted Harry on the head. “You’re such a sweet, well mannered little boy.”

Harry looked down, trying not to think about his plans of stealing his wand back against Dumbledore’s wishes.

“It was good,” Hoppity said, answering his question. “I got to play some games on the compewter. Did you know that you can play against other people on compewters? I mean, not people in the same room but people countries away. Oh! We should probably get going now.” Hoppity said, not giving Harry a chance to comment. “I’ve had coffee all day but I fear that if we don’t get some tea for Severus soon that he may do something drastic…”

They hurried out of the school building, Hoppity pulling Harry along by his hand, and soon were on their way to the nearest large food shop.

“I asked Cynthia, the lady I work with, where the best place around here to get tea was. Fortunately it’s close by.”

They arrived at the large shop and walked in. Hoppity pulled out a shopping cart; this one was a lot less deep than the one Harry had been forced to sit in last time and he was glad for that, as he didn’t think that Hoppity would demand that he sit in the uncomfortable-looking front seat. He walked close by Hoppity instead and looked around at everything placed at his height.

They picked up several packets and canisters of tea and then spotting the hundreds of boxes of cereal across from them Hoppity said that they should try some for breakfast the next day. They selected several different kinds and placed them in the cart next to the packets of tea bags, or in Harry’s case he handed the boxes he picked to Hoppity to place in the tall cart.

They stopped by the refrigerated dairy area and got several different bottles of milk too as Hoppity agreed with Harry that the milk they had tasted funny, and then a bottle of chocolate milk just in case these too tasted funny.

“If worse comes to worse,” Hoppity said as she put the chocolate milk carton into their cart, “We can always try chocolate milk over our cereal.”

When they arrived home, Snape was waiting in the kitchen with a pan of water boiling.

“About time.” He murmured and the helped himself to the bags and pulled out the different types of tea.

“They only had tea bags.” Hoppity explained as Snape looked at one canister sourly.

It was opened and Snape and Hoppity sat down with mugs to enjoy the first tea they had had in days. It was almost surreal seeing them get along together in amicable silence.

“I’m going over to Michael’s, okay? Harry asked a very distracted Hoppity

“You don’t want a spot of tea first?”

“No.”

“You sure? Alright then, but if Michael’s mum looks busy don’t be a bother.”

“I won’t.” Harry said crossly but Hoppity was already blissfully breathing in the scent from her mug.

Harry went to Michael’s house but no one answered the ring, or the knocks. No one was around the back and there wasn’t a car parked nearby. Feeling dejected, Harry set back home. He entered the house again to see Snape rinsing his cup out at the sink before shelving it and then heading to the basement.

“Back so soon?” Hoppity asked him once she spotted him.

“Yeah, Michael wasn’t home.” Harry said and scuffed his shoe on the floor.

“Oh well he might be out at football practice, his mum said he had that sometimes.”

“Really?” Harry asked nonchalantly, feeling more dejected then ever.

“Ahmm. I suppose we should sign you up for them too, then.”

Harry’s movement stopped and he looked up, his attention piqued.

“Perhaps tomorrow. Would you like that Harry?”

“Erm, I guess. I’ve never been on a football team before… but I’ve played Quidditch!”

“I’m sure that that will help you with strategy.” Hoppity suggested happily. “I’ll ask Michael’s mum what team he’s on and we’ll see if we can sign you up for that one too.”

“Okay!” Harry replied happily. He had been disappointed that Michael wasn’t in his class but being on the same football team sounded great and made up for it. It would be a fun thing to do after school and he enjoyed spending more time with Michael. He had never had a real friend before when he was this young and it was really interesting to see what kind of games they could play.

Hoppity got up to rinse her mug out and Harry stood by the wall. His hand strayed to his back pocket aimlessly and as he felt the small wooden utensil he was reminded of his earlier plan. Snape was down in the basement, probably doing something with potions and wouldn’t come out for awhile.

This house was Muggle, it wasn’t like Snape’s office at Hogwarts; it wouldn’t have any wards or alarms on the rooms… Harry would be free to search through Snape’s room and the man wouldn’t even know that he was up there. And if he was careful and made sure that everything was exactly where it was when he left, well then Snape would never know.

“I’m going to go play quietly in my room, okay?” Harry asked Hoppity once she had put her mug away in a cupboard.

“Oh, that’s fine Harry.” She said slightly surprised that he had informed her. “I’ll be down here watching the telly if you need me.”

Harry nodded. This was perfect. He waited until Hoppity had moved to the front room and sat on the couch before he headed up the stairs. Once on the second floor, he stealthily made his way down the hall to stand in front of Snape’s room. The other staircase was over here and Harry paused and strained his ears to make sure that no one was down there nearby but the only sounds he heard was the quiet noise from the telly.

He bit his lip and reached out for the metal doorknob of the closed door and slowly placed his hand on it, half expecting to be shocked or from some loud alarm to start despite the fact that Snape wasn’t supposed to do any magic. Well, Harry supposed that his Occlumency lessons he was to have didn’t count as Hoppity hadn’t objected to those but she did make a fuss whenever Snape did anything else.

Nothing happened and Harry bravely closed his small hand over the doorknob. Still nothing. He gave an experimental twist and the doorknob turned- it was unlocked. Harry looked around the hall one last time, just to make sure that Snape or Hoppity wasn’t hiding in a corner ready to pounce on him, and then slowly pushed the door open. It creaked quietly but that was the extent to which his presence was betrayed.

Considering it just his good luck, Harry slipped into the room and looked around. It looked much like it had when he had first seen it a couple of days ago- the bed was made neatly, there was no clutter and the closet was closed. For a moment, Harry doubted whether this was Snape’s room or not, the man could have been sleeping upside down from one of the rafters in the basement after all, but he soon changed his mind as he spotted two vials next to a lamp on one of the bedside tables- definitely Snape’s. One was empty but the other had a murky swamp like liquid in it and Harry shuddered to think what it tasted like.

He could feel Snape in this room and Harry didn’t think that it was his imagination. The man had definitely spent some time in here and Harry was mildly frightened and thrilled. If Snape caught him in here… well the results would probably not be pleasant for him but Harry was positive that Snape would not catch him in here. Snape was downstairs, far away and probably absorbed in his work and wouldn’t have a reason to come upstairs for awhile. Harry was going to be very careful to put everything back where it belonged too, Snape wouldn’t even suspect that he had ever been in here. Once he found his wand, he would just have to hide it well and as soon as Snape gave up trying to find it, well then Harry could keep it on him, where it belonged.

But if his wand wasn’t in here and Snape were carrying it around... Harry decided to think about that later. He was pretty sure that Snape would have put it somewhere in here though; Snape seemed the kind of person to put Harry’s wand in a place where he could gloat over it every night before falling asleep. and Harry hardly thought that the man was going to start carrying his wand around like some wand chauffer.

The stillness of the room pressed in and Harry stealthy made his way to the nearest bedside table. He had pleasant thoughts of how Snape would react once he realized that he no longer had Harry’s wand- he would probably get panicked and sweat under the pressure of losing it, maybe it would make the man a nervous wreck, agitated but unwilling to say that he lost the wand. It would serve the git right!

Harry yanked open the single drawer in the bedside table. There were a few items in it; potion vials and a small notebook and a quill and a bottle of ink… a small packet of tissues- what were they doing there? And... mints?

Harry almost giggled at the last and picked the mint packet up. Borgis’ Best Mints. Hmm... He opened the packet and nicked a small white mint, placing it in his mouth and tasting it before clumsily closing the packet and placing it back into the drawer.

He scowled at the drawer for failing to produce his wand it and shut it. Crunching on the mint, he walked around the bed to search through the rest of Snape’s belongings. The bedside table on the other side was empty and Harry closed it disappointedly. The tall dresser was next, and Harry opened the drawers that he could reach and shifted through the few articles of clothing in them, looking for his wand hidden at the bottom of them. The upper drawers he couldn’t reach without help so to get to those, he opened a lower drawer and carefully stood on the side of it, giving him the extra height he needed. He was very careful, lest he fall and have the drawers topple over him. Once those had been searched to the best of his stretched ability, Harry got off and closed them. He surveyed the room, thinking of where to look next.

There was the closet and bathroom but Harry’s attention gyrated back to the first bedside table, the one with all the stuff in it. There had been a notebook in it- maybe Snape had written down where he had put his wand! Harry went back to the table, pulled open the drawer to take out the notebook and flipped through the pages. It was full of notes and strange symbols and equations and weird stuff- nothing Harry understood and nothing that looked like it said where his wand was. He was getting a headache looking at it and trying to make sense of it so Harry replaced the book and looked at the bedside table again.

He had already searched it but maybe he missed something. He pulled the drawer out more and tilted it up and- there! The drawer slid out and Harry shakily lowered it to the floor. Sitting on his knees before it, he searched along the sides of the drawer and then turned it upside down, dumping the objects onto the floor. He was disappointed when this closer search yielded nothing. The back was a normal drawer, nothing was hidden or tapped along the bottom or sides and his wand didn’t miraculously appear in the pile of objects on the floor. Biting his lip, Harry sat back and thought. Where else could his wand be? Maybe it was between the mattresses or under a pillow. He would check the closet after those and if he still didn’t find his wand then he’d try the bathroom.

Harry started to pile Snape’s belongings back into the drawer when something made his breath stop and his heart race- someone was coming up the stairs! Harry quickly, and as quietly as he could, threw in the rest of the items into the drawer. He couldn’t get caught in here going through Snape’s belongings! He prayed that it would be Hoppity coming up the stairs or someone that wouldn’t bother checking this room but he realized that it was not to be as the quiet footsteps moved toward the door and paused.

Bugger. And Harry had left the door open a crack by accident when he had come in.

Bigger bugger.

Harry leapt up and desperately tried to think of what he could do in the two seconds before he was discovered. Could he dive and hide under the bed? No, the drawer was still out on the floor and would betray his presence- maybe if he ran for the closet Snape wouldn’t notice him and just see the drawer and then storm out, giving him enough time to escape? No, there was no way that he could do that without giving himself away-

Harry’s life expectancy plummeted past his stomach and into the floor as the door was flung open. He caught a look at Snape's shocked face as the man took in the sight of Harry in his room and the drawer resting on the floor before it was twisted into a mask of rage.

“POTTER!!” Snape roared and flew into the room, stopping in front of the bed and towering over the little boy. He was livid, his face was twisted into the fiercest look of outrage and anger he had ever seen- rivaling the time Snape had caught him in his pensieve. Shaking with uncontrolled rage, Snape’s hands contorted into claws, and opened and closed grotesquely in front of him as if searching for Harry’s throat.

Harry could only stand frozen as his mind desperately raced to figure out how he could dodge Snape and get out of this without being killed. Or strung and gutted alive. He could hear his heart beat rushing through his ears as all sound seemed to be magnified and his body was one taut, frozen muscle.

Still shaking with anger, the claws were extended one last time, then forcefully closed into fists. Snape panted loudly through his nose, his nostrils flaring as his face maintained an enraged expression.

“So, I’ve finally caught you,” He hissed dangerously. “A thieving little menace. Just what exactly were you after this time, Potter, hmm?”

Harry could only mutely stand next to the bed as Snape continued his spitting rant, taking several predatory steps towards him.

“Was it an expensive potions ingredient this time? An interesting object to steal? Perhaps a dirty little secret that you can tell your friends and laugh over later…” Snape hissed out menacingly before having one last big stride and swooping down on him.

He shrank away, raising his arms.

“Well what was it?” Snape hissed and wrapped his hands around his wrists, forcing his arms down and away. “What were you after?”

Harry shook his head ‘no’, trying to get away. If he dived maybe he could make it to the door.

He tried to turn away, to twist out of his grasp and get away but Snape was there and he was stuck, trapped.

“Answer the Question!!”

“Nothing! I didn’t want anything!” Harry yelled as he finally got one arm free and found room to dive to the floor and tried to roll under the bed. Snape wouldn’t be able to follow him, he was too big.

“Oh no, not this time.” Snape said as he lost his hold on Harry’s last wrist and snatched at his ankle instead, grabbing it and pulling before he had got away under the bed. There was a rough yank and Harry was pulled across the carpet back from under the bed, the carpet leaving a hot streak of friction on his belly. Harry reached out blindly for anything to grab and hold on to but he couldn’t grasp anything- and then there was a sharp bang as his head collided with the bed frame and he was pulled fully out.

“Ow.” Harry said dully as his vision darkened and he held his head. In his haze of pain he was maneuvered to stand.

“It served you right,” Snape said harshly. Wayward spit landed on Harry’s face and he dazedly wiped it away. He was startled when he was swiftly picked up under his arms by strong hands and positioned on the edge of the bed to sit.

Harry blinked, then scowled and rubbed his hurt head but it didn’t seem to have any effect on Snape who was glowering twice as fiercely and looming above him.

“Now, Potter, what were you after?”

Harry stayed silent, looking fiercely elsewhere, he wasn’t about to give anything away this time.

His wrists were grasped and pulled in an attempt to get his attention. Snape leaned in close and Harry did his best not to look at him, turning his head to the side and trying to ignore Snape’s hot breath on his cheek.

“Potter, answer the question!” Snape raged.

“Nothing! I was just looking around.” Harry answered, trying to ignore his fight or flight reaction. His wrists were caught and as much as he’d like to kick Snape’s knee caps right now to get away, fighting always lead to a worse punishment later.

The hands on his wrists tightened, then loosened. “Then look at me and say it.”

Harry turned his head to glare at Snape, suddenly angry at his prying. “Nothing! I didn’t want anything of yours I just wanted my wand, it’s mine! You’ve no right to keep it!”

His wrists were forced down to either side of him on the bed. Snape leaned in close, merely inches away from Harry’s face and looked thunderously serious. His mouth opened but he was interrupted when a knock sounded on the bedroom door and Hoppity peered into the room.

“Is something going on in here? I heard yelling.”

Snape got up and let Harry’s wrists go. He gave Harry a warning glare, daring him to move or to talk, and then turned to address Hoppity at the door.

“Smirkett, Potter and I have some things to discuss. Kindly leave us to it.” Hoppity paused for a moment at the door but left and shut it.

Snape stood facing the far wall silent for a long minute. Harry looked at his profile warily.

"Potter," Snape began. "Do you know why your wand is so important?"

Startled at this almost calm question Harry answered. "Because... it's the match to Voldemort's?"

"The DARK LORD." Snape corrected, turning to face him. "Yes, but also because this is the first wand that you bonded to, the wand that your magical powers grew with."

"This-" Snape pulled out a 12 inch mahogany wand... HIS wand "in the hands of someone else could be, harmful. You have lost it before and that was before your brain was shrunken to the size of a teacup! In your current simpleminded state it would be far too easy for you to lose or misplace it. You won't be given the chance." Snape twirled Harry's wand with his wrist and then snapped his fingers and the wand disappeared in a flash of sparks.

Harry immediately clenched his fists and barely stopped himself from leaping at Snape.

"You shall never find it, Potter. You may wail and squall all you wish but I will not relinquish it to you until you are back in your proper state and in Hogwarts."

Snape stepped forward and leaned down until he was boring into Harry’s eyes. "Do not try to look for it again. This was your first and final warning."

Snape’s eyes narrowed further and a truly foreboding tone came out of his mouth. “Potter, next time I catch you anywhere in my private property I will tan your hide.”

Harry swallowed messily.

“Now get out!”

Harry breathed and stumbled off of the bed. Apparently he wasn’t moving fast enough because Snape latched on to the back of his neck and steered him to the door, yanked it open and deposited him in front of a worrying Hoppity.

“I found the little cretin going through my personal belongs. You’re the minder; mind him!”

“What?” Hoppity floundered while Snape surprised Harry by NOT turning around and disappearing into his door with a loud door slam as expected, but by continuing down the hallway with purposeful strides, straight for Harry’s room…

Harry felt his gut clench as he realized that Snape was going to do something in retaliation. He tried to come up with something to do or to say but really, what could he say? Stay out of my room? No, he didn’t have that right anymore did he.

“Harry what were you doing in Professor Snape’s room?” Hoppity asked, pulling Harry’s focus back to her.

Harry felt torn between answering her and running after Snape. “I was just looking for my wand!” he blurted out and started down the corridor.

“Oh,” Hoppity said from behind him and followed.

In Harry’s room, Snape had picked up the empty cardboard box that Harry had got from Agent D and was now furiously raiding his room, tossing toys into the box. With one arm sweep the Merlin, Knights and Dragon dolls from the top of Harry’s dresser were swept into the box, followed by his crayons, art pad and walkie talkies.

Harry just stood silently by the doorway, watching as Snape moved on to his gooey lizards and paddle balls next. Hoppity had come into the room and was now standing there, no doubt with another surprised look on her face.

“Severus- what are you doing?” Hoppity ventured.

“If he can’t respect other people’s personal property then he doesn’t deserve any of his own.” Snape said as he tossed the items into the box.

Harry felt his lower lip protruding, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He should have known that he wouldn’t get to keep the toys- he didn’t now why he thought he would. He swallowed and tried to make his lip behave.

“Well surely, you don’t mean forever!”

The sound of Lego blocks hitting each other and breaking filled the room. “No.”

Hoppity looked relieved. “So he’ll get them back tomorrow?”

Snape stopped and glanced at him. “Perhaps. I’ll think on it.” The majority of the toys that had been out were in the box now, leaving a few Lego blocks on the carpeted floor. Snape made for the door. “Remember what I said Potter.” he said and then he disappeared down the corridor. Seconds later the sound of his bedroom door being slammed reverberated in their ears.

There were a few moments of silence in the newly cleaned out room. Harry looked guiltily to the side. Getting caught had not been in his list of plans for the day. “I was just looking for my wand.” He whispered, rubbing an eye. Where had this teary feeling come from?

“Oh.” Hoppity said, looking as if she might want to either grab him and hug him or lecture him soundly. She settled for wringing her hands together and moved to sit on the bed. “But you don’t need it, do you? You got a replacement for the summer.”

“But it’s not the same.” Harry complained. “It’s not fair. I should have my wand.”

“Harry, sometimes we have to listen to people who are older than us and do what they say.” Hoppity told him gently.

Harry just glared at her fiercely and she was taken aback. “That’s not true.” He said fiercely.

“But surely, if they have your best interests in heart-“

“They can always mess up.”

“Yes, Harry they can but they don’t mean to.”

Harry just made a movement that said ‘whatever’ and looked at the wall.

“But that doesn’t give you an excuse to go through somebody else’s private belongings.”

Harry just did the ‘whatever’ move again but he could see Hoppity’s mouth drawn into a thin line. She wouldn’t understand the rivalry between him and Snape.

“You really shouldn’t have your wand Harry, you know that right?” She paused but Harry didn’t answer so she continued, “Most children don’t get to try a wand until they are at least 10 because little children can’t control their magic as well. They might cause some real disasters or hurt themselves because they don’t know what they are doing.

“The Headmaster gave you a wand, and yes it’s not your real wand but it’s still a wand and that means that he trusts you that you don’t blow yourself up if you try to use it. That’s a real compliment of your abilities.”

Harry just looked at her.

Hoppity gave him an earnest expression back. “Are you going to go look for it again?”

He couldn’t, he had no idea what Snape did when he made it disappear. “No.”

“Good.” Hoppity said. “I knew that you would understand.”

“Can I be alone?” he asked quietly.

“Alright Harry. You know that you can come see me whenever you need to, right?”

Harry nodded and she got up and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Harry went to his bed and crawled under it. He pulled Roofy from against the side wall where the stuffed dragon had been hiding and held him.

---

The next morning but Harry was feeling a little better. His room was still mostly bare of toys but he was feeling more like yesterday hadn’t really happened. Unfortunately, Snape didn’t seem to feel the same way.

When Harry went to pour the new cereal they had got the day before, Snape swooped down and snatched the box from Harry’s grasp.

“What is this?” Snape demanded.

“My breakfast.” Harry said tartly, annoyed to have had it taken away from him.

“Why is there a grinning caricature of an animal in clothes on the front?”

“It’s just the box. The cereal’s inside.” Harry reached up with his hand with a ‘give it here’ signal.

Ignoring Harry’s hand motions, Snape glanced inside the box. “This doesn’t look like cereal to me.”

“It’s Muggle children’s cereal, Severus.” Hoppity informed him from where she was spreading jam on toast.

“Can I have it back yet? Harry asked hotly. “I’m hungry.”

Snape gave him a warning glare, then turned the box to its side and started to read the ingredients list.

“It doesn’t say cereal anywhere. All I see is a list of different types of sugar and poisonous substances.”

Hoppity gave Snape an amused glance. “What? Muggles don’t poison their children. You probably read it wrong, it’s just a list of refined sugar-”

“Yes, exactly. It’s not real cereal and therefore not proper for breakfast.” Snape said, closing the top of the box and moving to place it in the small cupboard over the refrigerator.

“What? You can’t take his cereal away!” Hoppity exclaimed gob smacked.

“We'll have good sensible porridge for breakfast, not sugary confections!”

Snape picked up the nearest boxes of cereal on the table and placed them in the shelf over the large refrigerator as well. He then came back and picked up the left over ones, placing those up there too before coming back and having a mini tug-of-war with Harry over the last box.

“If he wants cereal then he can have cereal- real cereal!” Snape said as he managed to pull the box from Harry’s grasp.

Hoppity eyed him. “Severus, you are being entirely unreasonable.”

Snape gave her a glare that rivaled the one he usually gave to Gryffindors who had just melted cauldrons and she quieted with a ‘Meep’.

Harry just reached out and took a piece of toast and hoped that Snape would calm down sometime before their Occlumency lesson. He’d find a way to get to the cereal later.

In a rush, Martha Jones parked at the back of the school parking lot, got out of her car into the hot summer air and opened the back door for her son. She had had to take him to the Doctor’s that morning and now she was running late. Her son hopped out of the car, and spotting a backpack on the floor of the backseat that she KNEW wasn’t supposed to be there during the day while she was at work, she picked it up and pulled her son to the entrance of his Elementary school.

She signed them in quickly at the air conditioned school office, was given a visitor’s pass and directed to take him to the playground where his class and the rest of the school were.

Pulling at an itch beneath her pantyhose with one hand, she balanced a book bag and her son with the other before setting off through the school in a quick pace to the exit where she could drop him off. Her heels clacked against the brightly buffed floor as in her head she reviewed her key points for the meeting she had next.

“Bobby, hurry up.” She called out to her son who was lagging behind.

Her cell phone rang and she immediately answered it. As one of the leading advertisement agents for one of the hottest companies she was always busy.

“Hi Bentley, yes it’s Martha. I’m on my way right now. Remember to make sure that the slides are in the right order and that everything’s working right…”

Still chatting on the phone, she dropped off Bobby right next to one of the lunch ladies at the doors to the playground and dropped the backpack on the ground. Giving one last pat on Bobby’s head, she moved back through the school and off to that important meeting.

Bobby scowled as he was left in the care of the lunch lady. The sound of laughter and shrieks of children were in the air across the playground and he felt hot. He hated having to be here- he wanted to stay home alone and watch cartoons after his awful Doctor’s appointment but his mom wouldn’t let him. She was so mean sometimes. And now since she left it here he was stuck with his sister’s book bag. He hated that book bag and he was so mad that he was stuck with it now. He wanted to kick it and smash it into the ground and tear it to pieces but his sister would kill him if he did.

He wanted to get rid of it, put it out of sight.

“Mrs. Finley?” Bobby asked to get the woman’s attention. “Can I put this in the classroom?”

Mrs. Finley was an old looking woman to Bobby’s eyes with light brown hair and a sour attitude. “No, Bobby. No one would be able to take you because Mrs. Farrow had to take some children to the nurse- and no, you can’t go yourself.” The woman told him in a final voice before he could ask.

“Yes I can.” He said, pointing to the door propped open and the long hallway so darkened by the contrast of light that you couldn’t see it. “I could just go down there and put it away, you could watch.”

“NO, Bobby.” The woman said as a girl handed her a green ball to put away.

Stupid lunch ladies. He could go by himself, he was almost 8 years old and a lot bigger and older than most of the babies on the playground on this side.

“Come on, I won’t do anything.” He whined.

“NO and that’s final so quit asking.”

“But I don’t wan it!” He cried and stamped his foot. “I Hate IT!”

“I’m sorry, Bobby, but you have to have it until the bell rings, then you can put it away when the class goes inside.” The woman told him in a slightly more understanding voice. Humph.

She was distracted when a crying girl in pigtails ran up to her with a badly scrapped knee.

His whining and tantrum about taking his sister’s backpack to the classroom hadn’t worked and now Mrs. Finley was focusing on this new girl so in a horrible attitude he dragged the stupid thing all along the side playground wall, wanting to get as much distance between himself and the dumb lady as he could. It served his sister right if it got all dirty and torn for leaving it in the car so he got stuck with it. His mom should KNOW that his backpack was orange, not PURPLE. He had purposefully left his backpack at home because he had thought that he would have been able to stay home today. But no, she had to be mean and make him go to school.

“Hey Bobby!” one of his friends, Nick, called out, pulling away from a game of tag before stopping and eyeing the horrible purple thing with disgust. “Is that yours?”

“No’s my sister’s.” He grumbled and dragged the backpack farther along the wall. Nick followed him, and then Heng was there, panting and smiling before looking at the backpack.

“So why’d you have it?”

“My mom left it behind by accident!” Bobby shrugged at his friend and wanted to do something cool to show off. He moved to the far side of the wall and made sure that the lunch ladies weren’t looking at him before he picked up the backpack by one of the straps and swung it around. It was heavy and gave him a feeling of power. He liked that so he swung it faster and then spun around in a complete circle.

“Haha, Super-Smasher!” Bobby called out and spun around again, letting the spinning motion lift the stupid book bag up a little before he slowed down and let it drop to the ground. It was a pretty heavy thing, his sister was in middle school and had all sorts of big books and binders and pencil cases and junk that she had to take to school everyday.

He looked around the playground to make sure that his friends were watching and that the stupid people in charge weren’t. He spotted that geeky kid, Benny, and the new kid near each other, just standing around and looking dumb hiding next to where the wall met the fence. He hated Benny. He thought that he was so smart and he looked so geeky with his glasses almost as thick as his face. And he was so small and sniffling all the time too with snot hanging out of his nose and annoying. Just because he was younger than everyone else and skipped a grade he thought that he was so much more special.

The new kid wasn’t much better. He was such a dork. He acted funny and talked funny and Bobby could barely understand him and that made him feel stupid and he hated feeling stupid. And he wore such geeky clothes too, collared shirts and the type of pants that the other kids were only forced to wear to school during picture day.

And he was a tattle tale. As much as he hated Benny, he hated the new kid more for telling on him yesterday.

He went over to them, passing a game of tag on the way. Benny was the nearest, hopping from foot to foot but stilling as Bobby came over. Bobby swung his sister’s backpack around, trying to scare Benny maybe. Bobby was fun to scare and always either ran away or gave in or started to cry.

The little wimp started to move away as Bobby swung the heavy backpack around. Bobby just followed, taunting as he went. “Hey four eyes! What are you doing over here? I’m going to hit you and splash you against the wall.”

He swung the stupid backpack to show Benny and everyone what he would do and Nick urged him on.

“Yeah get him Bobby!”

“Haha, Super-Smasher!” He swung around in a big circle. He could smash him. He could do anything. But he was getting dizzy and didn’t want to spin right into the wall so he laughed and stopped turning, the weight of the bag dropping to the black pavement.

The new kid stormed up to him, moving past Bobby’s target and inserting himself right at him.

“Leave him alone.” The kid told him but Bobby didn’t listen to kids smaller than him. He was pretty small, he probably skipped a grade too and Bobby hated kids like that when he was held back twice.

“Oh yeah? What are you going to go about it, snot face?” He moved closer to the new kid and swung the backpack around twice trying to scare him to move away and the kid was watching him as if he were just watching him, uninterested maybe not scared? As if he didn’t think that Bobby had it in him.

“What are you going to do about it?” the kid questioned him back in that annoying way of his that Bobby couldn’t answer to and he felt the loss of his control over – well, he didn’t know what- slipping. Grr, he hated that kid and so he took a big step over and spun around and whammed that kid good to teach him a lesson, that Bobby Jones followed through.

The kid sure wasn’t expecting that. He went practically flying and landed on the ground. Bobby stilled his backpack, suddenly fearful of what he just did. What if he killed the kid or really hurt him or got caught or tattled on? Everything stopped it seemed, as he just looked at the fallen kid.

But then there was a breath, then another and everything started up okay. The kid was fine and Bobby felt dislike for him again. How dare he make him scared or worried, he didn’t like this kid like he was his friend or something.

“Harry?” Benny bent over fearfully over the kid, giving a fearful glance at Bobby. What a scaredy cat.

The kid got up a little and breathed heavily. “I’m fine.” He said calmly but Bobby could see tears in his eyes. What a cry baby.

The kid, Harry, got up and then... he looked at Bobby, a sort of scary look, one that he didn’t like.

But then the bell rang and he ran off. The kid wouldn’t do anything or tell on him. And Benny was a scardey cat so he wouldn’t squeal. Even if they did, there was no proof. He would be fine, he hoped.

That kid was strange, and he didn’t like it.

---

The day for Harry so far had been pretty okay. Ms. Kincaid complimented him on his neat letters that morning and the little boy who sat across from him, Benny, had asked his name and shared some kind of fruit snack with him during lunch. And he in turn, gave him a small chocolate cake from his lunch.

It was now recess and Harry was standing at the edge of the playground, the sun shining down on the grey pavement and the top of his head, making his dark hair feel hot. The faint smell of cut grass and the sound of gleeful and fearful shrieks were on the air. He was most comfortable just watching the other children play as when he had been a child joining in with any other children in a group meant that something would go wrong or that Dudley would hurt him somehow. Besides, he didn’t really know how to play in a group like this, children running around every-which way. Benny was standing near him, watching too as he hopped from one foot to the other.

From the corner of his eye, he watched as a woman dressed in a business suit and holding a portable phone came out of the back doors of the school followed by the big blond kid from the day before. The boy’s name was Bobby, Harry remembered that, and even though he seemed like the biggest child in the class, Harry hadn’t noticed that he had been absent in the classroom that morning. Harry turned his full attention to them and watched as the woman dropped a bag at the feet of a scowling Bobby and then left with a casual pat and a vague wave.

A large red ball crashed into the fence behind him and Harry’s attention was diverted as he watched a little girl run after it, scoop it up and return to her friends.

He continued to watch the playground activities before a swinging movement to his side caught his attention. It was Bobby and he was spinning that pack that had been dropped off with him around like some big anchor weight.

The bigger boy was advancing on Benny, taunting him that he would hit him with it and Harry immediately went over to save him. The sight of a larger boy bullying a smaller one in spectacles was something that Harry wouldn’t allow to happen if he were around. It brought up too many painful memories that he didn’t want to bother remembering ever.

“Leave him alone.” Harry demanded.

“Oh yeah? What are you going to go about it, snot face?” Bobby taunted swinging his pack around some more and started to advance on both of them this time.

“What are you going to do about it?” Harry reiterated, challengingly. Bobby started up his circle swinging again but Harry knew that he wouldn’t really do anything, here in the playground in front of all the minders. He turned to Benny who was standing next to him. “He won’t do anything, Benny.” He consoled the younger boy.

But the minders had started to collect the balls and playground equipment, the children crowding around them and distracting them for anything else which might be going on.

And then there was an impact- a startling, unexpected impact in the middle of his back that picked him up and nearly sent him flying.

He saw stars and lay stunned on his hands and knees on the pavement. He wasn’t breathing, not moving, but he was aware of the sounds around him, like echoes, the shrieking children on the playground, the sound of the pack hitting the pavement next to Bobby’s shoes.

He breathed in.

“Harry?” a small timid voice asked him that he recognized as Benny’s and after a moment he reassured him as he started to get up, “I’m fine.” At least he thought he was. The pain on his back throbbed but he forced himself to get to his feet and look at Bobby in the eye.

He was surprised that the other boy had done that. But doing that… it was personal now.

The school bell rang and they broke eye contact. Bobby picked off his pack and ran off nervously. The rest of the children on the playground scattered from their games towards the school entrance.

“Are you really okay Harry?” Benny was standing next to him, looking really worried and gnawing on his bottom lip, his eyes enlarged behind his distorting spectacles.

Harry breathed in; his back gave a burning jab as his muscles and ribs expanded and it hurt. He wrapped his arms around himself.

“Children, it’s time to come in!” A lunch minder yelled at them from across the grounds.

But he had dealt with pain before. “Yeah, m’okay.” He said as he left one arm around himself in a comforting manner and started for the lines of students near the door.

“Harry you should go to the nurse.” Benny said worriedly as he followed.

“No, dun need to.”

“Don’t worry, she’s really nice and sometimes if you’re good and you’re hurt real bad she’ll give you a sticker, she has a machine that you put a magic coin in and you get a little- a little thing with a sticker on a paper inside.”

Harry just shock his head ‘no’ and moved his shoulder around, trying to somehow alleviate the pain from a spot that he couldn’t reach. It hurt but it wasn’t bad.

The classroom was darkened when they came back in and the large fan was on, making a loud whirling sound, moving papers from the ceiling and walls around. Harry lay down on his mat on his stomach and concentrated on taking very small breaths. Okay so maybe it was that bad, but he could deal with it.

He lay there for a long time before dozing off for a few minutes. He was groggily shaken awake by the student teacher, Ms. Kincaid.

“Harry, it’s time to wake-up now.”

He crankily but silently got up and went to his desk.

Benny gave him funny looks all through the afternoon. His back throbbed distractedly but he knew that it wasn’t anything important, he would heal and it would go away in a day or two. He didn’t want to bother anyone with it and besides, it wasn’t that important. What could he do to explain how he got it? That a bully hit him with his book bag? He didn’t want to get into that.

“Alright children it’s coloring time, draw whatever you feel like on your paper and we’ll come around to see them.”

Harry picked up his crayon and looked at the white sheet of paper resting before him. He didn’t know what to draw and the hurt he had was distracting him with every breath. He tried to bring his attention back by reminding him self what he was supposed to be doing. The task was to draw what he wanted to draw. What did he want to draw?

He didn’t want to draw anything. Why did he have to draw at all? Harry picked up the red crayon and made a bright red, angry scribble in the middle of the paper.

He was tired and cranky and everything was wrong.

Without realizing it, he had picked up the black crayon and started to make circles with it. He looked down and stopped his hand from moving any more. Glancing around the classroom and the walls of artwork, he realized that the rest of the children were most likely drawing pictures of their families and friends and rainbows. The girls at his table had a multitude of hearts on their papers and he noticed that Benny had a couple too next to a large green blob with long legs and a stick head.

Miss Kincaid stopped by Benny’s desk and admired his drawing. “What a great drawing, Benny!”

“It’s a dinosaur,” Benny proudly informed her, “And he’s going to have orange and purple spots because no one really knows what colour they are so this one has orange and purple spots. But I’m going to give him glasses because he’s a magical dinosaur who goes through time and needs them to have his x-ray vision.”

“Very nice, Benny.” Miss Kincaid said and then smiled at him before moving on to Harry’s desk. “Hi, Harry. How is your coloring coming?”

“I was just scribbling.” Harry muttered and quickly picked up another piece of paper to hide the horrible paper with the red scribbles and black hole. Consciously, he picked up the red crayon again and drew a heart right in the middle of it.

“I’m going to draw…” a rock? A toad? my family? “me.” He informed her and picked up the black crayon to make a round face and add black spiky hair on top of it.

“What about me?” Jenny, the girl sitting next to him demanded. “Look at my drawing.” And Ms Kincaid moved over to do so. “See? I made a unicorn and she has pretty jewels and a crown and lots of hearts because she’s the prettiest unicorn who can fly through clouds-.”

Harry steadfastly continued with his drawing, trying to ignore the prattle next to him. He drew two eyes with the green crayon before moving on and making a shirt and a pair of trousers with sticks hanging out of them for arms and legs. He made circles at the ends to be his hands and feet. He was half aware of Ms. Kincaid moving away to a different table as he continued with his drawing. He didn’t know what expression to make so he just made a nose and left the rest of it blank, lastly placing an ugly disfiguring scar on its forehead with the red, almost cleaving the head in half.

Surveying his drawing, Harry frowned at it and hid it under a clean sheet of paper. Maybe he should just try drawing a dinosaur. With lots of hearts.

---

The school day ended and Harry tried to keep up with the other children as they were marched out of the classroom and to the front of the school.

When he saw Hoppity, he tried to give his best smile. It must have looked a little strained because she looked at him a little before reaching out and patting his head.

“Harry are you alright?”

“Yeah, fine.” He assured her.

She looked at him for a moment before getting up. “Maybe you’re just tired. Come on, let’s get you home.”

They got home with just a short stop to the grocery market to buy more tea to try because Snape had been grumbling about the off-taste of most of the tea that they had that morning.

When they entered, the house was cold compared to the hot summer air outside and Hoppity frowned before moving to the temperature gauge along the back wall of the parlour and adjusting it.

“Would you like to have a nap?” She asked as she studied the readout before turning to him.

Harry was slightly shocked. A nap! Was she serious? He only actually lied down at that school because everyone else did and he had to. No, he did not need a nap, he had slept the whole night before. He fixed her with an indignant glare.

“Alright, alright.” She said smiling and surrendering to diffuse the tension. “How about a snack then? Some sugar should perk you right up.”

Harry had no problem with that and he said as much, following her into the kitchen and helping her pick out what to eat.

Hoppity made some jelly sandwiches out of the bread and raspberry jelly in the kitchen for them to eat and even cut his into small wedges and poured him a glass of chocolate milk.

He did feel a little better after a bite of his snack and a sip of his milk. “Can I go visit Michael?” Harry asked with his mouth full and his feet swinging.

“Erm, Harry don’t you have a lesson with professor Snape this afternoon?”

“.. yeah.”

“And do you think that you would be able to remember to get home in time?”

“Yes?”

Hoppity just gave him a look. Harry fidgeted and tried to give her an innocent expression back.

“Maybe it would be better if you stayed home today. You’ll be playing football with Michael the day after tomorrow and if you’d like I could ring up his mum and schedule a play date for you with him.”

Maybe that would be okay. He was let down about not playing with Michael, he was having a really bad day so far but being able to play soccer and play with Michael for sure soon seemed great.

“Well I know that your train set is still up in your second room…” Hoppity suggested. “You could go play and I’ll come get you before your lesson so that you aren’t late, okay?”

Harry swallowed a bite of jelly and bread as he nodded. “Okay.”

“That’s a good lad.”

Hoppity got him as promised, five minutes before 4 o’clock. She leaned her head into the room, holding on to the door frame and called out to him from where he was playing conductor on the floor.

“Harry, it’s time. Snape is waiting in the downstairs back room. You know, the big empty one with the fireplace.” Harry nodded and went to get up.

“I’ve been thinking,” Hoppity started as she followed him to the stairs. ”Maybe I ought to start calling him ‘Your Father’ or ‘Daddy’ so that I don’t mess up in public.”

Augh. Please, no. Not even in public did he wish to hear that.

“Snape’s fine. I won’t mess up.” He said adamantly. He planned to not call him anything at all. Or Sir. Sir was safe.

He traveled downstairs, Hoppity following him through the parlour and through the kitchen to stand at the doorway to the empty room with the fireplace. Only it wasn’t so empty just then, a chair was placed off to one side near the entrance and Snape himself was pacing next to it.

Harry stood at the threshold for a short moment, peaking into the room through the opening before Snape spotted him. He stopped his pacing immediately.

“Amazing, Potter. You’re actually on time for once. Get in here.” Snape commanded crossly and pointed to a spot in the middle of the room with one long finger.

Harry left the safety of the kitchen rather reluctantly, but bravely as he was wont to do, and went to stand where he was told. He would just have to get through this lesson as best he could and hope that it went fast.

Snape crossed his arms in front of his torso and started up with a lecturing tone. “Today we will begin the subtle art of meditation, the first step in Occlumency to help you clear your mind.” He stopped and then looked up to address something behind Harry coldly. “Do you mind? I’d like some privacy for the lesson.”

Harry turned to see Hoppity still standing there in the kitchen, watching. “Oh,” She said and made an oops face and then quietly stepped away.

He watched her move towards the kitchen doorway until Snape’s voice demanded his attention. “Now then Potter, since your last attempt at following my directions on your own proved worthless, you will now have to do them in front of me. There will be no Legilimency attempts in these lessons, we will work on clearing your mind and then we will work on linking your… other mental abilities to the defenses one would use in Occlumency.”

Harry had been thus quiet, but even with his unassuming nature he was unable to stop his curiosity voicing itself. “Sir- what other abilities?”

“Quiet, Potter. I shall explain that when we get to them. Now sit down. Facing the chair.” Snape said, pointing to a spot before the only chair in the room.

Harry regarded the part of the floor Snape was pointing at before taking a few steps over and then carefully folding himself to the carpet, sitting with his feet under his knees in what people at school called Indian style.

“Don’t slump.” Snape instructed and Harry tried to sit up straighter, making a slight wince at how the posture made the injury in his back, which had never really gone away, feel worse.

Snape paced for a moment, before stopping right next to where Harry was sitting.

“Since you have shown yourself incapable of clearing your mind on your own this time I will be here to make sure you do it. You will sit here for some minutes and when I touch you I want you to open your eyes so that I can see if you’ve done it right- Oh what now Potter?” Snape asked exasperated, clearing interpreting the face Harry made as having something wrong.

“I don’t want to close my eyes.”

“Well, that’s too bad then, isn’t it Potter, since I am the teacher giving the lessons and you are the student and have to do as I say.” Snape said sarcastically.

“I don’t want to.” Harry said petulantly.

“Too bad.” The words were drawn out.

“No.” Harry said emphatically.

“Yes.” Snape hissed.

“No.” Harry made a face and dared to stick out his tongue.

Snape’s eyes widened and his fists clenched before he glared. “Merlin, Potter, Stop that! It won’t be Legilimency or going into your mind- I’ll just be seeing if there are thoughts skirting across that empty head of yours! Now be quiet and shut your eyes!”

Harry made a grimace but did as he was told. There would never be any way for him to clear his mind now, with Snape standing over him and panting from anger but he humored him. There was a slight sound, sort of like the creak of wood and Harry assumed that Snape had sat on the chair. The thought calmed him a little, knowing where Snape was exactly.

“Do you have a specific word or phrase that is meaningful to you? No? Alright then listen to your breaths. We will work on clearing your mind. Relax.”

Relax. Would that even be possible?

“Do not think of anything, just focus on the sound and feeling of your breathing.” Snape instructed him, his voice coming out lowly and levelly, but hardly gently.

With his eyes closed and darkness before his vision, Harry was acutely aware of certain things. The hum of the AC, Hoppity puttering around in a room nearby, the pain in his back and the tough carpet beneath him, a funny slight breeze over his skin moving the tiny hairs on his arm around, the fact that Snape was before him just sitting there and doing nothing but watching him… Harry tried to focus on breathing and letting his mind settle. He tried to drift a little as he breathed in. He wondered if when he went to play football if he’d be allowed to play a game of football or if he’d be stuck doing drills or if he’d just have to watch the whole time and if he would be any good playing. He wanted to draw a picture of Michael and him playing. He wondered what colour the uniforms would be, maybe red?

A long minute ticked by.

There was a nudge on his right knee, Harry opened his eyes to see what it was and discovered that it was Snape’s left shoe.

He looked up to see Snape looking at him seriously, boring into his eyes.

“No. You achieved nothing. Try again.”

Harry made a frown but closed his eyes again. Maybe they would only do this a couple times and he would be able to leave. If they finished soon, he would have enough time to go over to Michael’s.

“Clear your mind.” Snape’s voice came out calmly. “Focus on your breathing and nothing else.”

Breathing. He liked breathing. Maybe he’d have heavy breathing as he ran around playing football.

There was a nudge again and Harry opened his eyes to see Snape staring down at him.

“No. Again.”

Harry gave a sigh and closed his eyes again. This was dumb. And boring.

“Potter don’t think of anything at all. Don’t do anything at all. Just breathe.”

He breathed in measuredly. The spot in his back twinged a little and he breathed back out more carefully. He shifted a little to see if a different position would make it feel better.

“Stop fidgeting!” Snape’s voice came out sharply.

He stilled. After a moment when he thought that Snape wasn’t paying as close attention, he shifted again.

There was a sound like an angered grunt. He stilled.

“Stop moving about and clear your mind. It’s not difficult.”

Harry opened his eyes. “Yes it is!” he said, just to be contrary.

Snape just looked down at him from his seat and rose a challenging eyebrow.

Harry inwardly signed and closed his eyes again. Breathing. He could breathe through his nose. It was on his face and could move. He twitched it a little, feeling it move. Oh yeah, breathing.

He tried to think about breathing again. The hum of the cool air machine started up and there was a funny sound of the air being rushed into the room even though he couldn’t feel it. Maybe if he reached out- No, he was supposed to be focusing on Occlumency or medi-whatever it was, something about thinking about his breathing. Breathing. Lungs... Ribs… He shifted around, feeling his rib cage move around too.

“Potter, do you need to use the loo?” Snape’s voice came out of the darkness. “Are you hungry? You are acting distracted.”

“No. This is just hard.” He said, eyes open and not in the best of moods.

“Try again.” Snape gave an inaudible sigh before moving forwards a little in his seat. “Sit up straight. No, straight. You’re slouching.”

Harry tried to sit up straight but it hurt. “It hurts.” He pouted, upset.

“Stop complaining and sit up- it only hurts because you’re not used to it.”

Resigned, Harry sat up a bit straighter and closed his eyes, trying to focus on his breathing again. This was boring, he was uncomfortable; the AC was unpleasantly cool in summer outfit and he felt tired and in pain.

“Stop fidgeting.”

“I’m cold.”

“Merlin, Potter! Focus.”

Yes, he had heard that already.

“What is the matter with you today?” Snape snapped before carrying on with somewhat defeated tones, “Are you even trying?”

“Yes.” Harry said, his lower lip pressed up.

“Alright. Perhaps we have reached your limits for the day.”

Yay! Maybe he could still get to Michael’s.

“We shall continue on with the next exercise. Stand up.”

Maybe not.

Harry sullenly got to his feet and looked at Snape, waiting for instructions and hoping that this would be easier and quicker than the first part.

Snape stood sideways, apparently deep into thought, one of his hands was raised to his mouth, his fingers brushing past his lips in thought. His other hand was at his side and then as if preparing for something, it went down and pulled something out from a side pocket.

A wand.

“Listen closely Potter. I have… heard that you are singularly able to resist the imperious curse, and more than that, that you can throw it off. Yet, you have no defense to the Dark Lord’s connection, no means to defend yourself mentally. It does not make sense. To have one, one should be able to have the other, yet you do not. So to help you along, I will link the two in hopes that some of your apparent natural ability will influence that which you lack.”

Harry blinked. His eyes were assuredly glazed over at that little speech.

“Do you understand? It is very important that you not do what you think you must. For this once, do not do as you are told.”

Snape pulled out his wand and the little boy visibly clenched. Snape had said that they wouldn’t be using Legilimens, right? A thousand horrible hexes danced through Harry’s mind.

“I daresay that this will be more entertaining for me than it will be for you.” Snape smirked evilly.

“Now resist.”

“Cognito face a Potter,” Snape whispered as he swished his wand back and forth before jabbing it towards Harry.

There was something… that slammed into Harry’s mind only it more like slithered in. “Fly” It said. ‘Okay,’ Harry thought and went to obey.

“Fly.”

Okay. Harry leaned forward and started to flap his ‘wings’, namely his arms. “Fly.”

“Fly. Fly.”

He flapped harder.

“You’re not flying Potter.”

“Fly.” Okay, Harry thought and leaned over more, falling to the floor.

“You can’t fly, you might as well give up. It’s impossible.” Snape said levelly.

No, he was obeying, he was flying. The arms hit the floor as he tried to flap them some more.

“You’re not flying, Potter.”

It went on like that for some time, Snape telling him to give up, that he wasn’t doing it right and that he couldn’t, but Harry kept trying.

“Swim.” The command changed and Harry tried his best. To swim you moved your arms and legs through water. Water, he needed water. Harry went to leave the room, but a sharp tug on his collar pulled him back.

“I told you to SWIM, Potter, not walk away. Now Swim.”

Swim, he had to swim. He got on the floor again and started to move.

“Is that swimming? You’re not even moving.”

He moved his arms along the carpet as if pushing against a current.

“Enough.” Snape said and the spell was lifted, withdrawing like stiff stands of spider webs.

Awareness returned to Harry and his mind reeled. He lay on the carpet, panting for awhile. Why hadn’t he been able to disobey?

“We are done for the day,” Snape said lowly from across the room.

That had been a horrible lesson. What had they even achieved? He never learned anything with Snape, all it ever was, was one big horrible lesson.

Awful. He pushed himself up to his arms and knees and Snape came over to stand over him now, looking down coolly. Git.

Snape crouched down and then reached out with on hand to cup his face. Harry flinched and pulled away, a nasty frown for the world to see. Snape looked into his eyes anyway, and Harry got the vague impression that Snape was checking up on his wellbeing.

He then got up and left the room, leaving Harry alone on the floor.

---

Snape strode into the kitchen to start dinner tea. Perhaps making a meal more involved than usual would be calming.

The lesson had been appallingly lacking. The brat had not been able to remotely clear his mind even once despite the number of chances and prompts he had given him! Was Potter incapable of focusing? No, the very idea was laughable; he knew how Potter looked on the Quidditch Pitch, his attention and whole being fixed solely on that small golden ball for what could be hours at a time. No, the boy could focus when he wished and the fact that he had not been able to for even 30 seconds during their session that day was ridiculous.

He banged two pots together louder than necessary as he pulled them out from a lower cupboard and loudly set them on the stove.

The twit had been sitting at the table, wisely giving him some room and reading a colourful book or some such thing when he walked in. Fortunately, it seemed that she had wisely for once interpreted his angry stride to mean that he didn’t wish for any discussion for once.

Snape pulled out some ingredients and a large, sharp kitchen knife.

Potter wandered in and Snape watched from the corner of his eye as Smirkett motioned the boy over and opened her arms as if offering a hug. Potter moved away but after a tug back on one of his arms, he allowed himself to be picked up, clinging to her on her lap.

What a brat.

Snape put down the knife, recognizing that although he could work angry or frustrated, he would never be able to ignore the disgusting fluff going beyond him without severing a limb.

Perhaps starting a cup of tea would be a better course of action for the moment. He got out the small pot that served as a temporary tea kettle and set it on the Muggle cooker, turning the funny knob to the correct temperature.

The earlier lesson with Potter had been very frustrating, but at least the latter activities had amused him. He relished the memory of Potter flapping his arms around and falling to the ground in an attempt to fly. And taunting the boy with his own inadequacies and inability to obey in the name of helping him for his own good had been the monkshood in his clarifying potion.

He would have to bottle the memory when they got back to Hogwarts for special occasions. By then he should have plenty of similar scenes to pick from.

But despite the entertainment, Snape knew exactly how important and dangerous those lessons could be. If Potter ever found a way to obey the commands, then instead of trying to build up mental strength and resistance it would backfire and eat away at his impressive ability to resist Imperious. Snape had to make sure that Potter never, ever was able to obey any of the commands he gave him.

He turned around and leaned against the counter, belatedly realizing that he would have to view more of that… fluff. Smirkett was still holding the brat in her arms, giving him a little hug as she rocked him and made cooing noises.

“You’ve had such a long day, haven’t you?” She said sympathetically as she patted the top of the boy’s head. “I think that you deserve something for being so good.”

The twit turned her head to look at him expectantly before mouthing something that looked like “what about his toys?”

“No. He had an appallingly bad first lesson.” Snape said with finality and turned to look through the top cupboards for a cup. It was obvious the way the brat was manipulating her.

When he turned back Smirkett was still rocking the Potter boy and was still looking at him, this time with a pleading expression. Unfortunately, Snape remembered that he had said that he would think about giving the brat back the toys he had confiscated yesterday.

“Tomorrow.” He stated, giving in but making sure that it came out warningly.

---

Harry had changed into his pajamas and was fishing around under his bed to pull Roofy out when Hoppity found him. Only his bare feet sticking out of his pajama bottoms were visible from under the bed and she gave an amused smile.

“Come on, Harry. There’ll be no sleeping under the bed tonight.” She told the little boy gently and started to turn down the covers on his bed.

He really was a little angel, if you could ignore the little bit the other day when he went through Snape’s belongings. Even though she could understand why he did it, it didn’t make it any less wrong and Snape had been right to be angry. She just hoped that he would get over it soon and that Harry wouldn’t try something like that again.

Harry crawled into the space between the sheets, clutching his stuffed dragon tight.

“This time you’ll stay in your bed, right? I won’t come in later and find you hiding under your bed again please.” Hoppity pulled the blankets over Harry and smothered them up to his neck and the neck of his dragon before gently patting him on the head. For the few days that they had been here, she had only checked up on Harry a couple times at night, and every time Harry had moved himself back to the floor under the bed. It really was a puzzling behaviour and one that she wished to fix.

Harry nodded and his eyes lowered slightly. He had seemed overly tired all day.

Hoppity patted his head one last time fondly and suddenly had the need to explain herself. "I'm sure you must be missing your m- whoever usually takes care of you so I'm trying to make it up for you." She said quietly.

"Mm-" Harry said tiredly, his eyelids drooping. "I don't miss them at all. You're much better."

Hoppity felt slightly apprehensive but masked it as she finished tucking the little boy and his dragon in.

"Good night Harry."

She found Snape downstairs in the kitchen nursing a cup of tea. "Severus, do you know who Harry usually lives with?"

Snape gave her a sideways glance. “Why do you ask?”

“Well... I’m not sure. Harry just acts differently than I would have expected for a little boy his age-“

“He’s not ‘a little boy’.” Snape said dismissively.

“Well maybe not a usual little boy but he has been saying some unusual things even for an unusual boy.”

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly not caring about what she was saying, but seemingly understanding what she was trying to get across. "You're imagining it. The boy is spoiled at school and needs some rough handling. If his relatives were strict with him than it would assuredly be beneficial.”

“Well I catch him under the bed every night! Sometimes after I tuck him in I check up on him and he’s back under it and he won’t explain why-“

Snape was just giving her a look that clearly said that he was humoring her by even listening to her but that he thought that her fears were unfounded.

“-and just tonight he said that I was a lot better than who he usually stays with and I know that I’m always doing a horrible job-“

Oh no. She was crying. But she couldn’t help it. She was never really good at anything and if Harry thought that her paltry attempts at making him feel loved were better than what he usually got then that poor boy…

“Stop. Potter is just a manipulative little brat. He was just trying to make you feel better or flatter you.”

“He’s not like that.”

“Potter most assuredly is.” Snape snapped.

“Harry. Call him Harry.” Hoppity said, sniffling and wiping the brief tears from her face. “What if you slip in public and call him ‘Potter’? I’m pretty sure that that part of his name isn’t on his new birth certificate.”

Snape said nothing, just sipped his tea, a bland expression on his face. It made her feel as if he knew something she didn’t.

“What? It can’t be!” She exclaimed, absently wiping her nose on a handkerchief from her pocket. Snape must just be trying to pull the wool over her eyes. But she wasn’t sure.

She’d check tonight just in case.

She picked up a cup to fix herself some tea and tentatively sent out a suggestion, “You should spend some time with him, get to know him better. He’s not really as you think he is.”

“Hm.” Snape said noncommittally.

Snape surfaced from his underground haven. The noises and loud stomping around when his wayward associates came back for the day would distract, annoy and pique his curiosity so much that he would not be able to work. It was better for his piece of mind to greet them and see what they were up to.

“Good afternoon Severus! Remember, you said that you would give Harry back his toys today. Well it’s today!” Hoppity said in a sing song voice, the minute he stepped foot in the kitchen and she saw him.

“I suppose,” he said sourly. Really, her sunny attitude was revolting.

Hoppity just beamed and busied herself. Potter was sitting at the table, swinging his legs aimlessly. Snape glared at him but Potter paid him no mind.

He was surprised when a loud chime was sounded throughout the house.

Potter leapt up and ran to the front door as if it were a size 10 golden cauldron being delivered. Snape was appalled to hear the door open and a second high pitched, childish voice, enumerated with excitement join Potter’s. Hoppity had gone off to follow the boy to the door, an empty headed smile on her face and then three happy voices emerged from the front room.

There went his afternoon.

The group headed nosily back to the kitchen and Snape did his level best not to yell at the sight of another pint sized miscreant, this time with misleading innocent-looking brown eyes and hair hiding the terror within.

He leaned back and crossed his arm, looking down authoritarian at the newcomer. He deserved an explanation. “What is he doing here?”

“Oh, Harry’s little friend is over this afternoon for a play date,” Hoppity said cheerfully as she started to set out some sugary snacks for the brats. Wonderful.

The new boy looked at him from where he hid behind Potter, obviously intimidated. As he should be.

“Would you mind getting those toys now?” Hoppity said absent mindedly as she poured glasses of some sort of juice.

And now he was forced to hand over the boy’s toys so that he and his little friend could “play” and be general nuisances. His lips thinned but he got up, intent on giving the brat his toys so that everyone would leave him alone to seek out a place of solitude until his now present headache had gone away.

“Thank you, Severus,” Hoppity called out. He ground his teeth.

He went upstairs to his bedroom and pulled the box of toys out from the strange cupboard, it was hiding there purely for the sake of his eyesight, and dropped it at the doorway of the brat’s room. He hoped that they tried to eat some of those little blocks and choked.

He then set back down for his lab, using the back stairway to sneak stealthily, not wishing to face the nuisances again.

After only a couple minutes, the sound of light footsteps ran across the floor overhead and then seemed to quiet; the boys had probably gone upstairs.

What proceeded what nearly an hour of blissful quietness. His headache had managed to go away and he even managed to complete a fair amount of work before the footsteps were back, this time accompanied by voices.

He could hear the excited tones from upstairs through the wood floor, but couldn’t make out what was being said. It lasted for some minutes before a faint music came through next and then some very strange sounds.

He managed to ignore it for 8 full minutes before he reached a lull in his work and his curiosity got the better of him.

Just what was going on up there? It couldn’t be the telly, he didn’t think that people talked while the telly was on and he could clearly hear the childish voices above the sounds.

He decided that this warranted investigation.

When he entered the parlour, it was to see all three of the thorns in his sides for the afternoon sitting around the elektronic box and exclaiming wildly. Potter’s small friend was grasping some strange hand device that was connected to a contraption on the floor, which had wires reaching behind the telly.

A very bright and colourful picture was on the screen, moving around haphazardly. He had only glanced at it for a few seconds but already he could feel his headache coming back.

“Jump! Jump!” Potter’s friend cried as he manipulated the hand device, and the brat and the twit echoed him, Potter raising his arms and actually bouncing in place.

“Jump! Jump!”

He fled.

Some time later, he bravely left the safety of his lab once more, this time to a mostly quiet house. He wandered into the kitchen and spotted it; a voracious, terrifying green doll thing that looked like no animal he had ever seen.

He stepped over and reached out tentatively to pick it up. It must be a toy. He did not remember ever seeing it before.

As he was examining the bizarre doll, Potter walked in, and seeing Snape holding the toy, he stopped and looked up at Snape with large eyes and a horrified expression.

Snape could feel his maliciousness creeping up. An evil glint lit up in his eye and he spoke, “Did I not say that any toys left out would be thrown away?”

"But that's not mine! It's Michael’s, you can't throw it away!" Harry cried out.

Snape just looked at him with a raised eyebrow, seemingly unmoved by the display, and turned towards the bin.

To his experienced Slytherin eye, the boy pulled himself together and decided to try a bluff, "I could always just take it out again," he said bravely, trying to make it sound as if he didn’t care one way or another.

Snape brandished his wand, feeling an evil glee at manipulating the situation. "I'll just have to make sure you can't then," he said. As expected, Potter caved almost immediately in.

"Wait! Wait, ok, what can I have to do to get that back?"

A practiced thoughtful look flashed across Snape's face before he suggested levelly, “I have a jar of Newt eyes that require peeling.” He didn’t quite manage to keep his mouth from twitching from the beginning of an evil smile.

Yuk, the little boy’s face clearly displayed his disgust. Sensing his hesitation, Snape swished his wand at the toy, an incantation on his lips.

"Ok! Fine! Fine, I'll do it," Potter said desperately, stepping forward and raising his arms beseechingly.

Success. Snape allowed a small smile to show on his face and he lead the way to his lab, holding the strange green doll as a hostage. He had to remind himself to cancel the safety spells he had set up and tell Potter not to touch the doorknob, even though it would have been amusing to see them in action.

---

Hoppity searched the whole house for Harry. "Harry-bean, where are you?" she called out in several rooms. A little worried, she decided to brave the basement and see if Snape knew where Harry was.

She was a little surprised to find the little boy sitting at a table and peeling potions ingredients. Eww. Snape was sitting nearby, reading a sheaf of parchment.

There was a sharp preservation smell in the air and she stopped midway down the stairs, unwilling to come any closer to the source. It smelled like eye of newt, only 10 times stronger.

Snape had a sardonic smirk on his face when he looked up at her, "Well you did say I needed to spend quality bonding time with the boy."

She knew that she grimaced at that.

“Was there a reason why you decided to grace us with your presence?” Snape said dismissively. “If you don’t mind, we are trying to get some work done.”

“Alright,” Hoppity said, trying to keep her disgust in at the thought of what no doubt were little amphibian eyes being peeled and dissected. “How much longer will you be?”

Harry glanced at Snape unsurely, who was still looking solely at a paper he was holding and looking very self satisfied.

“Potter should be finished momentarily.”

Hoppity stepped quickly up the few stairs she had gone down, trying to get out of that basement as quickly as possible.

---

Dinner that evening was light due to the summer weather. Hoppity had managed, with great effort, to get the memory of that smell out of her head so that she could eat. The cooking smells had helped immensely with that, as had the chocolate cake thing she had before dinner.

The dinner conversation was silent, with only the sounds of cutlery clacking against plates and chewing noises to keep them company. She suddenly remembered the news she had to share with Harry.

“Michael’s mum said that we can follow her to the field tomorrow after school so that we know where it is,” Hoppity said towards Harry.

“Why would you need to know where a field is?” Snape asked suspiciously over his dinner plate as he jabbed his fork into some vegetables.

“Oh, I’m signing Harry up for some football classes on a team,” Hoppity said brightly, seeming unaware of the panicked motions Harry was sending to her to not say anything.

“What is that?” Snape asked at alert.

“Oh it’s a Muggle sport,” Hoppity continued happily, “Harry stop waving your hands, you’ll get indigestion. You know how we have Quidditch? Well Muggles have football and tennis and erm, swimming I think and lots of other games.”

Snape looked like he had just been told that Harry was going to be signed up to duel with dragons. “No. Absolutely not!”

“What? Why?” Hoppity cried. “Football is just a team of children kicking a ball around. It’s perfectly harmless, Quidditch does not even compare.”

“No.”

“Oh, don’t be a sourpuss,” Hoppity said crossly, Snape rose one eyebrow and ground his teeth, “I’m signing Harry up for football tomorrow and if you don’t approve then you’ll just have to come along and watch.”

Harry had slid down in his chair, until he was almost completely hiding under the table. She looked at him confusedly but continued, “There will be coaches and officials and parents around that you can talk to, and you can even watch the children practice. You’ll see that it is a perfectly harmless sport.”

Thud. It seemed that Harry had fallen off.

“Harry-bean? Are you okay?” Hoppity asked worried as she looked under the table to see Harry rubbing his bum.

“Yes, I believe that I will accompany you,” Snape stated over the table, causing her to bump her head under it when she tried to straighten up.

“Okay. Good,” She said, still under the table.

Wonderful, Harry thought.

---

Harry got out of the backseat of their car in an apprehensive mood. They had followed Michael’s car to this place, and Harry looked around to see them get out in a row before them. Michael spotted him and waved.

Harry was super glad that he had managed to get Michael’s Ninja turtle back when he left it and Snape found it, even if he had to had to spend the longest time peeling newt eyes. Michael’s mum had called later last night asking after the toy and came over to pick it up. It was Michael’s most favourite toy, something he couldn’t sleep without. If Harry had let Snape blow it up, this friendship would be over.

Harry waved back to his friend, and then Hoppity was there, grasping his hand and pulling him after Michael and his mum and his younger brother, across the car park to the entrance of a large building.

And then there was Snape. Wearing black, and following them with stalking strides.

Wonderful, Harry thought, echoing his sentiments of the night before.

They entered the building together, dodging a pack of girls running outside, and then Michael’s mum showed them to the front desk before peeling away, Michael smiling happily with his soccer equipment in a bag over his shoulder, almost walking into the corner of a wall before his mum steered him the right way.

They waited in line for a few minutes and then Hoppity asked where to go to sign up for the children’s sports teams, which they were quickly given directions to.

After walking through several white cinderblock and tiled floor corridors, they found themselves in front of an opening in the wall. A desk was built into it, and there were large wooden shutters opened to either side of the opening. Behind this desk were two men and lots of sports equipment and filing cabinets in a big room. The desk was tall but Harry could see that much as they approached it.

Harry could hear static music from a radio playing nearby and he could also hear a fan making a low humming racket from where it stood, towering in the middle of the room.

The man sitting behind the desk put down the forms he was filling out and sat up straight. “Hi, how can I help you?” he asked, smiling. He was tan and looked muscular with blond hair.

The other, younger, man with dark hair glanced at them briefly from where he stood a little ways away before turning back to continue his work, restringing tennis rackets.

“Hi! We’re looking to sign Harry here up for football,” Hoppity said, placing a hand on Harry’s messy hair and pushing him forwards a little. Harry could barely see over the tall desk on his tip toes but he glanced around curiously.

“Football? That doesn’t start until the fall... and we have a size minimum,” the man said looking down at Harry.

“Oh, I’m sorry, not football, soccer, I think it was.”

The young man scratched behind his ear and then got up to where some sports balls were placed in a crate over a metal filing cabinet. He started to sort through the balls before pulling out a football questioningly.

“Yes, that black and white ball, there,” Hoppity informed him.

He put the ball back. “Yeah, we have several teams still accepting players… the youngest age group is the teamie league, children ages 6-7,” he said questioningly, looking down at Harry. “That’s children who turned 6 or 7 by June 31st,” He continued seeing their blank look.

“Erm, yes. That’s right.”

The muscular man went over to a nearby filing cabinet and looked through it, pulling out papers from several different areas. “Do you have a team preference?” he asked, looking back at them.

“Erm, yes. The F team is the one we want.”

“Yeah, the dragons! Good choice, they need players. I’m sure they’ll be happy to have you.” He pulled out the last form and closed the drawers with a rolling snap. He brought the papers back to the desk and placed then with a pen from his pocket on the top level in front of Hoppity.

“Here you are. Just fill out these papers and get this physical filled out by your family doctor, you can just fax it to them if your child’s had one in the last 6 months, and these are some papers to read about the rules and stuff like that.” He said, laying the papers out and showing each one. Everyone was listening to the man attentively, trying to concentrate on the strange accent so that they didn’t miss anything.

“A… physical?” Hoppity asked with her brow furrowed.

“Oh, don’t worry.” The man said, sitting back in his chair. He picked up a tennis ball and tossed it into a nearby basket. “We have a certified NP on duty down the hall that can do an exam for team participants."

Hoppity pulled out a pen and was about to start filling out forms when Snape’s hand came down on them, blocking her from writing on them or picking them up.

“Just one minute.” Snape said. She gave him an exasperated look, which was ignored.

Snape peered at the man attentively. “This game… soccor, what is the casualty rate per game?”

The guy behind the counter made an interesting face and the other guy who was still thread rackets a little ways a way, tried to muffle a snort. Snape narrowed his eyes and looked at him sideways.

Hoppity rolled her eyes. “Pshaw, Severus, let me fill out these forms and take Harry to have his exam and you can ask them all the questions you want while we do that.”

Snape made a grimace but allowed Hoppity to gather the physical forms and navigate Harry away. He would always be able to stop the brat from participating later, even if he were signed up.

He turned his attention back to the athletic man sitting behind the desk. “Please answer the question.”

“Soccer is a non contact sport.” The man paused. “At least I think so, right Bert?”

“Yeah, it is. I think.” The younger man answered and moved on to another tennis racket.

“Well at least a mostly non contact sport. The kids like to run with their elbows.”

Snape’s brow furrowed at this description. “Really?” He asked and leaned forwards over the desk. How did one run on one’s elbows?

“Yeah,” the blond man said, sitting up and demonstrating by sticking his elbows out at the sides and moving them as one would do with a running movement, only seated. With his wide chest he looked like a chicken.

“I see.”

The man lowered his arms, demonstration done. “There are 11 players on each team, uh forwards, midfielders, fullbacks, goalies. The players try to get the ball into the other team’s goal without using their hands or arms. And there are a bunch of rules and stuff about positions but we don’t need to get into that,” the man said dismissively.

Snape tried to make sense of what the game was about, finding that he didn’t really know. Trying to get a ball into a goal, on the ground and without the use of hands sounded rather boring. Surely there had to be something more.

The man had a thoughtful look on his face again. “Uh… younger years. The younger years are co-ed, they play with fewer players, I think 6 or 8, not sure, and they have unlimited subs.”

Subs? “… So that’s it? They kick the ball and they run with their elbows out,” Snape said disbelievingly.

“Haha. Yeah. For the younger years it’s more about playing with their friends and building confidence and all that stuff.”

“Ah.” Muggles were so strange. But still, boring usually meant nice and safe. And it would keep Potter away from himself and occupied. If he were lucky, the physical activity would tire him out, leaving behind a docile and well behaved boy. Yeah right, Potter would be well behaved and when banshees stopped shrieking…

“And I think they play on a smaller field. Any other questions?”

“Not at this moment. Do I just have to sign these forms then?”

The man reached up and tapped the first form. “Let’s see, here’s the liability form.”

“What’s that for?”

“In case the kid, what was his name, Harry? gets badly hurt.”

Snape stopped himself from signing. He was surprised that the man remembered Potter’s name and shocked at what he had just heard. If such a dangerous sport as Quidditch did not need such disclaimers, than surely a sport that did was very dangerous indeed. He had been sure that the sport was boring and non dangerous but it seemed that he had missed something. “How usual is that?” He asked suspiciously.

“Oh, it’s usually nothing. The little kids trip a lot and kick each other. Occasionally you get the broken leg or ankle but it’s not common. Not like the pros.”

“What?”

“The pro’s?” the man offered, making some movements with his hands that Snape didn’t understand. “Never mind. Um, all players are required to have a uniform, cleats with rubber bottoms and shin guards. The coach will have the shirts but we sell everything else here if you know your kid’s size.”

“What are those for?” Snape asked, still on alert.

“Umm… the cleats? They’re just required shoes and the guards are just so that their shins don’t turn black and blue.”

Snape gave him an uncomprehending look.

“From the kicking.”

So this soccor, they ran with their elbows out, tried to get a ball into a goal and kicked each other. Bizarre.

“And that is all that the liability disclaimer is for?”

“Yeah, just legal stuff, you understand.”

No, he didn’t but this must be a Muggle thing.

Well it wasn’t his business what Potter decided to do. Oh wait, it was, but this didn’t seem to be of any consequence, except that Potter wanted to do it of course. In which case, he shouldn’t let him, just on the principle.

But letting the brat and that harpy have their way, would probably get them out of his hair, and away from the echoing floor boards above his, ahem, lab for more time during the day. So soccor it was.

He picked up the offered pen and started to sign, remembering to use the “new” last name.

“There’s also a sign up list for snack rotation during games,” the man offered.

Snape glanced at the florescent paper with smiling food on the borders. “No thank you,” he said primly.

---

Harry followed Hoppity down the stark hallways hand in hand. The fluorescent lights reflected off of the Muggle tiled floor and Hoppity’s shoes made little clacking sounds as she walked.

“I wonder what kind of exam this will be,” Hoppity said to make up conversation.

“Maybe it’s to see if I know the rules or something.”

“Well, they did mention it being a physical, so maybe they want to make sure you’ll be good enough to play soccer, or test how fast you run or how hard you kick a ball or blow bubbles…”

They looked around the hallways, wondering where to go.

Finally, they decided to ask someone, entering through the nearest open door and finding what looked like a Nurses’ office by sheer luck. A largish woman sat behind a desk and looked up when they entered.

“Hi, we’re looking for the physical examination room?” Hoppity asked questioningly.

“You’re at the right place,” the woman said in a loud, friendly voice and stood up to reveal her white nurses uniform. “Just come on in here.”

She led them through a doorway to a smallish room with windows and a sterile, yet bright atmosphere. The walls were painted with pictures of colourful stick children playing and there was a giraffe painted in yellow and brown.

An examination table was placed in the middle of the room and counters ran along one wall. Harry noticed a scale in one corner.

“I’m Nurse Bendit. I have a form you have to fill out,” the nurse said picking up one and handing it towards Hoppity.

“Oh, we have one of those.”

Nurse Bendit lowered the form and then placed her other hand out so that Hoppity could hand them over. Hoppity did, but after the nurse glanced through it she handed it back. “You have to fill it out.”

“Oh.” Hoppity replied, turning pink.

The nurse excused herself , “I’ll just be in the other room for a minute.”

Harry climbed up onto the examination table by means of a foot stool, since there were no other places to sit in the room. Hoppity studied the form with a creased brow. “Harry,” she whispered, “Do you know anything about your family history?”

“No,” Harry said regretfully and swung leg on the table.

Hoppity pursed her lips but continued through the forms.

“Are you allergic to anything?”

Just Slytherins. “Ermm… no, I don’t think so.”

“Have you all your immunizations?”

Harry gave a shrug. He really had no clue but he’d rather say he had them already if he had to have them again.

“Maybe you should make up some stuff,” he suggested in a whisper.

She just looked at him. He looked innocently back. She sighed, then turned back to the forms. “I guess I can’t very well say that you got them all 10 years ago, no one’ll believe that.”

Minutes later, Nurse Bendit came back, pulling a rolling stool behind her. “All done?”

“Sorry, I don’t know a lot of these things,” Hoppity said balefully as she handed the form over.

“Oh?” the nurse asked surprised and turned a highly suspect face towards them.

“Erm, Harry’s adopted,” Hoppity excused.

The nurse scanned the sheets quickly and adopted a lightly ironic tone, “Shouldn’t you know by now?”

“He’s… recently acquired.”

“I see. Well come off this table and take your shoes off, Harry. I need to check your height and weight first.”

Hoppity helped him down off of the table under the watchful eyes of the nurse. “Should I stay here?” she asked.

“Of course you can,” The nurse answered matter-of-factly with a small smile.

Harry and Hoppity looked at each other, and he shrugged. He thought that Hoppity had been asking him, but after the nurse had already answered, he couldn’t really say anything. He hoped that nothing embarrassing would go on, because now Hoppity was there to stay. Just like if he had a real mum. The thought made him feel funny.

He pulled off his shoes and then walked over to stand on the scale the nurse was standing next to, clipboard in hand.

She pulled out some metal rod from the top and laid it on the top of his head. “Stand up tall, Harry…”

He pulled himself up to his full height and even breathed in. The nurse made a note on her clipboard with a frown before taking the funny rod off and moving the little bars that would measure his weight.

“Hmm… so he’s six years old… almost seven?” the nurse asked very questioningly.

“That’s right,” Hoppity informed her.

Harry could tell that Hoppity wasn’t quite sure, Harry wasn’t sure himself. He could be closer to five, for all he knew. In fact, he was almost sure that he was at the beginning at the age of 6 rather than the end of it. After all, Dumbledore had said that he was six, and six meant exactly six years. Hoppity probably thought the same thing, but put the wrong birthday…

“I guess you wouldn’t know if he had been especially ill as an infant?” the nurse asked kind of resignedly. Hoppity was silent and shook her head. “Been taking all your vitamins, Harry?” she asked friendly.

Harry blinked. “Erm… sometimes.”

Nurse Bendit noted his weight on her form with a deep frown before telling him that he could get off it and back onto the table. “What nutrients and vitamins do you have him on?”

Hoppity looked at her clueless as she helped Harry back onto the examination table with a boost, “Just regular food… we make sure that he gets all his vegetables and erm, he takes regular vitamins when we remember.” Harry thought that she was doing a very good job of bluffing, or at least answering the questions kind of truthfully.

“Harry’s on the very low side of his age group’s height and weight,” The nurse informed his caretaker. “Some times children at this age don’t want to eat, so if he ever shows signs of that, you should look into the Pediatrician shakes to supplement his diet.”

“Oh, okay. We’ll make sure to do that,” she answered honestly.

“You might want to consult a nutritionist about his diet, to make sure that he’s getting the right things he needs. I’ll recommend one for you before you leave. And as a general rule, all children should be on some sort of vitamins. The HappySons brand is highly recommended and you can find them in any old supermarket.”

“Alright.”

The nurse sat on her rolling stool and moved over to the table, hanging a stethoscope around her neck and picking up a dark blue cuff thing with a funny squeeze thing connected.

“Okay Harry, I’ll need to see your arm next.”

Harry gave her his right arm, the one that was closest to her and he was surprised when she started to push up the short sleeve past where it hung down near his elbow. He tried to pull it away but the nurse had already scene.

“Oh my, that’s a bruise there,” she said carefully. She looked into his eyes. “How’d you get it?” Harry’s heart started to pound and he blinked.

“What bruise?” Hoppity came around to look. He shied slightly away and the nurse’s eyes narrowed.

He made himself stop and relax, let Hoppity reach out and see it as if this were okay and natural, as if he were comfortable with it. Cause really, he was. He just didn’t want her to know.

“When did this happen, Harry?” Hoppity asked, aghast at the sight of the faint, mottled mark around his upper arm.

“Erm…. Last month, remember?” He said carefully, trying to make it seem like no big deal while passing on a hint to play along.

“No, I don’t. What happened?” Her brow was furrowed, her tone serious. It seemed that she was missing his hints. Why did she have to be so absolutely clueless now? She was doing all right before.

“It was at a park. A man grabbed me. Remember? I guess the bruises didn’t show up right away…”

“We’ll just try the other arm,” Nurse Bendit said and moved to lift the sleeve away from that one. Harry let her, knowing that any attempt to cover it up would be suspicious.

Hoppity gasped at the sight of this much larger and vibrant one.

The nurse jutted in accusingly, “This is a very abusive bruise to not have noticed for a whole month.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Harry.” Hoppity said, with tears in her eyes. “I guess that because he always wears his sleeves… but how could I have missed that?” She looked like she wanted to reach out and hug him but was fearful that she’d hurt him.

“Alright, we’ll try the first arm.” The nurse said grimly, seemingly placated for now but still slightly suspicious. Hoppity sat down boneless into her chair.

He was feeling really guilty now. Why did he have to play soccer anyway?

“I have to check your breathing now, Harry.” He just shifted and let her lift up his shirt to place the stethoscope on his front on back.

“Is the one of your back from the same incident?”

One on his back? He didn’t have anything on his back… oh yeah. When Bobby hit him the other day it must have left a mark. “No, that one’s from school.”

“Ahmm,” The nurse hummed.

“No, really. A kid hit me with his backpack really hard and there was something hard in it.”

“Alright, Harry.”

Hoppity just looked at him concernedly. He looked away. It made him feel uncomfortable.

The rest of the physical went by without incident, the nurse signed the sheets, but her mouth was set in a line and she warned them to expect visitors some time. Hoppity didn’t know what to do, but she took the papers and then they walked out of the office to find where they had left Snape. She was feeling so guilty.

“Please don’t tell Snape.” Harry said pleadingly. Hoppity stopped walking and turned to face him in the empty corridor. “He doesn’t have to know, nothing’s really wrong. I just got hurt.”

Hoppity bent down to be eye level with the little boy. “I don’t know, Harry. This seems like something awfully important to just keep from him. Why wouldn’t you want him to know?”

“He hates me, I know he does. Stuff just happens to me but telling him won’t do anything. He’ll just make my life miserable.” His face was lowered to look at his shoes by the last.

Hoppity was quite distressed and didn't know what to do. She tried to ignore Harry’s anxious face; she knew she had to tell Severus. Had he known about this? She was at least a little angry at him, for if he did know…

She stood up and grasped Harry’s hand carefully. “Let’s try to find our way back. How many frogs do you want to bet that Snape’s still with that handsome man, asking him strange questions?”

Harry gave a slight smile. “Real frogs or chocolate ones?”

“Chocolate ones of course! It’s too messy to trade the other kind, and plus, what would you do with them?”

They walked back, only taking a couple of wrong turns before they found the desk built into the wall. And as expected, Snape was there, but he had finished signing the forms and was leaning against the wall some distance away from it, his arms crossed.

“Took your time, did you?” he said, pushing off of the wall with one long leg. “I have deemed this activity acceptable,” he informed them.

“So is it time to play soccer now? Harry asked trying to get some of the excitement he had had before back.

Hoppity gave an uncertain look at the boy. "Harry are you really sure you're up to it? I really think that we should go home now."

Snape picked up on it. "And why would the boy 'not be up to it'?"

Hoppity turned startled eyes to Snape, her features then quieted. "Severus..." She took a breath. “When the nurse examined Harry, she found severe bruising… abusive bruising and she wanted to know about it. I-I didn’t know what to tell her! Did you know about this?”

Snape's eyes tightened almost imperceptibly before he whirled to look down on the little boy, studying him intently.

"We are leaving. Now."

Harry tried one last ditch effort to get out of this mess. "But I wanna play football," he entreated.

Snape's face was tense. "Potter, shut up and get to the car! We will discuss this at our residence."

“Wait, Severus, there’s more. I think… I think that she might tell someone to check up on us, she told me to expect visitors sometime.”

“Why didn’t you Obliviate her?” Snape demanded angrily.

They were attracting attention, several Muggles in the vicinity turned their attention to them and Snape visibly retreated to appear normal, just a normal Muggle person who did not just say “Obliviate”. He turned and started to stalk off towards the exit.

Stunned into silence, Harry followed them into the car. It was silent and tense drive home. Snape was terrifyingly angry.

When they walked through the door Harry had no desire to discuss anything. He made a beeline for the staircase, but Snape's arm snaked out and snatched him back before he got too far. "Where do you think you are going?"

Snape was angry, he could tell by the thin white drawn lips and sharp motions. Harry didn’t understand why.

Right away Harry tried to twist out of Snape's grip. Snape dragged him into the sitting room and sat down on the long couch, standing Harry in front of him, firmly in his grasp between his legs.

“Smirkett, there are several healing potions in my lab on the right hand side table. Please bring me the short round jar.” Snape’s eyes stayed determinedly on the little boy in front of him.

“Alright,” Hoppity agreed readily. She disappeared out of his peripheral sight, assumedly down into the basement. Harry was quiet and tense, avoiding his gaze.

Snape shook him slightly to gain his attention. His voice was quiet. “Potter, where did you get the bruises from?”

Harry tried to twist his wrist away. “It’s none of your business!”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Take off your shirt.”

“No!” Harry exclaimed rebelliously.

“Potter- Harry, I need to see if they are serious or not.”

“Why do you care?” Harry yelled and aimed a kick at his leg, which Snape was able to avoid.

“Potter! Stop this right now! I’m trying to help you!” Snape said harshly. “I was put in charge of your care, therefore I will care! Now either take off your shirt or I will do it for you.”

Potter was disinclined to oblige. He aimed another kick, this one halfway striking home.

"Would you like me to deal with you the way someone has obviously tried to deal with you before?" Snape threatened idly, mad that the little boy’s kick had struck him.

Harry eyes snapped up to his in surprise, and Snape took that opportunity to pull the little boy’s shirt off in one quick motion before Harry realized what he was doing. It got stuck on Harry’s elbows and head.

“No,” Harry yelled petulantly from behind the shirt, struggling to get it back down while Snape tried to get it completely off. “You slimy Slytherin!” Snape ignored the childish name calling and took stock of the injuries as he manipulated Harry’s arms through the sleeves. There was one slight bruise on his left ribcage and-

He was distracted from his assessment as Hoppity chose this time to reenter the room, potion bottles in hand. Snape tried to hold on to the struggling boy and managed to get the last of the shirt off. Harry was mad and doubled his efforts to get away.

“I didn’t know which table it was so I just took all of them,” Hoppity said breathlessly as she held out the offered bottles and jars.

Snape muttered a “Thank you” as he forced Harry facedown on the ground and gently sat on his legs so he couldn’t move or kick him. He reached out and picked out the correct jar of bruise healing salve from Smirkett’s hands. Seeing the largish bruise on his back, Snape pressed it, checking for any underlying injuries. The boy was so thin… he could clearly feel his ribs and wiry muscles beneath his probing fingers.

"Stop it! You're hurting me!" Harry cried out.

Snape ignored him and rubbed a generous amount of the gel-like potion on with painful pressure. Hoppity twittered around nervously. He ignored her, focusing solely on the boy before him.

“Where did you get this bruise from?”

“It’s nothing! I got it from a bully, okay?” Harry bit out as he squirmed. Snape could see that his face was screwed up from the side.

“No it’s not okay. If it’s nothing then why does it hurt so much?” Snape asked as he rubbed the last of the bruise away. Harry stayed stubbornly silent. The only sounds from him were harsh breathing and perhaps dry gasps of sobs.

Snape took care of another minor bruise on Harry’s back before catching sight of a truly horrendous one on the boy’s upper arm, one that would usually be covered by a short sleeve. He gently lifted the appendage up a little to inspect it. The bruise was a mottled purple and brown, wrapped around the small boy’s arm like a band. He moved his hand over it to confirm his sinking suspicion. It was in the shape of a hand; an adult hand.

“Who did this to you?” Snape breathed out.

Harry stayed obstinately silent. Snape scooped a portion of the gel like potion from the jar and then massaged it in. Unfortunately, this salve only worked when soundly rubbed in. Harry was breathing raggedly, undoubtedly from the pain.

“Who did this to you?” Snape asked again.

Harry finally responded with one distressed word, “Uncle.”

Snape tightened his lips and moved to inspect the other arm. He found a similar, but smaller and older bruise around this one as well. He rubbed more salve onto it rigorously. This time he asked a different question.

“How?”

Harry breathed painfully in and out before answering. “Pulled me up the stairs.”

“Both of them?”

“Yes. No, I don’t know.” Harry warbled apprehensively and he moved his head to rest the front of his forehead on the floor.

“Well which is it?” Snape asked with less malice than he was used to with this boy.

“One was,” Harry admitted, his voice faintly muffled from the carpeting. “But the other one just showed up.”

Curious… Snape finished with the old bruise and moved to inspect the rest of his arm. There was an ugly, harsh scar over the vein near his elbow. The raised and twisted flesh of the scar was disconcerting. “Smirkett,” he acknowledged the witch for the first time since he took the salve from her. “Hand me that red bottle.” Luckily, the twit had brought out all the healing potions so he could easily spread the scar reducing one over it now. It would take several more applications over the course of two weeks but it would heal.

His expression closed in. "Stupid boy! Why did you not inform anyone of this?"

Harry thought that he was referring to the scar on his arm. “Dumbledore knows,” he said hotly.

Snape blinked, caught off guard. If Dumbledore knew that the boy’s guardians were hurting him then why had he allowed Potter to go back to them every summer?

Snape then rubbed some bruising salve on a small bruise on Harry's lower arm (also apparently caused by his uncle) before flipping him over and looking for any other bruising on his front.

"Is it anywhere else?"

Harry looked down, angry from where he lay, trapped. "No."

Snape sat up and regarded the boy before him with disquieted eyes. He recapped the bottles and stood up. He had a lot to think about. Wordlessly, he left the room for the sanctuary of his private lab, shutting the door behind himself.

Harry stood up and started to put his shirt on self-consciously. He was resentful at Snape and mad at Hoppity for telling.

He spent the rest of the day in his room, coming out only for dinner when Hoppity came up and asked him to.

He closed himself in his room afterwards and played with his blocks. When Hoppity came upstairs to tuck him in, he was already in bed, rolled up on his side facing the wall away from her, holding his dragon in one arm under the covers. He really was mad at her.

He really didn't understand the big deal and why she had to tell Snape.

The bruise on his arm, it had been right after school ended, right after- Harry didn't want to think about it. He couldn't remember much about the incident either, just that he had let Hedwig out of her cage at the train station to fly home before settling into the car for a mind numbing trip home. Vernon had been livid after the order threatened him and when they got to 4 Privet Drive and Harry barely responded, well Vernon hadn't been very patient, and he grabbed Harry by his upper arm and pulled him into the house and up the stairs literally. Harry had hung in his grip like a rag doll, he didn't remember struggling or even trying to stand up to support his own weight. He had just been... blank, he didn't care what happened to him.

His arm had been red for awhile, the bruises showed up when he woke up the next day and bothered to check. He just shrugged it off. It hadn't been a big deal.

He didn't know where the other one had come from. Like he said, it just appeared.

"Harry?" Hoppity asked as she came over to sit on the side of his bed. Harry just turned his head deeper into his pillow and decided not to answer.

There was silence for awhile and then Harry asked peevishly, "Why did you have to tell him?"

"-Harry!"

"It was none of his business!" Harry clenched his fists and rolled over to look at her accusingly. "It was nothing. I told you not to tell him, and you did. It didn't concern him."

"He's in charge of your wellbeing and you know it. You remember what the nurse said, that someone would come visiting later,-"

"Yeah but we could have handled that ourselves or just... just, I dunno but you didn't have to tell Snape!"

Hoppity frowned but listened as Harry went on.

"I bet he loves this, he'll have a katrillion more remarks about me to make when I get back to Hogwarts, and then everyone will think... they'll know how weak I am." And that was a very bad thing, but Harry couldn't remember why exactly.

"Harry! A teacher wouldn't do that." Harry just gave her a look that said ‘of course he would' but he knew that she'd never believe him. He gave it up for a lost cause.

"He needed to know." Hoppity said with finality. "Harry, there's something we need to talk about. You said that you got hurt at school, why didn't you tell us?"

Harry gave a puzzled expression. Why did that matter? He looked down at his plush dragon and studied its snout. The children at school were just little children. Harry might look like one of them but he was older, the responsible one. He had let Bobby hit him when he stood up for the smaller boy in his class. "Why would you need to know?"

Hoppity raised her hand to place her face in it exasperatedly. "Harry," she started, uncomprehending his reasoning. "We're your guardians. I know that it's only temporary but you still can tell us what's going on. Now what's going on?"

Harry bit his lip, trying to decide what to say. He didn't want to talk about that now but it didn't seem as if he had a choice. "I dunno. I guess, maybe that I'm different," Harry said, thinking about how he was always different.

"What do you mean?"

Harry's attention was placed back to Hoppity's question. He screwed up his forehead in thought. He had to give her an answer that she would accept and be happy with.

"Erm," he started, plucking at his shirt. "I guess that maybe it's how I look and what I wear."

"Really?" Hoppity asked, her brow furrowed. "You're wearing Muggle clothes, how is what you wear..." she trailed off, her eyes moving around as if trying to come up with the answer.

"If you don't wear what everyone else is wearing, well I think I look too smart for them, and then I don't fit in."

Hoppity had a look of bright understanding. "I understand, Harry."

"There's this kid," Bobby, "A bully, and I guess that he doesn't like the way I'm different and I stood up for another kid and he swung his pack at me... it wasn't anything important, really."

Hoppity looked at him with compassionate eyes. "I'll take you shopping tomorrow. You'll know better what would make you fit in, and you can pick some new clothes out. How's that?"

Harry felt guilty, he didn't want to be ungrateful of the clothes he had been given. They were soft and new and he hadn't even worn them all yet. But he actually did feel like they made him stand out. Clothes were everything to children, he learned that the first time he went through Primary school. He could tell that the other children looked at him strangely, and Bobby had started to try to bother him every chance he could. Maybe if he looked like everyone else, Bobby would leave him alone. "Yeah, okay."

The bedroom door was pushed open further open. Snape leaned in, his arms crossed. "That is a poor plan. And you'll spoil the brat."

Harry narrowed his eyes. How long had Snape been there for?

"Oh, nonsense," Hoppity crooned and she reached out to caress Harry's crown. "Harry's unspoilable!"

Snape just gave a loud "harrumph" before turning and stalking off out of sight.

Hoppity turned to Harry and gave a wry smile before sobering. "Harry... promise me that if anything happens that is important or dangerous or bad, that you'll tell us. Or please at least tell me, okay?"

"Okay." Harry said quietly. He could see her point but he doubted that anything would happen that he couldn't handle on his own. If anything important happened then he'd tell her. Maybe.

"Let's get you tucked in."

-.-.-

The next morning they had pancakes. Hoppity gave him a large stack of them, cut into tiny bits and covered in cupfuls of fruit. She then drenched the whole thing in syrup and handed him his fork.

"Eat up Harry-bean!"

"You are most assuredly spoiling him," Snape warned.

"Of course not!" But her voice was laughing. "I'm taking Harry shopping today, maybe after lunch."

"He has a lesson with me at four."

Yuk, another lesson with Snape. Harry was not looking forward to that.

"Oh. Harry you want to spend the day with Michael, right?" He nodded. "Maybe we could go shopping after your lesson. Severus, would you mind moving the lesson earlier? Three, or even two?"

"He has his lesson at four."

"Well would it be alright, do you think, if we ate dinner out tonight?"

"I could care less, but not by much," Snape said unkindly.

"Oh. You're not coming?"

"No."

Well that settled that, Hoppity didn't seem if she minded too much that Snape wasn't coming and Harry certainly didn't want him along.

Harry nibbled at his breakfast and went about his usual order of morning events. But this time when everyone was finished eating and Harry had got halfway to the sink, Snape called out to him.

"Potter-"

"Harry," Hoppity corrected.

Snape just glared at her, "Boy, come over here."

Harry carefully placed his plate on the tall counter next to the sink before curiously walking over to Snape.

"Give me your arm," Snape commanded regularly as he pulled the red bottle from yesterday out of a pocket and placed it on the table next to a cloth.

Confused and a little wary, Harry obeyed. Snape reached out with both hands and pushed up Harry's short sleeve from where it rested in the crook of his elbow. He wrapped his fingers around the limb and gently prodded at the flesh, before moving to the other one. Harry knew that the bruises he had earlier were fully healed from his own inspection last night and this morning.

"Does anything still hurt?"

"No," Harry replied slightly resentful. Snape picked up the vial and dabbed some liquid from it on one long finger. He lifted Harry's right arm and extended it, exposing the jagged scar on the crease from where Harry was cut in fourth year. Harry tired to pull away as Snape reached out for it, but his arm was stuck. Wet fingers were placed on the old wound and the liquid was rubbed in gently.

"This is a topic scar healer. In time, and after many applications, it should make this go away. Or at least decrease its appearance noticeably."

Yes, he did want that. The fewer reminders he had of certain things, the better. Harry reached up eagerly with his left hand to cover his forehead. "Would it make this go away too?"

"No. Curse scars are usually permanent, especially active curse scars." Of course. Harry hadn't really thought that it would, but still, for a moment there he hopped that it might.

"But as payment with each application, you must answer me one question before I start. Today you answered that you did not have any further pain." Snape released Harry's arm and wiped his hand on the cloth. "If you refuse to answer the question, then that application is forfeit. Do you understand?" Harry nodded. "Go play. Be back before four."

"Have fun, Harry." Hoppity called out to him as he left. He planned to.

Michael was happy to see him, playing in the front garden of his house with a stick. Hello Harry!" he said ecstatically, waving. "Where were you yesterday? You didn't come to soccer and I was waiting for you. We had the funnest time playing drills and we had ice pops afterwards and I tried to save one for you but they didn't believe me when I said you were coming."

Harry felt bad. Now more than ever, he wished that yesterday hadn't happened. "Erm, well, we had to fill out papers and stuff and then it was too late and we had to go home."

"Oh." Michel picked up his stick and prodded a plant with it. "Come play pirates with me. We got a boat yesterday, and I tried it out but my brother keeps messing it up." A boat?

They went inside, where it was faintly cool, not quite the frigid temperature of Harry's house. The boat turned out to be a large plastic bin. It was blue and a stick was tapped to one end, proudly displaying a paper pirate flag.

"Okay, Harry! First we have to put our Pirate clothes on. I'm Captain Pizza and you can be my first pirate matey!"

Michael's mum came over. "Hello, Harry." She said and Harry answered shyly back. "Are you two playing pirates today?"

"Yup!" Michael cried. "I need my sword!"

Harry and Michael spent many happy hours playing pirates, Michael with his Captain's hat and a cardboard sword and Harry with a handkerchief over his head, both with eye patches that Michael said were just for the look so they moved them to rest on their foreheads so that they could see. They buried "treasure" in Michael's sandbox and then made a map.

Benny, Michael's three year old brother, wanted to dress up and follow them around too, much to Michael's dismay but Michael's mum said that they had to let him, so Benny was the second mate. He didn't do much other than follow them around sucking his thumb, holding his stuffed monkey and trying to get in the way of everything Michael did. Michael said that they should bury him alive on an island when he collapsed their boat (it fell to one side and the "water" came pouring in) but Michael and Harry were too busy swimming to shore through the shark infested waters to do much about it right then.

After that, Michael's mum made them come to the "tavern" and have sandwiches and milk and carrots. There was a brief argument when Michael said that pirates only ate cookies, but they ate the sandwiches anyway when she replied that pirates who ate only cookies had their boats taken away.

Then they searched for new treasure in the backyard, and afterwards they went inside to sit in their fixed boat to watch "Captain Threelegs" on the telly.

Chaos struck after the show when Michael tried to take Benny's stuffed monkey away from him to be their new pirate monkey, and the toddler started crying.

"All right, that's enough of pirates for one day," Michael's mum said when she came in and figured out the problem.

"I think it's time for all the little pirates to have a quiet time." She pulled out some pillows and blankets to the center of the carpeted room. "Michael, get out of that tub and come over here. I have to use that now."

"But thus is my boat!" Michael wailed. "And I'm playing Pirates with Harry. I don't need a nap!" And he started to cry.

"I think that that means that you do." Harry was pretty sure that Michael did too. He had long outgrown the need for naps but it seemed that Michael hadn't quite yet. Should he leave now? He didn't know and Michael's mum wasn't making any indication that he should, or that he was expected too and he didn't want to cause a commotion by trying to leave when he wasn't supposed to. He decided to just stand quietly by for now. After much fretting, Michael's mum managed to convince his friend to play pizza rolls instead of taking a nap.

She spread out a thin blanket. "Okay, this is the outside crust. And now I need my gooey pizza filling. Come here, Michael," she prodded.

"I don't want to be pizza filling!"

"But how will I make my pizza rolls without the pizza filling?" She laughed. "Come here, I won't really eat you!"

Michael looked at her but lay down on the edge of the blanket and allowed himself to be rolled up. Halfway through the roll, he started laughing.

"Okay, Harry, it's your turn!"

Harry shyly approached her and lay down on the blanket, just like Michael did.

"Ready?"

"Yes!" He was swiftly rolled over, the motion and the hand rolling him by his sides tickled and he laughed. Tightly rolled up, he bumped into Michael and they both giggled.

"Alright, one more little pirate pizza roll." And then Benny was rolled up right next to Harry.

"Here's your pickles," Michael's mum said as she came over to them and gave Michael his Ninja turtle.

"Pizza doesn't have pickles!" Michael cried out, outraged from the roll of blankets he was cocooned in. Harry giggled at the silliness of it all.

"This one does. Okay, I'm setting my oven timer," she said as she moved to the kitchen. "Pizza cooks for 25 minutes."

"Pizza gets delivered!" Michael called out.

"But pizza has to cook first before that."

Michael mumbled to Harry, "And pizza has pepperoni and anchovies, not pickles."

"Pizza doesn't talk in the oven! You're supposed to be cooking."

It was silent for a while, Michael shifted around a little next to Harry and Harry tried to reach out and prod the mass of blankets next to him but his arms were trapped under the blanket. He was lying on his back so he could turn his head to either side but Michael was turned a little on his side so Harry couldn't see his face. If he looked over the lump on his right that was Benny, he could see through the doorway that Michael's mum was sitting at the kitchen table, working on something. Benny was already fast asleep, hanging onto his stuffed monkey and making soft breathing noises. The house was very quiet and the forced stillness after such an eventful day started to make Harry drift off.

He woke up some time later. The world looked a little brighter. Michael wasn't next to him, an empty blanket lay discarded where he used to be but Harry could hear his voice in the kitchen, sounding much more pleasant and agreeable than before.

"Can I wake Harry up yet?"

"No, Michael, he's still sleeping so don't wake him up yet."

Harry tried to get up but he was stuck inside the blankets so he tried to turn over instead, unwrapping them.

Michael ran in. "Harry you're up! Come on, it's time to play." He danced around grinning.

Four o'clock came much too early for Harry's liking. Hoppity came over around three thirty to talk to Michael's mum and warned him of the time.

Their house was unpleasantly chilled and silent after the rowdy bustle at Michael's. Harry really didn't want to have his lesson, but he knew he had to.

Snape was waiting in the empty back room, same as last time.

"Let's hope that you manage at least slightly better than last time," he said as Harry entered the room. Harry just glared back at that.

Snape motioned to the carpeted floor and Harry, this time knowing what to expect, sat down heavily. "Alright, Potter., close your eyes, sit up straight and actually clear your mind this time." An almost impossible task.

Harry tried this time, he really did, but he kept getting distracted and every time Snape prodded him with his foot and studied his eyes he gave a disapproving frown and curtly told him to try again.

Harry tried to listen to his breathing, he tried to let his mind be clear, but nothing worked and Snape kept frowning at him as if he were a failure.

After what seemed an eternity sitting on the floor and trying to concentrate on nothing, Snape told him that he could get up for the next part.

"I doubt that you'll do much better at this," Snape said snidely. "But I will endeavor to do my best at cursing you just the same."

Harry grit his teeth. He wouldn't give Snape the satisfaction of doing what he said this time, he'd resist. Last time he had been tired and in pain, that's why Snape was able to control him so easily but this time he wouldn't give in. He wouldn't.

"Prepare yourself and resist." Snape flicked out his wand and Harry readied himself, planting his feet on the ground and clenching his hands into fists. "Don't do as I say."

He wouldn't. This time when the words slithered into him, as elusive as a snake, he was ready.

"Fly," it said and he flapped his arms. No, he wasn't supposed to do this. No.

Snape was watching him, his eyes glinting as Harry hopped up and down and waved his arms about. Was Snape amused? Harry felt a rush of indignation at the thought. He tried to resist, to pour his anger into disobeying Snape but he continued to hop about, waving his arms around in the parody of a flying bird.

"You're not flying, Potter," Snape chided.

He knew that!

Snape lifted his wand in a curt movement, momentarily canceling the spell. Harry stopped flapping, breathing hard to catch his breath. Why was it so difficult to resist? He had given it his best effort and still Snape ordered him about like a puppet.

"Cognito face a Potter," Snape said, jabbing his wand forward.

"Slither," it said and Harry did his best not to get down on the floor, spread himself out on his tummy and wriggle. No, he wasn't doing that.

"I hardly call that slithering."

Harry clenched his jaw and willed himself to stop and stand up.

"The animal I'm most familiar with that slithers is a snake, and snakes don't do it like that," Snape said disdainfully.

Well of course Harry wouldn't be able to really slither. Why was Snape giving him impossible tasks?

The wand jutted forwards. "Tap dance on the ceiling," Snape said out loud as the oily feeling slid into him at the same time.

What? Snape had lost it, he was quite clearly insane. Never the less, Harry found himself walking to the wall and bouncing off as he tried to climb it. And then again and again. The moments that Harry fell to the floor and was able to glance back, he saw a dark smile stretching Snape's face.

"Aren't you trying?"

Tears of frustration welled up in Harry's eyes and he tried once again to climb up the wall and fell to a heap on the ground.

"Come, now Potter. All you have to do is disobey, something with which you are most acquainted with. You could not obey even if you wished to do so, why not just sit on the carpet and ignore it? Give up on this futile attempt."

But it wasn't a command in that oily slither and Harry continued to bounce. "Enough. You will find, Potter, that I will not coddle you no matter what your fate or past." With that, the spell was lifted and Harry was brought back to himself. Harry looked up to see a sneer on Snape's face. "Well Potter, did you start the strings of resistance? Or didn't you even feel them at all?"

Harry glared at the floor. "No," he admitted. He had been so sure of himself before the lesson...

Snape turned to stride out of the room. "We are done for today."

Harry felt a weight lift in his chest. Done. Hoppity said that they would go shopping after his lesson but Harry didn't want to go looking for her just yet. He wanted some time to himself.

He thought about how useless he was at repelling Snape's spell. What was wrong with him, why couldn't he do it? He knew that he could throw off the imperious curse, he'd been able to do so ever since fourth year.

Frustrated, the six year old kicked out his feet and hit the floor. He'd show Snape! He'd do it next time. But how? Resigned, Harry rolled over to lay on his side.

Hoppity found him there ten minutes later.

"Harry are you ready to go?"

He rolled over and sat up. "Yes, ma'am."

"It's Hoppity, remember? What are you doing lying on the floor then, silly?" She stopped by next to him and crouched down, reaching out a hand to feel his forehead and he blinked owlishly. "Are you unwell? Maybe we should go shopping another day."

"No! I mean. I'm alright. I'm just hungry," he said as he got up. And it was true. His stomach was telling him that it was time for food.

"Well alright, then let's go. You can pick what you want to eat at the shopping place."

-.-.-

Shopping with Hoppity was a lot more fun, Harry decided. His tummy was happy, they went to a sweets shop and Hoppity found a store full of clothes like the ones Harry's classmates wore.

"How about this one, Harry?" Hoppity asked as she held up a blue shirt with bright red fire engines on it. "Or there's this yellow one with a big happy face on it or this green one with... I don't know, I think it's some sort of lizard..."

"That's a dinosaur. Didn't you learn that?"

"No, just that," she looked around, noting the other shoppers nearby, " what people know about dragons, I thought that they were the same, just people's dragons."

"Dinosaurs are big and they are all eckstinct," Harry recalled from primary school, proud to offer information about them but unknowingly messing up on the word. "I bet that there's lots of stuff about them in a science store."

Hoppity thought for a moment. "How about after you choose your clothes, we go visit one?"

"Yeah!" Harry quickly settled on three pairs of short athletic trousers to wear to soccer and school, and several shirts.

The science store had all manner of interesting things in it; Rocks and crystals and goo and lots of sciencey models. It also had a lot of books and videos, and Hoppity found some about Dinosaurs that she said they should get. Harry was pleasantly surprised when she brought a large packet of plastic dinosaurs to the register along with the videos and said that they were for him.

"We could have a dinosaur battle later," Hoppity told him with a wink.

So now Harry had a bag of sweets, some new, cool clothes and some dinosaurs. He must be such a lucky boy today. He had a sobering thought, perhaps Snape was right and he was getting spoiled. A picture of a blubberous blond boy popped into his head, getting everything he asked for and just getting bigger. Harry shouldn't ask for anything else, ever again. He didn't want to be anything like that boy.

"Thank you , Hoppity," he said shyly, very grateful.

"You deserve it, Harry-bean!" No he didn't, but that was okay. "Come on, it's time to go back."

Harry was sad to see the fun outing end but he followed without complaint, renewing his vow to never ask for anything again.

Exiting the large shopping center, they were surprised to see that it was lightly raining. It was so dark outside, like night although it was only eight o'clock and an hour before sunset.

"I wonder how long rain lasts here," Hoppity mused. She looked down at Harry and he blinked back at her. "I suppose that we'll just have to make the best of it, I could really use a water repelling charm about now..." She clasped his hand. "Have you still got your bags, Harry?" At his nod she said, "Hold on to them tightly!" before looking both ways, four ways really since she looked each way twice, and started across the car park at a quick walk. Harry trotted at her side, clutching at his bag of dinosaur paraphernalia, his bag of sweets pressed deep into one pocket.

They made it to their large car and once Harry was safely tucked into the back seat, Hoppity started the engine and set off.

By the time they were pulling into the driveway, the rain was pouring down in heavy sheets. A flash of light lit up the sky and seconds later a startling loud boom sent a rippling wave of implosion rumbling the ground beneath them.

"Wow," said Hoppity. She parked the car and they made ready for a mad dash to the front door. Rain pelted them and their bags went flying every which way as they sprinted for safety. Hoppity fumbled with the keys for only a second and then they were tumbling into the cool, dry house, and out of the rain.

Snape was standing at the base of the stairs, utterly shocked at their entrance.

"What in Merlin's name is going on?" he bellowed.

"Why, it's raining, Severus! Or haven't you noticed the torrential storm out there?" Hoppity asked, shaking droplets out of her curly hair.

"Of course I noticed, you nitwit! Why didn't you use the door that opens large enough for the vehicle?"

Hoppity just stood there dripping onto the floor. Harry's mouth moved into a very big frown.

Just then, a terrifyingly loud, and close boom of thunder resounded throughout the air, making them jump. Harry likened it to the sound of a metal ship liner being dropped from the sky and crashing into the earth. He wondered if the ground had actually trembled beneath his feet, it certainly had felt that way.

"Ahh!" Harry wailed. "I'm scared!" Maybe if he distracted them, they would stop bickering.

"I honestly forgot, " Hoppity replied to Snape before turning and crouching down next to Harry so that she could hold his shoulders and look him in the eye. "Harry, it's only thunder."

"Don't be ridiculous, he knows what thunder is! What I don't understand is why you continue to stand here, dripping water onto the floor." Snape folded his arms and looked down at them.

Hoppity pursed her lips as she noticed the puddles of water on the hardwood floor. "I suppose we'd best get dried off."

Now that his attention was turned to it, Harry had to agree. He was cold, the air conditioning that always had been too chilly was freezing the water on his skin. Luckily, his trousers were of a sturdy material, so they were only damp whereas he could probably wring water out of his t-shirt.

"Better change fast, Harry. You'll get sick." Hoppity hurried to the downstairs bathroom and pulled out a towel, wiping it along Harry's face before handing it to him. "Good thing you have clothes here. Please stay with Harry, Severus, while I run upstairs and get changed. He might get scared while I'm gone."

Snape had a look on his face of disbelief. Before he could utter a word, however, another frightening BOOM revervated through the air, shaking the house on its foundations. Harry had never heard thunder this loud before. While he had first said that he was scared to stop his guardians from fighting, now he really was starting to get a little bit frightened.

Snape unfolded his arms and seemed a little less opposed to the idea. "Well, perhaps it would be best that I stay with Mr. Potter. He might do something rash if left unattended."

Hoppity patted Harry's head, before hurrying up the stairs. "I'll be right back! I'll bring you down a sweatshirt, Harry."

In the resultant quiet, Harry could hear the rain pelting against the windows and hitting the pavement outside, the leaves of the trees and even the roof a story above them. He wondered if the thunder was so loud and so scary because they were so far from the ocean.

Cool air blew on him and he shivered. He picked up the towel and tried to pat himself dry, he placed it on his head and rubbed. After that his hair was still damp but at least he stopped dripping on the floor. A low, quieter roll of thunder was heard in the distance, Snape picked up the large plastic shopping bag that Hoppity had left downstairs and pulled out a shirt, a very bright shirt. He stuffed it back into the bag before pulling out the green one with the dinosaur on it. He looked at it curiously but Harry didn't feel like telling him what it was.

"Hurry up and change out of your shoes, they're soaked," Snape instructed gruffly as he tossed the shirt at Harry and moved away to look out the windows in the front room.

Harry quickly pulled off his wet shirt, patting himself dry with the towel and put on the new, green shirt before sitting down on a waterless patch of wood and pulling off his shoes, which were wet on the outside, but not on the inside. He then put the towel on the floor and soaked up all the water with it. Hoppity came back down the stairs just as he was finishing up with Harry's grey sweatshirt and a dry pair of trousers. Her hair was frizzy and damp at the same time, a bizarre combination. She lifted the sweatshirt and placed it on him, over his head and Harry was glad of its softness and warmth.

She handed him the pair of trousers. "I'll just go to the kitchen and see if I can make hot chocolate, alright?" she asked carefully, making sure that it would be alright if she excused herself before leaving.

Harry nodded and then moved to just inside the doorway of the loo to change into his trousers as fast as he could. He left the wet ones folded on top of his other wet clothes on the floor, not having a better place to put them.

A peal of thunder resounded so loudly that he could feel it within his bones. It seemed that it was close enough to be in their back garden and Harry trembled before racing to Hoppity.

When Hoppity saw him she smiled. "There you are, you look warm. I think I managed to make some halfway decent hot chocolate," She smiled nervously.

Snape came into the room, he was conspicuously silent. Harry watched him as he took out cups before placing them at the table and sitting down. Was their latest argument over with? It seemed to be.

Curiously, Harry glanced out of the back window but all he could see was darkness and sheets of rain against the panes. Hoppity ladled the hot chocolate into cups and they all situated themselves at the table.

"There we are, there's nothing to worry about. It's just a little storm."

"What protections do Muggles have against lightening?" Snape asked out of the blue.

"Erm, I know this because they use it with their electricity," Hoppity replied, obviously trying to remember. "I think that have very tall metal poles in some places that they attract the lightening with. It's perfectly safe in Muggle areas, you shouldn't get hit unless you stand under a tree or in a big field. Storms like this are just sounds and show, nothing really happens."

And as if on cue, an ominous crack of thunder sounded as if hitting their house. The lights flicked and then went out, plunging everything into complete darkness.

They sat there for a moment, shock or perhaps fear keeping them silent. The rain could quite plainly be heard due to the sudden lack of vision, but they could see only darkness. Someone was breathing loudly, but perhaps that was himself. Harry reached out and tried to see his hand.

"Lumos," Snape's voice whispered out, the spell bathing their faces in an eerie blue cast.

"I think that there are some candles in this cupboard," Hoppity said as she got up. A quick search into the darkness of the cupboard found candles and Snape struck a match to light them.

"How do you know how to do that?" he asked curiously.

"You don't suppose that I use a spell to light each and every one of your cauldrons do you? That would be tedious and quite unnecessary day after day."

"Oh."

The warm flicker of candle lights calmed Harry and he felt slightly bolstered.

"Maybe we should move to the other room," Hoppity suggested as she peered into the dark doorways surrounding this room in particular.

"Good idea," Harry called out and then bravely strode to the front room, knowing that that would give the others no choice but to follow.

"-And put out that light. You know that you're not supposed to use magic," Hoppity scolded Snape from behind him. As an answer, the blue glow was extinguished but Harry could just imagine Snape's expression.

They set up the candles and cups of hot chocolate on the coffee table, Hoppity placed some other candles on some side tables and one at the windows. They gave poor light, but the room was bathed in a comfortable, fiery glow, reminding Harry of Hogwarts and safety.

"I suppose that we could still have that dinosaur battle."

Harry was reluctant to pull out his new package of plastic dinosaur figures in front of Snape, especially since the man was surrounded by lit candles, something that could quite easily melt them. But there was little else to do with the power out and Hoppity was eager and had already got the package out, spilling the little figurines onto the table.

Snape regarded the small plastic toys curiously and picked through them. Oh well, might as well have a good look at them before they are melted, Harry thought as he knelt down at the side of the table and started to study the dinosaurs closely.

Snape held up one plant eating dinosaur with a puzzled expression on his face. "What is this?"

"It's a dinosaur," Harry replied, not smartly as he wanted to because he didn't want to chance Snape's wrath upon his new toys. There was a chance that Snape would just lose interest and leave them alone.

"They are Muggle, erm, large Muggle lizards that supposedly died out a long time ago." Hoppity held up a cardboard piece of paper. "This sheet tells us what they are and if they eat plants or not but I don't really know what else they do..."

"And how exactly do you plan to have this "battle"?"

"Well, erm, I don't really know exactly but I suppose we'll use our imaginations..."

Soundlessly, Snape got up and disappeared into the kitchen.

Harry watched him go before turning back to his dinosaurs. It figured.

"Hm," Hoppity said before turning back to the paper and reading off of it. "This dinosaur with the horns is a Triceratops and it eats plants. This one's a... Euo-plo-ceph-aius? It says that it eats plants too. Interesting armor, it kind of looks like a Fire-Crab with a club tail."

Harry could hear quiet sounds coming from the kitchen, like the opening and closing of drawers.

"I guess that you can be the greenish colours and I'll be the purplish ones. I wonder why they have two colours, are they the male and females of their species?"

Harry shrugged as he collected all the dinosaurs that were to be on his side. "I don't think anyone knows what they looked like really."

Snape returned to the front room and sat back down at his spot at the far corner of the couch. He started to unfold a small square of paper, it looked like wax paper and when it was completely unfolded and smoothed flat Harry could clearly make out small squares covering the surface. Snape pulled out a quill, from where Harry did not know, and using it at a severe angle he started to mark alternating squares with the wide opening, leaving a trail of thick, black squiggles that dried quickly.

"Oh, a chess set!" Hoppity exclaimed, delighted. "How smart."

Snape didn't reply but Harry could see one corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile thanks to the exaggerating candle light.

A bright, startling flash of lightening went off through the blinds followed by another roar of thunder, this time sounding like two cannons going off.

Hoppity reached out and patted Harry reassuringly on the back. "So Harry, which ones do you think should be the Kings?"

Harry tried to put the thunder sounds to the back of his mind as he surveyed the set of dinosaurs spread out in front of him. "T-Rex. He's supposed to be the King of dinosaurs and the badest one."

"Worst, Potter."

"Harry, Severus," Hoppity interrupted, correcting him as she had done that morning. It seemed that Hoppity wasn't willing to let this one go. Harry was sure that Snape wouldn't give in. He was sure he didn't want him to. Sighing, he turned back to sorting through his dinosaurs.

They ended up using the bird-like Pterodactyls as Knights, palm trees and long necked Brontosauruses as Rooks, and raptors as Queens. The raptors had difficulty standing up by themselves, so after many tries, they just let them lie down. For Bishops, they used the standing dinosaurs with funny bumps on their heads, they couldn't tell what they were exactly and the paper that came with the set didn't help much so Harry said that they were just Funnybumpiousauruses. "Might as well be," Hoppity said, slightly laughing. For pawns they used all the short, four legged dinosaurs. Hoppity said that they were all plant eaters so they had something else in common and worked fine.

But for Kings they had to use the mighty T-Rexes. The problem with that was that the two T-Rexes looked exactly the same, they were the same size and the same shade of brownish green.

Harry was surprised when Snape solved the King vs. King Issue by tipping a candle over one of the T-Rex's heads. His long fingers worked the candle skillfully, dropping the wax precisely on the crown of the dinosaur's head before placing it back on the board.

"Oh, lovely." Hoppity said as she surveyed the board once it was set up. "Winner plays Snape!"

The game didn't last for very long. Snape watched them, lounging in his corner of the couch, sipping on hot chocolate while Harry and Hoppity played. In the end, Harry was declared the winner by two pawns, a palm tree, two bishops and a T-Rex.

"I'm rubbish at chess," Hoppity said. Harry couldn't tell for certain but he thought that her cheeks were slightly pink, probably embarrassed at being beat by a six year old. He just grinned at his win and started to set his dinosaurs back at their staring positions.

"Alright, Potter, prepare to be thrashed."

Harry looked up and gave a challenging glare to Snape. He was planning to end 0-2 tonight. "You should be the one preparing to lose," he said bravely.

Snape glanced at him across the board before picking up the raptor that couldn't seem to stand on its own and traded it with a tall plant eating dinosaur with a funny bill-like mouth. "I think not."

The game lasted 7 minutes. By the end, Hoppity was napping on the far side of the couch, snoring softly.

Harry lost.

"I want a rematch."

"No."

"Yes."

"Fine, but in compensation, if I win I get to keep this one." Snape said, holding out the coveted T-Rex.

"Fine," Harry echoed, quite sure of himself.

Some time later Harry was facing eminent defeat once more. If he moved his Knight, it would be captured or the pawn he was protecting would be taken alive. If he moved his bishop, it would be taken by a pawn or Snape's knight. His other pawns were in similar positions, his queen was gone, his palm tree was stuck and he didn't want to just move his King back and forth spaces until Snape took it.

"You know what? This is silly. The T-rex should just eat this one," he said, moving his King two spaces up to chow down on Snape's knight, complete with biting action.

"Fine," Snape said seemingly uncaring as he moved his Brontosaurus. "Checkmate."

Harry scowled. "Not yet!" He moved his ferocious pterodactyl to swoop down on the Brontosaurus, carrying it away off of the board. He suddenly stopped and looked up at Snape. The man's face was unreadable, and Harry was unsure if he had just stepped over the line and was about to be soundly lectured. But then Snape moved his queen two spaces and then over to attack his king, tipping it over as if biting the mighty King's neck.

"Check. Mate."

"Hey! You can't do that, that's a plant eater!" Harry said, grinning despite of himself.

"I've already won. And as if your bird lizard could carry away my giant neck lizard." Snape said ironically.

"It was a little one!"

"Fine," Snape said and moved his funny bill queen to attack Harry's palm tree instead. Harry started to giggle. He moved his last horned dinosaurs to surround the plant eater.

"Surrender the palm tree or we'll attack!"

"I don't believe that they can talk."

"They're dinosaurs, no one knows what they used to do. They can talk."

"Your argument might have merit if that paper that came with it didn't say that dinosaurs had brains the size of peanuts." Snape sat back. "I grow tired of this. Admit defeat."

Harry sat back on his haunches and crossed his arms. "Fine. You won, happy?"

"Immeasurably." Snape reached out and plucked the T-Rex he had conquested as recompense of Harry's loss. Harry watched it disappear into Snape's front pocket. Goodbye, dinosaur. He pitied whatever fate was in store for it now. "Now put them away."

The lights flickered and came back on, blinding Harry momentarily after the evening of candle light. He covered his eyes with his arms, waiting for them to adjust and the pain to go away.

He heard Hoppity wake up with a start. "Wha-?"

"Potter just lost a second time to myself." Harry lowered his arms and looked around the newly illuminated room.

"Oh, tough luck, Harry," Hoppity said, blinking. Snape smirked. As if. "I suppose the storm is over?"

"I think so," Harry replied as he started to gather the dinosaurs back into their plastic case.

"Oh okay," Hoppity said as she got up and started to clumsily walk for the staircase. They could both tell that she was half asleep, or maybe mostly asleep. Harry was tired himself, but from Hoppity's fumbling up the stairs he guessed that he wasn't going to get tucked into bed that night.

And it wasn't as if he could ask for it.

A small boy stood in the midst of a lawn of grass, a low humid breeze ruffling the stems of grass, the trees, and the boy’s clothes and hair. There was a smell of wetness in the air. The sky was overcast, the storm from the night before had ended but it seemed that the weather had not.

The boy was of the sort that one would fancy picking up and running away with, if one could. A small, little person, he had a solemn, yet childish look about his face. He had a nose that could easily go from scrunched up to runny in just mere seconds, bright green eyes highlighted by his dark brows and messy raven hair that made him characteristically annoying and adorable at the same time. He had little marking him physically, save for a jagged scar on his forehead.

It was this evening that the boy could be found standing among the backdrop of grey sky and green grass, an intense look of concentration on his face.

Little Harry Potter was hunting for snakes.

“Come out,” hissed pleadingly from the little boy’s lips. He waited a little before looking around for any slithering motions among the grass, or perhaps against the fence. Nothing came.

“Come out and say hello,” he tried again, calling for any snake to hear. “Come and play with me.”

The boy basked in the feel of the weather, it felt… right. It was his birthday, forgotten and unremarkable as it had always been in his childhood. He’d only remembered that morning, there had been a weather station on the telly that said the date and Harry had seen it; the fact that it was his birthday had caught him completely by surprise. There would be no session of owls carrying gifts this year, no birthday wishes from his friends far away.

He felt so… alone, miskept, ignored, perhaps.

He could go inside, inform his guardians that today was his birthday, but that would be so selfish of him. He had been given so much, just yesterday Hoppity had taken him shopping and he got some new toys and clothes. He would a deeply horrible little boy to even suggest that today might be his special day. And undoubtedly, Hoppity would think that such a day would mean presents and cake, how could he tell her that, knowing how guilty she would feel, how much stress and strain it would put on her to try and give him a Birthday, or Merlin forbid, a last minute Birthday party. No, he couldn’t do that to her. How could he ask for more? He didn’t even want anything more… but a cake and maybe a “Happy Birthday, Harry” would have been nice.

And what of Snape’s reaction? He couldn’t stand having to sit through any sort of evening celebrating himself with his sneering, detrimental guardian, knowing that anything he said would be true. It would cut, deeply.

He wasn’t that selfish of a person, he didn’t want to be.

So he spent the day mostly alone, telling himself firmly not to mention anything. And really, was it really his birthday? He would have been 16 today, but he had been deaged to be a 6 year old, at least physically. So it wasn’t his birthday. Or was it? It could be, but probably not. This line of thinking was just confusing him so he went back to searching in their back garden for a snake to bring in for show and tell.

He hissed a little, feeling the air flow over his tongue like steam from a tea kettle, hoping that the sounds would call a snake when the words would not.

“Hissss, hissss…” He oddly imagined himself a tea pot, patting his tummy and holding out one arm like a spout. I’m a little tea pot, he smiled, suddenly feeling ridiculous out there by himself pretending. He didn’t suppose that that would be a good substitute for a snake for show and tell.

Harry walked over to the other side, thinking that maybe the snakes were over there and just couldn’t hear him properly. He tried louder this time, “Hello, are you there? Come and visit me.”

But the attempt wasn’t any more successful than before. Harry waited just a bit just to make sure. The air was heavy, as if teetering on the edge of a storm that would never come, or might come at any instant. The wind blew his hair around. Maybe the snakes were just hiding because of the weather, but Harry really didn’t think so. There didn’t seen to be any snakes in this part of America.

A flash of lightening lit up the sky above the houses silently, giving the evening an eerie cast. Seconds later there was a rumble of thunder in the distance.

“Potter, come inside,” called a man from the doorway.

Harry looked up but came in obediently, under the watchful eyes of his guardian.

“Sit down,” Snape said silkily as he closed the door and the atmosphere out. Harry clambered up into a seat at the kitchen table. Inside this brightly lit room it felt like he had just gone worlds away. He turned around to peer outside the window, noticing that heavy raindrops had begun to fall outside. “You remember this?” Snape asked, regaining Harry’s attention as he pulled out the small red bottle and set it on the kitchen table.

Harry nodded, he did remember it. Snape had told him last time that it would help make the scar on his arm go away, but every time Snape put it on him, Harry would have to answer one question or forfeit it that time.

Snape pulled out a cloth and then sat down next to Harry nonchalantly, pulling Harry’s arm out and pushing up the sleeve. “Tell me about how you got the bruise you claim was caused by being pulled up the stairs,” he said, lowering his own hands and looking into Harry’s face.

Harry swallowed. “That’s not a question,” he said bravely, fearing that Snape would see that as a refusal to answer. He did want his scar to be healed. And besides, didn’t they already cover this matter? Harry told him that his uncle pulled him up the stairs, that’s how it happened.

“Alright, why did you get those bruises?” Snape asked, showing more patience than Harry had expected.

“It-” He sighed. “It was at the beginning of Holidays when we got back from Kings Cross, and- my uncle thought I wasn’t moving fast enough so he pulled me up the stairs to my room.”

“And this happened often?” Snape asked levelly as he opened the red bottle and dabbed some onto a handkerchief.

“No,” Harry said thickly. Not up the stairs.

“How were you usually disciplined?” Snape asked lowly, gently.

Harry gave a surprised expression. He wasn’t expecting that question, in fact, he wasn’t expecting another question at all! He furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes. “Hey, you’re only allowed one question!”

“I was wondering if you would notice,” Snape said smarmily as he wiped the liquid into Harry’s scar.

“You tricked me!” He was just ignored. “I shouldn’t have to answer a question next time,” Harry declared.

“Yes, you do, and will.”

“But I answered two questions, so one of them should count for next time.”

“I don’t think so, Potter. You were the one who decided to answer the second, completely of your own choice. It has no bearing on our little agreement.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.” Snape raised his brows, looking down at the little boy. He recapped the bottle and took it into his hand, daring the small boy to contradict him.

Knowing that he had lost this time, Harry just got up and sulked out of the room. He wouldn’t fall for that trick next time.

---

Early the next morning...

A lone delivery truck pulled up the road and stopped in front of a square brick house, number 402. A man in a uniform got out and looked through the packages in the back. He spotted the correct one and pulled it out. He walked up to the front door and dropped it on the front step, there was a clank of glass and he winced sympathetically, but left it alone and checked the delivery off of his list.

When Hoppity got up that morning, she heard the sound of a truck driving away. Hmm... She decided to investigate and walked downstairs to look out the front door. What she saw on the door step made her catch her breath... a medium-largish square box, brown and covered with airport stickers. Could it be? Hoppity felt a wave of joy as she pulled it in the house. She managed to get it to the kitchen table with little difficulty. Searching around for a sharp knife to open the box with, she imagined the real English hot tea she would soon be able to have. She could smell it already from here!

She quickly stuck the knife through all the tape and once the box was cut open she set it down on the table. Opening the box flaps, she nearly cried in relief as she spotted a tea kettle top. She then did cry once she realized that everything was in pieces. It was broken! Noooo! She fell into a chair, limp. The beautiful tea set was broken... broken... and there was nothing she could do about it. How did a Muggle deal with broken Tea sets anyway?

Wait! She was a witch! She could do magic! Great Uncle Albus had told her to only do magic in the gravest of circumstances, but didn't this count? Hoppity snuck out her wand and glanced around the kitchen, making sure that no grumpy Potions master would swoop down and catch her in an act of magic after she had berated him over and over again for doing the same. Once positive that she wouldn't get caught in this devious, but necessary, act she cast several repario spells in quick succession at the contents in the box.

Minutes later, Snape walked in to find Hoppity unpacking an unblemished tea set, and several boxes of tea.

He stopped, then blinked at the sight of the long mourned box Albus had given them. The old man had been right to give them such a gift, for the tea here was horrible and came in tea bags.

He quickly joined Smirkett at sorting through the packets of tea, the wonderful real tea leaves smell was wafting through the air… the pot was already set to have boiling water, the cups were out…

Heaven.

“Hoppity?” came a small, childish voice. Not even the brat could ruin this moment of tea, real tea…

“Hmmm?”

“Isn’t it time to go for school now?”

“In a minute sweetie… let me have just a few more cups of tea…”

Amazing, it seemed that he actually shared a common interest with the twit. Well wasn’t that a prerequisite from where they came from? Didn’t count then, Snape thought smugly and he took another swallow of that wonderful tea.

The boy was still standing there though, seeming as if he wanted something. Go away, brat, Snape thought at Potter. He was gratified when the boy pursed his lips and actually left the room, imagining that the boy had actually obeyed his mental command.

Now, go away twit.

He wasn’t surprised when she stayed, she was rather engrossed in that cup of tea. Well he’d have to make sure that he tried them all and horded some before she drank them all. Tea was just something he would rather not have to live without with these horrible circumstances.

He was glad once they both left. It was going to be a good day, well rather better than others lately.

But for Harry, it was going to be a bad day at old Ms. Alkin's Provisional First Grade class. It started with a tantrum by Mary Beth before class began, she had wanted to stay home today, badly, and when she was left here she threw a fit good enough for a Dursley, wailing and shrieking and kicking and throwing her lunch box at a wall.

And then, the tattle-tale girl sitting next to Harry told the teacher that Harry hadn’t said the pledge in front of the whole class in an annoyingly stuck up voice, to which Harry very hotly said that he wasn’t American and that he didn’t have to say it if he didn’t want to, never mind that he didn’t even know it. Half of the class didn’t know it as well, if the jumble of voices every morning was anything to go by. But his loud statement caused all the other children to look at him weirdly, like he was a bug or something, the way everyone looked at him in the Wizarding world which he hated. The teacher didn’t make him do anything, just said that it was okay if he didn’t say it because he wasn’t American but then he realized that maybe he was supposed to be American and he just blew their secret identity cover. But there wasn’t much he could do about that afterwards besides worry about it for the rest of the day.

Ms. Alkins put on her glasses and went through her usual routine of telling the children what day it was and what the weather was like, in her old crackling voice. She then reminded the students that show and tell was on Monday and that they all needed to bring something in. Harry was dismally reminded of his failure to get a snake the other day and that he didn’t have anything to bring in and show the class. Show and Tell was going to be just awful, he knew it.

They then had a lesson about money and the value of a dollar. Harry was very lost during the lesson but figured that it was just like a pound. He was just glad that the teacher didn’t call on him when she was asking the students what one could buy with a dollar. She probably remembered that he wasn’t American and wouldn’t know. But that reminded Harry of how he might have made a mistake by claiming that he wasn’t American.

During drawing time he managed to lose himself for a little while, copying the images that the other children at his group drew before one of the girls at his table noticed and told him to stop copying them. And as expected, Jenny complained loudly to the teacher across the room. Harry looked down at what he was drawing and crinkled the paper up, embarrassed once he realized he was drawing a unicorn, and a purple one at that.

The student teacher hurried over at the commotion and reached out to stop Harry, “Harry, don’t do that,” she said kindly, “You can draw a unicorn if you want to. And Jenny, it’s okay if he draws the same thing you do, it’s not breaking a rule. It just means that he likes what you drew.” His face red, Harry let the teacher smoother the paper back out and leave before he picked up a black crayon and started scribbling over it. He wasn’t copying Jenny’s work because he liked it. She was such a tattle tale, he decided that he would call her Miss Tattle Tale from now on. She deserved it.

“You can copy mine, Harry!” Benny called out eagerly from across the desks, trying to show Harry what he drew. It looked like blobs of different colours, maybe planets? There was a star on one corner. Harry smiled as best he could and got another piece of paper out to draw circles on, he really didn’t want to colour at all. Would he get in trouble if he didn’t?

Yes, Harry was having a bad day. But it turned out that the teacher was too.

It seemed that Mary Beth’s tantrum that morning was not unfounded. She threw up right before lunch, and it was right next to the teacher’s desk. The smell permeated the room, and the students were evacuated into the hall while someone came in to take care of the problem.

Afterwards, the room didn’t smell so good, a mixture of sick and lemon cleaning supplies, and unfortunately, the students had to eat their lunch in there. The fans were on and the windows were open and the smell was much dispersed, but even so, the Lunch minders did not want to spend any more time in the classroom then they had to. The current woman was standing in the doorway. Harry looked at his sandwich warily, he didn’t exactly want to eat it now. He left it unwrapped at the corner of his desk. Maybe having some sweets first would make him feel better.

He traded some with Benny, noticing that the smell seemed to bother him as well.

When one of the lunch minders was lurking outside of the classroom, Bobby walked back from where he had been asking her a question and walked past Harry’s desk purposefully. He reached out and swiped half of Harry’s sandwich and bit into it.

This was the kind of thing that Dudley did to him whenever they were in the same class or room in Primary school. Harry almost couldn’t believe that an almost stranger would do that. He was so stunned that he just watched as Bobby chewed and swallowed, making a disgusted face.

“Ew, this is the same kind my mom gets,” Bobby said before dropping the rest of the bit sandwich onto the middle of Harry’s desk and walking away.

The nerve! Harry really was stunned, if he had tried to talk he was sure that he would have sputtered, but as it was, he just was speechless. No way was he going to let him get away with something like that. Maybe he had to in the past, but not anymore.

He turned toward Ms. Tattle Tale, surprised that she had watched the whole thing and hadn’t immediately ran for a teacher or called out for one.

“Aren’t you going to tell on him?” Harry demanded.

“I like Bobby!” she said snottily and turned back to her own lunch.

Harry just gaped. Unbelievable! Well if she wouldn’t tell on him, then he would. But wait, he didn’t want to be a tattle tale. And really, what could he say and what could they do? He could hear himself now, in a voice just like Jenny’s, “Ms. Lunch minder, Bobby ate my sandwich.” Then what? No, he had to take care of this himself. Next time Bobby tried something like that, he’d do something.

He poked at the sandwich half and pushed it farther away. No way was eating that sandwich now.

After lunch it was time for recess. Harry was still in a foul mood and the way the teachers rounded and ordered everyone really annoyed him, telling them where to stand, how to stand, to get away from the wall or drinking fountains.

Outside Harry was left blissfully alone by Bobby and his friends, but Benny followed him around as he walked along the edge of the playground, trying to talk and be his friend. Harry would have welcomed such an attempt of friendship, except the way Benny went about it reminded him of some people who would follow him around at Hogwarts and basically do the same thing, only with camera flashes. It left a funny feeling in his stomach, and so, Harry found it difficult to really want to be Benny’s friend.

During recess the sun was hiding behind grey clouds and halfway through it started to lightly rain. Harry’s grade was ushered into the gymnasium where wet sneakers made squeaking noises on the glossed wooden floor. They were passed out balls and told to play.

For some reason, recess lasted longer than usual today, a lot longer, and Harry’s class was the last to be collected, well after the other ones.

They were lined up outside the gymnasium for what seemed like long time. Harry probably should have tried to line up far away from Bobby, but he hadn’t thought of that, and so he found himself standing right next to him as they waited in the corridor for the teacher to tell them that they were going back to their classroom.

With such an unusual series of events that day, the students were antsy, more so because they could feel that something was wrong, but no one knew quite what that was. Bobby was restless, Harry could tell. The bigger boy spotted Benny standing next to Harry, his large glasses askew and his nose wet and dripping. He sneered at him and crossed his arms.

“You freak.”

Something inside Harry snapped. It was like a rubber band that just let go. Something pushed Bobby from the side, he was surprised and lost his balance, tripped and landed into the wall.

Very angry, he picked himself up and turned around before launching himself at the person nearest the direction the push came from, which just happened to be one of his own friends. He didn’t seem to know what else to do. Harry just stood there, horrified with the rest of the children who saw, not sure if that was what really happened; They were all kind of stunned at how Bobby was pushed by nothing. But Harry had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what it was.

It had been him. He had used magic. The one thing that he wasn’t to do.

A lunch minder ran over and broke up the fight that hadn’t really started and marched the two children over to an office across the way. Another one rounded up the children and started to walk them back to the classroom.

He had used magic. What did that mean? Would he be in trouble with the Ministry? Would they come and find him right away? Could they even? He had to tell Hoppity. He got out of the moving line and purposefully went towards the adult at the back of the line. He was surprised to see that it was his student teacher, Miss Kincaid. Well that was good then, she was one of his teachers and it was supposed to be class time now anyway.

“Miss Kincaid, Miss Kincaid,” Harry called out trying to get her attention, stopping before her. She looked a little upset about something.

“What is it Harry? It’s time to go to class now.”

“Miss Kincaid, I need to see my mum, she’s just over there,” Harry said, pointing down the corridor to where the offices were.

“Why Harry? Are you hurt? Is your stomach upset?”

“No, none of those, I need to tell her something. It’s urgent.”

But unfortunately for Harry, the student teacher just couldn’t deal with that right now. Something very big had happened and she now found herself possibly being the classroom’s only teacher for the rest of the school year and she just couldn't deal with a child demanding to see his mum in the middle of the school day for superficial reasons.

“I’m sorry, You’re going to have to wait until class is over. That’s only in an hour and you can tell her then.”

Harry gave a very tense expression. “But please-“

“No, Harry. You have to go to class just like everyone else. They don’t have mums in the building that they can talk to whenever they want. And if you’re not hurt or sick then you need to go to class.” Her decision and tone was final. There was no way Harry could get her to change her mind, only try her patience.

Harry scowled but allowed himself to be guided back to the line of children returning to the classroom. The offices were right down there… if he broke away he could make a run for it. Would the teacher run after him? What would he tell her afterwards, what excuse could he possibly make that would be urgent to see Hoppity for? He couldn’t just claim he did magic.

This was so frustrating!

But there was only an hour left of class, the teacher said so. How long did it take for an owl to travel from England anyway? It had to be at least hours, the plane trip took forever and it moved a lot faster than an owl…

When they were back in the classroom, everyone noticed the absence of Ms. Alkins but the student teacher said that she was away and that she couldn’t come back for awhile, and that she was going to be their teacher. But children are incredibly empathic creatures, and her explanation didn’t really satisfy anyone.

Harry managed to last the last hour or so of school, he was distracted by the activities that they did. By the time school ended, he wasn’t so sure that he had to tell Hoppity anymore. If the Ministry knew and he was expelled, there wouldn’t be anything to tell until the owl came. Which would take hours at least

He was silent for most of the car ride back to their house, and even more silent as he sat at the kitchen table afterwards.

It had been hours since the incident. How long did it take for an owl to travel to him anyway? The pressing need to tell someone was back. Hoppity was standing just there across the room, he could just open his mouth and say it…

“It’s time for Occlumency,” Snape said upon seeing the small boy sitting at the table idly. It was early yet, but if the boy had nothing better to do…

But Harry made no move to leave the kitchen, or even move at all.

“Alright, Potter, out with it. I can obviously see that something is on your mind.”

Harry breathed and looked anxiously down at the table. “I did magic, today at school” he admitted quietly, fearing the worst.

Silence. Well, that must mean that it was a big deal, and a bad deal. Harry started to feel terrible and he looked up fearfully. Snape didn’t seem that mad or upset, he did seem bothered. Hoppity just looked a little shocked, but not too worried.

“Is that- well I know that’s bad, but-” Harry swallowed.

Snape set his features. “Well I don’t think that the Ministry will be able to tell, but we should wait to see if there’s a notice.”

“But would the ministry be able to sense it, all the way here?” Hoppity asked.

“I don’t believe so.”

But that seemed to remind Harry of something… something Dumbledore had told him… what was it?

“Well, they shouldn’t be able to find us, in any case.”

“Oh no!” Harry suddenly remembered what Dumbledore had said, about not doing magic because the owl wouldn’t survive the trip! Harry was very anxious, almost freaking out at that. His eyes were opened large, an anxious expression on his face, mouth slightly parted.

“What’s the matter, Harry?” Hoppity asked, suddenly worried at Harry’s obvious distress.

“An owl,” Harry replied, his eyes watering.

“What about them?” she asked very concernedly.

“It’s going to die bringing a post for,” he sobbed, “Me.” Hoppity reached out her arms and hugged the sobbing boy tight. Snape curled his lips in disgust. What was wrong with the brat? Don’t tell him that he was actually that delicate, to care about an owl….

She let go to look at the boy in the eyes. “Oh, oh, don’t worry Harry. I’m pretty sure that when Professor Dumbledore said that an owl wouldn’t survive the trip, that he was only joking.”

Pretty sure? Harry’s doubt must have shown on his face for Hoppity continued, “Even if the Ministry could tell all the way here that magic was done, or that it was even you who did the magic, very doubtful by the way, and even if an owl would be able to 'feel' where you are, it would stop before crossing the ocean.” Well she hoped so but she wasn’t going to tell Harry otherwise. An owl wouldn’t be that stupid would it? No of course not. She didn’t think.

But Harry seemed to be less upset and that was all that mattered right then. She looked up and frantically hoped that Snape wasn’t going to ruin that by telling Harry what he hoped. But Snape didn’t seem inclined to. If a half-dead owl showed up, well then it would still be alive, but if a sent owl never showed up and died, well it wouldn’t show up so the boy would never know. As much fun causing Potter distress was, he still had to get through a Meditation Occlumency lesson with the brat and it wouldn’t be easier on himself if the boy were so distressed.

“He’s probably too wound up for our lesson, now,” Snape said only slightly peevishly as he got out the tea kettle and started to make some calming tea. He got out three cups and started to mix herbs, placing the kettle on the stove top.

Hoppity brushed Harry’s fringe off of his forehead, and then curiously looked into the pots of tea leaves on the table. There was a small dent in the plentiful amount. “Have you been drinking tea all day?” Hoppity asked Snape amusedly. All she got in response was a glare, perhaps not as scorching as usual. Must be all that tea, she thought jokingly to herself, she was sure that he had had at least seven cups today already. Harry had calmed down some in her arms and she patted his head while she sat leaned back in the chair next to him, glad that the Owl crisis was over with for now, and hoping that nothing would happen to make it come back.

The tea was soon ready and they all enjoyed a cup, Snape pushing Harry’s cup closer to the boy and telling him to drink when Harry didn’t make any move for it. Afterwards, Harry seemed much calmer and the two of them disappeared into the back room for an Occlumency lesson.

---

Snape was down in his lab when the light went out. It was quite startling, one moment he was working in a brightly lit room, and the next moment, darkness. He supposed that perhaps it was the electricity, or perhaps it would come back on later, or the light was broken and had to be replaced with another. Well if it didn’t work later, he’d just have to use magical means for lights. In any case, it was a perfect time for a break, he had been meaning to take one anyway. Snape whipped out his wand and cast a Lumos spell, deciding that a cup of tea was not unfounded.

Snape emerged from the dung- ahem, cellar to the relative brightness of the ground floor. Fortunately, he was well ahead of schedule and decided that he had earned a long break. As he entered the front room, his eyes swept past that inane toy that Harry and his little friend had been so engrossed in last week. He wondered what its appeal was. Hmm... well it wasn't like there was anyone around to see him should he choose to examine it.

Snape strode forward purposefully, intending on discovering why Potter found it so engrossing. There was a strange rectangular device with a slot on top that he could tell was intended for one of those smaller packages to go into. Two short cables connected the device to two strange... things.

Snape had noticed that when Potter played it he had the- what was this box called? The 'tellie? on. He turned the 'tellie' on. Nothing. He looked down at the device. Perhaps he needed to put one of those small packages in to get it to work. It only took two tries to place the package in the slot successfully. Still nothing. Frowning, Snape picked up the strange controller thingy and pressed random buttons. Still nothing.

What was he doing wrong? He inspected the device once again and this time he spotted a switch. It was turned to 'off'. Feeling a bit silly, Snape turned the switch to the 'on' position and the 'tellie' sprung to life. Super Spy XLL, read the screen in big red letters.

A black clad man ran quickly across the screen and stopped at the end, leaning against an imaginary wall. The man on the screen turned quickly and shot behind him before running off the screen. The game menu came up next with interesting background music and a menu: New Game, Load Game, Multi-player, Options. Snape looked down at the strange controller thingy and pressed several buttons to see what happened. A music chime sounded and the 'New Game' screen loaded. A feminine voice said 'Select your character'.

There were 7 different boxes with pictures of people spinning around in them. Snape passed a formal looking Muggle man, a lady in a red dress, a midget in a clown suit, a large muscular man, a braniac looking girl and a duck to select the last one, a tall man all in black with goggles on his face and two large looking hand guns.

The screen changed. "Input user name." User name? What was that?

He blinked and then realized that he was to name his character. Snape thought for a minute. He decided to use Insoluable Unrivaled Alchemist. It was a very noteworthy name. It took some minutes to figure out how to get through the letters and by the time he got halfway through 'Unrivaled' an irritating beeping noise sounded and the screen flashed red. With some disappointment Snape realized that the name wouldn't fit. Backtracking, he decided that he would have to go with 'Insoluble man' instead. He managed to input the name and the game began to load...

---

Meanwhile…

The grass was hot in the mid afternoon sun. Harry struggled to put his new football shoes on as the other children already on the field called out happily, their calls to each other reverberating on the small field.

Mrs. K hadn’t come in to school that day and the student teacher had been their teacher. It had been kind of odd but other than the explanation that she would be away for awhile, nothing else had been told to them about her. With only one teacher, Harry had had less attention during art, and Jessica, the girl sitting next to him had had fewer opportunities to tell on him so it had been an alright day, as far as school days went.

But Harry wasn’t interested in any school things right now, for he had just got on his shoes and was ready to play. Michael’s mum was there making sure that he had his funny shin plates on right, something she said he had to have right. He stood up, they felt really weird, but it was okay because Harry was used to wearing stuff like that on his arms for Quidditch.

He took a couple of steps on the soft grass, and then looked back at the knot of parents and sibling milling about on the edge of the field and waved at Hoppity and Michael’s mum before racing off to where Michael was practicing his kicks with a ball. Michael saw him coming and with a toothy grin, he kicked the ball towards Harry. It was a little off, but Harry ran towards it intending to stop it the way the pros on the telly did.

He guess that he wasn’t quite as talented as the pros, because next thing he knew he had tripped over it and landed in a heap on the grass. He could hear brief laughing behind him, and knowing that his face was red Harry sat up and scowled at the ball.

Michael ran up to him, his light laughter not as hurtful as the parents’ behind him, “Ha, are you okay Harry?”

“Yeah, m’okay,”

Just then, a whistle blew and a loud male voice rang out, “Okay kids, everyone come over here!” Harry looked around a spotted a man with a white cap on and an old green shirt. He had a whistle around his neck and a bit of a pot belly, but was definitely the coach. Michael had already started running towards him, kicking his ball in front a little clumsily, and Harry hurried to catch up.

“Everyone get your ball and line up, if you don’t have a ball come here,” the coach said as he passed out the black and white balls to each child that came over. “And what’s your name?” he asked upon seeing Harry and handing the small boy a ball.

“I’m Harry, sir.” He held the large ball in his arms, and shrugged a little.

“Okay, Harry! I’m Coach Renolds and you can just call me Coach if you forget,” the man said as he leaned over a little to speak to Harry. “Have you ever played soccer before?”

“No, sir,” Harry replied dutifully. Well had he? He couldn’t quite remember ever playing it, not really.

“Well you just line up over there and I’ll help you a little,” he stood up and blew his whistle, “Okay kids, pay attention, it’s time to play our square game. Who remembers how to do the square game?”

A bunch of small players raised their hands and jumped up and down. There were a few “I do!” and “I know Coach!” and Harry positioned himself, at the end of the row of about 12 children, feeling not a little lost and still holding his football. Michael moved over and stood next to him, unable to hide his excitement.

“Who can tell Harry here how to do the Square game?” Coach Renolds asked the group. “Allison?” he asked, calling on a small girl that seemed like she would explode if she didn’t get to tell him.

She nodded her chin proudly and spoke in a childish lilt, “We dribble our balls across.”

“Yes, that’s right, we all dribble our balls across to the white line and we stop, and when Coach says so we dribble back,” Coach Renolds said, filling in the missing information.

“And remember that when you dribble, you have to kick with your shoelaces.” What? Harry looked down at his shoes and looked at the shoelaces on the top of his shoes. How did one do that?

Michael had started to swing back and forth from his waist, obviously impatient to start. Coach put a ball down and rested it in the inside of one foot. “Kick with the inside of your foot, near the shoelaces,” he said giving an example kick.

Oh. That made sense.

“Is everyone ready? Harry, you have to put your ball down. You too, Nadia.” Harry put his ball down on the grass next to Michael’s, suddenly NOT feeling ready.

“Remember, kick the ball with the inside of your shoes. And don’t kick anyone else’s ball! No shoving! Ready? Go!”

The small soccer players started to kick their balls over the grass, starting with exuberance, but slowing down once they actually got into it. The distance wasn’t very long at all but with everyone right next to each other, they had to be more careful and go slower. New at this, Harry followed at the end, concentrating fiercely.

“Peter, we’re dribbling now,” Coach called out to a boy who was still just standing there to get him to move. The clutter of footballers moved forward. “Heng, good job!” Coach called out.

They finally all made it to the white line on the grass and stopped. “All right everyone, now come back now.” Harry looked down at his ball and started to kick it forwards once again. “Kick with the inside of your foot!” Coach called out to everyone again. Now that Harry had some practice of kicking the ball, he felt himself begin to relax a little and it was actually really fun! He chased after his ball after the other players.

They crossed the field a total of six times, and at the end Coach even said a “Good job, Harry!”

The rest of the practice was filled with little games like that and some drills, only they all were a lot of fun. When they split up into groups of two Harry got to practice kicking to ball to Michael, and this time he didn’t trip over the ball and fall flat on his face. Well okay, maybe he did once, that that was an accident.

By the end of practice, Harry had had a great time, he didn’t really want to stop but he realized that he was a little tired and ready for a snack before dinner. Coach Renolds followed him and Michael back to where their mums were staying, well Hoppity and Michael’s mum, and talked to Hoppity for a bit, gave her a piece of paper with rules Harry had to memorize before next practice and told her that she should get a soccer ball for Harry if he could.

All in all, it was a good day.

“Clear your mind.”

Harry shifted and tried to do as he was told. It was yet another “Occlumency” lesson and Harry was having just as much difficulty with it as he had had the other times. He was sitting in a slightly different place on the floor this time and the low whirling of the air conditioning was distracting him, blowing hair from his fringe slightly against his forehead.

“Concentrate, Potter,” Snape said a couple of feet from where Harry was sitting, bringing him back to task. Harry’s eyes were closed but he was sure that the man was looking at him annoyingly from his chair, perhaps glaring at him.

Harry tried, he really did, but it was as if he just couldn’t do it. There was always something in his head, ready to pop up and steal his attention away. He breathed out fully, and then in. Snape was always telling him stuff about breathing, and how he should concentrate on it, maybe it really would help.

There was a long moment of silence, perhaps Snape thought that he had actually tried to do it this time, before the nudge against Harry’s leg told him that it was time to open his eyes.

Snape was leaning forward, his dark eyes peering into his own, but Harry only saw reproachment in them. He sat back in the chair, “Again.”

Harry sighed and closed his eyes once more from his seat on the floor. Hopefully, Snape would give up soon, not that Harry was eager to continue onto the other part of the lesson.

“Do not focus on your thoughts or pay them any attention, focus on your breathing,” Snape instructed him lowly.

Harry tried, he told himself to breathe in but doing just that was too easy and everything else hovered behind his eyelids. Everything; his school, Snape, dinner, the room, the AC and smell of the house, his toys, outside, himself, all of it was there and clamoring for his attention.

“The breathing, and nothing else.”

In and out, Harry breathed, and then shifted around a little. It was hard to try to do nothing for such a long time. He opened his eyes suddenly, catching Snape as off guardedly as he had ever seen him, just looking at him. But Snape just kept looking at him just the same and Harry quickly grew uncomfortable and shut his eyes again.

“The air is bothering me,” Harry said.

“Then move,” Snape said without ceremony.

Harry frowned, but scooted over to another spot on the floor where the air wouldn’t be blowing on him. He slumped his shoulders and tried again, not at all happy that he always had to have these lessons.

“Stop slouching, Potter or I’ll make you sit up against the wall,” Snape threatened for once. Harry straightened immediately, the wall did not sound comfortable.

From behind his eyelids, he tried to ignore the things demanding his attention and clear his mind and focus on his breathing like Snape said, but the fact that they were demanding his attention stole him away. There was the tell-tale nudge against his knee, and Harry opened his eyes for his mental self to be assessed again.

Snape sighed. “Perhaps with repetition and time you may show some improvement,” he said grumpily. “But for now, I believe that we have pushed this exercise as far as we can go. Get up.”

Harry hated this next part. Snape took out his wand and Harry tensed up. He knew what was coming. This was the time where Snape got back at him for being a pest and not being able to clear his mind earlier.

“Alright, Potter, do your best to not do as you’re told. Try to disobey with every fiber of your being.”

“Cognito face a Potter,” Snape whispered as he waved his wand in wide swishes before jabbing it towards Harry. The familiar, icky feeling of something slithering into him was felt and Harry tried to steel himself. He was determined to not give Snape the satisfaction this time.

“Touch the ceiling,” was commanded into every aware and unaware cell of Harry’s body and he looked up, seeing the white mottled ceiling above him. He reached up. “Touch it.” He got on his tip toes but he couldn’t reach it.

“You’re short and pathetic, Potter. You can’t reach something that high, why don’t you stop trying?” Snape said lightly but Harry ignored him and tried again to touch it, hopping a little. Since when did he ever listen to Snape?

“It’s pointless,” Snape taunted, flicking his wand up and down in time with Harry’s ever increasing jumps. “Impossible…”

No, Harry would reach it, he’d reach it…

“FIGHT, Potter,” Snape said harshly. “Fight it, you little twerp.”

Harry kept jumping, his arms reaching up and his eyes focused on the prize above him. His head was flung so far back that he lost his balance and feel back onto the floor. He was feeling a little dizzy.

“Ah, I see,” said Snape, and he continued in a matter of fact tone. “You can’t disobey. Might as well go along with it, no point trying,”

No, wait…

“Get up.” Disoriented, Harry felt himself get up. He knew he didn’t have to do this, he could try to stop.

“Walk on the ceiling.” Harry renewed his jumping and soon fell flat on his back again. He didn’t want to do this.

The spell was lifted. “Perhaps a short break,” Snape suggested as he pocketed his wand. He studied Harry from where he stood.

Harry raised a hand to cover his eyes, feeling disoriented still with directions after looking upwards so much.

“Why is this so hard?”

“Because you are a child with the mental abilities of an infant, now get back up and try again.” It was obvious that Snape was loosing patience fast, but really, did Harry ask him to do this?

“Get UP, Potter!”

Grumbling to himself, Harry got to his feet and looked at Snape, but the man’s wand was not out as expected.

“Potter, if I were to tell you to touch the ceiling, right now as you are, you would be able to stay put and not even try, correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said tentatively.

“Touch the ceiling.”

Harry looked at him a little puzzled, but did not attempt to do so. There was no reason to and nothing was compelling him.

“Hop,” Snape commanded but Harry stayed still. Snape pulled out his wand and Harry steeled himself for what he knew was to follow. “Resist,” Snape hissed as he waved the wand and jabbed it towards Harry.

Quite of its own accord, Harry’s body began walking to the wall, and then trying to walk UP it.

“Resist, Potter,” Snape hissed again, and Harry tried to. It wasn’t as if Harry actually wanted to bounce himself off a wall for an afternoon. Snape let it go on for several more minutes, watching Harry’s futile attempts and alternating between encouragement and encroachment before finally allowing Harry a reprieve.

“As amusing as this has been, I grow tired of it. We’re done for today.”

Snape pocketed his wand, but instead of striding from the room as he usually did after a lesson, he instead stayed. “Come over here,” he said lowly, and Harry, afraid of yet another exercise, walked towards him, dragging his feet.

Snape pulled his chair closer and sat down, then in a surprising move reached out to pull Harry closer to himself until they were almost face to face. “How do you feel?”

Harry blinked. How did he feel? Just awful, and frustrated, that’s how he felt.

“I see,” Snape said and Harry suddenly realized that Snape was reading his eyes again. He looked away. “Tea, then. Come into the kitchen and sit down.”

Harry slowly followed Snape into the kitchen. At Snape’s insistence, he pulled out a chair, and climbed up onto it. Snape placed a teacup with hot tea in front of Harry much faster than he should have been able to, and Harry looked up to see if Snape had given away that he had used magic somehow. Snape just raised his eyebrow and poured himself a small cup on the table. He took a sip and spoke, “It may seem very difficult now, perhaps impossible, but one day you will get it, Potter. For now, you must keep trying and not give up.”

Harry looked into his own teacup below the table’s edge. Imagine, Snape was actually trying to console him, or perhaps he actually saw just how amazingly frustrated Harry was at all of this.

Snape put down his teacup and pulled out the familiar red bottle from a pocket. He reached out across the table for Harry’s arm, but wary Harry did not offer it. He looked at Snape with large eyes, waiting to see what he’d ask before he got his hopes up. He remembered the last question Snape asked him…

Snape smirked before schooling his features. “Do you believe me? That one day you will be able to clear your mind and resist that spell?”

Harry looked away uncomfortably. It didn’t seem now that he’d ever be able to, but he had to. He would. “Yes.” He sat up, bringing his legs up onto the chair’s stool so that he’d be tall enough and extended his right arm above the table.

Snape just dabbed some oil onto his long fingers, and then onto the scar.

“Good.”

---------

It was time for tucking in, and Harry was in his bed and ready, Roofy, his plushy dragon, under one arm and the covers.

Hoppity smothered the blankets before sitting right next to him. “Okay Harry-bean, remember how I told you this morning at breakfast that the woman I work with gave me some books to read to you? Let’s read one tonight so that I can tell her tomorrow that I did. Is that alright?”

“Okay,” Harry replied quietly. He remembered how she brought them in and showed him at the kitchen table, and how Snape had been there and barely hid a snort at them. But it didn’t matter what Snape thought and Harry thought that he had been at least a little interested in them.

“Alright then,” Hoppity murmured as she picked up a book from next to Harry’s bed and opened it, “This one’s called The Velveteen Rabbit, have you read it before?”

“No.” Harry studied her face and light red hair, ready to listen to her story. He snuggled down into his covers as Hoppity turned to the first page and began to read…

It was a wonderful story, starting with a stuffed rabbit given to a little boy, who did not find him interesting at first, but once he did, they were inseparable. They went everywhere together; burrowed holes in the garden, played outside had so much fun! The rabbit became the boy's favourite thing in the world and the boy loved him.

But then the boy became very, very sick. When he finally got well again, the Doctor told the parents to take the boy to the ocean for fresh air and to burn everything he had touched while he was sick so that he didn't get sick again. And so the boy was taken away and all the toys were gathered up together in sacks outside to be burned the next day.

That night, the Velveteen rabbit saw real rabbits in the garden wiggling their noses and eating the vegetables. He didn't want to be burned and he missed his boy badly that he sped a real tear. A fairy came and granted him his first wish, turning him into a real rabbit. The rabbit jumped out of the bag and was free.

“The end,” Hoppity said as she showed him the last picture to an enthralled Harry. She shut the book and replaced it onto the floor.

"I didn't like that ending," Harry said quietly.

"Why, Harry-bean?"

"Because they wanted to burn the rabbit when the boy got sick. And then when he turned into a real rabbit he couldn't be with his boy who he loved anymore."

“You’re so precious, Harry,” Hoppity said as she patted his head. “But he did see his boy once in awhile, and they were both happy in the end. The boy outgrew his rabbit and didn’t need him anymore, and the rabbit had a full and happy life with his boy before he got his greatest wish.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Harry said as he shut his eyes and held his Roofy closer.

Hoppity smoothed the blankets over him but did not get up to leave. “Just so you know, Harry, we got a letter saying that some people were going to visit us tomorrow after school.” Harry looked at her a little fearful, remembering the nurse’s warning when she had noticed his bruising during the physical exam. “It’s nothing to worry about at all,” she consoled him, “We’d never let them take you away from us and we’ve come up with a plan, and a secondary plan, and even a third plan if we need it. They’re just Muggles and they can’t stand a chance against us. I believe that Snape’s down in the basement working on something now, even. So don’t you worry even a bit.” She patted Harry’s head and got up to leave, stopping to shut the light off next to the open door.

“Good night, Harry.” And with that, Harry was left alone to ponder tomorrow and his fate.

---------

It was Thursday afternoon, the time the dreaded Social Workers' visit. Even though Hoppity had told him not to worry, Harry still worried. There was an apprehensive sick feeling in his stomach. All day at school he had worried. What if the Social Workers decided that he should be taken away? What if they managed to do it, or if Snape let them, or if he even wanted them to? And even so, Harry worried about what Snape might do to the Social Workers themselves. Hoppity had said that man was working on something last night…

“All ready, Harry-bean?” Hoppity asked as they all prepared in the kitchen. She had tried to do something with her large frizzy hair, but like his was it looked worse for the trying.

“Yeah,” Harry barely muttered.

“Remember the plan, and follow it,” Snape instructed from where he was mixing something next to the tea pot. “Smirkett, if you forget something let me proceed. I’d rather not have to blunder through something worse than the back story we came up with,” he said sourly. “First and foremost make it seem as natural as possible.” She nodded and Snape set out cups. “And Potter, don’t say anything at all unless they ask you a direct question.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said, remember all the times he’d been instructed to do that. He should be good at that for all the practice, he thought sourly.

“Harry, don’t forget to call him Harry,” Hoppity said slightly nervously.

“Don’t be dim witted, of course I’ll call him Harry.”

The doorbell rang and Hoppity dropped the box of biscuits she was placing on a tray. Her eyes were large behind her circular glasses. “It’s them, they’re here!”

“Well, go on and answer it, then,” Snape said peevishly as she just stood there. “Don’t forget to smile,” he bit out and then she was gone. Harry looked up and watched as Snape lifted up the bowl in preparation to pour the contents into the pot of hot water. He stopped however, once he realized Harry was watching him. Snape set the bowl down and picked up a chocolate biscuit off of the tray, leaning over and pressing it into Harry’s hands.

“Go with her, Potter, hurry up, and make sure they see you eating that biscuit.”

Confused, and quite worried, Harry nodded and ran after Hoppity. Why did the biscuit matter? Maybe Snape just wanted him out of his hair. He came upon Hoppity at the door greeting their visitors and he shoved the chocolate biscuit into his mouth so that he wouldn’t have to say anything when they saw him and said hello. He stood as close to Hoppity as he could, and upon noticing him, Hoppity pulled him closer with one arm.

“Oh hi, Harry! What have you got there? Did your Daddy give you a biscuit?” Hoppity asked cheerfully. The Social workers, two ladies, were looking at him expectantly, as if sizing him up. Mortified, and mouth full of cookie, Harry turned his head to hide behind Hoppity.

“He’s rather shy,” Hoppity said knowingly, “But we’ve signed him up for football so hopefully he’ll make lots of new friends.” She took a couple of steps back, moving Harry along with her, “Well, come on in to our parlor and make yourselves comfortable.” She beckoned as she maneuvered Harry and herself out of the way so that their guests could pass.

The two women settled themselves on the couch and Hoppity sat next to them, smiling. Harry just stood next to Hoppity’s side, very unsure about the whole thing.

“It’s a very nice home,” the younger social worker said. She had light blond hair tied back into a bun and looked like she was in her mid 20’s.

The other one was older and looked gnarled around the edges. “We won’t take much of your time, we just need to ask you some questions and access the situation,” she said strongly.

“Thank you very much, Mrs. Beany, we appreciate it.”

Just then, Snape came into the room, holding a tea tray and wearing a frilly, flower patterned apron.

“Would you like some tea?” he asked pleasantly.

Harry choked on the biscuit crumbs still in his mouth at the sight. Hoppity was at his side in a moment, seemingly try to help him not choke to death, and then the tray was quickly placed on the coffee table and there was Snape, the frilly apron making Harry’s position worse as he squawked again and inhaled more biscuit. But then, the apron was off and being pressed into Harry’s face, letting him cough up the particles and spit from his mouth. When it was mostly out and Harry had stopped coughing up stuff, Hoppity dabbed at his mouth with one corner.

“Are you okay, Harry?” she asked worriedly. He nodded and watched as Snape poured tea into a cup and then sat in the leftover chair. He coughed some more, his lungs still feeling itchy and fearing another coughing fit. Snape reached out and pulled Harry towards himself so that Harry was firmly in his grasp and patted his back a little, perhaps to help him breathe? Harry didn’t know, but it was weird. Dudley used to do that when he was coughing only Dudley used to smack him so hard he’d almost fall over, and his best mate and his brothers at school used to do it in a strong, friendly sort of way, but Snape seemed to do it gentler, like pats. It was probably just for show.

"Would you like some tea and biscuits?" Hoppity asked the social workers as she started to pour tea into the other cups and place them on the low table before them at their nods and “Yes, thank you”s.

Snape picked up his cup and held it up to Harry’s mouth. "Take a sip Harry," Snape said gently. Harry didn't want to, he didn’t exactly trust whatever Snape had put in the tea but Snape didn't let up as he held the cup to his lips. The social workers were watching him intently, their untouched cups in their hands. They seemed to be worried about him, making sure that he was alright before sipping their own tea. He had no choice unless he wanted to cause a scene and he didn’t want to do that, when a bad visit could mean that he would be taken away.

He reached up to steady the cup and opened his mouth. Snape didn't relinquish his hold on the cup as Harry took a sip. It tasted really good, and Harry tipped it back to take another swallow. It soothed his throat a little and made the itch go away. He couldn't identify what kind it was, but he noticed a strange lingering taste... something he faintly remembered... what was it? He felt himself relaxing as he tried to pull the cup back for another sip, but Snape pulled it away from him and set it on the table out of Harry's reach.

Harry tried to reach out for it anyway, but was bodily pulled back against Snape, and then picked up and settled on his lap. "Shh…" Snape said gently as he wrapped his arms around the boy.

At first, Harry wanted to struggle and get away, this was his greasy mean potions professor, but the man wasn't hurting him, only gently restraining him, and there really was no reason to try to get away. It felt kind of nice being held like this. Harry decided to try sit tight and enjoy it. He was unlikely to ever experience something like this ever again in his life. When he took the antidote to the deaging potion, he would be too big to be held at all... except maybe by his nice giant friend...

Hoppity sat next to them, and slightly sipped her tea. The Social Workers, now at ease since Harry was no longer in danger of choking to death and their hosts seemed to enjoy the drink, tried their own cups.

"This is really good!" The younger woman said, pleasantly surprised.

"Of course." Snape's voice drawled nicely. "We prepared it special for you."

After several long sips, the younger woman drained her cup and then reached out to try a biscuit. The older social worker, Mrs. Beany, Harry had heard Hoppity call her, set down her cup reluctantly and turned to address them, going straight to business. "I'm sure you know why we are here. There was a report filed for possible abuse and neglect and we are here to examine the situation."

"I can assure you that there is no situation,” Snape said from behind Harry. For some reason, he was feeling less scared than he had before. “I have never laid a hand on this boy. Your information must have been faulty." Harry was suddenly lifted up and placed back on the floor to stand next to Hoppity. Snape continued in a lighter tone, "You may inspect him if you wish." He pushed Harry out towards to nearest Social worker and Harry turned to glare at him. Snape just looked at him and quirked an eyebrow up, otherwise ignoring him as he redirected his attention to their guests.

Harry turned around to look at the social workers, anxious that they actually were going to inspect him. He was relieved to see that the social workers seemed to think that Snape was joking as they smiled amusedly at him, making no move to poke and prod at him and generally be unpleasant.

"That won't be necessary," Mrs. Beany said as she pulled out a pair of reading glasses and put them on and Harry felt quite relieved. He looked back at Snape to see if he was going to pick him up again, but he didn’t seem like he was going to.

Hoppity cleared her throat. “Also, I’m not sure you’re aware, but we’re not American citizens, we’re only here for the summer. I’m not sure that you have the authority to do anything.”

“Oh, we do,” Mrs. Beany said almost warningly. Hoppity quieted and Harry shuffled a bit, worriedly.

The other social worker spoke up as she poured herself some more tea, "We just need to spend some time with you, ask some questions and see his living conditions."

Mrs. Beany turned to Snape, a notebook out and a pen ready, "So what exactly his relationship to you?"

Snape folded his hands, “He is my adopted son.”

“Do you have the paperwork for that?”

“Regrettably not,” Snape said. “His acquisition is quite a complicated and long story and it was not through any official means of government.”

“We’d like to hear that story if you don’t mind,” Mrs. Beany stated, peering at them through her reading glasses. Harry would have liked to hear it as well, just where was Snape going to say he got him? Perhaps he was left on Snape’s doorstep as a baby? Or rescued from an orphanage?

“If you must,” Snape agreed pleasantly. “You see, my family owns a Village in North Shotsshire, England. I spent most of my life traveling to different lands on scholarly pursuits, perhaps all of my childhood with my father and most of my adulthood. When my father died, I received the Manor located in the village as my inheritance, but I did not reside there. My sister did.”

Snape looked very seriously at his captive audience. “I have no idea how she came into acquisition of Harry, but needless to say she did. I was away at the time, on a very long journey in the South Seas… I had not seen her for years when I received post that she was ill, perhaps seriously. Unfortunately, it was at a very trying time and I was unable to pardon my duties and visit her right away. When I was finally able to see her, she was on her deathbed and the boy had already been sent away for some time while she tried to recover. Her dying wish was that I take care of the boy as my own. I was not able to retrieve him right away though, as I still had unsettled business and he was supposed to be safe with some distant relatives. It was at least a month before I was finally able to retrieve him and take him home.

“I still do not know if he is her own or someone else’s, but it does not matter. I checked, of course, to see if Harry was a missing or lost child from a grieved family, but nothing was discovered. He is mine now. There was some custody paperwork filed in with the will of course, but it was left at the manor, so I regrettably cannot possibly show it to you.”

The two social workers seemed to have been silenced.

“That is quite a story,” the younger one ventured out, clearing her throat a little.

“We will, of course, have to check with your government to be sure, and check their copies of the paperwork…” the older one said, apparently a little flustered by the theatric tale.

“Of course,” Snape said. He noticed Harry resuming his interest in the tea, and he quickly removed the cup “No, Harry. Too much is not good for children.” He picked up a biscuit and prodded Harry to take it instead.

“And where do you come in?” the younger woman asked Hoppity, clearly interested.

Hoppity swallowed. “Oh… I was in the village that Harry ended up in, the village with the Mountaineers, and I just fell so in love with the sweet little boy through all the troubles that I just could bare to be parted from him.”

“The-Wait, troubles? …Mountaineers?”

Snape coughed a little.

“Here dear, have some more tea, it will clear your throat,” Hoppity said sweetly as she launched into a careful explanation. “Yes, you see, the first distant relatives Harry ended up with did not take good care of him. Well, they couldn’t, what with all the famine and all!

“Oh yes,” Hoppity mused, a remembering look in her eyes from behind her spectacles. “It was in a remote village in the mountains that Harry was first sent to, I believe it was your great grand aunt? Was that it, dear?” Hoppity asked Snape who had tea in his mouth and could only get off a nod before she continued, “It was a particularly hard winter and pass was cut off with heavy snow and ice… There just wasn’t enough food to go around, the poor woman had eight children of her own- erm, I mean, she had eight children in her household, for some reason were living with her because all of her other relatives died…”

“Yes,” Snape butted in. “Strange circumstances to be sure, but Harry would never have been sent to her if there had been anyone else close enough. As it was she could not take care of them all at that time so she sent Harry and half of them away to live with some other relatives who were not in such quite dire circumstances.”

Hoppity continued, “And with the rebellion going on, and all trade practically stopped-”

“Rebellion?” the blond woman asked flabbergasted.

“Oh. Did I say famine in the beginning? I meant both.”

“No, she meant famine,” Snape said, almost glaring at her.

“Well there was a small rebellion actually,” Hoppity tried to defend her earlier statement, “Hardly worth mentioning except that it was such a small and remote area, and of course a rebellion of only two people would have far reaching consequences-”

“Never the less, there was a famine, and that was what affected Harry the most,” Snape stated as he reached out and picked Harry up again and held him close when he noticed that Harry was reaching for the tea again. Harry tested the arms holding him so see if they’d let him out easily, but they stayed quite put so he sat back with a pout.

“Yes, quite,” Hoppity agreed, tearing her eyes away from watching Harry and Snape to focus on the social workers once again. “What saved them were the goats.” The two women had very interested expressions on their faces so Hoppity quickly started to explain, “They were all starving when some goats came out of the mountains, the goats kept the people afloat until help came. They called it the goat famine because all that was left to eat at the end of it were the mountain goats, and eating mountain goats isn’t the best thing, so they stayed alive by drinking their milk…” Noticing Mrs. Beany writing some of this down, Hoppity was quick to add, “But don’t bother trying to look it up, it was a rather remote and unknown area and the events and such are really only known by the locals…”

Harry listened to the story with wide eyes. It figured that Wizards would come up with a story like that and actually get away with it. He looked up to check Snape’s expression, he looked a little pained.

Hoppity was quite lost in her little tale, “When I arrived with the Mountaineers for relief supplies the poor lad was half starved. And when I realized that he didn’t really have anyone looking after him, I spent time with him and made sure that he was alright. I got to know him, and after that I just couldn’t bare to be parted with him.

“When Severus here came for his boy, well at first we were all a bit wary, I wanted to make sure that Harry would be alright, and happy and would be taken good care of, but the two of them soon warmed up to each other, and I knew that it would be a good thing for him.” She lowered her voice, “The family Harry had been staying with didn’t really care for him; it wasn’t until afterwards that we discovered just how badly they had been treating him.”

“Like?” the older woman asked, her notepad and pen still out and ready.

“It was hard times,” Snape cut in. “The lack of supplies made them grudging of feeding him and the father had a heavy hand. And while I can forgive them for what they did to Harry because he is here with me now and flourishing, I can never forget.”

"So you two are married now?" the young, blond one asked carefully.

Hoppity and Snape looked at each other before wordlessly reaching their hands out to each other, showing off their rings. Harry was a little smushed as Snape leaned forward to have both arms reach. Put me down! Harry thought strongly, but the pressure soon abated.

“We’re so happy now,” Snape said, lying through his teeth.

“Oh yes, we’re great friends,” Hoppity said. “We’re still waiting for the papers for joint custody to go through though for Harry.”

The blond one looked enraptured. “So how’d it happen? How’d you fall in love?”

The two looked at each other. “…I have no idea.” Snape admitted truthfully. “It happened so suddenly. One moment we were complete strangers, and the next, a family.”

“Oh yes, Harry is the sole reason of our intertwining lives.”

“That reminds me of one of those Emma romance tales,” the young woman gushed.

“Oh yes, it was quite fantastical,” Snape said as he looked at his partner, disturbed.

Hoppity just reddened and took a sip of tea.

Mrs. Beany looked down at her notepad. "We just have a few issues to clear up. It says here that he seemed undernourished and small for his age."

Snape seemed to have expected that. "Yes, well, as we said earlier, he was staying with some relatives who did not give him the best of care." That was actually true, Harry thought. "We've tried to rectify that, but he recently seems to have started on a stubborn stage and refuses to eat some things." Not true, Harry thought, annoyed at Snape and the social workers as they now talked about the real him as if he wasn't there. “And obviously, little boys do not grow on sweets themselves, as much as they may want to,” Snape patted Harry’s head in what he obviously thought was a fond manner and gave a smile at the social workers. Harry was afraid to look. He hoped that this visit ended soon, and okay. It seemed to be okay so far…

"And... it is noted here that there was some severe bruising." The same social worker prompted. Harry swallowed, wondering what his guardians would say about that.

This time it was Hoppity who spoke up uncomfortably, "There was an incident at the park a couple of weeks ago back in England… some man grabbed him and wouldn’t let go… we would have filed a report but erm- the man seemed to have disappeared right before my eyes and then I wasn’t sure if it had actually happened at all…”

Mrs. Beany had a polite look on her face as she made a note on her notepad. Harry couldn’t tell what that meant, the other worker was unreadable over it, just looking at them all intently as she had the entire visit.

Hoppity continued. "I'm afraid he's also had some trouble with bullies. Some bigger boys at school like to pick on him and one swung a heavy bag at Harry. It left quite a mark on his back. I've tried to bring it to the attention of his teacher at school, but the last one just had a heart attack and the new one is still trying to get settled in."

A heart attack? Harry thought that that part was true, it certainly made sense why the old teacher hadn’t been in for days and no one would tell them anything besides the fact that she would be away for awhile and be good for their new teacher. Everyone at school had thought that the old bat had died.

The social workers had pitying looks on their faces. They seemed to buy the story as they had everything only this part was actually true. Harry was embarrassed that Hoppity was telling them that he had trouble with bullies. He didn't want anyone to know, he wanted to deal with it himself. It was awful having these strangers told that children his age were beating him up.

"Yes," Hoppity continued. "I've heard that the class has always been a bit out of control, but now with the new teacher I just don't know what to do."

"Well, I suppose that it will resolve itself. They will outgrow it soon enough," Snape said.

“Wow, it seems as if everything happens to you guys,” the blond woman said.

“Yes, quite.” Snape agreed. “Now if you do not have any further questions, would you like to see the boy's room?"

"Yes, please." Mrs. Beany said as she capped her pen and stood up. The other woman followed her example.

Snape shifted Harry in his arms, and Harry was startled when the man actually stood up with him in his arms. Snape invited these strangers into Harry's private room and now it looked as if he was going to carry him all the way to his room too! Harry felt so irritated and upset at being maneuvered around without being asked. He wanted to kick the man carrying him, but aborted the idea since Snape would probably just drop him painfully to the floor in retaliation or the social ladies would notice they didn’t like each other and take him away.

At least he kept all his dirty clothes and pants in a plastic bag in the bathroom and not on the floor as he usually did in the red tower.

He looked back over Snape's shoulder at the social workers as they followed them up the stairs and caught Mrs. Beany looking at him. He should pretend to be comfortable in Snape's arms. He remembered how he once saw little Benny sucking on two fingers when he was tired and in his mum’s arms, and Harry did the same, laying his head on Snape's shoulder as he gazed back at the social workers in what he hoped was a cute and trusting manner.

The blond one looked up and smiled at him so he guessed it worked.

They entered Harry’s room and Snape deposited Harry on the bed before turning to address the intruders. "As you can see, the boy has adequate living conditions."

Mrs. Beany looked around at the bare walls and poked through Harry's belongings and Harry scowled. "It doesn't look like he has many things," she noted.

"As you should already be aware of, we have recently moved here from England and plan to return soon. Extra baggage would have been quite cumbersome. And to be fair, you did not see his second playroom." Snape held his arm as if to offer to show it to them and Mrs. Beany followed him out to peek into the room just next door.

As if to be friendly, the blond social worker turned to Harry, "Do you remember what it was like living with your relatives? During the um... goat rebellion?"

Harry was caught off guard but tried to say something that she would accept. "I don't really remember... but I do remember lots of, erm snow. Yes, and bleehing. Like this, blleeehhh,” Harry went, trying to imitate a goat." It made her smile.

“Are you happy here?”

Harry nodded, “Yes ma’am, it’s great. I have fun nearly every day.”

“That’s good,” she said as Mrs. Beany and Snape returned.

"All right, one last thing,” Mrs. Beany was saying. “We need you to sign these papers verifying that you are his guardian. It is only you, and not your wife, correct?"

“Correct,” Snape said slowly, eyeing the papers Mrs. Beany was pulling out from her notebook. They watched as she set them on the shelf on Harry’s room and placed her pen on top of them, afterwards looking at Snape expectantly. So cornered, Snape picked up the pen, quickly filled them out and signed them with what Harry knew was his familiar sprawl. It looked like Harry was safe, and wasn’t going to be carted away to an orphanage or police cell after all! A feeling of relief that was much larger than Harry had expected replaced the worry and anxiousness that he had had earlier.

“Now, if we discover that the papers you claim exist don’t, you’ll be hearing from us,” she told them warningly. The worry crept back in, like a punch to his gut.

“I don’t expect that you will be,” Snape said pleasantly. He led them back downstairs and out through the front door, Harry trailed them, watching them go.

“Thank you for having us,” Mrs. Beany said as she shook Snape’s hand, and then they were gone, the door shutting behind them.

Snape strode to the kitchen with forceful steps. Harry scrambled off of the lower stairs and followed him into the kitchen where Hoppity was putting away the leftover biscuits.

“What happened to not muddling it up?” Snape demanded. “A great grand aunt with eight children? Mountaineers? GOAT rebellions?”

“Well… they seemed to go for it anyway,” Hoppity said carefully. “I think it’ll be alright.” She fastened closed a box.

“They are going to look for those documents and anything about a GOAT rebellion now, and then when they can’t find anything they’ll come back,” Snape enunciated with clear, stressed syllables.

“They’re coming back?” Harry asked worriedly from where he was standing.

“They probably won’t,” Hoppity said, trying to console him. “When an enquiry goes through those nice agent people will probably take care of it, or Albus will, or the documents might actually exist, you never know.”

Snape had started to pace. “We’ll just have to Confound them the next time they come back,” he muttered, “Forge their handwriting on some papers so when they wonder what happened they can just read…”

Harry turned to Hoppity, “But how will the Agents know what to write when they go looking for the papers?” She was silent as she thought, putting the biscuit boxes back up on the shelves and the fact that she couldn’t come up with an answer readily was enough answer for Harry. “They’re going to come back and take me away and lock me up!” he cried, quite distressed.

“Have more tea,” Snape said as he pushed a newly filled cup of tea towards him. “Go on, drink it all up.”

“Snape! He shouldn’t have that,” Hoppity said as she turned sharply to see Harry sipping it down.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s in a drugged haze now, they’ve left. It’ll be better for him since he will be in a better position to hear your platitudes, and therefore not Freak Out when I’m trying to think.”

“But what if he likes it too much? You don’t want him to be addicted...”

“It’ll be fine. He doesn’t know what it is or how to make it, and it’s not addictive,” Snape said lowly as he turned to lean against a counter, clearly thinking.

It was silent for awhile.

“You should have just Obliviated that nurse,” Snape hissed out harshly, suddenly.

“It’ll be okay. If they come back, we’ll just Confound them like you said.”

“And you were the one who didn’t want to start an international magical incident,” Snape said ironically.

Harry was looking at them curiously and Snape walked over to him to look him in the eyes. “Listen, Potter, they are not going to take you away so do not worry about that. They will not be able to take you away.”

“Okay,” Harry said quietly.

“Oi, I think that’s the tea talking,” Hoppity said.

“No it’s not, Potter believes me.”

Hoppity walked over to look Harry in the eyes as well. “Harry, did you know that Snape’s animagus form is a bunny?”

Snape glared at her, but Harry just blinked and furrowed his brows before slowly answering, “No, it is?”

Snape sighed, “You’re right, he’s had too much. Potter, my animagus form is not a ‘bunny’.” Harry just looked at him. “It is not a rabbit or any other small rodent and if I ever heard that malicious rumor at Hogwarts, I will know who’s to blame and you will be peeling rabbits for weeks.”

“Alright,” Harry said. “You’re not a rabbit.”

Hoppity was stifling her giggles.

Snape frowned but took out his wand and waved a light sleeping spell over the boy. Harry was almost instantly asleep. “I’ll put him on the couch, better he sleep for awhile rather than hear any number of things and believe them. It’s a short draft; it should wear off in ten minutes and he should wake up in time for a late supper. Speaking of which, rabbit does sound good… certainly better than goats,” he said pointedly at Hoppity as he scooped the little boy up and left the room.

It was Thursday night, quite after the visit when Snape came up from his lab for a glass of water. He opened a cupboard and pulled out a glass before looking askance at Hoppity. She was standing at the open kitchen door, looking out.

“What are you doing?” Snape asked, pouring himself a glass of water.

“Waiting for Harry,” was her simple reply.

“What is he doing?” Snape asked distastefully as he brought his glass of water over to the back window to see. The pint sized Potter was among the grass, head bent down and lips moving. Snape frowned at the sight. Now and then a flash of a light bug was seen, the boy didn’t even seem to notice them.

“I have no idea, he said he wanted to find something for show and tell…”

“Outside, in the dark?” Snape asked with a sardonic lilt. What could possibly take the boy so long to find out there, all that was out there were dirt and grass, perhaps some twigs and bugs, nothing that required whispering to oneself. “I’m sure that there is nothing out there that his classmates haven’t seen for themselves.”

He opened the door and called out, “Potter, get in here!” hoping that the brat would refuse so that he could manhandle him back inside and make him stand in a damp corner of the basement or something equally unpleasant for misbehaving.

Harry looked up curiously, but upon seeing his two guardians standing in the doorway he came over.

“In,” Snape said as he held the door open, slightly disappointed.

“Why?” Harry asked but walked under the arm holding the door open and into the house anyway.

“What were you doing out there?”

“Looking… for something for show and tell,” Harry admitted, hoping that no one would ask further.

Snape shut the door and locked it behind them, ending Harry’s last chance to find a snake to bring to school.

“But I have to find something for show and tell tomorrow!” Harry cried. “What am I supposed to do now?”

“I don’t know. Go to bed.”

“I’m not tired,” Harry replied petulantly, stomping a foot, but Snape didn’t seem to care or even notice him, going back to the sink to wash his drinking glass.

Harry stalked to a chair at the kitchen table and climbed up it to sit, crossing his arms. Glaring up at Snape, he swung one leg out, “What am I supposed to bring for show and tell now?” he asked hotly, demanding Snape’s attention.

“I do not know, and I do not care,” Snape replied silkily as he placed his now clean glass back into the cupboard and then left the room. Harry glared at his retreating back until he was out of sight.

Ever the peacemaker, Hoppity gave a tentative suggestion, “Erm, well Harry didn’t you mention about making a map before? I’m sure the other children could learn something from that.”

“I suppose,” Harry murmured.

---

Snape came back up some time later to see his two bothersome pains in the front room; Potter kneeling at the low coffee table, paper and crayons strewn about him and Hoppity sitting not far off. It was a bit late, but Potter had had a rest earlier so he supposed that it was alright.

“What are you working on, Potter?” he asked as he neared.

“A map,” Harry replied, his tongue sticking out through his mouth as he concentrated on his drawing. “Where are we supposed to be from again?”

“ England ,” Snape replied deadpanned, trying to vex the boy.

“No, I mean- nevermind. I’ll just make something up.”

Curiosity getting the better of him, Snape came closer to look over Potter’s head at the drawing. There were discarded papers on the table, failed attempts, some crumpled. He tried to figure out what Harry was trying to make but it was unrecognizable.

“What is that supposed to be?”

Harry stopped his coloring and looked up from under his fringe. He then looked down. “ Britain .”

It looked like a badly misshapen blob, nothing remotely resembling anything Snape had seen before, except perhaps Potions spills.

“Where’s Wales ?”

Harry looked down at his paper, a concentrated expression on his face. “Right here,” he replied pointing to a lump at the bottom of the blob.

Snape paused. “ Wales is supposed to be on the lower left, not the bottom.”

“It’s close enough, Severus,” Hoppity said from where she was drawing what appeared to be a garden.

“Not nearly,” Snape retorted sharply, pulling out a sheet of paper and sitting down so that he could use the table too. “We wouldn’t want to be to blame for badly educating the little snots, Harry included who should know better,” he said, ignoring Hoppity’s warning look and Harry’s uncomfortable squirm.

“Now Potter, pay close attention,” Snape said as he picked up a black colouring stick and outlined the British Isles as accurately as he could. He got to the Wales part and paid it particular attention, making sure that Harry was watching closely. “It goes out like this, Potter.”

“Oh.”

Hoppity spared them one last glance before she went back to her own picture.

Snape concentrated on his drawing, continuing the outline and going back over the parts that needed it, making sure that all the bumps and islands were as accurate as he could recall. Harry was watching closely, peering over the paper.

Scotland still didn’t look quite right, so Snape went over it again, trying to get it correct this time. The tricky part over, Severus was suddenly annoyed at the way it seemed he was doing all the work for the brat. “Well? What are you waiting for, hurry up and start making your own, you’re not having this one.”

Harry gave a discontent grumble but picked up a fresh sheet of parchment and a green colouring stick. Snape watched him for a bit before studying his own outline. There were several areas that had been done over and over again, leaving doubt to the correct passage and he started to notice bits that seemed very incorrect so he picked a fresh piece of paper and attempted it again.

As he worked, Snape glanced over once in awhile to check on the boy’s progress. He was drawing another blob; it was still hard to tell what it was.

“Perhaps it would be best if you drew and outlined all of the surrounding countries in and around the British Isles and then coloured England in red.” Harry ‘hummed’ a little but glanced at Snape’s paper and started to draw in the surrounding areas on his own map.

They worked for a bit more and Severus soon lost himself in drawing the notable rise and falls of the land and marking all the large towns and landmarks he knew. Harry occupied himself likewise, Snape was pleased to note, glancing down at the boy’s paper before stopping and taking a closer look.

“Why is there a dinosaur on yours?”

Harry stopped and bit his lip before looking up guiltily. “Because… dinosaurs….” It seemed as if the brat couldn’t come up with any reasonable explanation besides he liked them.

Snape gave a reprimanding sigh. “There are no dinosaurs in England . There are no live dinosaurs in the entire world, except for dragons and you know that those are not for Muggles to know about. Do it over.”

Harry scowled but Snape handed the boy another sheet. “Take more care on Scotland this time.”

After several tries, they ended up with something drawn by Harry that could pass for that part of the world. He hadn’t quite got the islands of Scotland correct, ending up with a lumpy area. Potter’s map barely resembled Snape’s own but if one squinted and applied a great deal of imagination it could be recognized as Britain .

Snape picked up the black coloring stick again and wrote ENGLAND in big, bold strikes under the country, which Harry had ended up colouring red like Snape had suggested, and ATLANTIC OCEAN over the blue scribbles.

“We wouldn’t want to make your classmates confused,” he said mildly, glancing at Harry.

“Alright, time for bed,” Hoppity said upon completion of their project and then the materials were gathered up and the boy guided upstairs with little protest.

---

Show and Tell

“-and it purrs and purrs until I pet it and get it to stop,”

Harry glanced back at the little girl in pigtails at the front of the classroom, holding an electronic kitten. He wasn’t bored, but purring kittens weren’t quite that interesting. Now, if it could get up and move and lick milk that would be a different story. He shifted a little to scratch an itch on his back.

Harry had showed his map earlier to the whole class and everyone had listened closely as he explained where England was and what it was like to travel across the ocean in a plane. The student teacher, their only teacher now, had brought out a globe and helped him show the class just where England was compared to where they were now.

Harry thought that his show and tell had been better than most of the students, even if he had just brought a self-drawn map. He couldn’t wait to tell Hoppity how much everyone had liked it. But not Snape.

“Thank you, Sharlene,” the teacher said and the girl went to put her toy kitten on the side table.

The bell rang and then it was time for lunch and recess. At first it was chaos but then the students settled down and ate their lunches. Harry looked around as he nibbled at his sandwich.

Soon it was recess and Harry was outside with his classmates, wandering around and wondering what he would do today. The itch on his back was back, and he scratched at it.

Benny had brought in a pet worm for show and tell and the little boy was across the playground talking to it as he walked back and forth. Harry knew that because he had seen Benny sneak it from the Show and Tell table before lunch and then watched as Benny had tried to feed it an apple with no success at lunch. But Harry wasn’t interested in a pet worm so instead he looked around for a game to join. Several children were playing tag but they ignored Harry as they ran around him, shrieking.

Harry stood behind a group of children playing a game with a ball, tossing it to each other in a box drawn on the ground. Maybe one of them would give him a turn?

He waited for awhile but none of them seemed to want to invite him to play so he started to wander around the playground again. A ball bounced past him and Harry turned to see a girl chasing it. He picked up to ball to give to her, hoping she’d say something but she just grabbed it and ran.

As Harry watched her return to her game he saw Bobby, that big bully Bobby, behind her, pushing Benny to the ground. Harry just reacted, running through several games towards them.

“Gerroff of him!” Harry yelled, running over and trying to push the much larger boy over.

Bobby just laughed and tried to force Benny’s clenched hand towards his mouth, it bounced off his glasses before nearing his mouth again. “Eat it.”

“Gerroff!” Harry yelled, grabbing Bobby’s arm and trying to pull it away from Benny’s face. That was Benny’s pet worm in his hand, the one that he all told them during show and tell was his best friend.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” An aide demanded as she came over and pulled both Harry and Bobby away.

“He was making him eat a worm!” Harry said before anyone could say anything.

“It was candy!” Bobby said.

“Slimey is not candy!” Benny yelled as he held out his hand for the aide to see the wriggling worm.

“It’s just the kind you like to eat!”

“That’s enough!” the aide snapped. “Benny are you alright?” He nodded. “Good. Now put that worm back where you found it. As for you Bobby,” she said, her tone getting harder, “I saw what you were up to; you’re coming with me to see the principal. I’m getting tired of your shenanigans…”

The two boys were left alone as the aide marched Bobby off presumably to the Principal’s.

“Thank you… Harry,” Benny said, a light shining in his eyes behind his large glasses. His face was messy, his eyes were damp and snot was running out of his nose. He rubbed an arm across his face, smearing the facial goo across it.

“It’s okay,” Harry said a little disgusted. He was done so he started back to wandering around the playground, hoping that someone would invite him in a game.

Benny followed him, sniffling all the while. “You were really great Harry!” he exclaimed. “You saved Slimey’s life, if he ever has any brothers I’ll name them all after you. Harry the first and Harry the second and Harry the… threed.”

Harry scratched behind his ear. “That’s okay. I’m sure one Harry is enough.”

“You were great! You’re my bestest friend now! For ever and ever and ever!”

While having friends were nice, having fans weren’t. Harry had quite enough of them in his other world. He tried to leave Benny behind, but the other boy stubbornly followed him, saying how great he was with repetitions of “You were great!”

He trailed him for the rest of recess and wouldn’t leave him alone for the rest of the day.

---

After school and after a wonderful soccer practice…

At the kitchen table, Harry mused about Benny and his hero praise. Maybe if he actually hadn’t had to deal with that so much, he might be okay with it and be Benny’s friend. He certainly would have taken any friend he could get when he was younger before Hogwarts. But someone who thought you were a hero didn’t make a good friend. They were a follower, and Harry didn’t want followers.

He scratched at a spot at his wrist and looked down, seeing a raised pink bump, noting it with interest.

So what should he do about Benny? Ignore him? Tell him to stop? That he wasn’t his friend? No, Harry couldn’t do that, He knew far too well what it was like to not have any friends.

“You know Harry,” Hoppity said from where she was snacking on some yogurt, leaning against the counter. “I was talking to some of the other moms at soccer practice today. They said that because it’s so hot out, a lot of kids can get sick. I think that you should start having more water…”

Harry scratched at another spot on the opposite elbow. This one really itched and Harry looked down, realizing with a sort of detached dread that he had little red bumps all over. He’d never had so many, except that one time he was left outside all night in the summer, and then the bumps had been so much smaller, tiny in comparison even though he had had a lot more of them.

“They said a liter a day… I don’t want you to feel sick or collapse on the field, that’d be awful…”

Had a large family of insects been snacking on him as he slept? Harry imagined large spidery ants crawling all over him, biting and sucking on him, taking all his blood until he had none left and he woke up dead like a vampire only one that wouldn’t burn up in the sun.

A little frightened, Harry did the thing any six year old would do. “Hoppity?”

“Yes Harry?” she asked, breaking up her musing about water and hydration.

“What are these?” he asked, holding out his arms so that she could see.

Hoppity gave one look at the multiple bumps all over his arms, glancing over his face and neck before giving an “Eek!” and dropping her spoon.

“What? What is it?” Harry asked desperately. Was it bad?

“You’re got the Splotches Harry!” She looked startled, blinking.

Harry looked down at his arms, they were looking rather splotchy with all the large irritated bumps. He scratched at his neck. “What are they?”

“Oh Harry,” Hoppity said remorsefully and Harry felt dread clutch in his gut. “I’m so sorry that it came to this.” Tears were in her eyes now. It must be bad.

“Am… am I going to die?”

Hoppity gave a look of happy disbelief and gave out a bark of laughter. “Die? No, Harry, Merlin no. You’ve got the Splotches!” She pulled him close and hugged the top of his head. “It happens when you don’t laugh enough, when you don’t show enough joy. I only know because my sister had it when she was a child. All you have to do to cure them is to laugh.”

“Cure what?” Snape asked as he came in to get his customary cup of tea in the afternoon.

“The Splotches.” Harry said mournfully.

“The Splotches? What are those?” Snape seemed very put out at never having heard the term before.

Hoppity spoke up, “They happen when you don’t express happiness enough when you should. My sister had them. All you have to do is make up all the laughing.”

Harry raised his arms helpfully so that Snape could see them and Snape glanced down at them before looking at both of them very closely, trying to tell if they were telling the truth. “They look like insect or plant bites to me.”

“Look at them!” Hoppity said, pulling Harry forward and up by an arm so that Snape had to. “Have you seen midget bites this big anywhere so far from an ocean? And there are no magical plants around here to bite him.” Snape seemed unable to disagree. “They can’t be bug bites. Besides, when’s the last time you saw Harry laugh, really laugh? It has to be The Splotches.”

Snape tried to think of the times he saw Harry laugh or giggle or even chortle. In the last couple of days he’d seen the boy frightened, quiet, frustrated, upset, angry, quiet, drugged, tired, crying… certainly stressed out at one time or another. Harry had only slightly giggled once, and had become sullen almost immediately afterwards. They quite fit the qualifications of constraining joy before the child had his fill, especially after such trying days.

“And you say the cure is laughter?”

“Yes. My parents had Grandpa Albus and Grandpa Alberforth come over for my sister when she had them. We never laughed so hard in our lives and she never got them again.”

“Are Splotches supposed to itch?” Snape asked upon seeing Harry scratch at several.

“A little, not a lot. Scratching won’t spread them if that’s what you’re concerned about. Only holding in more expressions of joy will create more bumps. They first appear quite suddenly and at once.”

“Alright, then make him laugh,” Snape commanded unhelpfully as he continued to make his tea.

Hoppity looked at Harry helplessly, but then he could tell that the wheels were starting to turn.

Suddenly, she made a face, tongue sticking out and eyes all skewed. Then she started to dance around, looking at Harry to see if it had any effect. It didn’t.

“Why did the goat cross the road?”

Harry thought a little but then looked up at her blankly.

“Because there were cans on the other side! Haha!” Hoppity fell over laughing. Both Snape and Harry gave her blank looks. “Oh, okay,” she said upon noticing that her joke had no effect.

Next she reached out and tried tickling Harry, but he squirmed away uncomfortable. “Come on, Harry, laugh.” But Harry didn’t feel like it. Hoppity tried another face, but it had no affect.

“Do you feel like laughing Harry?”

“No.”

“Not even a little bit?” Harry could only shake his head. “Ah, I’m rubbish at this,” she said balefully. “Severus, you have a go.”

“I am hardly a comedian,” Snape said scornfully.

“Yes but I’ve already tried. It’s your turn now.” No response. “How about a laughing potion then? I doubt that we’ll be able to succeed otherwise.”

Snape paused. “What are the complete symptoms of The Splotches?”

“You’ve never heard of them?”

“No. I haven’t.” Snape said shortly with ill-disguised irritation. Harry paid close attention, just what would happen to him if he wasn’t cured?

“Well I don’t really know all of them... I know that the bumps swell larger and larger… but if it’s not cured after that the person may be doomed to be unable to express joy or happiness ever again!”

“How awful.”

“It is!”

Harry imagined what it would be like if he wasn’t cured. “Congratulations Mr. Potter, on winning the Quidditch World cup! How do you feel knowing that you lead your team to their first victory in over a hundred years?” “Fine,” would be Harry’s reply. “Are you happy to have won it?” “I think so, I mean, I am.” “You certainly don’t seem to be.”

“Please cure me, Snape,” Harry begged.

Snape fingered the top of his cup. “I suppose that I could make a potion.”

“How about that laughing bubbly one?” Hoppity asked. “I think it had fairy dust and twinkle toes… counter stir twenty seven times… I can try to remember it for you.”

Snape’s hands tightened over his cup. “I can remember the ingredients and steps of making a potion without your help.”

Raising her hands in surrender, Hoppity stepped back. “Just let us know when it’ll be ready.”

“Approximately twenty minutes,” Snape said before tossing back the last of his tea and stalking from the room and leaving them behind.

They sat in silence for a while, Harry was glad that it didn’t turn out to be some of Aragog’s children snacking at him during the night.

“I’m sorry, Harry.”

Harry looked up at Hoppity curiously. What did she mean?

“I’m sorry that this hasn’t been fun for you, I mean obviously if you have got the Splotches, we’ve done a terrible job trying to get you to have fun…”

“But I have been having fun, honest!” Harry cried.

“But you must not have been expressing it enough…”

Harry looked down and studied the tips of his shoes. “I don’t think that that’s your fault…”

They sat there, the air conditioning machine came on again and Harry listened to it for awhile before becoming restless. Hoppity was looking rather depressed and Harry’s bumps were itching.

“Do we have any sweets?” Harry asked suddenly.

“Sure Harry!” Hoppity jumped up in a bustle of activity, it was like she had been waiting for something to do. She ruffled through the cabinets and closets, pulling out everything remotely sweet. “Oh look we’ve got all these ice lolly things too,” She said as she pulled them out of the ice box and gave them to Harry to look though. “You should probably have some water too,” she said as she got him a glass of it to sip.

Harry pulled out a blue ice lolly from the box and opened the plastic wrapping. The outside had a layer of clear ice flakes on it; Harry knew that it was really cold. He licked out to taste it and it was wonderful and blue and yummy. Hoppity took out a yellow one and ate it quietly.

Once in awhile, Harry would stick out his tongue to see what colour it was. At Hoppity’s prompting, he sipped some water.

That’s how Snape found them some time later, finishing their second ice pops since he left. Harry had his tongue out to see what color it was (purple) but quickly snapped it back in once he realized Snape was there.

The potions master entered the kitchen with great dignity. He had a corked, small bottle in his hand and there was a clothes pin on his overly large nose, clamping it shut.

Snape looked down at them above his clothes pinned nose and Harry couldn’t take it. He snorted into a complete fit of giggles. Hoppity was laughing behind her hand.

Snape looked at him irately, "Podder, I havn't obened the botion yet." The glare and censure only made it worse for Harry.

“Goo job- Sev’rus!” Hoppity gasped out. “Won’t- need- potion!”

Snape just fumed and set the potion on the table. “Id was nod indendional, I asdure you. I had dought dhat you knew thad the smell of the botions was whad caused complite hilaridy. Cerdainly I could nod have been able to sdore and dranspord it if I were incapacidaded with laughder!”

“Why- why is there- a clothes-!” Snort! “Pin on your nose?” Hoppity got out. She hadn’t exactly listened to anything Snape said, he just sounded too funny!

Snape gave a very angry sigh and uncapped the potion. A couple of small bubbles escaped and popped into the air. He set it under the already laughing Harry and soon Harry was lost laughing. He fell out of his chair and onto the floor. It had hurt, but not as much as it was funny. In fact, everything was funny. Snape’s clothes pin, the way Harry fell out of his chair, the table, the floor, Snape’s shoes… He laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed until he felt that he could laugh no more, but he was still laughing.

Snape reached down under the table and pulled Harry out by a leg. Harry rolled around, laughing but not quite as uncontrollably as before. Snape pulled out Harry arm from where it was wrapped around his midsection and studied it.

“Are dey subbosed do be gone yet?”

Laughter was his only response and Snape stood up and disappeared from Harry’s sight before coming back down and picking Harry back up to put him in his seat.

Harry’s eyes were wet from laughing so much and his stomach hurt. He pulled his legs up onto the chair to protect his sore middle. All that was left of mirth however were weak chuckles. Hoppity seemed still stricken, sitting on the floor and holding her stomach as he gasped and hawed.

“Smirkitd!!” Snape had his arms crossed and Harry was sure he could be tapping his foot in irritation.

A hand reached up to steady itself on the table, and then another and then Hoppity’s big messy head of red curls was over the top of the table. Harry noticed that her blue eyes behind her glasses were wet too, like his.

“Well?”

“Well, have they gone? You’re closer,” Hoppity said, wiping her eyes.

Snape, exasperated, pulled Harry’s arm out again, and then the other one. Clothes pin still attached, he studied the bumps closely. Harry tugged them back once he was done.

“Dhey are still dhere.”

They waited a little just to be sure, but the bumps did not change at all and they were still itchy.

“Stop scratching at them Harry,” Hoppity said.

Harry looked at her. “You’re scratching too!”

“No I’m- I am!” Hoppity looked down at her arm. “I’ve got the Splotches too!” she freaked.

Harry and Snape weren’t so sure; Hoppity expressed her joy all the time, so it couldn’t be so.

Snape took the clothes pin off and looked at Hoppity reproachfully. “They are not the Splotches. They must just be bug bites as I earlier surmised.”

“But… but no midget bites are that big!”

“Do not forget that we are in a new area and the insects will also be different.” Snape frowned. “A simple tincture should cure the itch.”

Snape disappeared to put a poultice together to stop the itching and get the poison to seep out.

Harry kicked out a leg and swung it back and forth from his chair. “Hoppity, I’m glad it’s not the Splotches.”

“Me too.”

“But see? I told you that I was having fun.”

Hoppity just smiled back at him and continued to scratch.

It didn’t take long at all for Snape to return this time. He was carrying two dishes, placing one in front of Hoppity before tending to Harry himself.

“Now rub some of this over each bite, then wait and rub the spot with a cloth. The poison causing the itch and raised area should seep out.”

Harry peered over the table into what was in the dish. It was a golden looking liquid. It smelled a little, of what Harry didn’t know, maybe a plant? He reached out with his fingers into the dish and then smeared the liquid over the itchiest bite, the one on his wrist, hoping that it would work quickly.

He watched the bite closely, curious to see it work. Since he was looking at it so carefully he hardly noticed the subtle changes, but then Snape was there pressing a white cloth over the bite and wiping something away and when it was gone the bite looked much smaller and certainly itched a whole lot less. There was a golden pink streak on the cloth now, he noticed.

“It may take several applications to get it all out,” Snape informed them, reaching out to smear the liquid over Harry’s arms, apparently he had decided that Harry was taking too long. “But even then, the bumps themselves won’t completely go away. You will have to wait until your body takes care of it.”

“How come you don’t have any bites?” Harry asked.

Snape said snidely, “I am sure that all the sugar you eat makes you taste better.”

Harry made a scowling face but then the cloth was back, rubbing with sure strokes at the golden and pinkish mess.

“Are there any others, Potter?”

“Yeah, at least one on my back,” Harry said lifting the side of his shirt up a bit, “And one on my neck and one behind my ear and one above my ankle…”

“They managed to get you good,” Hoppity murmured.

“Perhaps it would be best if you ceased your twilight adventures outdoors from now on.”

The liquid was smeared over the places Harry said, twice on the one on his back as it was much larger than all the others and actually had two other friends next to it.

Afterwards, Snape pushed the dish closer to the edge of the table. “Take this with you upstairs in case you find any more, you will want to take a shower now to get the last of it off.”

Harry nodded and got off his chair. He picked up the dish and carefully started to carry it out of the room.

“Severus, I’ve put it on twice but mine are still itching!” Hoppity complained, wiping at her bites with the cloth she had.

Snape silently and purposefully knocked the top of the laughing potion off, releasing bubbles into the air, and into Hoppity’s face.

Harry left the room with the sound of chortling ringing in his ears.

“Okay kids, get ready real quick!” coach called from across the field. It was Saturday morning, and Harry’s first football match. He was so exited and so was everyone else, it seemed. The field was really big, and green, but they were only using half of it. Chairs ran along the middle as one edge and someone had painted the field to have a smaller scale of the field going the short way.

“Mom! I can’t find my other sock!” a child called out, others ran around and parents ran around too, trying to get ready, find things… they were all late having arrived at the wrong field first and now it was chaos.

“Ready, Harry?” Hoppity asked as she tied his shoes and then straightened his green uniform shirt. “Are you ready? Do you need anything to drink?”

“No, I’m okay, thanks.” He was fidgeting, but he was nervous. Finally she was done and Harry was free with a quick goodbye and Good luck! He ran over to some brown haired children, looking around for Michael.

A large woman grabbed him and started smearing some lotion all over his face. He could barely get in a word edgewise, “Hey-!”

The hand was removed. “Oh! I’m sorry!” the woman laughed out. “You’re not one of ours! Ops! Oh well, I guess it can’t hurt you…” she said and finished smearing the lotion all over Harry’s face and ears.

Thoroughly manhandled, Harry wobbled onto the field. He’d wait for Michael somewhere less dangerous.

“Hey Harry! I brought you a ball! A blue one!” There was Michael, wearing his own green shirt and holding a red soccer ball while awkwardly dribbling a blue one with long tries. He set the blue ball up and kicked it towards Harry, who missed it and had to chase after it.

A whistle blew. The team slowly made their way to Coach Renolds with their balls. Coach Renolds was a large, tall man. A friendly dad kind of man and he always wore a cap and a whistle. His stomach jingled when he ran. Sometimes in practice they raced him, but he could still outrun all of the players except for Gavin, but Gavin was really fast.

The whistle blew again. “Are we all here?” Coach waited for some stragglers. “Alright now listen up! Everyone’s going to get a chance to play today but not all at once. We’re all going to warm up first and then we’ll meet back at the side. Get into a line to do our dribble game around the cones, then give your ball to Trainer Jane. Do we all remember Trainer Jane?” Trainer Jane was Coach’s wife, she was the one they were supposed to go to right away if they got hurt or didn’t feel well.

“Alright, break!” Break was Coach’s way of telling them to go do it. Harry chased Michael to a line in front of some cones and then it was all clumsy dribbling for awhile. Harry couldn’t wait to actually play. He wanted to win!

Soon enough, the warm up was over and the team settled on the side of the field.

“Alright, now is everyone feeling okay today? No one’s sick?” No one was and Coach looked over his players. “Now, if you don’t want to play today, it’s okay. Just let me know okay? We’re going to go out today and have fun, no matter if we win or loose, you’re all going to do your best and have fun. Have you got that?”

Mumbled responses.

“I said have you got that?!” Coach yelled playfully.

“Yes COACH!” his players yelled back. Somewhere, a camera went off. Harry stepped back to try and see where it came from.

“Harry, Jenny, Coach is over here…”

Guilty, Harry turned back to pay attention. “Now if you get hurt or don’t feel well, just sit right down, okay? If you don’t want to play anymore, just run over and let me know.

“Now if I call your name, stand over here,” Coach Renolds pointed to the area behind him. “Elias! Gavin, Allison… Kekoa, Neel and Michael! Alright, now you are going to play first. Don’t forget that when you are not playing, you can’t step onto the field!”

“Yes Coach…”

Harry fidgeted. He wanted to play now! Not later! But it was Michael’s turn first…

“Time for a cheer. Go Dragons on the count of three… one.. two… three… GO DRAGONS!”

And with that, the five players ran onto the field and Harry joined his teammates on “the bench” which was actually a line of small chairs. The team they were playing today was the Parrots, and they wore blue.

Harry watched as the teams were set up on the field. There were no positions besides Goalie. Allison was playing Goalie for their team, she was the only one who liked the position, and that was only because she was the coach’s daughter and he taught her how to stop the ball whereas when anyone else was playing goalie, it always just bounced off of them or whizzed right by. Except for Elias, but Elias didn’t want to play goalie.

“Hey Harry, do you want some water?” Hoppity stuck her head between the players and held out a cup of water.

“No, I’m okay…” Harry mumbled, he was focused on the game. The ball was placed in the middle and the whistle blew and of course Gavin got it. Only he didn’t manage to kick it to anyone which resulted in a mad chase after it.

When was he going to play... When was he going to play…

Harry watched the ball and the players rush around. Usually, the ball would get kicked and then everyone would swarm all over it. Once in awhile, one person would be able to kick it for more than a couple times in a row but it was rare and usually done going in the wrong direction.

Neel, a smaller boy in an oversized shirt ran over to the side line and hopped around.

Coach noticed him, “Neel, what’s the matter? You’re playing now.”

“I hafta go to the bathroom,” the little boy cried.

Coach mumbled something. “Sub!” Harry sat up swiftly, but it wasn’t his name that was called out, but Erin’s. When would it be his turn?

A little bored, Harry looked around. Behind him a lot of parents sit on lawn chairs, talking to each other. A little girl behind him was wearing a cheerleading outfit, complete with pom-poms and she was cheering to herself, or to them, Harry couldn’t tell but he thought she was cheering her ABC’s…

When was he going to play... When was he going to play…

Harry repeated this mantra in his head as the game went on. Coach substituted players every couple of minutes. Then it was a time-out. No one had scored yet. The two times the ball actually made it anywhere near a net it had been stopped easily.

Harry joined everyone in a huddle. “Okay, good job every one! Is everyone okay still? Drink some water…”

“Alright… Tansy, Neel, Harry, Sarah, Nadia and Adrian, you’re up next!”

Harry hopped a little in excitement. Finally! He was playing! He was playing! Soon he was out on the field and he looked back towards the spectators, spotting Hoppity’s head of red messy curls. Grinning, he waved and she waved back. A whistle blew and then they were off! Harry chased after the ball with the other children, trying to kick it. He played for a long time and got lots of kicks in before the next break.

Coach subbed most of the team out, including Harry and put in new players. Harry was out of breath and hot, this time when he was sitting on his chair and Hoppity popped her head over and asked him if he wanted water he accepted.

Then a little while later he was subbed back in and Harry thought that football was one of the best games ever. Second only to Quidditch, of course…

When the game ended, it was a surprise to Harry. One moment they were playing and the next it was over and Coach was telling them what a good job they did! They had scored 5 points total, and Harry had helped in one of them. The other team had 4, so that meant that they won!

But when they started yelling “We won!” Coach said that they shouldn’t and then he made them all line up and congratulate the other team. This wasn’t anything he had ever done before, Harry thought as he had to shake hands with every player on the Parrot team and tell them “Good Job”.

“Good job, Harry,” Michael said, holding up a hand, Harry slapped it and grinned.

“Yeah but you did better, you made a goal!”

Michael just grinned.

Afterwards, Coach said how proud he was that they had won, but that he was prouder that they had shown good sportsmanship. “How about Pizza Hut?” he asked and it was like a magic word. All the kids cheered and some started dancing.

“Pizza, pizza!” Michael yelled along with several others and Harry joined in, feeling a little unsure but liking to be a part of a chant for something they wanted.

“Clean up first!” someone yelled and then Michael ran off to get his stuff and Harry went too.

After everything had been gathered up and put away and cleaned, Harry followed Hoppity back to the car. It was sitting in the shade a little ways away, barely within visual range of the field because of the trees. Snape was sitting in the driver’s seat, reading something with the window rolled down. He looked up when they approached.

“Any life-threatening injuries I should be aware of?” Snape asked uninterestedly as he turned a page of his reading material.

“No, but Harry won! Isn’t that grand? His first game and he’s a winner!”

“Hardly the first…”

“We’re going to Pizza Hut,” Harry piped up daringly. “We said we were going so now we have to.”

Snape peered over the window sill. “We don’t have to do anything.”

Hoppity opened the back door of the car and helped Harry in. “Well we are stopping for food and we might as well go with everyone else, especially since we said we would…” Hoppity said, “Now move over.”

Snape grumbled, but moved over. “What sort of food place is this Pizza Hut?” he asked with distaste.

“I don’t know, I’ve never been to one but I’d imagine they served pizza.” Hoppity put on her safety belt, turned the car on and pulled out of their parking spot. “We’re going to be following Michael’s mom over there…”

Harry reached down and picked at the laces of his shoes. The plastic shin guards were starting to bother him and he wanted them off. He managed to get his shoes, socks, and shin guards off by the time they arrived at Pizza Hut, enjoying the cool air on his toes. Problem was he had dropped his socks and shoes onto the floor and now he couldn’t reach them while his seat belt was on.

Snape was quite annoyed when he discovered Harry’s sockless state, but Hoppity just waited until he managed to get them back on and helped tie his shoes for him again.

When they entered the restaurant, most of Harry’s teammates and their parents were already there, moving to sit in a large section of the restaurant. Harry ran to catch up with them and he soon found Michael at the back of the line.

They ended up sitting with Michael and his family in a round booth-like thing. Snape was scrunched between Hoppity and Harry, who was in the middle sitting next to Michael.

Their waiter was a young man with a cap on his head. It was kind of weird to see that on a waiter as part of the uniform, not that Harry really knew what was usual… “What would you like to order?”

“Pizza!” Michael cried and Harry and Michael’s baby brother echoed him, which was then accompanied by the Ninja Turtle theme, courtesy of Michael.

“Haha, alright. What kind?” the waiter asked, looking at the adults. It took awhile, but they got their order in after several changes and then sat back to wait. Snape aligned his silverware and napkin carefully. Michael’s mum filled Michael’s cup a quarter of the way with soda and let him sip at it before filling Harry’s the same.

“I know it’s bad for them, but a little sugar after working out and sweating is okay,” she said, pouring water for herself.

While they waited, Michael and Harry recounted the game to their adults.

“And then I kicked it! I kicked it and it went right in! Did you see it?” Michael asked excitedly.

“Yes, I was there, remember? You did a great job!” Michael’s dad said. “I even got it on film!”

“I helped!” Harry cried. “And I helped a lot, I got lots of kicks in and I even saved it once from going in.”

“Good job, Harry!” Hoppity said, and gave him a little high-five, something she had been doing a lot recently after seeing Harry’s little friends doing it.

Snape was looking around the restaurant bored-like. Harry looked to see if he had heard him but it seemed he hadn’t so he went back to Michael and their conversation and then Michael’s dad was showing them how to make miniature footballs, American footballs out of paper napkins despite his wife’s protests.

Two soda spills and one fork drop later, the pizza finally arrived.

“Here you are… one order of wings, one cheese pizza with half pepperoni, a slice of meat lover’s,” this the waiter placed in front of Michael’s dad, “and two slices of veggie loves,” he placed those in front of Snape and Michael’s mum. “Enjoy! And if you need anything, just let me know!”

The pizza was served, Harry got a hot slice of it onto his plate. It smelled so good…

“Hot! Hot!” Michael cried fanning his front teeth, a bite of pizza plainly displayed in his mouth.

“Well wait a little until it cools off.”

Hoppity was watching the way Michael’s family ate their pizza. She picked hers up and blew on it a little before taking a cautious bite. “Mmmmmm…”

Harry was so hungry but the pizza was too hot, he tried biting the tip off but he stopped once he realized it was way too hot to eat.

“Try blowing on it,” Hoppity suggested.

“Put ice on it!” was Michael’s helpful reply.

Harry looked to see what Snape was doing. The man was ignoring the entire commotion and was cutting his vegetable covered pizza with a knife and fork.

Harry looked down at his pizza and decided to try blowing on it. Ice probably wouldn’t make it taste very good, and a knife and a fork was too hard, not to mention it looked fun hindering.

Harry managed to finish one whole slice and a wing before he was too full to eat any more. His stomach hurt a little and he told Hoppity. She told him to drink some more soda and crunch on some ice and if it still hurt in a little while that she’d get him some milk.

Harry did what she said and it got mostly better. He waited as all the adults talked and Michael made a mess out of his last, half-eaten pizza slice.

Soon after that, they said goodbye and left for home and Harry fell asleep on the car ride back, his shoes and socks off once more…

----

He awoke to someone shaking him.

“Wha-?”

“Potter, wake up. You’ve napped enough.” It was Snape and he was holding Harry’s shoes and not looking pleased.

“Okay,” Harry said, rubbed one eye and leaned back. He was so tired still.

“Potter!”

Harry cracked his eyes open. “What?”

Snape just breathed out and undid Harry’s seat belt. “There are other things to do today. A lesson is one of them.” He helped a protesting Harry out of the seat and onto the pavement of the garage. The cold floor on his bare feet woke Harry up splendidly.

“Why do we have to have a lesson today?” he complained.

“Because I said so. You’ve had fun today and junk food and now it’s time to work. We have gone over this before, the Dark Lord won’t wait while you take a vacation-”

“I know, okay. I know.”

Satisfied, Snape let the matter drop. “We will only be working on meditation today. Hopefully your earlier activity will enable you to settle down this time.”

Well that was good. Meditation only, that sure beat that horrible spell Snape usually used afterwards, trying to get Harry to walk up walls and such. He followed Snape back into the house and through the kitchen.

“Hey Harry, do you want a drink of water first?” Hoppity asked. She already had a glass out.

His throat was dry and his head hurt a little. Water was just the thing he needed. “Thank you.”

“You’ve been out in the sun a lot today, you should try to drink a little every hour or so. I heard that it you aren’t hydrated enough, you might fall over next time you try to play hard in the sun.”

“Oh.”

“And if you have any headaches or anything, you should tell me right away, okay?”

Headaches? Headaches were almost a normal thing for him, he wouldn’t really notice a little one at all.

“Harry? Have you been having headaches?”

Harry raised his shoulders and shook his head a little to say “kind of”.

“Oh, maybe you ought to have some more water then.”

Snape reminded them of his presence. “After the lesson. I don’t want him distracted or having to leave to use the loo in the middle of it.”

Finishing his water, he allowed the cup to be taken away and then followed Snape into the open room for his lesson. Just meditation wasn’t too bad. He only had to sit there for awhile, trying to clear his mind and afterwards he’d be allowed to play.

Not a too bad afternoon, in his opinion.

---

Harry woke from a deep sleep to the familiar sensation that told him he needed to use the loo. Still half asleep, Harry got out of bed and padded to the bathroom. He was surprised in the white bathroom to feel a wet trickle down his legs, only feet away from the toilet. Harry looked down at his wet pajama bottoms and the puddle on the white tiled floor. That couldn’t have just happened, he must still be asleep.

But no, he could feel the cool air around him and he was quite aware of his surroundings. Embarrassing urine dripped from the cuff of his left pant leg to splatter on the floor. He was awake and now he was in quite a predicament. A mortifying, disgraceful predicament. He was too old for this to happen!

Horrified, Harry realized that he had to clean this up before anyone found out. He quickly cast around for anything that would clean up the mess without giving away what happened. He spotted the toilet paper roll and dived towards it, knocking over the hard plastic toothpaste bottle off of the counter and onto the floor with a loud clatter.

He grasped the edge of the paper and gave a mighty tug. The roll spilled onto his hands and the floor and he gathered it up furiously. Spinning back to the mess, he something else on his counter off. Harry caught his breath as a bottle bounced off of the toilet seat and made the seat fall with a loud “slam!” before landing on the floor. He paused, breathing harshly and stood completely still, straining his ears to listen for any sounds that indicated that anyone had heard. Nothing.

Encouraged, yet still panicked, he took the mound of toilet paper and placed it on the floor by his feet to push it towards the mess he had left, hopefully sopping up anything that he had trailed along. He soon had a big pile of sopping wet toilet paper over the area where the ‘accident’ had occurred. This was mortifying. He had never done this before... well not that he could ever remember... If this had happened at the Dursleys’ he could have expected weeks of humiliation and ridicule over it. Vernon would have smacked him around, and then he would have been forced to clean it up by himself with his one and only towel. Dudley would have found something truly horrible to do to him like purposefully urinating on the bathroom floor and blaming it on him, and he would be forced yet again to clean it up with his only towel.

Lucky he wasn’t at the Dursleys’.

Too bad that it was still mortifying, no matter where it happened. He had to clean this up, and quickly.

Harry scrambled over to the cabinets under the sink for some cleaning supplies and flung open the doors. He found what he thought was a squeeze bottle of All Purpose Bathroom cleaner and pulled it out. He wandered back over to where he had gotten the toilet paper and started spraying the floor with quiet whooshes from the bottle with one hand and soaping up the lot with toilet paper in the other hand.

A sharp knock at the door almost startled him enough to drop the bottle.

"Potter?"

Harry stood still, his heart pounding. No, no, no! It was Snape! What should he do? Maybe Snape was just checking on him and he would go away once he knew Harry was ok.

“Yeah?” He said tentatively.

"What is going on in there?" No such luck.

Harry’s eyes glanced around the bathroom, taking in the pile of wet toilet paper, the open cupboard and the trail of wetness that he was in the middle of cleaning up. There was no way that he would be able to get rid of it all in time if Snape decided to come in. Well he would certainly try. Maybe he could bluff his way out of this.

Harry scrambled as quietly as he could to the open cabinet to replace the squeeze bottle he held in his hands. "Ah, nothing. I'm just-" his elbow knocked loose another bottle and it fell out with a clatter. "Using the toilet." Go away. Go away. Go away. Harry really hoped that Snape took his answer and went back to his room, leaving Harry in peace to clean up. Go away, go away…

Snape leaned against the closed bathroom door, hearing suspicious sounds from within. What was Potter up to? He had been lying awake in his bed trying to fall asleep when he had heard a clamor of noise through the wall connecting to Potter's bathroom. He had casually dismissed the first sounds as the brat just using the toilet, but when a quiet slam had proceeded instead of the usual flushing or water sounds, he had been unable to ignore his curiosity or worry. For all he knew, Harry could have been struggling with an intruder or making a small explosive in the sink. Far more likely that the brat was trying to come up with some new scheme to get his wand back.

Snape was unwilling to take any chances.

Which brought him here, stuck outside the door as Potter issued what sounded clearly like a child trying to cover up mischief.

There was another “thunk” and a clatter and hurried scrambling noises.

"That doesn't sound like toilet noises to me, Potter. I'm coming in."

"No! Don’t!" panicked this time, yes definitely up to no good.

He turned the knob, surprised that it wasn’t locked, and waited for a scant couple of seconds to give the boy enough time to cover up, just in case, for modesty’s sake. Not that the boy really needed it, he was closer to a toddler than anything. He knew and counted on the fact that no child could successfully hide any incriminating evidence in three seconds without giving it away.

He opened the door.

Potter was kneeling on the floor in a dejected slump, a pile of wet paper towels nearby. The lower cupboard under the sink was open and several bottles had fallen out. What was the boy up to? He took a step in before his developed olfactory senses caught a whiff.

This was just too much. He supposed that he was unable to mask his snort, because Potter looked up accusingly at him, tears sparkling in his miserable eyes. His childish voice cried out brokenly, "I told you not to come in!" Oh no, was the brat crying now? He was not cut out for this...

Potter was a lump of misery on the white tiled bathroom floor. This was something more for Smirkett's skills. Snape turned to go, intending to wake her up to deal with the problem when Potter's deplorable voice broke out again, "Please-" a choked sob "-please don't tell her."

Snape turned back to look at him. The brat had gotten up off his knees and now was approaching him beseechingly. Snape held out one hand to stop the soiled boy from coming any closer. He was surprised that Smirkett hadn’t woken up from the noises already, she just must be one of those disgustingly lucky people who slept deeply and was unlikely to awaken at the slightest noise.

He couldn't believe that he was doing this, but one more look at Harry's distressed face convinced him. He tried to tell himself that he was just going along so that the brat wouldn’t come closer and wrap his sullied self around his leg in an effort to stop him. Making a face, he took a step forward and with an extreme effort, picked up the boy at arm's distance and plopped him into the empty tub, clothes and all.

He reached to the tap and turned it on, testing the water to make sure that it was barely warm. He knew from experience that these ones usually heated to the right temperature within seconds.

Obviously the boy was surprised at his actions. "What-?"

"Hush Potter." He said tiredly. He couldn't believe that he was doing this. Snape stepped away from the tub and set to work on clearing the pile of paper that he could now smell quite clearly, Potter’s eyes followed his movements ashamedly. Snape should have stayed in bed and let whatever imaginary demons and Death Eaters his mind had conjured up, take the boy.

Once the filth on the floor was taken care of, and his hands washed, Snape reached over and shut off the tap before leaving to see to the other room. He figured that he should see to whatever mess the boy had made in his bed.

He systematically strode to the bed and pulled off the duvet and top sheet. Hm. No telltale darkness on the bottom sheet, no pungent odors... Tentatively, and he couldn’t believe that he was really doing this, Snape reached out and felt the bed. He was surprised to find it dry. The duvet and sheet and surrounding area was dry as well.

Dawning realization descended. Potter just didn't make it to the toilet in time. Another amused snort, then a frown. He needed to get more sleep...

Going through the small drawers, he pulled out an acceptable pair of clothes for the boy to sleep in and reentered the bathroom. Harry was still sitting in the same position he had left him in, face turned miserably downwards.

Sighing in long suffering, Snape placed the clothes on the counter then left the room to find some clean towels in the linen closet. When he returned, Harry was still sitting there dejectedly in the tepid water, making small sniffle sounds. Save me from disconsolate children. Snape walked toward the tub and kneeled by its side. From this angle, he could see wet tear marks on the child's face. Why was he crying? Why did he ever cry? It didn't make sense to him.

He rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Potter..."

The child still sniffled downwards. He felt a slight irritated feeling that the boy was seemingly ignoring him when he was actually trying to help. He reached out to turn the boy's head. "Look at me when I speak to you."

He nearly wished he hadn't. The poor boy looked so utterly desolate it was maddening.

He retracted his hand and tried to do something, anything, to fix this. Ugh, why did he even need to do anything in the first place?

He couldn't believe he was doing this, consoling the thorn in his side. Voluntarily! "Potter, that was a natural accident-"muffled sob yet again. Snape waited a moment to make sure Potter would be able to understand what he was saying. "It was perfectly normal after the circumstances you went through and therefore not your fault." If that didn't work then he didn't know what would. Maybe he should have got Smirkett after all...

Potter didn’t seem to be cheered up; the boy was still sniffling miserably.

He wasn't trained to console small children. What did one do to fix such a mess? A brief mental picture of him picking up brightly colored rubber boats and attempting to distract the boy with play ‘ship’ sounds flashed before his vision.

No.

Well he supposed that the best thing to do would be to wash the boy since he didn't seem like he was going to do any such thing by himself. He picked up the very large bottle of pink bubble bath that Smirkett had purchased weeks ago and started the tap up again. This was going to be as quick as he could make it.

He poured out a liberal amount into the warm running water and capped it back closed before placing it on the edge again. Harry still seemed upset but was watching him carefully.

Internally sighing, Snape reached out to pull the mostly dry pajama top off of the little boy. He was surprised when he was met with little resistance.

He quickly folded the shirt and looked up to see Harry’s damp eyes looking at him curiously, as if he were reassessing him. Slightly uncomfortable, Snape turned away to place the shirt on the now clean floor.

The bubbles had started to pile up in a mound of pink fluffiness near the deeper end. Harry was still looking at him with big green eyes; his lashes were clumped wetly together over damp cheeks. Snape picked up a washcloth and wetted it. He reached up and gently wiped the tear tracks off of his face.

Harry gave a barely audible sigh and closed his eyes.

Feeling slightly more capable, Snape continued his task and was able to finish with little trouble. Harry was soon wrapped in a large dry towel.

After he was changed into the dry pair of pajamas, Snape lead him back into his room and tucked him in. Most of the bedding had been disturbed after all from Snape’s earlier test. He didn’t say anything as he folded the blankets under Harry’s neck, the ridiculous stuffed dragon next to him. Harry’s eyes were slowly closing.

Snape quietly left the room and shut the door.

---

Harry came downstairs, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He had slept in a little longer than usual today and he wondered where his breakfast was. Snape was nowhere to be seen and the sugary cereal boxes were calling him…

“Hi,” he said as he entered the front room. Hoppity was sitting on the sofa, watching a home shopping channel and taking notes. “Where’s Snape?”

“I don’t know, I think he went out about an hour ago.”

“Oh.” Oh ho. So Snape wasn’t around to stop him then. Harry went back into the kitchen and thought about how he was going to get to that cereal. There were boxes of the sugary goodness in a cupboard over the fridge, quite out of reach for the small boy. He pushed over a chair to the counter and then climbed up on top of it. He still wasn’t tall enough to climb up onto the refrigerator without difficulty. So how was he going to get the cereal?

No, he could make it, he could pull himself up. Harry reached up with his arms, and through sheer force of will, managed to pull himself onto the top of the fridge with help from his feet against the side of the fridge. From there, it was only a matter of opening the cupboard doors without hitting himself…

“Potter!!”

Startled, Harry looked down to see Snape. But wasn’t he supposed to be gone? Hoppity was trailing him into the kitchen.

“Harry! How’d you get up there?”

Snape was scowling. “It’s not a question of how, that part is obvious! It’s a question of why. Potter, get down this instant.”

Feeling very naughty, Harry carefully and slowly climbed down the fridge and onto the countertop. From there, Snape snatched him and set him safely back onto the floor.

“I just wanted something to eat.”

“Something? I know exactly what you wanted and you can’t have it. You are quite energetic enough as it is without a sugar rush to start the day.”

Harry pouted angrily at the floor. He was feeling guilty though and he didn’t know why so he covered it up with anger.

“Fine!” he said and stomped off towards the table to sit, crossing his arms and frowning at Snape. Snape looked amused, it was infuriating.

“You may have some eggs, which will be a more acceptable breakfast item...”

“Well good and thank you Severus. I have to go back to the telly,” Hoppity said. “I’m busy ordering things to try out for my Muggle Studies class. They have some sugar cookie baking sets, I thought that it might be good to have the students do something fun for the Christmas holidays... Harry would you be a dear and help me try them out when they come?”

Harry shifted a little, but the idea of doing something fun, cookies, and being asked specifically to help Hoppity soon had him smiling despite himself. “Yes please!”

“Great! Well after breakfast, you can come join me if you want. I need lots of Muggle toys and stuff for the school year. I want a really fun class!”

Harry kicked his legs out happily. It sounded great.

---

That night in the kitchen, Hoppity pushed a large glass at Harry before he got ready for bed. “Drink up, Harry.”

“I don’t want to,” Harry said, trying to appear casual.

Hoppity was undeterred, “But nine hours is a long time to go without drinking something.”

“I don’t want it.”

Hoppity looked like she was going to push it but Snape, who was watching the exchange spoke up, “Don’t push it. The boy wet himself last night.”

Shocked green and blue eyes turned to him.

“You said you wouldn’t tell! You git!” Harry wrenched himself away from the scene and Hoppity’s shocked “Harry!” and ran away up the stairs.

He ran into his room and huddled himself in the corner of his bed up against the wall. He hadn’t wanted her to know… He was so mad, and embarrassed. And Snape told…

He heard someone stop at his open door. It had to be her. “Harry? Are you in here?”

He heard her come over but he refused to roll out of his ball or away from the wall or even answer her. She knew.

He felt her sit down slowly on the bed next to him and she reached out a tentative hand to rest on his shoulder. When he did not pull away, she sat closer and wrapped an arm around him and he let her, feeling extremely embarrassed but wanting the comfort.

“Harry? It’s okay you know. I don’t like you any less for it. It happens to all little boys.”

“I’m not a little boy.” Harry said tersely.

She sighed and hugged him closer. “Well your body’s a little boy’s body… It wasn’t your fault, I should have known better than to give you so much to drink before bed.”

Harry looked up at her admission of guilt.

“It must have been an awful thing to have happened,” she consoled him, patting his head.

“It was,” he admitted slowly, leaning into her embrace and looking back down at the pattern of stars on his duvet. He rubbed a tired eye with a fist.

She forced herself to plow sternly ahead despite his adorableness. “I know that it was embarrassing and that you were hurt when Severus told me what happened but that’s still no reason to call your Professor, and someone who is looking after you, a git.”

He pulled away. "Why should I apologize? He is a git!"

Hoppity frowned and Harry watched her anxiously as she seemed to think before speaking next. “Did he really promise that he wouldn’t tell me?”

Harry thought back. He didn’t remember that only that he didn’t want Snape to tell and he hadn’t right away... “No,” Harry admitted begrudgingly.

“Maybe you should go apologize to him.”

Harry looked down and pouted. He hated being wrong.

---

Severus looked up from his late evening drink to see a pajama clad, pint sized Potter approach him. He was surprised when the boy stopped right next to his chair and looked up at him determinedly.

“What do you want Potter? Have you come back to call me a few more choice names?”

“I’m sorry for calling you a git.”

Snape sat back and eyed the boy. “Oh?” he asked.

“Yes, it wasn’t right of me.”

Snape looked at Harry for awhile and the little boy started to squirm.

“I just didn’t want her to know…”

“I had thought… that all Gryffindors were more courageous than that. She was trying to water you and you did not give her a valid reason why she shouldn’t. Since you were unable to save yourself from another embarrassing situation, I did.”

Harry looked down guiltily and played with the hem of his top. “I know that now…”

“You were quite unappreciative,” Snape said gravely.

“I’m know, I’m sorry,” Harry whispered out.

Snape sighed. “It’s okay, Harry,” he said and patted the top of Harry’s head.

Hoppity sat at her desk at work, making notations on her computer. Across from her, her coworker, Cynthia Wong, was on the phone calling a student’s parents to pick them up. They had been doing that all morning; apparently a nasty sickness was spreading through some of the children in the third and fourth grades. She had been told that last week it was the high school students who were ill and that the teachers were next. Hoppity was very glad that she wasn’t a teacher.

Her phone rang and Hoppity picked it up. It was the Nurse and apparently another student was sick. Wonderful, another poor child full of those nasty germs, she thought as she looked up the child’s contact information.

The door to the office opened, and a mother came in with her small daughter trailing her, crying.

“My stomach’s going to come up again!” the young girl cried, and indeed she looked quite ill, her face was pale under her tan and her long blond hair was plastered to the side of her neck.

“I just need to sign Jenny out,” the mother said and was quickly directed to the sign-out book in front of Cynthia’s desk.

Hoppity peered at the little girl worriedly, she seemed quite young but not as small as Harry so she supposed that it hadn’t hit Harry’s grade yet. He was still safe.

They worked through lunch and the rush of sign-outs seemed to quell. Hoppity had just started to play with her pencils when her phone rang again. She answered it.

“I have bad news,” the Nurse said on the other line.

“Another student sick?”

“Yes, but it’s Harry. He threw up in the hall after recess. He needs to go home.”

Not Harry! Hoppity faintly recalled saying thank you and that she’d be right over as she hung up and gathered her belongings. “I- I got to go,” she said.

“What’s wrong?” Cynthia asked concernedly from where she was connecting paperclips.

“Harry, he’s sick. Can you-?”

“Sure, don’t worry about it,” Cynthia waved her off, pulling over the sign-out book.

Hoppity hurried down the hall to the Nurse’s station. Upon opening the door, she immediately saw Harry sitting on a hard cot, holding his stomach. She ran over to him, his eyes looked pained and sweat made his fringe damp enough to stick to his forehead.

Upon spotting Hoppity, Harry seemed to let go a little. “I was sick,” he cried, “In the hall and all over Mary-Beth’s shoes!” Hoppity reached out to smooth his hair back, even all the messy sticking up bits, which of course popped right back up.

“It’s okay, I’m sure she has more shoes. Let’s get you home,” she helped him off of the cot.

The Nurse, who had been watching, chose this time to speak, “He has a fever, not to high right now but it may last a couple of days, if it gets too high he may have to go to a doctor. Make sure you keep him hydrated.”

“Alright, thank you,” Hoppity said and then they were walking out and to their car. Hoppity opened the back door and helped Harry in. Harry hoped that they would get home soon.

He had had a long day. He hadn’t felt well since breakfast and it quickly got worse when he arrived to school, but he stayed brave like a Gryffindor and lasted until recess. That’s when his stomach decided that it didn’t want anything in it at all, not that Harry had done more than unpack his lunch and taste it before putting it away. He was glad that he could go home now, maybe it would make him feel better.

They were five blocks away when Harry knew that his stomach would sick up again soon, as in right now. He told Hoppity so.

“Hold on, Harry, we’re almost there!” Hoppity said desperately, hoping that Harry would make it. She pulled into their drive and ran to the side of the car. Harry was already up and out of his seat, trying to open the door, which she helped open quickly. Then Harry was jumping out, and then there was sick falling to the pavement and all over Harry.

Harry was feeling horrible and this latest development was not helping matters. He was now all covered in sick and Hoppity seemed like she didn’t want to come near him. He didn’t blame her, he smelled horrible; it made him want to be sick all over again.

“Oh Harry,” Hoppity seemed like she was close to crying herself. “Maybe there’s a hose around here…”

A hose? Harry didn’t quite like the idea of being sprayed with a hose.

“See if you can take your shirt off without getting any more sick on you,” Hoppity said and then she was running up to the front door. “SEVERUS!” she called out loudly. “SEVERUS!”

Meanwhile, Harry was having a lot of difficulty trying to get his shirt off without making a bigger mess. This was horrible! Hoppity soon ran back and then helped him off with his shirt. She dropped it onto the pavement next to the puddle of sick and then helped him into the house.

The first thing Harry noticed was the steps and that Snape was waiting by them, looking very irritable.

“This had better be important enough to warrant you calling for me like a dog,” he snarled, his wand out and ready to ward off anything dangerous. “What happened?”

“It’s Harry, I need you to fix him.”

Snape looked down at the half naked boy and seemed to catch on, the smell and sick on Harry’s pants gave it away. He grimaced. “What makes you think that I can ‘fix’ anyone?” Snape asked, putting away his wand. He seemed to become more at ease now that he knew that Death Eaters weren’t chasing them and about to kill them all.

“Well you fixed him yesterday,” Hoppity said before deciding that she should change tactics. “Please, he’s really sick.” She didn’t like to see Harry sick. Being sick was awful, especially when you were young.

Snape’s eyes roved over Harry studiously.

“At least get that mess off of him first,” Snape said disgustedly and turned to leave; Hoppity took that to mean that he’d help.

“Come on, Harry.”

They went upstairs to his room and Harry moved immediately to his bathroom so that he could rinse his mouth out. He was too short to drink from the sink easily but he had a cup, which he used.

This was awful. He felt sick and weak and just horrible. His mouth tasted horrible and his clothes stank. His stomach was far from being fine and Harry worried that he may sick up again. He didn’t want to.

When he turned, Hoppity was there, holding a clean pair of sleep clothes and a damp wash towel. She helped wash his face and arms, and then Harry got changed.

Feeling quite ill, Harry followed her into his room where the blankets of the bed were drawn back and pushed to the side. Harry didn’t really feel like resting, he didn’t think that he could sleep and just lying there would leave him to notice how miserable he really felt, but Hoppity was waiting so he climbed into bed and lay down. He was feeling hot, and didn’t want the blankets.

Snape had entered the room while Hoppity had got him settled, and now approached the bed while Hoppity moved to hover worriedly nearby. Snape peered into Harry's bright eyes, and once Harry's pain distracted brain noticed, Harry closed them and turned his head away. He often thought that Snape was a mind reader and Snape did nothing to dispel that belief.

Snape's tone was agitated, "Stupid boy, that was not what I was attempting. I have no desire to know childish secrets such as how many space rockets your little friends have." Harry was surprised that Snape even knew what space rockets were.

Snape then held up Harry's left wrist with a cool hand and felt along the pulse. He then peered back into Harry's eyes, and felt along the sides of Harry's neck. Harry closed his eyes as the sick feeling returned with gusto. He was surprised when he felt the potion master's pull up his top, exposing his stomach to the cool air.

"Mhm.." Harry mumbled and tried to lower it back down while weakly squirming away from the cool hands.

"Stop that Potter," Snape said sharply and deftly restrained Harry's squiggles by capturing one arm and pressing it to his upper chest. Snape was now free to place one cold hand on Harry's bare stomach. The slight pressure was enough to make Harry feel like throwing up again. He let out a low distressed sound.

Snape didn’t seem to notice, seemingly concentration on something that only he could see.

“What are you doing?” Hoppity asked quietly.

Harry was close enough to notice the brief moment that Snape seemed to be caught off guard. Snape’s answer came out with a biting, haughty tone, “It’s something Potions Masters develop over time, I wouldn’t expect you to understand or know of it.”

Hoppity seemed to accept it and sat down on the side of the bed. "Do you know what it is Severus?"

There was a moment of silence while Snape removed his hands and lowered Harry's top back down before he answered slowly, "The high temperature and nausea is indicative of a foreign presence attacking his body, but he’s not poisoned and it’s not an allergic response. He’s ill but not seriously so, his body is fighting it." Snape was pensively silent for a moment before, "Wasn't the reason why Harry couldn’t play with his playmate yesterday because his playmate was ill?"

"Yes, but it was the little brother that was sick. The floo his mother said, she didn’t want Harry to catch it. Do you think that this might be the same?"

"Undoubtedly. Muggles spread disease like rats. You don’t know what this is?"

Hoppity looked regretful as she sat on the edge of Harry’s bed and reached out and rubbed his foot. "We only covered the basics of Muggle healing, like how they place their broken bones in cement and just let them heal on their own and stitch large wounds up with strings. I just know that they get sick with thousands of virusies and bacteria but no one mentioned how they get well again."

This was something that Harry was very acquainted with, thanks to his stay with his relatives. "They take medicine and wait ‘til it goes away," Harry said weakly, trying to keep the nausea down and not think of it. Turtles… he should think of Ninja Turtles instead, that’s what Michael would do.

Neither Hoppity or Snape seemed to accept this idea. "Perhaps a Fever reducing potion and Pepper up may help," Snape suggested, “They work best on wizards over the age of nine but if the boy can get them down then they may work.”

Hoppity nodded and Snape left.

“How are you feeling Harry?”

How was he feeling? Awful. He tried to tell her that he was okay, but he couldn’t get the words out.

“Shush, it’s okay Harry,” Hoppity consoled as she moved up the bed to pat his head. “I know it must be terrible, but soon Snape will be back and you could be feeling a whole lot better.”

Harry found it weird, but he hoped that Snape would be coming back quickly.

They waited and waited, and Harry felt that his nausea was getting worse. Finally, Snape came back up with two hot potions.

Hoppity helped Harry sit up as Snape neared the bed.

“Which one first?” she asked and Snape tested the temperature of a potion before handing it over to her. She handed it to Harry and Harry looked into the glass woefully. The potion was a murky brown, hardly appetizing to the steadiest of stomachs and Harry’s was about to revolt at any moment. He looked at both Hoppity and Snape, but they were unyielding.

Hoppity encouraged, “Come on Harry.”

Where’s your lion spirit? Harry asked himself as his eyes landed on Snape and then he swallowed dryly and put the cup to his lips and started to chug it down. He gagged a little but kept swallowing and then it was over and he was reaching for the next potion. If he didn’t get that one down soon then it would all come up. He was swallowing the potion and his stomach was coming up at the same time and then he was sicking back up into the cup and all over the bed and himself and Hoppity. It felt horrible, like he was dying or something, and it came up, and then up again but then it was all out and then all what was left was one empty and still feeling ill Harry, and one big, smelly mess. The liquid that had splashed all over his clothes was hot and oddly comforting considering what it was.

Harry felt like crying and he was sure he was. This was disgusting and horrible and he was sure that his guardians were going to leave him any second to deal with this on his own.

“Well. At least it’s mostly potions this time,” Hoppity said optimistically from where she was covered in sick and potions but Harry could tell how disgusted she really was.

“I’m sorry,” Harry broke out.

“It’s okay, Harry, I’ll just throw these clothes into the wash with yours… and the bedding…” Hoppity was standing up carefully. Sick slushed to the floor.

“I think a bit of magic may be necessary in this case,” Snape said, wand out and Hoppity paused and thought a little before answering.

“Yes, you’re right, Muggles don’t have an easy way of cleaning a whole bed. Or… the carpet. We’d probably make a big mess carrying it all down anyway, and we’d never be able to completely clean it up with Muggle means,” she said, trying to reason using magic for cleaning. “But that’s it. We can’t use magic for anything else.”

Harry wondered what would happen if they did, if they got caught but he wasn’t able to think about it for very long before the magic distracted him.

As if conducting an orchestra, Snape waved his wand and all the sick rushed together, out of the sheets and the clothes and off of Harry and Hoppity. It congregated onto the floor, spinning until it became a solid mass in the shape of a small vase. It was the same colour of the potions, with clear bile mixed in and Harry had to look away because he feared becoming sick again at the sight and the memory of how it came to be outside his body in the first place.

Harry felt so much better now that the mess was gone, the small was gone, his bed and clothes were dry and clean, but most importantly so was Hoppity.

Sometimes he really loved magic.

Snape was pushing the solid sick vase away with his shoe when Hoppity next spoke, “We still have the issue of how to cure Harry. He can’t just lay here and wait this out for who knows how long!”

Harry’s stomach gurgled. “I’m not taking any more potions,” he told them and he meant it!

Hoppity gave him a sympathetic gaze but otherwise ignored him. “What about that really gentle one that they give babies? You know, the one that has smoke come out of their mouth and noses like a little dragon?”

“Unfortunately, I do not know how to make a Junior Make Better, and in our current predicament I am not able to procure the knowledge of how to do so,” Snape said regretfully as he shoved the vase out into the hallway with his shoe. “Millions of Muggle children have to go through illness without the help of magical means. I have no doubt that Harry must have done so in the past, he will just have to do so again.”

Harry felt a sense of hopelessness at that, the thought of suffering like this until he was better was terrible to contemplate. He never felt more grateful for Hoppity for what she said next.

“Well I refuse to let him just- just wait it out like that! There must be some Muggle medicine for this. I’ll call June, she’d know.” Hoppity stood up determinedly. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

This was something Harry hadn’t really seen before, this determination in her. Even Snape seemed affected, making no move to leave the room. He supposed that it was a Hufflepuff trait. It reminded him of that boy…

Snape moved to stand by him. Harry clutched his dragon and turned his head to face the wall. He could hear Hoppity talking… Snape was still hovering…he was still feeling sick, his stomach felt queasy and Harry searched for a way to distract himself from it. Snape was the closest target and Harry thought that the man’s hovering was making him feel worse.

“Don’t do that, I might be sick again,” Harry warned and that was all Snape needed to hear to hover further away.

Hoppity was pacing outside in the hallway, talking on the phone. “Alright, children’s… oh, yes… got it… and TLC? Erm… Okay… right. Got it. Thank you! I hope your boys get better soon…” and then she was turning the phone off and coming back into the room. She had a piece of paper with notes scribbled on it on one hand, and was pulling a chair in the other. From where it came from, Harry didn’t know or care as she brought it next to his bed.

“Alright, I found out what Muggles use to heal their children now all we need to do is find it all… I don’t think Harry’s up for a trip just now so someone needs to stay here with him.. Severus would you rather go get the medicine or would you rather stay here and hold Harry until I come back?”

Snape gave a disgusted look at the two choices before reaching out for the note.

Hoppity gave a humble smile and passed them over. “Thank you Severus.”

Snape left and then they were alone.

“Is Michael sick then?”

“Yes, Harry.”

Harry furrowed his brows, thinking. “Oh. Did he get it from me?”

“Oh no. I don’t see how he could, his little brother was sick first so he probably got it from him, or school. Or soccer.” She sighed. There were so many places a child could get sick!

The was a quiet for awhile, then, “If I feel like sicking up again right before I take the medicine, I don’t think that I should take it.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Harry,” Hoppity said kindly. “But I think you should try. I’ll find a bucket just in case though…”

---

Snape wandered around the large store in search of the ingredients – no, supplies he needed for one sick little boy. He was quite lost, but confident that he would find what he needed after a little exploring.

“Can I help you sir?” a pimply adolescent boy asked. The boy was dressed in what could only be the store uniform, a red apron over a blue shirt. Snape sneered at his dirty shoes.

“Perhaps you can,” Snape said superiorly, “I am in need of these things.” He held the note out to the boy who took it. Snape tried to keep his lofty air, but glanced over to see if the lad was just as lost as he was, or if he knew of the things on Snape’s list.

“Oh sure, the flu items are this way. Aisle 5.”

Snape followed the youth to the correct aisle and then to shelves full of what seemed like thousands of brightly coloured boxes. Why were there so many of them? Which was the one he wanted?

The youth seemed to note his uncertainty for he pointed out a row of children’s medicine. “These are the ones you want, Hummy’s is a pretty good brand and their orange flavor is much better than any cherry one. It comes in liquid and chewable.”

Snape eyed the boy. “You tried them?”

He gave an uncomfortable shift “Ah yeah… is there anything else I can help you find?”

Snape reached out and fingered the boxes. He took both types the boy mentioned, as well as two others next to them; he didn’t want to have to come back if he got the wrong thing “I need the rest of the items on this list.”

The boy showed him a little ways down to the sick child’s drinks and pointed out the different flavours. Not knowing the difference, Severus selected two at random.

“Well I guess that’s it?” The youth seemed ready to leave, where to Snape did not know.

“One moment,” he replied silkily as he looked over the list of things needed. “I am still in need of one item. This... TLC…”

Snape looked up at the sound of a snort. The youth had the gall to be amused at him!

“You’re not from here…” the boy said with a smile.

Snape thought that that was pretty obvious and needless. “Your point?”

“TLC is a… acronym. It stands for something.”

“I am quite aware of what an acronym is,” Snape sneered. “However, that does not explain your apparent… amusement at my predicament. Is a sick child amusing to you, Mr.…” he peered at the nametag, “Chris?”

“No sir, of course not,” the youth sobered. “I’m sorry. TLC means tender loving care. You can’t buy it, unless it’s a product I don’t know of, which is a possibility...”

Snape drummed his fingers on his sleeve.

“Maybe... maybe whoever wrote this list out meant that you were supposed to buy something--?” Chris waved his arm around as if trying to catch some elusive idea.

“Something that embodied the idea of ‘Tender loving care’?” Snape asked snarkily at having to supply such an answer.

“Yes,” the boy fidgeted. “Would you like me to get you a basket? They’re right over there…”

Snape nodded his peevish consent and the boy left. He glanced around the aisle and the items for sale, highly put out that the woman had meant for him to buy something for Potter that had to do with “loving” and “tender” and “care”. Humph. But if this were anything like a potion and needed all the ingredients to work… He cast his eyes around for something, anything.

He spotted a familiar looking book, and he recalled that it was a book that Smirkett had held recently, something about reading to the boy. Next to the book was a pile of plush rabbits. It would have to do. He could even claim to have picked it out especially.

He snatched one up and then that bothersome, rude, but nonetheless helpful boy brought a red basket and after browsing a bit more it was only some time before he had purchased everything and was traveling back.

---

“It’s about time you came back,” Hoppity said once he entered the room with the packages. Gratitude was something that she was obviously short in supply of but she had been sitting with the sick brat for all this time so Snape refrained from commenting.

Glancing at said brat, Snape noted that he still looked hot and feverish at his end of the bed. He emptied his bags of their purchases on the foot of the bed and Smirkett reached out and pawned through them.

“Here is everything that was listed,” Snape said unnecessarily.

Hoppity was reading the backs of the boxes of sick child medicine. “Which one’s the TLC?”

Snape picked up the rabbit and handed it to her, “Here.”

Hoppity gave a surprised smiled and took it, looking at its tags. “I don’t understand, how is this TLC?”

“It’s not, or rather, apparently TLC stands for something, it means thoughtful care.”

Potter was looking at him entirely too closely for his liking. Snape picked up a package of medicine and tried to appear busy. “Are these supposed to go in any particular order?”

“Oh no, don’t be silly! They are practically unrelated- Hey Harry look! It’s the rabbit from the book!”

Harry reached out quietly and took the rabbit from her.

Snape? Buying him a toy voluntarily? There was no way… Harry looked at the rabbit. Snape had to be telling him something with this gift. Why would Snape give him this rabbit?

In the book, the boy had had a rabbit when he was sick, deathly sick. And then afterwards the rabbit had been taken away, almost burned alive. Harry thought he knew what that might feel like, he was so hot.

Just what could this rabbit mean?

“Harry, what’s wrong?”

Harry surprisingly realized that he was crying… sort of. This illness already had him in a crying mood, and now thoughts of that rabbit…

“Are you going to sick up again?”

“No,” Harry said quietly, but then Hoppity was there, hugging him and rubbing his back. It just made him cry harder and Harry didn’t know why, just that he was sick and felt awful and sad inside.

When Harry next looked up, Snape was gone.

---

Around 2 am, after the latest bout of puking in the toilet, Hoppity was surprised to see Snape standing in the doorway. It had been a long day, Harry had slept for awhile in the afternoon but woke up and for the last few hours the nausea was back with a vengeance.

She helped Harry rinse out his mouth and then helped him back into bed. She hoped that Harry would soon drift off to sleep.

Snape was still there, watching them and she had to wonder what he wanted. "What are you still doing up?" she asked lowly as Harry shifted around in his bed, trying to get comfortable.

Snape leaned against the wall and quietly answered back, "The walls are thinner than a Gryffindor's ambitions. I can hear every time the brat relieves his stomach from my bedroom."

"I'm so sorry Severus. We'll try to be quieter."

Silently, Snape strode further into the room. "No need, I am no longer tired. Go to bed Smirkett, now that I am awake I might as well watch over the boy."

Still feeling ill, Harry desperately wanted Hoppity to stay with him, to hold him like she had been doing and not leave him with this cold unfeeling git. He mentally cheered at her dubious look at Snape.

"Are you sure, Severus? Harry's not in a good way."

"Yes,” Snape replied, ignoring the urge to be sarcastic at her obviousness. “It won't do either of you any good if you exhaust yourself by holding him all night."

"Well alright. I am rather tired."

Harry wanted to whimper. She was leaving him. He must have made a sound because Hoppity looked worriedly down at him. "Harry, I'll just be across the hall while Severus takes care of you for a little bit. Is that okay?"

Harry wanted to tell her that No, it wasn't okay and that Snape would make him feel a lot worse, but his pleading got stuck in his throat when he looked at her worn face. He clutched at the rabbit closer.

She smothered his fringe from off of his forehead and Snape looked away, fingering the medicine on the bedside table. "Try to sleep Harry. You will probably feel much better in the morning and the sooner you sleep, the sooner you’ll feel better." She gave one last comforting embrace and then released him. "Alright Severus. Please be understanding of him."

"Smirkett, you will please remember that I have had experience with children before."

"If you say so. His last dose of the medicine was 2 hours ago. And, erm, he probably should have any of those drinks, that was what he just sicked up." Hoppity gave one last tired look at Harry before she left the room, leaving the door open.

Snape stood for a moment before pulling the forgotten chair over to the bed and sitting down. "Well, Potter. Looks like an awful mess you've got yourself into yet again."

In response Harry just weakly turned his head away to face the wall. He was hot and uncomfortable and that awful nauseous feeling was creeping back into his stomach. He was almost startled when Snape reached out and resettled him back in the middle of the bed and pulled the blankets back over his fevered body.

Harry didn't want them on, and said as much, but Snape just told him to be silent and tucked the blankets in tight.

“You will make yourself worse if you get chilled,” he said, “And you have a tendency to want things that are not in your best interests.”

“But I’m hot!” Harry complained piteously. Snape just ignored him.

Snape sat there for awhile and Harry just thought about how miserable he was.

“You should drink something.”

“No.”

“Dehydration is not something to be trifled with. You will drink something, and then you will go to sleep,” Snape instructed.

Harry thought that that was rather rich, Snape thinking that he would e able to do that, just like that. He’d probably throw up whatever Snape gave him to drink and there was no way he would fall asleep.

Snape poured out a clear drink and held it up Harry. “Come now, drink this up.”

“No.”

“I had though that you were older than two and didn’t state contrary things just to vex others.”

That sounded like a very long and grownup way of Snape saying that he was annoyed with Harry. Harry just glared at him.

Resolutely, Snape brought the cup over to Harry, giving him a look that said “sit up and drink this or I’ll pour it through your nose.”

Fine, Harry thought as he sat up and took the cup, but when his stomach emptied itself again Harry was going to make sure that it landed all over Snape. He hoped that it leaked into his shoes.

Harry settled himself back into his bed and tried to get comfortable, wondering when he’d be sick again and if Snape would be quick enough to avoid it. He pictured Snape grabbing him up like a cauldron and running with him to the bathroom so that he could bubble up into the toilet like one of Neville’s doomed assignments. Wait, that didn’t make sense. There were no toilets in the dungeons.

He wished he could sleep and that it would just be tomorrow already. He tossed and turned and he was too hot.

It was obvious that Harry needed help falling asleep or he would be tired and frustrated for hours.

Casting about for something to distract the boy, Snape spied a stack of books. He went through them and was soon rewarded when he spotted The Velveteen Rabbit.

He had intended to come in here and steal the book to read later to figure out what he had done wrong by bringing back the boy a stuffed rabbit. Now he didn’t have to, this was the perfect opportunity.

Snape opened the book and began to read, hoping that his familiar voice would make the boy drift off soon before he was sick again.

"There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be…"

As he read, Snape glanced at Harry every once in awhile, noting the way his breathing seemed to even out and his eyes were slowly growing heavy. He had stopped tossing and turning in bed and seemed content to listen.

By the time Snape read the last page and closed the book, Harry was asleep.

Snape still had no idea why the boy had cried over the present Snape brought him. The story was silly and childish. It had a note of magic in it, yes, but Snape could not figure out what had distressed the boy so.

Well it seemed as if he had the rest of the night to figure it out.

Hoppity woke up the next morning and after a quick shower went to see how Harry was. When she entered the room she was surprised to see Snape sleeping in the chair, his head resting in one upright arm.

“Severus,” she said as she nudged him. Snape jumped and blinked around. “Severus, you feel asleep,” she whispered. Harry was still sleeping and she didn’t want to wake him.

Snape grunted and stiffly got up. “He fell asleep sometime after you left,” he stated as he went to leave.

“Thanks, I’ll just get some breakfast and wait for him to wake up.”

Snape didn’t seem to care.

---

When Harry woke up, he was feeling pretty okay actually. His body felt achy and he didn’t even want to think about drinking or eating anything quite yet but the horrible sour throw up feeling was gone for now. He was alone, so he closed his eyes and rested a bit. He wondered when Snape left, most likely after he fell asleep.

It was nice, Harry reflected, when Snape read to him last night. His voice wasn’t so mean when he was saying nice things.

Harry dreamt a bit about rabbits before he decided to get up. He was bored of staying in bed and no one had said that he had to. Actually, no one had come up to see him and he wondered where Hoppity and Snape were and what they were doing.

He made a little burrow in his blankets for his new rabbit and put Rufus the dragon on top. Satisfied that they would be fine while he was away, he wandered down into the kitchen. Hoppity was just getting ready to leave.

“Yes, of course,” Snape was saying.

“Yes of course, what?” Harry asked, wondering what was going on.

Hoppity was on him in a second, coming over to feel his forehead and cheeks, “Oh Harry, you’re awake! How are you feeling? Any better at all?”

Harry replied, “Yes, lots,” and it was true, compared to yesterday’s throwing up, he was much better. He still felt funny though.

“Oh, that’s good. Maybe you can try eating something today.” Hoppity looked at him and felt his forehead one last time before unclasping him. She picked up her bag. “Time for me to be off, I’ll be back around three,” she told Snape and Harry.

She was going to school? “Wait, but I’m not ready yet!” Harry turned to run to his room but Snape snatched him before he could get far and pulling him back.

“You are not going.”

Of course he was. “I can go!” All he needed was a change of clothes and his book bag, which he could get if Snape would just let him go! He tried to wiggle out of Snape’s grasp.

“You are mistaken. Stop squirming.” Snape was relentless in his hold. No matter which way Harry squirmed or wormed, he couldn’t get free. “Hoppity, I can go!” Harry cried out to her.

“I’m sorry Harry, but you’re still sick. You need to stay home today and rest,” she replied kindly.

“No, but-” the six year old cried.

“You don’t want to make all the other little children sick, do you?”

“I wouldn’t.”

“You wouldn’t be able to help it, Harry,” Hoppity chided gently. “What if you sick up again and I have to take you home?”

Harry stopped to think about that. Well that was a good point, but Harry wasn’t planning to sick up again. And if he did, Hoppity wouldn’t have to take him home, he’d be happy just to sit next to her in her office for the rest of the day…

Sensing his weakness, she pushed the advantage, “What kind of mother would they think I was if I let my little boy go to school sick?” She seemed to regret her words when Harry screwed up his face in misery.

It seemed like he would be stuck here, Snape wouldn’t let him go and Hoppity didn’t want to take him.

“Aw, I’m sorry Harry-bean,” she said coming over to hug him again, truly feeling bad at what she had said. Snape let him go and then he was being held by Hoppity. “You really need to stay home to rest today and get better though.”

Harry cried into her shoulder, “But I don’t want to stay here.”

“What’s wrong with here? You have toys here and Snape will be here to take care of you.”

That’s exactly what was wrong!

Hoppity pulled back to look at him, “If you rest, I’ll be back before you know it.”

She let go and then Harry was caught up and held again by Snape as she picked up her bag and turned to leave.

He tried to follow but couldn’t because of Snape. “No,” he cried, as if voicing his displeasure would change things. “Noo!”

If he wasn’t going to school, then she could at least stay with him! But his cries fell on deaf ears as the door closed behind her.

“Stop that now,” Snape said. “It’s for your own good to stay.”

“Nooo…” Harry wailed more piteously than before.

“Hush,” Snape said gently. “Crying does not help or solve anything.”

He was right though. What did crying ever get you? Sleepiness and a headache, which was what Harry now had. He quieted to sniffles and Snape released him to feel his face and forehead. The fingers felt cool against his fevered skin and Harry, still upset, closed his eyes.

“You are still warm,” Snape said with displeasure. “Back to bed.” Harry snapped his eyes open, bed was definitely the last place he wanted to be right now.

“I don’t want to,” Harry whined quietly. He didn’t want to stay with Snape either but staying with Snape was better than going back to bed! It was boring there, and horrible with nothing to distract one from feeling sick.

“Potter,” Snape warned.

“It’s boring and besides, I just woke up.”

Snape did not reply, instead getting up to take out a glass and placing it in front of the boy. Harry just frowned at it and crossed his arms.

“Harry, you need to drink something.”

Just thinking about drinking something made him feel ill. “Please, not now,” he pleaded, turning his arms to hold his stomach. “I don’t want- I don’t want to feel sick again.”

Snape exhaled. “You may drink it later, then. But you must rest now.”

Harry said stubbornly, “I don’t want to go back to bed.”

Snape considered this. If he could have the boy closer to a place he could work, it would be better for him. “Fine, you may lay on the couch then. But you must rest, no playing,” he warned.

Harry was consoled by this small victory. He left directly and sat comfortably on the couch, looking up expectantly at Snape when he realized that he had followed him into the room. He was surprised to notice that the man was holding the duvet from Harry’s bed. How’d that appear so quickly?

“How’d-?” the blanket fell over his head. “Hey!” The blanket was moved to fit snuggly around him, he was trapped. Snape eyed it appraisingly.

“Now, rest.”

“But I can’t sleep, I just woke up. And where’d this come from anyway?” Harry asked, trying catch Snape admitting to using magic.

“Your bed,” Snape replied obviously. “I did not say that you had to sleep, only that you had to rest.”

“But what am I supposed to do?”

“Lie there quietly,” was Snape’s tough answer before he left through the door to the kitchen. Harry pouted into his blanket. This was so unfair. And boring! He hated being sick. And how’d Snape get his duvet anyway? Harry was sure he summoned it when he wasn’t looking…

Harry lay there for what seemed like a very long, boring time. He could hear Snape working in the kitchen, writing or reading something maybe. Harry could hear the sounds of a quill and pages turning. He tried to close his eyes and sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come. Without any distractions, Harry had started to feel his stomach turning sour again.

He tossed and turned a little in his cocoon of blanket before sitting up. Maybe with a distraction, he could ignore it and it would go away. He glanced around and spotted the remote for the telly on the coffee table. Struggling a little, he managed to reach it without falling off the couch. He clicked it on and noise and light filled the room. That was much better.

“Potter, what are you doing?” Snape’s voice warned from the other room.

“Just turning on the telly.” He hid the remote down the side of the couch cushions in case Snape came in to investigate and take it away. Fortunately, he did not and after a little while, Harry pulled it back out and started flipping through channels. He found a space cartoon soon enough and settled in to watch, trying to push the covers away; he was hot enough as it was.

***

It was later and Harry could no longer ignore the uncomfortable feelings he was getting; His stomach was getting worse and he felt awful, his mouth starting to sour, breath starting to speed up like he just finished racing on a broom.

“Snape,” he groaned. He got no response. “Snape,” he groaned louder. He feared that he would be sick soon.

“What is it Potter?” Snape suddenly asked from the doorway of the room.

“I’m gonnaa,” he breathed. “Sick.”

Hands quickly freed him from his blanket prison and steered him across the parlour floor towards the downstairs loo. He found himself in front of the toilet and he shook his head. “Not yet.”

Snape knelt down next to him and peered worriedly into his face.

He stood up and wet a hand towel, then bent down and wiped Harry’s face with it as the little boy breathed heavily.

“Isn’t there a spell you can do? Please?” Harry begged. He felt horrible, he wished so badly that Snape could just wave his wand and make it go away, make everything better. He should be able to, right? He was magic.

Snape brushed the towel across Harry’s cheeks but didn’t answer Harry’s question. Suddenly, Harry’s stomach started pushing stuff up again and he found himself in front of the toilet.

When he was done, Snape helped him to rinse his mouth out and wiped his face clean.

“It doesn’t work that way. You would still be sick. Your body knows what it needs best.”

Feeling weak, drained, but better, Harry just rubbed his stressed face.

“What you need, more than anything now, is rest,” Snape said and then guided Harry back to the couch. There he helped Harry back into his cocoon of blankets and tucked them snuggly around him. He picked up the remote for the telly, and after puzzling at it for a little while he pressed the off button, leaving the room in silence.

He left and came back with a glass of juice. Upon seeing what he held, Harry turned his face away, into the couch. He couldn’t, wouldn’t drink anything so soon after throwing up. It would just make him sick again.

He heard the glass being put down on the coffee table and then a hand firmly pushed his covered arm to get his attention. “Harry, sit up a little and drink this.”

“Noo,” Harry whined piteously.

Snape warned, “Harry.”

“I don’t want to,” was the muffled response.

“Just a couple of sips,” Snape cajoled.

Harry tried to burrow more into the back of the couch. “It’ll come back up.”

“No, it won’t because you’ll be asleep.” Snape thought that he was being very patient with this boy, but he would drink this juice one way or the other and then sleep. “Potter, sit up,” he said tersely.

Potter rolled over and sat up with a big pout, he was clearly not happy with his guardian.

“I don’t see why you can’t just make me better.”

“What do you think I’m doing now?” Snape asked as he held the cup up to Harry’s lips. Harry’s eyes widened. He looked calculatedly down at the liquid in front of him.

“So this will make me better?”

“I’m sure you will feel better after this and then a nice, long nap.”

Harry peered at Snape shrewdly. For a moment, Snape feared that Potter had caught on, that he was just telling him something that should happen naturally; but then it seemed like Harry either dismissed the idea or understood it and decided to go along with it anyway. Snape wasn’t going to ask which one.

Harry opened his mouth a tiny bit and sipped at the juice. After a small amount had disappeared into him, Snape finally relented with the glass and let Harry settle back down into his blankets.

He paused before leaving as Harry’s large, sick eyes compelled him to stay. Reaching out, he brushed the hair sideways off of his forehead, avoiding the scar. The boy’s eyes opened in surprise, then settled when the soothing movement was continued, over and over.

“Go to sleep,” Snape said quietly, reinforcing it with a little magic and Harry’s eyes drifted closed.

***

Harry woke up some time later. A great deal later, actually; Things felt different, less quiet and the sun had moved. He was feeling a lot better, not nauseous at all. He was thirsty and hot though. Struggling to kick off the blankets, he heard voices in the kitchen. He was surprised and happy to realize that Hoppity was back! He was really glad that she had finally come home. Harry finally freed himself from the blanket and then he slowly walked into the kitchen. He was feeling a little unsteadily, but that was probably because he had slept so long.

Hoppity was standing at the sink, talking to Snape, or more like talking to herself. Snape saw him first, looking at Harry with a narrowed, assessing look but didn’t say anything.

The water at the sink was looking really inviting and Harry walked over to Hoppity’s side, surprising her.

“Oh, Harry! You’re up. How are you?” she asked, bending down to hug him and to look at him and then hug him again.

His throat was dry and his voice came out a little dryly, “Thirsty.”

“Really?” She pulled back to look at him. “You poor thing, I’ll get you some water. Oh, you’re cold,” she noted, seeing his form shiver. “I’ll get you something warmer to wear, no wait, the water first. Go sit down,” she said, nodding to his chair at the table before getting a glass and filling it with water. She placed it before Harry’s seat and he reached for it eagerly as she quickly left the room to retrieve ‘something warmer’.

He stopped before drinking it though, looking at it and remembering how it had felt to throw up. But he had had some juice with Snape before, and he hadn’t thrown that up. Slowly, he lifted the cup the cup to his mouth and sipped it. The cool water felt so good going down and he started to drink it quickly.

“Not so fast,” Snape warned from across the table and Harry stopped, taking one last sip before placing the cup on the table.

He glanced around the kitchen before looking at Snape and realizing that he man was looking at him, and probably had been for awhile. He looked down at himself, wondering what was wrong and he heard Snape snort. He quickly looked up but Snape was working on his papers again.

Bored and cold, Harry swung his leg, hoping that Hoppity would come back soon. He was hungry too. And bored. “What are you working on?”

Snape looked up, surprised that he was being addressed. “A potion to make nosey little boys loose their tongues for 24 hours.”

“Oh,” Harry mouthed. He twiddled his thumbs. “Really?”

Snape put down his quill. “No, not really, Potter. It’s a private project and none of your business.” He picked up his quill again and started to write, “Maybe when you are older and have shown enough maturity to be in possession of such information, you will be told.”

“Told what?” Hoppity asked as she entered with Harry’s sweatshirt.

“About a potion,” Snape replied.

“Oh, fun.” She replied, not really meaning it. She dumped the sweatshirt over Harry’s head and proceeded to help his arms through the holes, only to find out that she had put it on his backwards, making Harry giggle at her expression when she realized it.

She gave him a sheepish grin and then helped Harry struggle to turn the sweatshirt the right way. “Sorry about that, Harry.”

“Now, is there anything you want or need before you go back to bed?”

Back to bed? But he just woke up! Ah but this was Hoppity, she wouldn’t make him do that…

“I am a little hungry,” Harry said.

Hoppity stopped and blinked. “You are? Well that’s great news. That means you’re almost better, I think. “Two days,” Hoppity mused. “That sounds about right…”

“He was last sick this morning, but not since. He might be able to keep something simple down now,” Snape informed her.

“Well, I think I have a can of chicken soup around, that’s simple, right? What do you say, Harry? Want to try it?”

“See how he does first with the water and some juice.”

Harry scowled at Snape’s interruption. “I think I could have some chicken soup,” he told Hoppity, pointedly ignoring Snape.

Hoppity patted his head and compromised, “Well, okay, but how about having some juice while it cooks, okay?”

Harry thought about it for a moment before agreeing and nodding his head. “Alright.” He was still thirsty and juice was better than water.

Hoppity quickly set to work, heating up some soup for Harry. She gave him some juice while he waited.

Soon, a warm bowl was placed in front of him full of soup.

Hoppity asked, “Isn’t chicken soup good for a fever? Feed a fever, starve a cold or something like that?”

“I think chicken soup is good for colds,” Harry said, but spooned his soup up anyway.

“Now Harry, if you start feeling sick again, just let me know right away, okay?” Hoppity asked concernedly. She pulled a bucket out from under the sink and placed it nest to Harry’s chair, he gave it a glance.

“Okay, but I don’t think I will,” Harry replied, turning his attention to his soup.

Once it was gone, Hoppity told him to get back to bed.

“I am not tired at all,” Harry informed her.

“Alright, well you can play a bit then.”

Harry grinned and then looked at Snape. Take that, Snape! The man wasn’t even looking at him though. Disappointing. Harry tried to relish his victory anyway.

---

The next morning, after a long sleep, Harry padded down to the kitchen. No one was there so Harry looked around for a clock, he thought that maybe he was just early.

He decided to make breakfast. Toast should be alright. He knew how to boil water for tea… If he knew where Snape was, and that he wasn’t going to catch him in the act, Harry would have climbed up the fridge to get the cereal Snape put there. But he didn’t so he wasn’t going to try it today. He’d try it another time he was less likely to get caught.

So… toast. Harry reached over the tall counter to snag the bread with his fingertips, intently pulling it towards himself. Once he had it, he brought it to the table to open and take the slices out. He pushed a chair over to the other counter where the toaster was and put the bread in to toast. While he waited, he went to the fridge to look for some jam and butter.

Once he had everything out and on the table, he waited he last seconds for the toast to pop up. Oh wait, he forgot a plate. He got the plate, and then he buttered the toast.

Hoppity came down, looking a little tired.

“Look what I made,” Harry announced, “Breakfast!”

“Oh, good job Harry-bean,” Hoppity said with a smile. “Some lovely toast…”

Uh oh. Harry’s smile fell, he forgot the tea!

“Hold on, I forgot the tea but I can do that really quick-”

Hoppity interrupted, “Tea would be wonderful! Do you need help?”

“No, no,” Harry said, but Hoppity came over anyway and helped him fill the pot and put it on the stove. Then she sat back down at the table.

“Aren’t you going to eat your toast?” he asked her.

“I’m not feeling that hungry this morning.”

“Oh.”

“It was very sweet of you though. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Harry said quietly. He was disappointed that she didn’t like his surprise more.

The tea was soon done and Hoppity sipped at a cup. Harry thought it strange that she wasn’t having breakfast, she usually did, toast at least. Snape strode into the kitchen and helped himself to some tea.

Harry studied Hoppity and ventured a question, “Are... you getting sick?”

“I think… maybe I am,” Hoppity said, looking a little pale to Harry now. She put her tea cup down and did not pick it up again and Harry looked at her worriedly. “You shouldn’t blame yourself though, Harry, I could have just as easily have got it from one of the other children at the school.”

She probably got it from him though… he had been so selfish and she was sick now.

“I took the precaution of taking some Pepper-up the first night,” Snape stated casually.

“Well I sure could have used that!”

“You also could have asked,” Snape replied, picking at the plate of toast. “If you decided to cuddle up with the brat when he was sick you should have prepared for the consequences.”

“There were more important things at the time,” Hoppity said. “Will you please make me some Pepper up?”

Snape looked calculatingly at her as he bit into some toast. Harry desperately hoped that he would. If she got some before she really got sick, well then it would be like she didn’t get sick at all, right?

“Oh for Merlin’s sake, Severus!”

“Fine, but you will have to agree to test some potions out for me. Agreed?”

“Oh… you slimy Slytherin!”

“Watch it, or this potion might slip through my slimy hands,” Snape said as he pulled out a vial from… somewhere and held it out between two fingers. Maybe he pulled it out from his wrist cuff? Harry couldn’t be sure.

“Alright, fine,” Hoppity cried out, waving her hands. “But, only if they aren’t horrible or terrible or if I don’t want to.”

“What’s the point of an agreement, then?” Snape asked snidely. “Technically, you already agreed. But no matter, if you back out I can always use Harry.”

“No you won’t. Give me that potion, please.”

Snape handed over the potion and then Hoppity uncorked it and downed it in one go. After a second steam came from her ears and her face turned really red, making her look like a spotted tomato with her freckles.

“Ah, much better. I still feel kind of ill though,” she said, holding her stomach. “I think I ought to go have a lie down.”

“Yes. Best if you stay away from the brat as well. I don’t fancy holding him as he sicks up all day again, which even now could be possible,” Snape eyed the boy.

“Hey, I’m better now!” Harry declared.

“Possible, but also possibly unlikely.”

What?

Hoppity rubbed her head, looking very put out. “I’ll just go to bed, now, after calling. Ta.” She got up and shuffled a little unsteadily out of the room.

Harry blinked at her retreating back before turning to Snape. “Who’s going to take me to school then?”

“You are not going,” Snape said and took a sip of tea.

“But I’m better! I should get to go to school!”

“No, Potter. You should go back to bed.”

“But- I should go to school!”

Snape put his cup down and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hush. You’re not going, so stop wailing about it. If you are still well by tomorrow then you can go tomorrow, but not today.”

Harry shuffled and tried to come up with an argument that would change Snape’s mind.

“Do you enjoy being sick, Harry?”

“Well, no-“

“If you go to school today, you will probably become sick again.”

Harry pouted and folded his arms.

“Furthermore, if you went then someone would have to stay at the school the entire time you are there. I have no wish to do that.”

Harry wanted to ask why someone had to, but he knew better. It was because he was different.

Snape warned, “Today while Smirkett is resting in her room you will not be bothering her. Stay out of there, Potter.”

Harry just stood and pouted. Who was Snape to tell him what to do?

“I mean that Potter, if I find that you have disobeyed, you will be very sorry. And I will find out.”

“Fine,” Harry said, still upset but not willing to push the issue after Snape’s warning. “Can I go outside to play, then?” Harry hoped the Potions Master would say yes, he couldn’t take going back to bed so soon after waking up. “I’ll be good, promise,” Harry said earnestly. “I’ll come in when you say.”

Snape looked at him closely as if testing the validity of that statement. It was summer, and the day was warm and sunny. “Perhaps some fresh air would be good, for a little time.”

Harry barely contained himself from jumping up and down. “Thank you.”

“But you must finish your breakfast first, and you must stay only around the house and come in when I say, or if before that, immediately if you are feeling ill again. After your playtime it’s back to bed for you. There’s no need for you to relapse.”

Harry frowned at all the extra things Snape was saying, especially that last one about going to bed. He consoled himself with the thought that he would just play in bed when he was stuck in it and Snape wouldn’t know. He had two friends to play with now and he was sure that the rabbit one Snape gave him would love to explore his blanket burrows and valleys some more.

“Okay,” Harry chirped.

Snape narrowed his eyes but just pointed to Harry’s toast.

Harry got back into his seat and nibbled at his breakfast very slowly. It was amazing that Snape was letting him go outside. When most of a piece of toast was gone he got up, stopping at Snape’s chair. He now remembered when Snape gave him his rabbit how bewildered he had been, and what he’d done. He felt like he wanted to apologize, or something.

He fidgeted a little before saying, “I’m sorry for crying over my present the other night, I really liked it.”

“What do I care if you cry over a toy or not?” Snape asked. “Go play.”

Harry looked at him for a moment before deciding that Snape was probably right and that he should leave before Snape changed his mind and dragged him back to bed. He left quickly.

----

Harry came back inside before lunch, a little dirty and full of fresh air. He was tired but he proudly held two daises in his hands and showed them to Snape.

“I picked them. Can I go give them to Hoppity?” Harry asked hopefully. “They might make her feel better.”

“I can assure you Potter that the scent of daisies have no medicinal properties at all.”

That wasn’t the point Snape! “Can I give them to her?” Harry repeated his question.

“No. You know you can’t go in there. She’s ill and you’d probably only annoy her.”

Harry lowered his head, remembering that he was the one who made her sick.

After a moment Snape got up and poured some water into a tall glass, then took the flowers from a surprised Harry’s hand. He plopped them into the glass. “I will give these to her with some juice. You will not go up there,” he reiterated.

Harry nodded, just glad that Hoppity would be getting the flowers. He was sure that she’d like them.

“You’re a little early for lunch… Why don’t you go pick some more of those daisies?” Snape suggested lightly. “I’m sure… Hoppity would like them.”

That was a rather nice thing to do, Harry decided. He was turning to leave when Snape’s voice stopped him, “And Potter? Don’t forget to get the roots.”

Harry looked at him suspiciously. "Why would I need the roots?"

Snape paused, “Because she'd like them." He continued, when Harry didn’t seem convinced, “Think about it, when you cut just the tops you are killing them… that’s not very nice for a present, is it? Dead flowers? I’m sure she’d like live ones much more.”

“But the only flowers you give girls are dead ones,” Harry thought out loud.

“Fine, go and wash your hands and face,” Snape told him peevishly.

---

After a small lunch of more soup and bread, Snape had Harry go back to bed in his room. He made sure Harry was under his blankets before he shut the blinds, darkening the room.

“You may not get up except to use the toilet. If you feel sick again, you may come find me.”

And with that, Snape left the room, closing the door behind him. Harry immediately sat up even though his bed was really cozy and comfortable. But he didn’t want to sleep! It was daytime, there were so many fun things to do.

Harry placed his new rabbit on his lap and looked at him. Made with light brown fabric and filled with beans, he was tall, with floppy ears… Harry imagined what he would be like if he was a real rabbit. His nose would wiggle and his ears would twitch, he’d sniff the air and then, only when it was safe would he hop over here to this pillow vegetable patch.

Harry pretended that the rabbit ate up some lovely carrots and cabbages before having him hop around and investigating the edges of the blanket. They explored several tunnels together before Harry decided that his rabbit needed a home.

Pushing the edge of his blankets up, he formed a little hill, and pushed the rabbit under it. There.

Rabbit now safe, Harry lay down and fell asleep.

---

“Potter… wake up.”

Harry blearily opened one eye and rolled over.

“Potter… come now, you’ve slept long enough.” A cool hand reached and felt his forehead and Harry crankily tried to burrow away from it.

The cool hand came back before leaving and Harry was relieved that it was finally gone until then his duvet was lifted away, which was worse.

“It’s time to wake up.”

“Nuh,” Harry whined into the mattress.

Snape was seriously regretting allowing the brat to sleep for so long. “You can’t get in the habit of sleeping the day away. Come now, get up.”

It seemed the voice would not leave him alone to sleep so Harry sat up tiredly and gave Snape one of his crossest looks.

Snape just raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “There is some supper downstairs if you are interested.”

Harry perked up. Supper sounded good.

At the kitchen table sat two bowls of soup. “Where’s Hoppity?”

“Resting. Eat your soup,” was Snape’s simple answer.

Harry clamored onto his chair and slowly sipped at his soup. The watery broth was not that filling with only small bits of noodles and vegetables.

“Not to your liking?” Snape asked tersely, eyeing the little boy.

Harry fiddle with his spoon. “Well it’s just... I’m all better now so I should have all better food.”

“Since you seem to be ‘all better’, I think a lesson is in order this evening.”

Harry blinked and then dropped his hands to his stomach. “Actually… I think I was wrong, I’m feeling all sickly and ill again,” he said pitifully. “I just couldn’t tell right before.”

“Too late, Potter.” Snape was smirking as he continued eating his own soup.

After their “Occlumency” session, Snape did not let Harry leave the room right away. Instead, he pulled out a red bottle from a pocket and called Harry closer to where he was sitting.

“I’ve been neglecting this, of late,” Snape said. He had been neglecting it, but gave no apologies. “Remember our deal?” Snape asked as he held the familiar bottle out for Harry to see. The light in the room made it appear brighter than usual.

Harry eyed him carefully, “Yes, one question and then you’ll put it on my arm, and make my scar disappear.” He clasped his hand to the inside of his right elbow where he had been cut in fourth year.

“That’s right,” Snape said. “Here’s the question. How were you punished with your relatives?”

Why would Snape want to know that? Harry had no idea, perhaps he wanted to know how miserable Harry had been. Maybe he liked the idea of Harry being punished, maybe he thought that Harry’s relatives didn’t do it well enough. Maybe he wanted to do the same things.

Noticing his hesitation Snape reminded, “You don’t have to answer, but if you do not answer you will not get the potion.”

Harry glanced at the potion, then at Snape, deciding that there wasn’t anything Harry could tell him that Snape couldn’t already do. “Well, mostly they locked me in my room. A lot of time I didn’t get dinner… Aunt Petunia used to come up with the worst chores to do, and Uncle used to grab my hair,” Harry said, rubbing his head in memory. “Sometimes he’d throw me in my cupboard.”

“Cupboard?” Snape asked and Harry narrowed his eyes, and crossed his arms at Snape’s latest try.

“One question only, remember?”

“Tell me this, Potter,” Snape said firmly.

The potion was out of reach unless Harry answered, he hated how unfair Snape could be. Pouting angrily, Harry demanded, “It was my room. Can I have that potion yet?” He felt that he had done his side of the bargain, plus more.

Snape narrowed his eyes at Harry’s insolent tone. “Yes.”

Harry let his arm out, and with nimble fingers Snape lifted Harry’s sleeve, and applied the potion to the scar of his arm. To Snape it looked improved, but not greatly. It would take several more applications before it was fully healed.

Harry thought about saying thank you, but he had paid for it with a question, two questions actually. Snape should be saying ‘sorry’ to Harry instead, for weaseling two questions out of him.

“Go get ready for bed now,” Snape instructed.

It came as a surprise to Harry, who had just worked for so long. He should be able to play some now! Just because Hoppity wasn’t around, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t play. “I don’t see why I have to go to bed so early,” Harry complained.

“Because you’ve been ill, and because I say so,” Snape replied, adamantly. Putting the bottle away, he stood up, and gave Harry a look.

Harry grumbled quietly, he wasn’t still ill, and Snape’s second reason wasn’t a very good one, in Harry’s opinion.

“Potter, move,” Snape stated quietly, giving that no-nonsense look Harry was becoming familiar with.

Fine, Harry wanted to shout as he turned and left the room, but he didn’t.

It was a little nice that someone wanted to see him resting because he had been ill.

But only a little.

After Harry had finished brushing his teeth, Snape saw him into bed and then pulled out a thermometer.

“But I’m all better!” Harry complained as Snape waved it around, and then and popped it into Harry’s mouth. “Uh don see wah aye hah-“

“Hush.” Snape gave him a warning glare and Harry flopped back into bed, defeated.

Some seconds passed, then, “Ih it don yeh?”

“Stop talking.” Aggravated, Snape reached out and held Harry’s mouth closed. “You’ll sabotage the reading.”

Harry thought it was unfair that he had to have the temperature reading at all. He was much better, and if Snape didn’t think he was, then why had he made him practice Occlumency?

“Mnm mmm mnm…” Harry tried to say behind Snape’s hand.

“Stop that,” Potter,” Snape glared, and threatened, “Or I’ll be forced to take a reading from somewhere else.”

Harry wisely hushed up.

Snape removed his hand, and tapped his foot for awhile before pulling out the thermometer and looking at it. He didn’t say anything, so Harry figured he was probably going to live.

“You’re going to live. Now go to sleep,” Snape told him. He got up and made to turn off the lights.

“Wait!” Harry said, looking for his playmates. He quickly found his dragon and bunny near the side of the bed, and stuffed them under the blankets. “Okay. I’m ready now.”

But the lights didn’t go off, and Snape didn’t leave. Harry looked up, and asked curiously, “What?”

“Nothing,” Snape said shortly and flipped the lights. He shut the door, leaving Harry to puzzle out things. Maybe Snape had been thinking about a potion, or wishing that he hadn’t given Harry that bunny. Well too bad for him, it was Harry’s and he wasn’t giving it back.

Harry pulled the rabbit close to himself under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

---

The next day everything was back to normal, Hoppity was smiling, Snape was scowling, and Harry was happily getting ready for school.

Harry struggled to put on his shoes at the foot of the stairs, and asked, “I get to play soccer today, right? After school?” He was looking forward to running in the sun with his friends after being alone, and inside for so long.

“No, Harry, that’s tomorrow,” Hoppity said as she looked at a flyer she had found pushed under the front door.

Harry dropped a troublesome shoe. “But... I haven’t played soccer for what seems like forever!”

“That’s because you missed Tuesday. You were sick.”

“I missed soccer?” Harry cried. He had known that, sort of, but it felt like news to him.

“You’ll get to play tomorrow though.”

No he wouldn’t! “But-but-,” She didn’t understand!

Hoppity moved closer, concerned. “What’s the matter, Harry?” He seemed strangely upset for such a small thing.

“I’ll get kicked off the team! I missed, and now again- I only got to play one game!” Soccer was the closest thing he could get to Quidditch, it had been so much fun! And now, he was going to lose it.

“Oh, no, that’s not how it is,” Hoppity said consolingly. “I’m sure you can’t get kicked off for that. You were sick, you can’t help that. In fact, you’re not even allowed to come to practice if you’re sick. They’d send you home.”

They would?

“So no, I’m sure you’re not kicked off.”

Okay then. Harry wiped at his nose with a shirt sleeve before picking up his shoe and trying again.

Hoppity gasped, and Harry looked up in concern. Maybe she remembered something and he really was kicked off? But no, her face was happily animated, “I know! How about we stop at a Muggle bookstore today after school, just you and me. It’ll be a lot of fun!”

He smiled in happiness at the suggestion. “Okay.” Anything was fun with Hoppity, even a bookstore.

“But school first. Can’t miss that.”

School, bookstore, and soccer. What fun. If only he could avoid Snape and his Occlumency, it would be a perfect week…

---

Hoppity found him after school, just like always, and they set off in search of a bookstore. Finally, they pulled up in front of a really large store, and Harry looked at it in wonder until Hoppity found a parking space and the car next to them blocked his view.

“Is that all a bookstore? How come all the shops are really huge here?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know, but let’s go find out. There don’t seem to be so many people living together here, though, that they’d need such big stores.”

“Maybe they sell other things too? Like cars? Car books?” Books as big as cars? That seemed silly.

“Haha, maybe.”

They walked to the front and entered. It was massive inside, like a museum, and all full of books. His bushy haired friend would love it and never leave.

Harry moved a little closer to Hoppity, and grasped her hand. “Don’t forget me here, okay?”

Hoppity tightened her hold on his hand and looked down. “Oh, don’t worry Harry. I’d never do that. Just stay nearby, okay?”

Harry nodded and they set off, looking at all the bright books in the store. Hoppity was into every book, asking Harry if he thought that it looked interesting, or if a student would like it, and, “What is Quantum Mechanics, anyway?” Harry had no clue. She put down the book and picked up another, “Let’s stick to making Muggle Doll houses…”

Carrying a book or two, Harry followed her and the big stack of books she was carrying, when something caught his eye, or rather his eye and his nose. There was a chocolate smell in the air, and there was a different part of the store, full of tables and people reading with cups. A counter was there too, full of sweets.

Maybe… no… he had just been sick, even if Hoppity was really nice she wouldn’t get him a sweet. Harry looked around to follow Hoppity again, but she was gone!

He quickly looked around some more, looking at all the people for a woman with fuzzy hair and glasses, carrying a huge stack of books.

He couldn’t find her.

Panicking, Harry realized that his worst fear had come true. She had forgotten him.

Just like that.

If Harry were older, he would have realized that she wasn’t far off, and set off to find her, but he wasn’t, and the bookshelves seemed like a giant maze, full of twists and turns, and probably monsters hiding at the ends.

What should he do? Would she come back for him? Harry thought about going back to the car. She’d have to go back there at some time, when she wanted to leave.

“Harry?”

Hoppity’s voice! He looked up and immediately ran to her. So she had not forgotten him, not really! He was not leaving her side again. “I couldn’t find you,” Harry breathed out, so glad that she had come back.

Hoppity looked down worriedly, and patted his head with an elbow as her hands were full of books. “My, you’re out of sorts today.”

Huh? What did that mean? Probably that he got easily lost, yes, that must be what she meant. Right?

At his questioning glace, she switched topics, “Say why don’t we go get some brownies? I think I smell some.” She started sniffing the air like a mouse, and relieved, Harry gave a small laugh and followed her to the counter, leaving their books on a nearby eating table.

After messily eating some brownies, and washing their hands in a nearby loo, Hoppity said that it was time to check out the children’s section.

“After all, most of Hog-our students are children, and the children’s books often explain things so much better.”

They spent over an hour going through children’s books. Harry had discovered a wonderful series full of pictures of people, and the places they lived in, like castles and ships. Hoppity seemed fascinated by what Muggles had on magical creatures like fairies and gnomes and dragons.

There were a lot of books, and when they were done selecting the ones to buy, Hoppity had to ask one of the employees to help her carry them to the register, and then to the car, despite the fact that Harry was helping by carrying a bag of books too.

Harry was so excited that they bought so many books! And that they were interesting books too! Usually books were just pages full of words, but these books- they were marvelous! Harry thought about the books all the way home, and then he thought about where they were going to put them all. Maybe Hoppity would let Harry keep some of them in his room.

They were almost to the house when something caught Harry’s eye and Hoppity’s too. The pretty house at the corner of their street had its side garden uprooted. Dirt and chopped off flowers were thrown all over the plundered garden and the lawn.

"What a shame." Hoppity said, noting the garden as they drove past it. "It was always so pretty. I don’t think that its owner would have done that… some vandals must have decided to wreak havoc. Such a shame."

Harry looked at the garden for as long as he could, twisting in his seat until it was too far behind them. It seemed odd that anyone would dig up flowers and cut the roots off. In fact, only someone like Snape would want something like that- Snape had even asked Harry to get him some before!

It must have been Snape. How could he have been so mean? But then Harry realized that was Snape! He was always mean.

As soon as they got inside, and put their bags of books down, Harry sought out Snape.

Snape wasn’t downstairs, readily available like he usually was when Harry and Hoppity came home. Harry knew where he’d most likely be, though.

He headed straight for the basement. The door was closed, but Harry was sure that Snape was down there. He imagined that he could hear the guts of some poor insects being squashed out. Harry turned the knob and started down the stairs, determined to find one Potions Master.

What was Harry going to do? He was going to demand that Snape give back the roots- okay so maybe that might not be possible –

“Ahhhh-!” Harry was suddenly swept up by something, tumbling head over heels down the stairs. He was falling and spinning, and suddenly, just as quick as it started, he was lurched to a stop, dangling upside down. Harry couldn’t see, he was wrapped up in something, and he started to panic as he realized that he couldn’t move either.

“Elp!” Harry yelled. His frantic motions to get free made his cocoon swing.

“Potter!”

So Snape was behind this too! He knew it!

“What do you think you’re doing?” Snape demanded, his voice getting closer, and then hands reached out and steadied the Harry cocoon.

Harry did not cease his struggling though. He accused, “You booby trapped me!”

“You did this to yourself,” Snape said, sounding irritable. “You know that you are not to come down here.”

“And you’re not supposed to use magic!”

“Hm,” went Snape. Hm? What did that mean?

“Well?” Harry demanded from within his cocoon. “What do you have to say for yourself? First you stole some roots – I know you did it! And then you booby trapped me! Wait ‘til I tell Hoppity!”

“Maybe I should just leave you here,” Snape considered out loud.

Harry stilled. He wouldn’t.

“It might do you some good to stay still for awhile, allow some blood to reach your brain.”

Hey! Harry had plenty of blood when he was right-side up, thank you very much.

“But as to your accusations about some roots, I’m afraid that I have no idea as to what you are talking about.” It was airy, superior, and a bold faced lie.

"I know what you did. That house with the pretty flowers- well you dug them up! And stole their roots!" Harry kicked a little in the cocoon, mad on behalf of the flowers and their owner, and this time no one reached out to steady him. The cocoon moved into a slight spin.

Snape denied everything, “I assure you that I am completely innocent, and ignorant of the matter, Potter.”

“You should at least buy them new seeds!”

Snape didn’t answer and Harry was left hanging, upside down, slightly swaying. He tried to strain his hearing to see what Snape was up to. He could probably expect a sharp poke from any direction. Or maybe Snape was planning on leaving him here until Hoppity noticed that he was missing.

“I suppose that I must let you down. You are blocking the stairway.”

Harry felt relief when someone’s hands picked him up, unhooked his cocoon somehow, and set him down. Unfortunately, he was not completely right side up and Harry sprawled to the floor.

He started trying to kick his way out, and pull the cloth from off his face, but he was just as unsuccessful as before. He did manage to move, though, across the floor.

“Potter!” Snape bit out as Harry bumped into his leg. “Hold still and let me free you.”

“No! I don’t want a root killer helping me!” Harry struggled, and struggled some more before taking a break, and panting. It was too hard to get free!

He wondered if Snape would still help him.

“…Snape?”

“Yes, Potter?” There was a definite smirk in his voice.

“I changed my mind.”

“I thought that you did not want a ‘root killer’ helping you?” the voice asked, moving away.

“Yes, well-”

“Yes, what?” The voice came closer.

“You put me here so you should take me out!” Harry exclaimed petulantly.

Snape tsked. “My, my, with an attitude like that, I should just leave you here for the night.”

He wouldn’t dare. Hoppity would wonder where he was. And then when she found him, Harry would tell her everything.

“You’ll let me out if you know what’s good for you!” Harry struggled, trying to get free.

Hands reached out and then the cloth was being pulled off of him roughly. Harry was quickly placed upright, unsteady after being upside down, but strong arms held him up. Then Snape was there, looking into his eyes, quite firmly.

“Potter,” Snape quietly growled, “If you know what’s good for you, you will drop that insolent tone.” But Harry could see one corner of his mouth, trying to quirk upwards.

Harry gulped. “Yes, sir,” he said respectfully.

Snape forcefully guided Harry to the chair at the table he had been using as his potions station. “Sit,” he commanded as he went around to the other side to lean over the table and look down at Harry. He asked in a quiet, deadly tone, “You are aware that there are certain potions needed that can help in the fight against The Dark Lord?”

Harry nodded warily.

“Do you feel, that the life of some simple flowers are more important than the potions created with them that could save the lives of your friends, and countless others?” Snape asked, his face leaning closer to Harry’s.

“Well, no, but that’s not-”

“That is what you are saying with your outrage,” Snape said, “And if I had been the culprit in uprooting those flowers, I would only be mildly annoyed, but that is not the case. I had nothing whatsoever to do with the destruction of your flowers. If I needed ingredients, I would simply buy them.”

So then Snape didn’t do it. Harry was wrong.

Snape continued, “Destruction of another’s property is wrong, as you should know. So is falsely accusing another. What do you intend to do to rectify the matter?”

Harry swallowed. He suddenly felt very small. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry that- that I accused you when I was wrong.”

Snape stood up, crossing his arms. “And?” he prompted.

“I know you didn’t really dig up the nice neighbor’s garden, and steal the roots,” Harry said, fidgeting.

Snape’s fingers tapped impatiently on his arms. “And?”

“And- I’m sorry?” Harry asked. The only thing he could think of was to buy the neighbor some more flowers and plant them, but that was something for the neighbor, not Snape.

“Hm,” Snape said gruffly, and not really pleased as far as Harry could tell, “I will accept just your apology this time, but next time I will not be so lenient,” he warned.

Harry nodded, relieved to be let go so easily. He moved to get off the chair but Snape’s voice stopped him.

“There is the matter of your willfully disobeying me about entering my personal potions area. Did I not make it clear that you were never to come down here, unless I explicitly asked you to?” Snape demanded, and this time there was no quirking of the mouth to be seen.

Harry wasn’t thinking of that at all when he opened the basement’s door. Truthfully, Snape hadn’t said that, he had just yelled at him before, and told him never to go anywhere near his private property. But Harry assumed that counted. “Yes, but-” he thought that Snape had stolen those roots! There was no thought for rules when such wrongs had been done. Never mind that he felt so guilty now.

“But nothing,” Snape said. There was a gleam in his eye, one that Harry was not happy to see. Usually it meant that something terrible was coming Harry’s way. Snape bent under the table, and pulled out a cauldron, banging it on the table in front of Harry. “Since you are so determined to be in my lab, you may help out,” Snape said unyieldingly, “Scrub.”

Harry scowled at the dirty cauldron, bits of who-knows-what caked in the bottom, burnt to a crisp. Snape was probably saving it just for him. “But you booby trapped me,” Harry bitterly complained. “That should be punishment enough. I was upside down!”

“Be grateful that I did not leave you there overnight, and that you only have one cauldron to scrub,” Snape said menacingly as he handed Harry a scrub brush. Harry took the brush, and Snape poured some water into the dirty cauldron, and a generous amount of soap.

Scowling, Harry set to scrubbing the cauldron as best as he could. He hated this, but it did make him feel slightly better about wrongly accusing Snape. Soon, the soap turned into lather, but the caked on substance was still stuck on.

“This isn’t coming off,” Harry complained quietly, beating the bottom of the cauldron with the brush.

“Scrub harder,” was Snape’s reply as he leisurely perused some papers nearby, not even bothering to look up.

Harry stuck his tongue out, but quickly brought it back in when Snape turned his way. He hurriedly tried to appear to scrub harder than before.

Ten minutes later, after off and on scrubbing, and off and on comments from Snape, Harry had managed to get some of the caked-on substance off, but not all.

“Enough,” Snape said to Harry’s relief, and disbelief. Was Snape letting him go already? He was glad, he had been switching arms to scrub with, and they had both started to hurt awhile ago. But he couldn’t help but expect another punishment, a worse one like dissecting bugs again.

Snape stood up, and took the brush from Harry’s hands. “You will go to your room, and stay there until I say you can come out,” he said.

What? But that wasn’t fair! Harry already scrubbed the cauldron! He shouldn’t have to stay in his room too! No, he didn’t clean the whole cauldron, or even most of it, but still. He glared and crossed his arms, wanted to stomp his foot.

“I already scrubbed the cauldron,” Harry pointed out.

“And did a poor job at that,” Snape replied.

“I don’t think that I should have to go to my room too,” Harry tried, upset.

But Snape was unyielding as he clamped unto the back of Harry’s neck and maneuvered him out of the chair, and up the stairs, ignoring Harry’s protests.

Hoppity was sitting on the floor of the front room, sorting through the books, and rereading some of them. She looked up when they entered the room. “What’s going on?” she asked curiously.

“Potter disobeyed me by going into my lab. He is going to have some time out,” Snape replied calmly before Harry could say anything. The git. Why didn’t Snape tell Hoppity how he stole the roots- Oh wait. He didn’t. But he did booby trap Harry!

“Keep moving,” Snape said lowly. Harry crossed his arms, but he didn’t want to seem disobedient in front of Hoppity so he started for the stairs.

Passing the piles of books, Harry was reminded of his earlier wish to keep some in his room. Surely, Snape wouldn’t have anything against reading in his room? Harry moved towards them, “Can I-” but he was quickly cut off by Snape grabbing him, and pushing him gently forwards.

“No, Potter.”

“But I want some books,” Harry said longingly, looking back at the new books, and feeling sad

“Keep moving,” was Snape’s reply, guiding Harry to the stairs, one hand now clamped onto the back of his neck. “You’re not to be rewarded for your behavior.”

That just made Harry feel guiltier. Frowning, Harry was seen to his room, where Snape told him to stay.

“Now stay in here until I come get you,” Snape said sternly. “You may use the lav, but you may not go anywhere else.”

Harry pouted and sat on the floor. Fine. If Snape wanted to be so unfair then fine. He was a big bully, that’s what he was.

Harry shouldn’t have to stay in his room- How long did he have to stay in here anyway? Snape didn’t say, just that he had to stay until he came and got him. It could be days! Weeks!

Suddenly frightened, Harry got up and hurried to the door. He was hugely relieved when the knob turned, and the door opened. He wasn’t locked in!

“Potter,” a low voice warned, and Harry looked up to see Snape watching him down the hall. He clutched the knob and pulled it towards himself.

“Erm, I was just testing the door- I wasn’t trying to leave, honest!” Harry exclaimed, trying to be insignificant through the ever narrowing doorway. Not easy, when you were the only thing someone was looking at.

“Good, because you won’t like the consequences if you disobey me again,” Snape growled.

Harry quickly ducked back into his room and shut the door behind him. Heart beating, he listened for the tell tale sound of footsteps coming angrily closer to his room, and the sound of a lock turning. But nothing came, and there were no locking sounds. Relieved, Harry sat back in the middle of his room.

Harry probably wouldn’t be allowed out of his room before tomorrow morning, at the earliest. He wondered if Snape would catch him if he tried to leave him room late at night for a snack. Harry sighed dejectedly, Snape probably would catch him and then make him stay longer than before.

But surely Hoppity wouldn’t let him stay in for very long, right? And if Snape made him miss dinner, she’d bring him some up, right?

Yes, Harry decided. Hoppity was nice, and even more importantly, she liked him.

That settled Harry turned his attention to his toys. He might as well have some fun while he waited. And having fun while being punished would be the best way to spoil Snape’s punishment.

‘Ha, Snape! I beat you!’ Harry wanted to exclaim, but didn’t. Snape could be listening, and if Harry made too much noise, then he’d come in and investigate. He’d take away Harry’s toys.

Quietly, Harry gathered his favorite dragon and rabbit, and his Merlin and knight action figures, hiding them under his bed. He crawled after them with his pillow, intending on having an adventure in his new cave. He came back out to get his gooey lizards, the knights and Merlin needed some evil monsters to battle, after all.

Harry was lost in his adventure, it didn’t seem that long when Harry’s door was opened. Startled, Harry stopped, staying completely still.

It was Snape, Harry could see his feet from where he was under the bed. Black shoes, definitely Snape’s.

“Potter, you may come out of your room now, it’s time for dinner.”

Snape was fetching him for dinner?

“Potter?” Snape called out, sounding a little confused, and Harry almost wanted to giggle, but the tone quickly turned angry as Snape walked into the room, “Potter, where are you?”

“I’m here!” Harry struggled out from under the bed, fearing Snape’s sudden wrath if he thought that he had left the room.

“What on Merlin’s name were you doing under there?” Snape demanded. But before Harry could answer, Snape did, “Sulking, no doubt.”

Now standing, Harry crossed his arms, he was not sulking! He was playing! But he didn’t want to tell Snape that.

“So, I get dinner?” Harry asked tentatively instead.

“Yes, Potter,” Snape said to Harry’s relief. “But if I catch you in my lab again without permission,” he warned dangerously, leaning close to hiss in Harry’s ear, “I’ll make you sleep down there, next to a tub of dismembered, wriggling worms and insects, and you’ll eat them for breakfast in your porridge.”

Harry couldn’t help the shudder that went through him at the thought.

“I’m glad to see that you are sufficiently motivated to stay out,” Snape said, disturbingly pleased. “Now go wash up.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said, hurrying away to his lav. As happy as Harry was to be having dinner, he suddenly wasn’t that hungry.

Worm and bug porridge, yuck.

Harry spent the time after dinner looking at the books with Hoppity. Even Snape seemed to think that they were interesting, because when he came to get Harry for Occlumency, he poked through the piles, looking at what was there.

“Want to borrow some?” Hoppity asked.

Snape scowled at her, but thought better of it once he spotted a book with what might be potions on the cover. “Perhaps,” he said, “But for now I require Potter.”

Harry was dismayed. He had just found a fantastic book full of people and interesting things to find in its drawings. He planned to spend the rest of the evening with his new found book, not doing Occlumency. “Two lessons in a row?” he complained. He had had a lesson just the day before.

“Yes, you need all the practice you can get.”

“Why is he having these lessons again?” Hoppity asked, lowering a children’s book from her face.

“Because,” Snape bit out, “He is lamentably one of the best chances of defeating the Dark Lord. Unfortunately, his mind is weak, and easily overcome by said Dark Lord.”

Harry glared at Snape. No it wasn’t! He wasn't that easy.

Snape continued, oblivious to Harry’s glare or just choosing not to acknowledge it, “I am attempting to branch his substantial willpower against the Imperius curse to his pitiful efforts of Occlumency. If successful, it will give him protection against invasions of his mind and implanted visions.”

“Oh,” Hoppity breathed out and swallowed. She was overtaken by the importance of it all, and Snape realized that he had scored another victory over the brat.

He grimaced in pleasure. “Come, Potter.”

Harry stood up from the floor where he was sitting, and followed Snape. He was sure that he was marching to his doom.

Snape turned, and strode purposefully to the back room where he held almost daily meditation and Occlumency lessons with Harry.

“Sit, Potter,” he said, motioning to Harry’s usual spot on the floor.

Resigned to his fate, Harry did so, and watched Snape sit on the only chair. He closed his eyes, knowing what came next.

“Clear your mind,” Snape instructed, “Do not focus on anything but your breathing. Let your mind empty of all frivolities.”

Harry tried to follow Snape’s instructions, and when he felt a nudge at his knee, he opened his eyes.

Snape peered into them, then frowned, displeased. “Potter! Get those silly books out of your head,” he berated, for that was what was on Harry’s mind. The picture books, especially the one with all the little people in it.

Harry sighed. “This is hard,” he complained. He didn’t want to do this, not ever, and especially not now when there was such an interesting book to look at. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, and wondering what was in it.

Snape got off his chair and sat so that they were almost face to face. He looked at Harry very seriously, “Harry, it is very important that you learn this. Do you value a book more than your friends’ lives?”

“No,” Harry said, suddenly chastised. “Of course not.” But he still wanted to look at that book.

“Yet that is what you are doing. Now try it again, and concentrate this time.”

Harry sighed and closed his eyes. He concentrated on breathing, like Snape told him, and tried to firmly put the book drawings out of his head. Breathing, breathing… he was breathing.

A nudge came and he opened his eyes.

“Better,” Snape said, and Harry almost felt pleased. “Now get up.”

Harry suddenly had a great desire to groan, but he was sure Snape wouldn't appreciate it, perhaps even make things harder on Harry. He wanted to object, or argue, or run away, but he knew that he had to do this part, as much as he detested it.

Snape stood and after a moment, pulled out his wand. “We are going to try and link your resistance of Imperio, to your resistance of mind magic.”

He hated this.

Snape was in his element, instructing like it was a matter of life and death, “Remember to resist what you think you should do, what you want to do, what you can’t help but do. Ready?”

No! How could anyone be ready for this? Harry clenched his fists at his side and wished he were in a cupboard.

Snape swished his wand back and forth before jabbing it towards Harry, “Cognito face a Potter.”

Cool magic slithered into Harry’s head and he scrunched his eyes closed in concentration, maybe fear.

“Hover,” a voice inside said and Harry answered, “okay” and thought about how he was going to do that. He didn’t have his broom, how could he hover?

“Hover,” it came again, insistent. Harry closed his eyes and concentrated. He was going to hover… he tried to lift himself up, but his feet stayed firmly on the floor.

“Hover, hover,” came the spell.

I can’t, thought Harry, but I have to. I got to.

“Resist,” hissed Snape.

It was too hard. He couldn’t hover, and he couldn’t resist, and it was awful. The magic was in his head, pressuring him to obey. He wanted to, but he couldn’t!

“Hover… hover.”

Trying to float in midair, unsuccessfully, Harry thought he might go crazy. He had to hover, but he couldn’t!

Blessedly, as quickly as the spell came upon him, it was released. Harry shuddered to the floor, his eyelashes felt thick with unshed tears.

Snape came and knelt by him again, cupping his cheek and looking into his eyes although Harry tried to hide them.

“Hush,” Snape said before Harry could speak. “We’re done for today,” and Harry wanted to collapse in relief.

“I hate this,” he whined pitifully instead, feeling his eyes prickle, and a tear almost fall. It was awful and he never wanted to do it again.

“You did well,” Snape replied carefully. “Why don’t you have a glass of milk in the kitchen?”

The suggestion was welcome after the lesson, but Harry had to wonder at it and the praise. Snape was letting him off early, and suggesting that Harry have some milk. Did he really do well, or did Snape still think that he was sick?

Harry knew he wouldn’t get an answer if he asked Snape, worse yet, Snape might decide that they were not done with the lesson after all. Harry decided not to ask, instead getting up quickly to escape the room.

After some milk, he was able to find the book he wanted and read it until bed time. Hoppity had sorted the books during Harry's lesson, and Harry was able to find this book after a short search. He only knocked down one pile of books during it, which was quickly set to rights.

All too soon he was sent to bed, taking his book with him to read in bed with permission. He feel asleep soon after, and didn't notice when someone came to tuck him in.

That night Harry dreamt he was sitting at the kitchen table back at the Dursley’s. He was in Dudley's seat, and he had a bib on. Chocolate brownies were pilled on the table in front of him as high as the ceiling, and he had a huge glass of milk by his elbow, bigger than his arm. As if they were under a spell, the brownies came to Harry’s mouth, one by one, allowing him to greedily gobble them down. They were delicious!

Harry ate his full, but the brownies just wouldn’t stop, forcing him to eat more and more. Harry’s tummy was getting round, growing unnaturally as he swallowed brownie after brownie. His shirt stretched out, and buttons popped off, he was getting as fat as Dudley! Rounder and rounder… soon he would be larger around the middle than he was tall! He wouldn’t be able to fit through doors, or on his bed. He’d break the chair from his weight! He'd look like a baby whale if he didn't already. And he was so full. He didn't think that he could eat another bite.

A giant brownie hovered in front of his mouth. Harry was already full of brownies, full to bursting, even his mouth. This one would choke him!

He tried to tell it to stop, to go away, that there was no more room, but he could only mumble and the brownie tried to cram itself into his mouth anyway. Flailing his arms about, Harry knocked the large glass of milk off the table, and it shattered on the floor.

He woke up with a little scream, no more than a yelp. Breathing hard, he realized he was in bed at his new home, not in the Dursleys’ kitchen. He looked at himself, and felt his stomach, relieved to discover that he was not as round as a beach ball. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

Luckily, no one had heard him scream earlier, no one came rushing into the room to demand what was wrong. Left in peace, it still took him awhile before he settled down enough to be able to go back to sleep. Silly that he would get worked up over brownies, right?

The next day he was tired at school and glad when it was nap time, or as the teachers aides called it, quiet time. He feel asleep quickly, welcome of the routine he had detested before.

After that, Harry and the other children started on a new project, creating story books. Harry thought and thought about what to write about. Next to him, Benny was writing about dinosaurs and what it would be like to have one as a pet. The girls were writing about unicorns and children, all drawn in rainbow colors with rainbow coloured hair.

Harry finally decided to write about himself. There was lots of interesting things he could write about, like giants, and dragons. His life was fantastic enough to be a story, and no Muggle would ever believe it was real. He relished in the opportunity to express himself without worrying what anyone thought.

He didn’t even need much help writing. When the teacher came by to check his spelling, she told him that he was doing a great job! Of course, Harry knew how to spell but he cherished the gold sticker she gave him anyway, and displayed it proudly to Hoppity when she picked him up after school.

“Wow, great job, Harry-bean!” Hoppity praised, reaching down to pat his messy hair.

He beamed. “I’m going to put it on my dragon when we get home.”

“I’m sure he would appreciate that,” Hoppity said, clasping Harry’s hand and leading him out of the building and towards their car. “But don’t forget that you have football practice today.”

Harry remembered. He had looked forward to it all day, and all yesterday too! It seemed like forever since he was able to kick the black and white football around with his teammates. Being sick had kept him away from their last practice on Tuesday. He had football practice every Tuesday and every Friday and today was Friday! He was on Michael’s team, Michael his ninja turtle loving neighbor, and they always had fun together.

Once Harry and Hoppity came home, they met up with their neighbors and went to soccer practice together.

Practice was a blast for Harry, the best one yet, and even better when Michael's mum dropped them back off at their house, she let Michael stay over and play at Harry's house!

“It’ll come get you for dinner,” Michael’s mom called from the doorway as the two boys scampered up the stairs to Harry’s room. “You won’t stay too long!”

“Okay!” Michael yelled down the stairs. They quickly made it to Harry's room, and shut the door on the sound of the women talking downstairs. “Wow, cool knights!” Micheal exclaimed, bee-lining for Harry's small collection of knights and wizard dolls on the top of his small dresser. “Where are your Ninja Turtles?” he asked, collecting the few figurines and placing them on the floor.

“I, erm, don't have any,” Harry said.

Micheal started poking around Harry's room, looking at the night table, and into Harry's toy box, pulling things out. “Come on, you gotta have one!”

“I don't have any, I'm sorry,” Harry said, “We could play with my wizard action figure instead.”

“No, wizards are lame,” Micheal said, tossing toys to the floor. “What can you do with a wizard?”

Harry could think of several things to do with a wizard. There were savage dragons to capture and ride on, dangerous trees to shoot spells at, and toy trains to charm and make fly. But Micheal didn't seem interested, so Harry tried to push his wizard figure away from the pile to where it wouldn't be noticed.

“How are we supposed to have fun without Ninja Turtles?” Micheal complained, crawling out from under the bed.

“I don't know.” The play date didn't seem to be going so well, and Harry desperately tried to come up with something to save it, and keep Michael as his friend. He was suddenly struck with inspiration, “How about we be the Ninja Turtles?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!” Harry said warming up to the idea. “We could pretend we're in the sewer, training, or something.”

“Okay!” Micheal jumped up, enamored with the idea. “But we need nunchucks and shields and a boomerang....”

“I don't have any of that,” Harry said, looking worried. “And anyways, I think I might get in trouble if we threw a boomerang around. Couldn't we train without weapons?”

Micheal sat down, disappointed. “I guess, but it's not so fun.”

“No, it could be! They have to train other ways, how else would they be able to run through the sewers so fast- or, or hide from the bad guys?”

“I know! We'll train hide-and-seek!”

“Yeah!” Harry agreed. “I'll hide first.”

“No, I want to hide first. I'm the guest, so I get to,” Micheal said.

Harry thought he was acting rather bossy, but Micheal let Harry go first sometimes when he was at his house, so it was only fair. He should be happy that he had a friend to play with in the first place, and letting him go first wasn't that big of a deal.

“Fine.”

“Okay, count to twenty- no, thirty and try to find mee!” Micheal started out of the room, “And no peeking! Or cheating!”

“I'm counting now!” Harry warned, turning to face the wall of his room. “One.. two...”

He reached thirty, shouting the number out, and waited a little bit more before setting off to find his friend. He searched his extra play room, which was empty, and the extra space around the stairs. No Micheal. He went back down the hallway, trying to be quiet, searching for his Muggle friend.

Harry found him in the hallway linen closet. He opened the door, and reached in to pull his friend out gleefully, “Found you!”

Pulled, Micheal tumbled out from the linen closet, laughing, “You got me!”

Harry beamed with pleasure. “Yup! It's my turn now!”

After leaving Micheal in his room to count, Harry hurried off, trying to come up with a great place to hide. It was his house, so he would be better at this than his friend.

His heart was racing, this was so much fun! Harry thundered down several stairs before stopping and sneaking back up. If Micheal was listening, Harry's thundering would throw him off, he'd think Harry was downstairs! But where to hide now?

After frantically looking around for a good hiding spot, he finally settled for the cabinet under his bathroom sink. It was sneaky, and Harry was sure it would take Micheal awhile to find him. When he did, Micheal was sure to think him clever! Harry shut himself in, closing the doors of the cabinet so no one would suspect a little boy under it. It was almost roomy, not having very many things in it, but the pipes of the sink went down, and Harry almost banged his head against it.

“Ready or not, here I come!” Micheal called out from the next room over. Harry tried to stifle his giggles from under the sink.

Sounds of running footsteps... “I'm going to find you!” and then the sound of someone going downstairs.

Harry was sure that Micheal would quickly search downstairs before coming directly up. Harry wasn't down there, after all.

Harry waited for what seemed like a very long time for his friend to come back upstairs and find him. The excitement of the game was quickly turning into anxiousness,

A sink turned on somewhere in the house, Harry was able to hear it faintly through the pipe next to his ear. He pressed his ear to it to listen closely, hearing more clearly a sound of water rushing somewhere downstairs. Maybe it was Hoppity starting dinner? No, usually Snape was the one who did that. He claimed that the food Harry's fake 'mum' made was inedible...

Harry was fast loosing patience. Where was Micheal?

Shut away in his bathroom upstairs, he did not hear Micheal's mum come back over and retrieve his friend to go home for dinner. Despite Micheal's pleading to have time to find Harry to say goodbye, his mom made him leave right away.

“Harry, I'm leaving now!” Micheal called out desperately as his mom pulled him out of the house. “BYE!”

Harry, listening to the sound of the pipes next to him, didn't hear his friend call out, or leave. The front door shut, and Harry was left, waiting for a friend to find him who would never come.

He waited under the sink for what seemed like forever. Where was Micheal? Was Harry's hiding spot too hard, did he give up?

Did he decide that Harry was no longer any fun, and leave?

It was just like all those times in primary school, when children tried to be his friend, or pretended. Harry was always left alone, waiting for someone to play with who would never come.

Would anyone come and find him? Would anyone remember that he existed?

“Harry, where are you?” a woman's voice called out, muffled through the cabinet doors.

Harry didn't want to come out of his hiding spot, he just wanted to melt away, like the darkness. He was forgotten. He had been remembered, but for some reason he didn't want to be found.

“Do you think he left the house with his friend?”

So Micheal left then. A sudden sadness filled Harry, now that he knew he was truly abandoned by his friend, not even a goodbye...

“No, he's here,” a low male voice answered, full of displeasure. A sound like metal clicking was heard. “I'll find him. Don't let the roast burn.”

It was Snape.

Harry huddled closer to the back of the cabinet, and hit his head against the pipe in his haste.

Ow.

Ow ow ow. Harry reached up to rub his head, more concerned with the pain than staying in his hiding place.

Light flooded the space, blinding him and adding to his discomfort, but in some way he was glad that he was finally found.

When Snape opened the bathroom cabinet, it was to see Potter huddled underneath the sink with tears in his eyes. He knelt down to better see inside. “Harry, what happened?”

The little boy shook his head 'no', unwilling to speak.

“Come out from under there.” Snape reached and pulled him out, narrowly avoiding hitting Harry's head on the top of the cabinet door. “Why are you hiding in a cabinet?” he demanded, and pulled Harry's hand away from where he held his hurt head. “Didn't you hear us calling?”

Why did Snape think he was hiding in a cabinet? He had been playing hide and seek, of course!

“Well?”

“I was hiding. I hit my head on the pipe,” Harry answered tersely. He was not in a good mood after being forgotten, hitting his head, and being found by Snape, of all people.

“Ridiculous child.” Maybe Harry hit his head too hard, but he thought there might have been a touch of affection in Snape's tone. “Why in Merlin's name would you think it a good idea to hide under a sink?”

It had been a clever idea, but of course Snape wouldn't recognize that. “It was hide-and-seek, only no one found me,” Harry felt his eyes welling up with tears again as Snape inspected his bumped head, brushing against the hurt spot with long fingers. “I waited forever.”

Snape finished his inspection, sure that the injury was not serious, or even apparent. There wasn't even a bump. He stood up. “You'll live. Stop wailing.”

“I'm not wailing,” Harry glared, tears long forgotten. He was close to stomping his foot. Why didn't Snape understand the importance of being forgotten in a cupboard?

“Surely you thought of the possibility of never being found when you hid, correct?” Snape's tone was indifferent as he reached out and picked up a gold pocket watch off of the bathroom counter. “Therefore, it should have been no surprise to you when you weren't.”

Harry folded his arms and pouted. Why did Snape have to be so mean sometimes?

“Haven't you ever been forgotten?” he demanded.

Snape almost looked uncomfortable for a moment. “No, of course not.” The truth was that he had, and not only during childish games. He felt a stirring amount of empathy for the boy, but he wasn't willing to express it, or even fully think of it. Those times were past, and he was not going to revisit them, even in memories.

“Oh good, Severus, you found him,” Hoppity said as she made her way upstairs from taking the roast out of the oven. Upon spotting Harry in the bathroom, visibly upset, she started for him, “Harry, what's wrong?”

“We were playing hide and go seek, and I was forgotten, and I bumped my head.” Harry gratefully left what seemed like Snape's unfeeling care for Hoppity's compassion.

“Oh, you poor child!” Hoppity said, holding her arms open and scooping Harry up in a hug. “How terrible!” Finally, someone who understood that it was the end of the world when your best friend left you in a cupboard.

Snape shifted uncomfortably, trying not to think of all the times he was forgotten and had no one to console him afterwards. All the parties, Hogsmead weekends, the time he had been left on an unknown street by his mother just because she didn't want to take care of him for the day... no. It was ridiculous to think on such things when they couldn't be changed.

It was as ridiculous as this child, sniffling in his temporary guardian's arms. There were worse things in the world than being forgotten in a cupboard, and Potter had already faced them.

“Well, Potter, when you are finished with your theatrics it is time for dinner. Hurry up, it'll soon be cold,” Snape folded his arms, and swiftly moved toward the stairs. “And afterwards you can clean up the mess you left in your room.” Someone had to put the boy back on track, and it looked like that someone was going to be him.

After dinner Snape brought Harry back up to his room, which was a mess from earlier. Snape went over to the forgotten Wizard doll and picked it up.

“If you don't treat your belongings better, perhaps you don't deserve them,” Snape threatened. “Why are your play things scattered all over the floor?”

“Mi-” Harry quickly changed what he was going to say, he didn't want to tattle on his friend, Micheal, “We were looking for Ninja Turtles.” Which I don't have. He started to toss his toys back into a box carelessly.

“Potter,” Snape warned, exasperated with this child.

Harry was starting to understand the difference of when Snape called him Harry, or when he called him Potter. He called him Potter when he was upset, or mean. And when he called him Harry he was possibly, almost, a little nice.

“Sorry,” Harry said sheepishly as he put his toys back into their box more carefully.

“Thank you.”

Harry stopped and glanced back at Snape, who was looking at the Wizard doll. Snape, Severus Snape just thanked him, Harry Potter.

“Where does this go?” Snape asked, holding the doll. Its glittering Wizard robes reminded Harry strongly of someone he knew but couldn't quite remember.

Harry came over and took the Wizard from Snape. “Up here,” he placed it on top of his small dresser, and then put all the Knights back up next to it.

He finished cleaning his room, while Snape watched, and helped once in awhile.

It was strange. What did Snape want? Did he want to play with some of Harry's toys? Harry remembered when they played with his dinosaurs on a make-shift chess board. It had been fun, actually. Fun was something he never associated with Snape before.

“Potter,” Snape began after thinking, “We will begin to try something different with your lessons.”

Oh? Harry waited for him to say more, but Snape seemed lost in thought, unwilling to explain as he surveyed Harry's toys. Perhaps he was making plans for them.

Was it possible that Snape wanted Harry to break his own toys next time?! Harry shuddered at the thought. He would have to hide them before Snape could get to them, or make Harry do something terrible to them. He decided to hide them under his bed, or maybe in the linen closet before his next lesson with Snape.

That also meant that Harry was not going to leave his toys alone now while Snape was still in the room. If Harry left, he may never see them again. What was Snape doing in here anyway? The room was clean, and Snape didn't seem to be coming up with any other plans for it or Harry.

“Isn't there something you should be doing?” Harry prompted, his eyes squinting at Snape.

He immediately regretted it as Snape rounded towards him, narrowing his own eyes to look meaner than Harry could ever. Luckily, he was saved from Snape's latest verbiage by Hoppity calling out to him before sticking her head into his room.

“Harry, what are you up to?”

“Cleaning,” was Harry's angelic reply. Never mind that he was only doing it because Snape was there and made him. “May I stay up late tonight?”

“Yes, you may,” Hoppity said at the same time that Snape barked, “Of course not!”

Hoppity blinked before smiling, “It's not a school night, he can sleep in tomorrow. Wow, Harry, what a clean room!” she exclaimed as she entered the room and looked appreciatively around.

He beamed at praise and went to his box of toys to make it even more neat.

“Barely acceptable,” Snape bit back, clearly annoyed that the Brat-Who-Lived received yet another reward with barely any effort. “If he sleeps in, he won't want to go to bed the next night,” Snape warned, displeasure in his tone.

“I'll be fine,” Hoppity replied blithely, and Snape turned with a warning look at Harry before stalking off.

“So, Harry, what do you want to do before bed?”

What did he want to do? Everything. The possibilities were endless for a six year old with a fun guardian.

Harry grinned and followed Hoppity down the stairs.

The next morning, Harry was rudely awoken by someone shaking his shoulder.

“Wake up,” someone said harshly.

“Nuah,” Harry mumbled, trying to burrow deeper into his blankets. He was having a wonderful dream about dragons, and he was not getting up.

“Up, Potter,” the voice was heard again, and Harry's blankets were pulled off of him, bringing a rush of cold air. Harry whined in protest and tried to burrow into his mattress, but it wasn't working. It was still cold.

A hand grabbed his ankle and dragged Harry to the edge of his bed. Tipping precariously on the edge of his mattress, Harry woke up quickly to avoid falling to the floor.

Snape was there, crossing his arms, a rather pleased expression on his face. Harry glared at him, but Snape's expression only got more pleased, if it were possible.

“You may sleep in for hours, but you may not sleep the whole day away. Shower and come to breakfast.”

Harry rubbed at his eyes. He hardly slept any of the day away, it seemed.

“And comb your hair, it's sticking every which way,” Snape bit out before leaving the room.

Harry mumbled to himself. He'd get up when he was good and ready. He grabbed at the blankets and pulled them back up to his bed, crawling in under them. His bed was so comfortable and wonderful...

The blankets were just starting to get warm again when “Potter!” was shouted from his doorway.

“Ah!” Harry yelled, sitting up in his bedding like a startled owl in a nest. A hand reached in and then a disoriented Harry was dragged from the bed, blankets falling to the floor as he was pulled out of the warmth and into the cold air.

“Ah- no!” Harry shrieked as suddenly cold water was poured over his head. It splashed over his hair, face, and down his pajama collar, making him uncomfortably wet. This was definitely NOT the way he wanted to wake up!

It was Snape with a cup of water, apparently not happy with how slow Harry was getting up this morning.

Harry got down and tried to crawled away on the floor, trying to burrow under the bed and escape. Snape let him, but Harry couldn't crawl away from the uncomfortable wetness that drenched his pajama top and head. “You're mean!” Harry accused from against the side of the bed, eyes glaring, trying to keep himself from chattering.

“Yes, I am. And to prove it I made you a full English breakfast, which you will eat as soon as you are done here.” Snape went into Harry's bathroom, and Harry could hear the sound of the water being turned on in the shower. The Potions Master came back in and warned, “Remember to get up when I say next time,” before leaving the bedroom, and shutting the door behind him.

Harry scowled before getting up and struggling with his wet clothes. How would Snape like to wake up in a cold shower? He may not be able to do it now, but when he was big again, Harry would just like to show him.

Harry did hurry though, just in case Snape decided to come back up and check him.

He'd shower, alright, but he wouldn't comb his hair.

When Harry came downstairs, Hoppity was watching a program on the telly. It was one of the those home shopping networks, and Hoppity was sitting in front of it with a pad of paper and a pen in one hand. He had seen her do it before, but didn't take much note of it.

“Morning Harry!” Hoppity chirped once she saw him.

“Morning,” Harry replied, moving closer to her as he rubbed at his eye. He was awake now, but still sleepy. His hair stuck up every which way after his shower, not that it didn't always. “Whatcha up to?”

“I'm doing some more research for my future Muggle Studies class,” Hoppity explained. “I'm ordering some materials to try out beforehand so I will know what to order in the fall.”

Harry remembered something about this, something about her being a new teacher but it didn't seem very important right now. The telly had some infomercial channel on, and the people on it were showing off a child's baking set. It looked pretty neat, and Harry wondered if Hoppity was going to order it and try it out. She wasn't a child, although she liked childish things. It was just one more reason why he liked her so much.

Maybe she would let him help her try out all the new Muggle things...

“Potter, breakfast,” Snape barked from the kitchen. “It's cold because you lolly-gaged in bed all morning, but you had better eat it without complaining.”

Harry didn't think that he had been in bed for all that long, but he didn't mind Snape's bad mood if he indeed made Harry a big breakfast. Harry turned away from the telly, and eagerly went into the kitchen to sit at the closest chair. Snape had set him a plate of bacon, sausage, fried eggs and tomatoes, with toast and jam. A small glass with orange juice sat in front of it. It wasn't a lot, as Snape had placed small portions of everything on it.

“Sit and eat it all,” Snape commanded as he sat at the other end of the table, looking down at some of his notes, and correcting them with a quill.

The sound of infomercials played in the background as Harry munched on his breakfast.

Harry ate most of the food on his plate, leaving behind some of the eggs and half of the toast. He wiggled as if to get up when Snape looked up from his notes and gave Harry a look.

“Finish it all.” Snape then scowled, “Didn't I tell you to comb your hair?”

“Sure you did,” Harry replied and tried to hide the eggs under his half-eaten toast. “It's no use though, it'll just stick up the same.”

“All the same, you should try.” Snape got up and disappeared into hall, coming back momentarily with a black comb. He walked over to the kitchen sink and wet it, coming up to attack Harry's unkempt hair.

“Hey!” Harry yelped, and tried to twist and turn away from the comb Snape wielded. “Ouch!” The comb had got stuck on a particularly tough knot and Snape yanked the comb through it. “Stop! Stop! I'll do it!” Harry yelped but Snape ignored his protestations and tried to get Harry's hair neat, and flat.

Harry scooted off the chair, under Snape's hand and hid under the table.

“Harry! Get back up here this instant!”

“No. It hurts.”

Snape huffed above him.

“Ow...” Harry complained, gently patting his head while under the table.

“Potter, get back into your seat and let me finish. I was almost done.”

“But it'll hurt.”

Snape huffed again, but paused before stating somewhat painfully, “I'll be more gentle.”

Harry thought for a moment before climbing out from under the table and back up onto his seat. If it was almost over and wouldn't hurt as much, surely he could stand it, and it might make his guardian more lenient about other things.

“Thank you.” Snape said, before picking up and the comb and running it through Harry's hair. He was indeed more gentle, but not by much. Most of the knots were out now, and Snape tried over and over again to get certain parts to lay flat. It was certainly a long combing, and Harry started to feel lulled by the sensation, despite his guardian's ever increasing frustration.

“Lay flat, you bloody menace...” Snape mumbled.

“Told you it wouldn't,” Harry quietly sighed, not minding now that Snape had stopped running the comb over the sensitive areas where the knots had been.

Snape tsked in disgust and threw the comb into the sink. “Impossible, your hair is just as recalcitrant as you are.”

“I'm not – not recala-whatever.”

“Don't contradict me, and do finish your breakfast,” Snape said as he pulled out an advertisement paper from under his notes and perused it.

“I'm not hungry any more, and my head hurts,” Harry whined.

“If you combed your hair more frequently, it would not,” Snape retorted. At Harry's morose look, Snape relented, “Fine, don't don't complain if you are suddenly hungry. No treats and sweets for you today while we are on our errand!”

Harry was relieved that he didn't have to finish his breakfast. It was cold and unappetizing now that he was no longer hungry. He was curious as Snape didn't often decide to go out. “What errand? And am I coming?”

“Yes, Potter, we are going to a store and you are not to touch anything while we there. No mischief will be tolerated from you today.”

Harry crossed his arms. It wasn't fair. He didn't try to get into mischief, things just happened, and he'd touch things if he wanted!

Hoppity broke his bad mood as she entered the kitchen. “Are we ready to go now? Her happy tone erased any peevishness Harry had.

“Yeah!” Harry smiled at her. “Where are we going?”

“To some Muggle technology store, it will be fun! Where are your shoes?”

Harry quickly jumped up and run to find them and put them on. He wondered if they had any electronic Dinosaurs at the Muggle store. Even though Snape had forbid him to touch anything at he store, he was positive that Hoppity would let him, want him to, even.

Once everyone was ready, they piled into the car they were given to use during their stay in America, and drove to a brightly crowded store.

Once there, Snape split up from the group, and Harry and Hoppity were left to look at all the different Muggle electronics. Hoppity wanted to buy some things to take back with her for her future Muggle Studies classes, so she pushed a large cart in front of her, and put whatever she wanted into it.

“Will they work at the castle?” Harry asked her as they played with a set of walkie talkies. She stood with a blue walkie talkie to her ear, listening. Her red hair was just as curly as ever, and Harry thought that red was his favorite color.

“I think so,” Hoppity replied. “Over.”

Harry giggled as Hoppity's voice came over the walkie talkie and then broke into static. He hadn't quite mastered the use of walkie talkies, but he thought that they were awesome. He pressed down on the talk button, “Will they like to play with Dinosaurs?” he asked. “Over,” he quickly added at the end. He almost forgot to say it.

“I'm sure they will, but it will be difficult to put into a lesson plan. Over.”

“Oh. Over.”

“You can have one though, Harry. If we're all getting toys, you should get one too. Over.”

Harry beamed at the news. His guardian was the best guardian ever!

After looking at radios, walkie talkies, tellies, cameras, toasters, and lots of other things, they moved to the game and toy section.

Harry admired the remote control cars and helicopters, and then he spotted it. “Look! Look! A dinosaur!” he exclaimed, almost jumping in his excitement as he pointed.

“Aw, how cute,” Hoppity reached up and pulled the box down. Inside it was a baby dinosaur in a greyish egg. Harry could tell from the picture that there was a dinosaur inside. “You can hatch it, and then it will move around on the ground. Looks like batteries are included.”

Harry thought that that was wonderful. “Can – can I have it?” he asked, almost shyly.

“Only if you really, really want it. Do you want it?”

“Yes, please!”

Hoppity gave the dinosaur box to the beaming boy. It wasn't very big, but it was big enough that Harry could wrap his arms around it. “Thank you!” he just barely remembered to say.

“Shall we go see what Severus is up to?”

Harry nodded, too pleased with his new toy to pay too much attention to anything else.

They found Snape near the checkout counter, discussing something about a delivery. He gave Harry a warning look when he saw him carrying a new toy, but he didn't say anything or try to stop Hoppity from buying it. Snape seemed in a good mood to Harry.

Once they got home, they unloaded their purchases from the Muggle electronic store. Snape poked through the bags, sneering at some things but not saying anything about them. Yes, he was definitely in a good mood. Maybe he bought something and was happy, Harry thought.

“Can I go to Micheal's?” Harry asked, almost squirming with excitement once everything was in. He wanted badly to show Micheal his new dinosaur toy.

“You must have a sandwich first,” Hoppity told him, “and I'll call and see if you can today.”

“You have an Occlumency lesson today,” Snape warned Harry.

Harry suddenly remembered his fears from yesterday, that Snape might make him break his own toys during their next lesson. He clutched his dinosaur egg closer. He wanted nothing more than to skip the lesson altogether.

Hoppity opened the fridge and pulled out some sandwich things. “Come and eat. I'm sure that there is plenty of time to play with Micheal and have a lesson too.”

Harry ate his sandwich quickly, while Hoppity called Micheal's mom.

“Well Harry, their family is going on a trip tonight but you can go over and play until they leave,” Hoppity told him after hanging up the phone.

Harry swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. “Can you open this for me please?” he asked as he held up the box with his dinosaur egg. Hoppity took it.

“Sure, remember to be back before five!” She opened the packaging with scissors and handed the newly freed egg back to Harry.

“Okay, bye!” Harry grabbed his egg and ran off to Micheal's house. He was so excited to play with it.

Micheal was waiting for Harry outside. “Look at what I got!” Harry yelled as soon as he was within shouting distance. He kept running, stopping only when he was in front of Micheal.

“What is it?”

“It's a dinosaur egg.”

“Wow, cool,” Micheal exclaimed, moving closer to see. “Is it real?”

“No, of course not. Dinosaurs are extinct. This one is robotic,” Harry tripped over the last word, feeling very smart anyway.

“Let's make a nest for it!” Micheal said, leading the way back inside.

Harry spent the afternoon with Micheal, playing with his egg and pretending, only taking a break when Micheal's mom made them eat some carrots and toast as a snack. They pet the egg, and it cooed and shook, but it didn't hatch. They pretended to be dinosaurs, then adventurers, and then Ninja Turtles. They pretended straight through nap time, since Micheal was going with his family to visit their grandparents far away and his mom wanted him and his little brother Benny to sleep through the long drive.

Harry was tickling his egg for the millionth time when he realized something. “What time is it?” he asked as he got up and searched out Micheal's mom.

“It is five ten, sweetie,” Micheal's mom told him, smiling calmly as she prepared snacks for the ride.

“Oh no, I have to get home! Bye Micheal, bye Benny! Bye Micheal's mom!” He grabbed his egg and hurried back to the house that he was staying in with his “family”. He was supposed to be back before five, and it was already later than that!

When he got to the front door, Snape was waiting inside with a frown. “You're late,” he barked, his eyes dark and glinting.

“I'm sorry,” Harry said in a small voice, clutching his egg tighter to himself.

Snape's eyes narrowed at the small boy. “Go get cleaned up and hurry back down,” he said as he opened the door wider to allow Harry through under his arm.

Harry scampered in and ran up the stairs to hide his egg in his room. He wouldn't let Snape get it!

After washing his hands and splashing water on his face, Harry went back downstairs to the back room where Snape was waiting for him. That was where they always had their lessons to help Harry try to be better prepared to learn Occlumency.

He walked rather slowly, feeling kind of funny, like he was a rubber band wrapped around a ball. As he walked past the kitchen, he really hoped that they would eat pizza, or noodles, or noodle-y soup for tea.

Harry was apprehensive about the lesson. He hadn't brought any of his toys with him, because Snape hadn't asked him to, but he was still worried for them.

“Hurry up, Potter,” Snape said as soon as he was in the room and pointed to the floor. “We're already behind.”

Harry sat down in his usual spot and the lesson began. Snape did his usual thing, telling Harry to clear his mind and not think of anything, checking to see if he managed it. Harry hated this part, and found it particularly difficult to focus today or accomplish anything to Snape's satisfaction.

“No, Potter, you're not even trying!” Snape bit out, nearly half an hour later. After failing to clear his mind, Harry was also failing to resist whatever mind commands Snape was telling him to do.

“I don't want to do this anymore!” Harry complained, eyes welling up with frustrated tears. He couldn't do it, and he didn't want to try anymore.

“Stop your weeping, and keep trying! Do you think that the Dark Lord will take it easy on you because you don't want to do something?”

Harry sniffled.

Snape looked at him silently for awhile before giving a quiet huff. “I can see that we will make no progress today,” Snape concluded in defeat. “I expect better from you in the future.”

Harry's lips turned down in a frown. He wished that he could just be good at this, and didn't have to try so hard.

“It's time for tea, anyway,” Snape got up from his usual chair and started for the kitchen.

Harry followed, sniffling a little. The smells from the kitchen were making him hungry and he still hoped for something he wanted. It didn't smell like pizza, but they could still have noodles, or noodle soup, or maybe even fish and chips! He was sorely disappointed, however. When he got to the table, all he could see were vegetables.

Harry stopped at his place, giving an unhappy look at the vegetable dish already on his plate. They weren't even the vegetables that he liked. He already had carrots today, wasn't that enough? Maybe the rest of the food wasn't done cooking yet. “Noodles?” Harry asked, looking hopefully at Hoppity.

“No, Harry. We're not having noodles tonight.”

At this, Harry felt something inside of him snap, maybe the rubber band that he had felt like earlier. He felt fussy and hurt, and extremely disappointed, as if the whole world had turned its back on him and was playing a cruel trick. “I wanted noodles,” he complained, feeling whiny and thinking that somehow they could just appear.

“Well we're not serving noodles tonight. We can have them next time if you'd like, but not today.”

A truly Dudley-esque complaint bubbled out, tears spilling out of his eyes and unto his cheeks, “I want them today.”

“Well, you can't have them today,” Hoppity replied, uncharacteristically denying him. “Why don't you sit and eat what we're serving.”

Harry pouted. “I don't like it.” His voice was whiny even to his own ears.

“Maybe you will if you try them,” Hoppity offered kindly.

“I don't want to try them! They're icky!”

Snape was less patient. “Potter, sit down and eat your supper.” He pulled Harry's chair out, waiting for Harry to sit.

“No.”

“Potter...” Snape growled in warning.

Crossing his arms, Harry decided he wasn't going to budge. He was not going to sit at that table and eat those foul vegetables.

“No.”

“You don't have a choice.” Snape started to pick Harry up and force him into his seat.

“No! No! No vegetables!” Harry cried, twisting and squirming and trying to get out of Snape's grasp. “I don't want them!”

“Sit!” Snape exclaimed, managing to get the squirmy boy into his chair and push it to the table. “If you don't stay, I will turn it into a high chair!” he warned.

Harry stilled at the dire threat, angry at the situation and hating what was in front of him. He couldn't do anything to get away unless he wanted to end up in a high chair. The possibility was so terrible that Harry found himself glued to his seat, having to face the terrible lump of icky vegetables on his plate. There was no way that he was going to eat that!

He felt so terrible. He hated it, hated everything around him at the moment.

Snape sat at his own seat, and started to eat. Harry couldn't even look at the people who were torturing him so. They were mean to make him eat this, when he really wanted pizza, and noodles. Shouldn't he get to decide what to eat?

He heard a sound from Hoppity, a noise of appreciation as she ate. “Mmmm, this is good.”

“Yes, quite,” Snape said sounding pleasantly surprised. “Well done.”

Harry could hear the sound of cutlery on plates and chewing noises.

“Too bad Harry is missing out.”

Harry glared at his plate. The very existence of the vegetables on it offended him, and he could feel his dislike growing like an inflating balloon. They were wrong, he wasn't missing out at all. Except for not having noodles.

“He will mostly likely enjoy it if he tried it,” Snape said between bites.

No. It was not going to happen. Harry would never like it, even if it was the last food on the planet.

Finally, Harry couldn't take the comments or the vegetables' presence anymore. He pushed his plate off of the table, watching satisfyingly as it hit the floor and spilled food everywhere. Only afterward did he realize what he just did.

He looked up at his guardians, apprehensive but challenging. He was worried at what they were going to do.

Hoppity looked shocked, but Snape looked livid as he stood up and threw his serviette down. “You're going into the corner until you can be civilized!” Snape said, grabbing Harry by the upper arm and pulling him off of his chair. He started for the kitchen corner by the door.

“No!” Harry cried, upset at everything, and trying to sit down as Snape carried him, trying to be difficult. He didn't want to stand in the corner and he hated that Snape could just pick him up like he was doing. Unfortunately, being in a six year old body there wasn't much he could do about it, and all too soon Snape had him where he least wanted to be.

“Stay!” Snape barked as he pressed Harry's torso to face the corner.

“Nooo,” Harry sobbed, fresh tears falling from his eyes.

“Yes! Stay there or you will not like the consequences.”

Harry choked out another sob.

“Oh my,” he heard Hoppity say, “That is most out of character. Do you think maybe something's wrong? Is he sick?”

“Noo,” Harry keened from the corner. He didn't like them talking about him as if he wasn't there.

“Hush,” Snape replied harshly. Harry wiped his runny face on his sleeve but more tears and snot kept coming. “I have never met a more ill behaved child.”

“Severus, he's only six, you probably have not met many children this age. He's been remarkably well behaved so far, today was just unusual," Hoppity said, getting up from the table. "I think he may be sick. I better go get the thermometer.”

Harry waited and waited while Hoppity left. He heard Snape pick up a plate and place it into the sink. He felt a little guilty now, but still frustrated and horrible.

When Hoppity came back, she approached the corner Harry was in and bent down to give him a hug. He leaned into it, feeling somewhat comforted despite the fact that he didn't like her very much for serving vegetables.

“It's okay, Harry. We'll find out what's wrong,” she said as she gently stroked his hair. “Can you open up for me?” Hoppity's eyes were kind as she placed the thermometer in front of Harry's mouth. He obediently took it, sniffling through his nose. “Good boy.”

They stayed that way for a minute until the thermometer beeped. Hoppity took it out and glanced at it. “Normal. Maybe he's just cranky and hungry.”

“'m not,” Harry said, feeling as tired and cranky as he ever had been.

“Maybe some food will make you feel better. Would you like some toast?”

Harry hiccuped. “Noo- noodles?”

“Harry, do you think that you deserve noodles after throwing your supper on the floor?”

Harry started a fresh set of tears as he was reminded of his bad behaviour and told that he wouldn't get noodles, yet again.

“I can't believe that all of this is just over some noodles,” Snape said.

“There must be something else going on,” Hoppity mused. “Harry do you feel well?”

“Hun-hungry,” Harry replied. He wanted to eat something but the vegetables had not been appealing at all.

“How about some juice first, okay?”

Harry nodded and Hoppity lead him to the fridge. Harry could see that the vegetables were still on the floor, but his plate had been picked up.

Hoppity got him a glass of orange juice and he gulped it down. He felt a little better as she made him some toast and buttered it.

After he ate the piece of toast, Hoppity looked at him compassionately. “Now Harry, do you know what's wrong?”

He wiped at his eyes, his voice coming out small, “No... Don't feel happy.”

“You shouldn't.” Snape came near and bent over to feel Harry's forehead, and the sides of his neck. He frowned at finding nothing seemingly wrong with Harry besides his attitude. “It is unacceptable behaviour to throw one's supper on the floor,” he lectured as Hoppity looked on. “If you do not like what is served for tea, then you do not have to eat it, but you do not throw food on the floor. That was rude and uncalled for and completely unacceptable.”

Harry nodded. He felt ashamed at his actions.

“If you do not want your supper, then you may not request something else,” Snape told him, ignoring the fact that Hoppity had just served him toast.

“You can have noodles tomorrow,” Hoppity told Harry, ignoring the dark look Snape gave her at giving in to the boy's request, “But not tonight.”

“Now, clean up the mess you made,” Snape said as he pressed a damp cloth into Harry's hands. “Afterward you can have what is served for supper, or not, but you will go straight to bed.”

Harry cried at the news. He didn't want to go to bed! It was so early it was still light outside and he felt terrible. Going to bed would mean hours of painful boredom. He would get hungry again before he fell asleep too.

“Start cleaning,” Snape commanded, bringing over the the waste bin so that Harry could scoop up the vegetables and place them in the bin. Sniffling, Harry got to work. He got most of the vegetables up, but made a bit of a mess in the process. Snape sighed and started to help him clean up the remnants streaking the floor.

As they finished, Hoppity asked, “Would you like to eat what's for supper now?” Harry wrinkled his nose. Hot vegetables were bad, but cold vegetables were even worse! But he didn't want to go to bed just yet. But they might get mad at him if he said he wanted vegetables but just sat there and didn't eat them.

“No thank you,” Harry said, more like the polite boy they were used to.

“Straight to bed with you,” Snape said as he started to guide Harry out of the kitchen and to his room.

“But I'll be good,” Harry tried to get out of his punishment. “I don't want to go to my room.”

“You are going to bed, not just your room. There will be no playing. You will dress in your pajamas, brush your teeth, and lie down on your bed. If I find you up and playing then we will have a repeat of corner time, and you will go to bed early tomorrow, too.”

Harry pouted and sniffled as Snape pulled him along, but got ready for bed with little protestations. He changed and brushed his teeth in the bathroom as Snape went through his bed and prepared it, turning down the sheets and removing anything that could be considered a toy.

“I want my friends,” Harry entreated upon spotting his plush dragon and bunny moved away from his bed and onto the top of his dresser.

“Get in bed.”

“Please?” Harry begged with pleading green eyes as he got into his bed. “I'll be lonely without them.”

“Potter, they aren't real,” Snape said.

“But they're real to me.”

“Very well, you may have one but if I find you playing with it, it gets taken away and no amount of pleading will get you another one.” Snape went to the dresser and picked up the rabbit, the one he had purchased for Harry while Harry was sick. He handed the bunny to the boy, and then tucked the blanket around them both. Harry snuggled down in his bed, tear tracks evident on his face.

Snape left for the adjoining bathroom and came back with a wet cloth. He wiped Harry's face, washing off the tears and snot from his earlier debacle.

“Go to sleep, Harry,” Snape said. “Tomorrow I expect you to be cheerful, well rested and willing to eat whatever is placed before you.”

Despite the early hour, Harry found himself doing just that, exhausted at the long day he had. He wasn't awake for when Snape stroked his head, much the same way Hoppity had earlier.

Harry woke up the next morning feeling much better, but really hungry. He knew that it was early, the sun wasn't even up yet. Was he allowed to get out of bed?

He remembered that Snape had put him to bed early the night before, straight after dinner, or in Harry's case, the lack thereof. He was worried that maybe that wasn't his only punishment. Harry felt his cheeks warm as he remembered that he had thrown his dinner plate to the floor, because he didn't like what was served for tea. He had behaved horribly, and he was rather amazed that he was still in one piece, and not sitting in jars in the basement as potions ingredients for Snape.

Pulling the blankets up over his head in embarrassment, Harry tried to stay in bed for as long as he could, but finally his bladder signaled too urgently, and he had to get out of bed.

Harry sat up and moved the covers down. He crawled out of bed, but moved his bunny to the middle of the bed so that it could stay warm in his absence. Tiptoeing to his lav, Harry kept his ears open for any sounds. He half expected Snape to swoop down on him, despite the early hour. He didn't want to see him so soon, not while he was still reeling from the realization and embarrassment of his previous behaviour.

After using the toilet, Harry looked at his reflection over the sink as he washed his hands. His hair was messy, and pointing every which way, almost a signal that its owner was a mischievous being.

Suddenly, Harry's stomach growled. It wasn't a small growl, it was a painful growl. There was only one place to go - the kitchen. He was hungry, starving even, and he had had years of practice of filching food from before. Giving one last look at his short reflection in the mirror, Harry set off.

Harry opened his bedroom door and set off down the hall and down the front flight of stairs. He didn't want to press his luck and go anywhere near Snape's bedroom. The house was very quiet, only the air conditioning making a slight humming sound. It was also dark as none of the lights were on, and Harry didn't want to rick getting caught by turning them on. He could hear birds faintly, so he knew that it was early, but not that early.

Once in the kitchen, Harry made his way to the fridge and opened it. The light from the single light bulb at the top of the fridge was bright, and Harry blinked against it. The white kitchen tile was cold under his feet. Harry shivered a little when the coldness from the refrigerator hit his skin. Shivering, he rummaged around, looking for something yummy to eat. There was cheese in the door, and he pulled it out.

“Ah, it seems that we have a miscreant out of bed,” came a soft, warning voice from out of the darkness.

Harry gasped and turned to see around the fridge door. Of course, he knew who it was, but how did he get there so silently?

“And just what are you up to?” Snape looked like he had just woken up. He was dressed, but his eyes were small and squinting. He was also very quiet, and a quiet Snape was never a good thing.

“Nothing,” was Harry's quiet answer. “I'm hungry.”

“Did I give you permission to get out of bed?” Snape asked as he came near and took the cheese out of Harry's hands.

“No... but you didn't say I couldn't.” Harry gave a challenging squint up at Snape. Snape was cast in shadows and seemed very tall. Harry was worried that he'd be sent to bed hungry again. It was terrible and he dearly wished he wouldn't be.

Snape moved to the wall and flipped on the light. They both blinked in the sudden light, the kitchen suddenly thrust into painful morning clarity.

“Ow.” Harry closed his eyes and rubbed at them, wishing that he'd had some warning.

“If you are hungry you may have breakfast now, but it will be what I serve you.” Snape warned. “Otherwise, you may go back to bed and have what I serve you in two hours.”

That didn't seem like much of a choice to Harry, but he was very relieved that he was getting food, and not just sent back to his room post haste. “I'll have whatever you serve now, Sir,” Harry replied, polite in his gratitude that Snape wasn't sending him back to bed hungry, even though he was up early and apparently up without permission.

“It's amazing what a good night's sleep does for your attitude.” Snape pulled the small boy away from the fridge and shut the door. “I believe that bubble and squeak is in order,” he said, mentioning the English breakfast dish that was made out of yesterday's vegetables and potatoes. “I expect no complaints from you, or you may go back to bed.”

Harry made a face at the idea of vegetables for breakfast, but his hungry stomach grumbled, and the thought of going back to bed without food was unbearable.

“Well?” Snape prodded.

“I'll eat what you serve,” Harry agreed unhappily. He started for the kitchen chair he usually sat at when Snape's hand reached out and caught his shoulder.

“Go upstairs and put on a jumper,” Snape commanded. “You're shivering, and the last thing I need is a sick Potter.”

Harry shivered, suddenly realizing just how cold he was. A jumper sounded like a grand idea. “Okay.” Harry left the kitchen and came back, slightly warmer in his gray jumper.

Snape was at the stove, frying something up. It smelled yummy to Harry's tummy, which was cramping painfully now that he had gone without food for some time. It hurt, but Harry knew that if he didn't get food, the pain would get worse before eventually going away.

Snape got out a cup and some orange juice while the vegetables cooked, putting a half full cup in front of Harry. Then he went and put the breakfast dish on two plates, carrying them to the table. He set one in front of Harry.

“Thank you,” Harry said.

“Be careful, it's hot,” Snape warned as he got out some silverware. He placed a fork next to Harry's plate. “I expect you to eat it all.”

Harry quickly picked up his fork and dug into his meal. It took a couple of tries to get the vegetable and potato mash to stay on his fork as he brought it up to his mouth. Remembering Snape's warning, he blew on it before eating it. Harry hummed in happiness as he tasted the dish. Snape had put cheese in it, and the vegetables weren't so bad. He didn't know why he hadn't liked them last night. Oh, that's right, he didn't even try them.

Across the table, Snape was watching him with his dark eyes. He looked a little smug at Harry's reaction to the food. Harry sheepishly put his fork down.

“I do not expect to have a repeat performance of last night,” Snape stated, “Otherwise, I will leave your dinner on the table, and you will eat it cold the next morning for breakfast.”

Harry shuddered a little. He could handle hot vegetables with cheese and potatoes, but cold, plain vegetables for breakfast was too terrible to even imagine.

“Understood?”

“Yes,” Harry answered sullenly. There was no way that he'd do it again and let that happen. Yuk!

They continued eating their breakfast in silence.

Snape took his last bite and placed a serviette on his plate. He addressed Harry, “When you are finished, go upstairs to take a shower and get dressed. I expect you downstairs and ready for a lesson in twenty minutes since last night's attempt was atrocious.”

Harry frowned at the news, an Occlumency lesson, this early? It seemed beastly unfair.

Sensing Harry's mood, Snape stood up. “Don't think that you can get away with a poor performance. I will have improvement, or else. Now, Potter.”

Harry finished his last bite slowly, then got up and took his plate to the kitchen sink. He put it on the edge, and gently slid it downwards into the sink, since he was really too short to place it in the sink. It landed with a little thump, and Harry left the room under Snape's disproving look.

After a short shower and a change of clothes, Harry made his bed. It wasn't perfect, but it was well done to Harry. He hid his plush bunny and dragon under his pillow, as if they were in a cave, or a burrow. Unable to dilly dally any longer, Harry made his way downstairs.

Snape was waiting for him in the empty back room, sitting in the only chair in the room and looking more awake than earlier.

The sun still wasn't up, but the sky was lightening and the birds were louder than before.

“Come here, Harry,” Snape called, and Harry walked obediently over. The professor looked him over, “Did you comb your hair?”

Reaching up to pat his damp and messy hair, Harry could only give a guilty look.

Sighing, Snape pulled Harry closer between his knees, and with a flick of his wrist a comb appeared in his hand.

“It's still going to stand up,” Harry cautioned, closing his eyes as Snape ran the comb through his hair. It felt good since Snape was gently combing the wet hair, not pulling.

“Yes, but it is the attempt that matters, you should always comb your hair. Perhaps with enough effort, it will lie flat one day, just like with enough effort, you may one day learn Occlumency.”

Harry started at the slight praise. Did Snape think that he really could do it?

“But not if you don't practice,” Snape said, putting away the comb. “Now sit down, and clear your mind.”

Feeling more positive than he had in a long time, Harry sat down and began the difficult task of clearing his childish mind.

---

Hoppity found them, an hour later when she came downstairs for breakfast at a normal time. She smiled at the sound of low voices coming out of the back room. She peeked through the doorway, seeing Harry strangely still, a slight tremor running through his body as if he wanted to do something, but was using all his effort to stay still instead.

Snape looked shocked, but pleased. He ended a spell with his wand, and Harry's body relaxed, before immediately going into a jump.

“I did it!” Harry exclaimed, hopping all around like a crazed rabbit. “I did it! I did it!”

“You did?” Hoppity asked, hopping into the excitement, and jumping around with Harry. “Amazing! What did you do?”

“I did it!” Harry answered, not shining any light on the matter as he jumped up and down.

“He managed to resist my mind magic,” Snape informed her, almost disbelievingly but pleased. “Good job, Harry. Very good.”

Harry stopped jumping and beamed up at his teacher. “I did it!”

“Yes, you did.”

“Wow, Harry, I'm proud of you,” Hoppity said as she hugged the little boy. She didn't really understand all of what was going on, but for a little boy to resist mind magic, that was incredible! “I believe this deserves a breakfast malt!”

Snape cleared his throat. “I believe that breakfast malts would not be appropriate, given the circumstances of last night, not to mention the almost nonexistent nutritional benefits of ice cream in the morning.” Both Harry and Hoppity could read what Snape meant, Harry would only get a breakfast malt over Snape's dead body.

“Sugary cereal?” Harry tried.

“No, Potter. Did you not just eat breakfast? Was it not satisfactory?”

Yes, it had been, but not being hungry wasn't a reason to skip out on ice cream, or anything sugary. Just wanting ice cream was reason enough to eat it, and Harry had more reason than that, since he had just accomplished something difficult.

“Yes, it was good,” Harry reluctantly answered, “Even if it was vegetables.”

Hoppity looked satisfied at the news. “See? I told you you'd like them!” Then she thought of something, “Wow, Harry, how long have you been up?”

“Since before five,” Snape answered distastefully. “I have no doubt that he will get tired before noon and require a rest. Indeed, I intend to make him take one, let's not have a repeat of cranky Potter.”

“Maybe... maybe that's why he was so cranky yesterday,” Hoppity tried. “Because he was tired and didn't rest earlier.”

Harry scowled at the fact that the adults were talking about him again, as if he wasn't in the room. Hoppity's hand started patting his head lovingly, however, so he soon lost his scowl and enjoyed the feeling.

“Perhaps,” Snape looked at Harry, appraising. “In any case, an early mid meal and then a nap will be appropriate for today.”

Harry stuck out his tongue at Snape, showing his displeasure at this idea.

“Impertinent brat.”

“Well, after that there is something I'd like us to do. Let me show you,” Hoppity beckoned them to follow her into the kitchen. Once there, she pulled open a drawer and took out a bright orange flyer.

Harry tried to peer up and see it as she passed it to Snape.

“See? There is a neighborhood block party today, starting after one and going until sunset. Wouldn't that be great fun?”

“A block party?” Harry asked, trying to look at the colorful flyer as Snape tried to keep it out of his reach. “I want to go.”

Snape snorted. “Of course. Do you even know what it is?” Snape didn't know himself, except that it seemed to include food and 'fun'.

“It's... a party,” Harry answered in a small voice.

“Well, if we go we shall find out!” Hoppity clasped her hands together, looking excited at the prospect. Her curly red hair bounced at the motion. “There will lots of things to do, even a softball match, whatever that is.”

“Why ever should we go?” Snape asked disagreeably. “I believe that after Harry's ill behaviour last night, that the last thing he deserves is a party.”

Harry frowned at the news, and his lip quivered at the idea of missing anything that seemed so fun. He wished dearly that he hadn't thrown his food last night. “But- but I ate my vegetables this morning,” he complained.

Snape looked down and glared at him. “That doesn't negate your earlier theatrics. I'm not entirely sure that you have learned your lesson.”

“Oh, come now,” Hoppity said, unintentionally repeating a phrase that her Great Uncle Albus often used on Severus. “I'm sure that with an early bedtime last night, and this night, and no ice cream, Harry bean has learned his lesson.”

Wait - an early bedtime tonight too? This was the first that Harry heard of it. And no ice cream? Well, Snape had forbidden Breakfast malts, but that didn't mean he couldn't have ice cream the whole day!

Snape pursed his lips, thinking. “No sweets at all, and if Harry breaks any rules, no matter how small, I am taking him straight home. No complaining, no whining about it.”

Snape was going to let him go? Harry held his breath at the prospect. He wanted sweets, but if that was the trade off, Harry could live with it. He wasn't planning on breaking any rules, so that was no problem, right? And if he broke one right at the end, then it wouldn't matter, Snape would take him home anyway.

“One sweet,” Hoppity bartered. “Anything less would be cruel.”

“Says you,” Snape countered. “Sweets rot teeth and brains, and Potter needs all that he has.”

“Surely one wouldn't do any harm.”

Harry peered up admiringly at his guardian. She was brave to go up against Snape, and he was endeared that it was about him, Harry. She liked him enough that she was willing to go against The Snape to allow Harry a treat. He felt his cheeks go hot at the thought.

“Perhaps he may have one if he has an extra serving of vegetables for lunch as well as for tea.”

Blegh. More vegetables. But they hadn't been so bad for breakfast, and if he ate them, maybe he could get ice cream!

“Deal!” Harry exclaimed. Both of his guardians looked startled, as if they had forgotten he was there.

Snape gave a pleased look down at the little boy. “Yes, extra servings of vegetables is exactly what he needs, and an earlier bedtime.” He lowered his face to look more seriously pleased, “If you poke one toe out of line, I will take you home immediately. Is that a deal, Harry?”

“Deal,” Harry breathed out, suddenly feeling a little unsure with himself. He felt like he was making a deal with a rogue, but surely Harry wouldn't get into that much trouble, that easily.

Hoppity and Snape spent the early morning cleaning the house the Muggle way, and Harry helped. After the necessities were taken care of Snape gave Harry a rag to dust the things he could reach and Snape took care of the things that were too high. Hoppity sang as she vacuumed.

It was probably the most productive morning Harry had ever had outside of his first childhood, but unlike when he was living with his relatives his pretend family helped him, worked with him even. Harry found himself humming along with Hoppity even though he didn't know the tune.

The windows were opened since it was early and not too hot outside yet, allowing fresh air to fill the house. Harry could hear the birds outside, and he looked out the back kitchen window as the dew on the grass sparkled in the sun.

Harry had an excited energy since learning about the Neighborhood block party that was today. There was sure to be all sorts of fun and his guardians intended to take him to it!

Hoppity had read the orange flier to Harry and he learned that it didn't start until one in the afternoon and it was to take place at a park nearby. It seemed so long away to have to wait, especially since he had been awake for so long already.

Already his morning was full of activity. Since Harry and Snape had woken up so early they were able to do a lot of things like eat breakfast and have an Occlumency lesson all before Hoppity woke up. It seemed like they had been cleaning for a long time, maybe even long enough for it to be one o'clock.

“Is it time to go yet?” Harry called out to Snape who was dusting the tops of the back room windows.

“No, Potter,” Snape's voice came to him from the next room. The sounds of windows shutting was heard next. “It is not even half past ten.”

“Oh.” Harry pouted. How long must he wait? Harry wiped his dusting cloth along the bottom of the window before complaining, “It's taking too long.”

Snape came into the kitchen and shut the window that Harry was working on. “Since this activity isn't enough diversion for you perhaps you would like to clean the toilets while you wait?”

“No!” Harry quickly moved his dust cloth along the bottom of the already cleaned window. “This is fine,” he assured Snape.

“Hrumph,” Snape replied.

Something caught Harry's eye outside the window, something gold fluttering about but it was gone in a split second. Harry blinked and looked at his guardian. Snape was wiping the top of the window now and didn't seem to notice it.

Harry peered carefully out the window at their back garden, but all he could see moving outside were birds and none of them were gold.

The sound of someone pulling out a chair was heard behind them and Harry turned to see Hoppity collapsing into a chair at the kitchen table, her curly hair springing around her head at the motion.

“Whew! What great work everyone!” Hoppity exclaimed, tired but in good spirits as always. Harry took this to mean that chore time was over. He went over to join Hoppity, placing his rag on the kitchen table.

“That was just cleaned!” Snape marched over and snatched the rag off the table.

“Sorry,” Harry mumbled guiltily. His stomach mumbled in response.

“Ah, looks like it is lunch time for a special boy,” Hoppity teased.

“Yes, an early lunch,” Snape said as he turned to the fridge, no doubt looking for vegetables. That was to be Harry's punishment after all, extra vegetables for lunch and tea for his tantrum the night before.

“I know! Let's have grilled cheese!” Hoppity sat up and gave Harry a wink. “I haven't had grilled cheese for ages, it's something Albus liked to make...”

Snape looked curious. “I suppose that could be good on vegetables...”

“No, no, I mean a toastie,” Hoppity laughed. “It's actually American, at least that's where it started. They call it a grilled cheese sandwich here, I found out last week and I've wanted one ever since. Albus used to make them for us all the time when we were younger.”

“Yes, I'd love a toastie!” Harry grabbed at a chance to have something other than vegetables.

“After your vegetables,” Snape said sternly. “Now go amuse yourself until it's time to eat.”

“Okay.” Harry went back to the kitchen window and then opened the kitchen door. Maybe he would see that gold thing again.

“Don't leave the back garden,” Hoppity called out to him. “We'll call for you soon.”

Snape's response was lost as Harry shut the back kitchen door. He felt free as the sun warmed his skin and the grass ticked his feet.

Running along the soft grass, Harry explored all the small plants and places a gold creature could hide. He did not find anything gold, but he did find an interesting hole near the edge of the property.

“Harry,” Snape called out from the kitchen door. “Come inside and eat.”

Harry left the interesting hole and ran to Snape, anxious to have lunch.

“Where are your shoes?” Snape asked, dismayed at the sight of Harry's bare feet in the grass.

“Uh... forgot them inside.”

“Let me see the bottoms.”

Harry lifted up his feet, one at a time for Snape to see. They looked clean to him.

The Potions Master said nothing but his displeasure was easy to see. He guided Harry to the table and Harry was glad that his feet were clean at least. There had not been any mud outside or else he was sure he would have got a stern reprimand and a trip to the bathroom.

Hoppity carried a plate and set it before Harry's place. It had a toastie on it, the cheese melted and oozing over the bread on the inside where it was cut diagonally in half. A large portion of mixed vegetables were heaped next to it.

"Well Harry, I hope that triangles are alright,” Hoppity apologized. “I know that they don't usually come this way, but I'm afraid that I can't create any realistic stars or moving animal shapes without my wand. A pity too, I'm rather good at rabbit and dragon shaped sandwiches."

”No, this is brilliant,” Harry said. “I've never had toasties any other way.”

“Oh. Such a shame. We'll have to remedy that later.”

A fork was placed into Harry's hand, and he started on his vegetables, trying to get them out of the way least Snape say something and threaten to take his sandwich away.

Harry ate most of his vegetables before moving on to the cheesy goodness. Surely most of them would be the same as all of them. He got through most of his sandwich before deciding that he was full.

“Finish your vegetables, Harry,” came Snape's order.

“I can't, I'm full,” Harry complained, quite ready to be done with lunch.

“Would you like to eat them for tea on top of your other ones?”

Harry grimaced at his plate. No, he would not, thank you very much. He picked up his fork and shoveled the last few mouthfuls in, trying to fit it all in at once. Snape didn't play fair.

“Now I believe that it time for you to have a short rest.”

Harry turned disbelievingly at Snape. Sure, his guardian had said that he would before, but now that Harry was faced with it actually happening he was horrified at the thought of going to bed in the middle of the day.

“Come now, Harry,” Hoppity cajoled. “I'll read you a story in bed for a little while.”

A story seemed a lot better than a nap. “Okay,” Harry said and allowed himself to be led out by the hand.

Hoppity smiled at the thought of circumventing another tantrum. Snape didn't say anything. He knew a Slytherin-like maneuver when he saw one.

---

Harry woke up some time later, not really able to remember falling asleep. What time was it? Did he miss the neighborhood party?

Harry sat up and threw the covers off. If he missed any of the party he was going to be upset.

Downstairs Hoppity was sitting on the couch in front of the tellie, watching the shopping channel again.

“Hoppity?” Harry called, getting her attention.

“Oh, hello Harry!” Hoppity turned to his with a smile. “Awake, are we? How are you feeling?”

Harry crossed his arms and pouted in front of her. “How come you let me sleep?”

Hoppity grinned at Harry's expression. “Aw,” she said as she reached out to pull Harry in for a hug and he allowed it, but just barely. “Don't worry, you didn't sleep for very long and I'm sure that you needed it. You were awake awfully early this morning. You don't want to be too tired for the block party, do you?”

It made sense to Harry, even though he didn't have to like it. “No...” he admitted.

“Why don't you go and brush your hair while I go and get Severus? Then we can go.” Hoppity reached out and ruffled Harry's already messy hair. Eventually they would learn. Harry's hair just did not lie flat.

It didn't take long for them to get into their car and drive over to the park. It was easy to find, and bright balloons decorated the entrance with a big banner that declared that they were in the right place.

After they parked Hoppity wanted to set some rules before she would unlock the doors and let them outside. “Now Harry, you can go and play but you must stay within yelling distance of me, okay? And stay in sight. If there is anyone around who you have a bad feeling about, come run to one of us immediately.”

“Yes, of course I will,” Harry soothed. His pretend Mum was sounding an awful lot like a real one.

“Drink this, Harry.” Snape said as he reached back and handed Harry a flask in the backseat. It was unstoppered and a slight mist rose from the opening.

Harry wrinkled his nose at what was obviously a potion. He should have known that his guardians wouldn't let him just run around and be a normal child.

“What's that for?” Hoppity asked.

“Just a little insurance that Harry will follow the rules, including the ones you just now gave him. It will alert me if he disobeys. Now drink it up, Harry.”

Harry took the flask and made a face. It was sure to taste bad.

“Now, Harry,” Snape warned.

Knowing that he would never be allowed out of the car until he drank the potion, Harry tossed it back, swallowing quickly. He was surprised to discover that the potion tasted like burnt toast, not too bad. He liked his toast a little on the crunchy side. That's what he normally got and he learned to like it.

“Severus, put that away.”

Harry looked up to see Snape waving his wand at him, disregarding Hoppity. Harry blinked at his skin glowed momentarily red, and then faded to normal. It didn't feel like anything, just glowed. Then Snape took out his pocket watch and said another spell, it glowed red too before it faded.

“What if the Muggles see?” Hoppity demanded, rather put out in the front seat. “And I'm sure that we agreed not to use magic!”

“Hush, no one could see,” Snape waved at the parked minivans to either side of them, and the empty SUV in front of them. The tinted glass of the vehicles made a barrier between them and the rest of the park. “As for using magic, is not Harry's safety paramount?”

“Yes, but we will discuss this later,” Hoppity promised. “Come Harry, I thought I saw a large playground as we drove in.”

Harry was happy to leave the discussion behind as he led his favorite guardian to the large playground at the park. Snape was Snape, but Hoppity was fun. He knew that nothing would happen to him while he was here. He was worlds away from any danger.

Snape followed them, trailing silently as they made their way to the large, brightly painted metal play equipment. There were children playing all round, running around as parents followed or watched from the benches surrounding the area. In the distance Harry could see lots of picnic tables, and large inflatable things.

“Hey!” They all turned at the unfamiliar voice calling out in their general direction. “Are you the family from England?” It was a man Harry recognized from the neighborhood, always out mowing his lawn. He was wearing a baseball hat and carrying some equipment.

“I am...” Snape said carefully.

“We've been wondering if you'd show up today. I'm glad you did.”

Snape looked bewildered. “Did you indeed?”

“Yes, welcome to the neighborhood!” The man shook Snape's hand heartily. “Hey, we're getting together a baseball game, and we're down a player. You're welcome to join. I brought an extra glove. We were thinking of playing that cricket game afterward, maybe you could teach us?”

Harry laughed at the mental image of Snape playing baseball, complete with a pinstriped uniform.

Snape gave Harry a look for the laugh before turning to the man, “That is very generous of you, but I planned on taking a leisurely walk around the park. Perhaps another time.”

“You sure? We could really use you.”

“Yes, thank you for the invitation but I really must decline. I'm rubbish at sports anyway.”

“Okay well if you change your mind we'll be at the field over there,” the man waved to the left at some trees in the distance.

“Thank you.” Snape gave Harry a warning look before setting off in the opposite direction of the man.

“Well,” Hoppity said. “Wasn't that funny? Expecting Severus to teach them cricket?” She giggled. “Oh Harry, go play,” she said, waving to the playground in front of them. “I'll just be on one of these benches.”

Harry didn't need to be told twice.

---

Harry had a wonderful afternoon playing with the other children at the playground, hopping around the equipment and playing games like tag. The day was pleasantly hot, and there were even fountains that sprayed mists of water up in one corner of the park where he could cool off if he felt too warm. He made sure that Hoppity could always see him wherever he was, he was afraid that if he didn't Snape would know and come ruin his fun and take him home early.

All day loud music came from the other end of the park. There was a large group of people there and Harry could see them through the trees.

There were special people around too, a girl who made and sold balloon animals, and a man with giant bubbles. Hoppity joined Harry to watch the last. It was amazing what he could do.

Around tea time Hoppity took Harry to where all the food carts were. Many families around them brought food and had picnics but for those who didn't there were large carts, almost like stores at the edge of the playground near the car park.

“I wonder what an elephant ear is,” Hoppity mused as she read the list of food available to buy.

It sounded kind of gross to Harry, but maybe it wasn't.

“Okay Harry, I know you're supposed to have extra vegetables for tea, but there don't seem to be any here so we'll just have to do them later,” Hoppity told him conspiratorially.

Harry hoped that he wouldn't have to do them ever, except the last ones had been good... They hadn't seen Snape since he stalked off earlier and if Hoppity was willing to let it slide then Harry would go for it. Maybe Snape would forget to ask and Harry wouldn't have to have vegetables when he came home, or tomorrow either!

Hoppity ordered food from the vendor, and then she and Harry went to sit by a family they had made friends with earlier.

All in all, Harry thought that Block Parties were great fun, maybe the most fun he'd had all summer.

After they finished eating Harry sat by Hoppity, just enjoying the evening. There were some bees that came to investigate the leftover food on their picnic table, but Harry stayed very still and they buzzed off.

“Mom!” a little girl nearby called out as she walked past with her mother, “I want to go in the bouncy tent!”

Harry's curiosity was perked. He turned to Hoppity, “What is a bouncy tent?”

“I don't know Harry, but would you like to go see?”

“Yes, please!” Harry got up from his seat excitedly. If that girl wanted to go so badly, it had to be fun!

They followed the girl and her mother past the stage loud music was coming from all day, and through a thicket of trees. Past that the bouncy tent was next to a small brick building with signs signaling that toilets could be found within.

The bouncy tent was a large inflatable square room, a lot like an actual tent except that every side was open with a dark mesh covering the space to make it enclosed. The whole thing was a bright blue and children could be seen inside, yelling with glee. A man stood in the entrance, almost guarding it.

Harry couldn't wait to get in. He ran over to where the children's shoes were thrown outside and quickly added his to the pile. Now is his socks, Harry went for the opening.

“Just wait a bit,” the man in front of the entrance said kindly as he blocked Harry's way. “Only five kids in at a time. You'll have to wait your turn.”

Harry anxiously bounced in place as he waited for someone to come out. It seemed like it took forever, but then some children piled out, all at once, and the man held the mesh flap open for Harry.

He quickly climbed in and stood up on the inflated floor, it was almost like a giant air mattress. He'd seen them at stores but nothing this big and squishy.

There was a boy in there already, jumping madly about and Harry could feel the floor move under him. He quickly joined in, jumping about like a wild thing.

The tent flap and more children came in. They were older, so their jumps were more powerful and moved the floor more. Harry was glad that they came because it made the tent more bouncy, more fun.

Harry almost felt out of control as he was tossed about as he jumped. He relished the feeling.

“Hey, try to touch the ceiling!” one older boy called out to the others.

Harry was too short, but he tried and tried until he was breathless.

“Harry!” a sharp voice barked out, and Harry twitched mid bounce, startled at the unexpected sound. “Come out of there at once!” It was Snape, his dark eyes peeking through the tent flap.

Well, it was fun when it lasted. Maybe Harry could find another bouncy tent to play on later, maybe tomorrow. Maybe it was here all the time and all Harry had to do was convince Hoppity to take him to the park and he could bounce...

“Now!” Snape called out, unhappy at Harry's pace. From outside the tent Harry could hear Hoppity's voice.

“Severus, he's fine-”

“No, he's not! We had an agreement and I'd thank you to stay out of it and stop enabling him. The child needs discipline, not rewards for inane behaviour!”

With difficulty Harry made his way to the entrance, bouncing all the way. He couldn't help it, the other children made the whole floor move with their bouncing. Secretly he was glad. The difficulty made getting to the entrance take longer and Harry was not looking forward to facing his angered guardian. He did not know what was the matter. Once Harry got to the entrance the floor dipped down and he practically fell out, but Snape was there to catch him.

“What were you doing in there?” Snape asked him as he held Harry upright and lowered him to the ground outside. His grip was firm and he did not let go.

“Bouncing,” was Harry's reply. Couldn't Snape have seen that?

“Thank you for the obvious,” Snape snarled, “But did you forget our little agreement about not risking your neck?”

Agreement? “N-no?” Harry hazarded. He didn't know what Snape was talking about, but that happened almost every day. He tried to look for Hoppity but she was walking away from them. He wished she would stay and protect him from Snape's anger, but she didn't.

“It was just three weeks ago! On that round bouncy table thing in the neighbor's backyard.”

Oh. Harry felt dread pool in his stomach. Snape was talking about when he had caught Harry on Micheal's trampoline. But this was completely different!

“But this isn't a trampoline!” Harry complained, pulling on Snape's arm as Snape started to drag him to the pile of shoes strewn around the grass. “It's completely different!”

“Oh? Enlighten me.” They were at the shoes and Snape let go of Harry's arm, turning to face him.

“Well... there are walls...” Harry started, not sure how to go on. All he could come up with was that you jumped on both, they were both fun. That would hardly help his case. “The walls keep you in.”

“I believe the issue was you breaking your neck, not falling out!” Snape took a step closer to Harry and he was taken aback at the anger Snape expressed at those words. It was like he almost cared. “Furthermore, you did fall out and were to land unceremoniously on the ground had I not been there to catch you! So please try something better than 'There are walls'!”

Harry could only look at Snape, his mouth open.

“Put your shoes on. We are leaving right now, and you are grounded for the unforeseeable future.”

What?! “No,” Harry wailed out, starting to follow Snape as he walked away toward Hoppity, his young arms reaching. “No,” he cried. It was just so unfair!

Suddenly, Harry felt a tremendous sting on the bottom of his foot and he yelled and sat down.

“Harry, stop this right now,” Snape said, turning to glare at the little boy.

People were watching but Harry didn't care, tears streaming from his eyes from the pain in his foot. It was all too much for him, and he felt sounds bubble up out of him and out.

“Your crying won't change anything, we are leaving. Now.”

Still Harry cried, starting to cradle his hurt foot. It hurt awfully.

“I don't have time for your tantrums,” Snape said, starting back toward Harry.

“Severus, I don't think he is,” Hoppity said worriedly, getting up from her seat to check on her small ward.

Alerted to the fact that something was wrong, Snape did too. They made their way quickly to Harry, kneeling down on either side of him.

Hoppity reached out and gently held Harry's arms. “Harry bean, what's wrong? What happened?”

Harry could only rock and hold his foot as the whimpers and tears came. Somehow he managed to get out, “F-ff-oot,” but Snape was there already, pulling off Harry's dirty sock.

Snape's nimble fingers quickly found the red, hot spot and brushed against something that shot pain up Harry's leg.

“Ah!” Harry yelled and kicked his foot out. It hurt!

“Looks like a sting, probably bee,” Snape said gravely, reaching out to inspect Harry's foot once more. It was sure to hurt if Snape touched it again, so Harry tried to move to get away from Snape's reach.

“Shhh, Harry bean,” Hoppity tried to soothe. “You're okay.”

Snape's hands captured Harry's leg, holding it still.

“Noooo,” Harry sobbed.

“Harry, calm down. I need to see if the stinger is still in.”

“No,” Harry whimpered into Hoppity's arm, but didn't kick as Snape inspected his foot. He was scared of more pain, but Snape only looked at the spot. It hurt so bad.

“It's out. Hush now,” Snape soothed. There were Muggles still watching them or he would use his wand to do a numbing spell. As it was they were getting too much attention.

“I'll go get his shoes.” Hoppity disengaged herself from Harry's grasp and Harry reached out for her, but Snape soon reached down and took her spot, allowing her to go.

He gave Harry almost a hug, reaching under his arms and then Snape stood up, pulling Harry up with him, holding him close, careful of the hurt foot. Harry clung to him, tears and sniffles into the collar of his shirt.

Hoppity reappeared at their side. “Alright, I have them. I suppose it's time to go,” she said quietly. “Do you remember the way back to the car?”

“I believe so.” Snape shifted Harry's weight in his arms and then started walking.

Harry was glad that he didn't have to walk himself. It was strange but comforting the way Snape carried him. He breathed in the smell of Snape's shirt and tried to not think about the pain in his foot but it hurt and that was hard to do.

It seemed like an eternity by the time they got to the car. Hoppity opened the back passenger door and then Snape lowered Harry down into his seat before locking the seat belt around him.

Harry wiped his cheek, the tears made it tickle some, but it was a minor feeling compared to the throb in his foot.

“Does it feel any better?” Snape asked.

A little, but it still hurt a lot. Harry decided that it meant no. “It still hurts.”

Snape reached down and inspected the bare foot in the light of the car. “I will put a poultice on it when we get home.”

The car ride was uneventful, Harry sniffling in the back seat as they drove. Hoppity was uncharacteristically quiet.

When they arrived at the house Snape came around the back of the car and picked Harry up again. It was a little more awkward this time, but still welcome. Harry was sure if he walked on his foot that it would hurt something awful.

Snape stopped in the front parlor and dropped Harry onto the couch.

“Stay here,” he commanded. “Smirkett, watch him.”

“Yes, Severus.” Hoppity said, sitting down next to Harry, and reaching out to hold him. Snape left the room and Harry could soon hear him walking down the steps to the basement.

Harry and Hoppity talked about the day, what Harry did and what he enjoyed while Snape was gone. It was good to reflect and remember how much fun he'd had before Snape ruined it.

The Potions Master soon returned, carrying a small bowl and a wet washcloth. He put the bowl down, and sat on the other side of the couch next to Harry, moving Harry's body so that his hurt foot was up and the ankle was placed on his knee. Hoppity reached out and hugged him from the back and Harry held on to her arms.

“I'm going to wash the sting,” Snape informed him as he lightly dabbed the washcloth on Harry's hurt foot. The slight pressure hurt the sensitive injury.

“Ow,” Harry complained, his leg twitching and trying to kick out in spite of himself. Snape just caught the limb with his other arm, immobilizing it and finishing the job.

“This should make you feel better,” he said as he picked up the little bowl. He reached in with his fingers, pulling out some white cakey mush. Then Snape started to spread it on Harry's sting, the cool creaminess making the pain disappear almost immediately. Harry felt himself sighing and relaxing in relief.

“Is that better, Harry bean?” Hoppity asked, carding her fingers through his hair.

“Yes. Much,” was Harry's response.

“Of course,” Snape said, smirking as he wiped his hand on the back of the cloth. “Now I believe that it is time for a family meeting.”

Harry blinked in surprise at Snape's pronouncement, then looked away, feeling guilty. He was sure that this meeting was because of him.

“I agree,” Hoppity stated, still carding her fingers through Harry's hair from where he was leaning against her. One of Hoppity's arms was wrapped around him, one hand comforting him through his hair.

Snape picked up Harry's foot and inspected his work before lowering it off of the couch, turning Harry a little in the process.

Despite his pretend Mum's ministrations, Harry started to get anxious. He had vague recollections that a family meeting was bad, or at least disappointing. An old mantra repeated in his head, the origin unknown, Stay out of sight, pretend I'm not there.

Harry was worried that this meeting was called because he had done something, or perhaps several somethings that Snape objected to, and it wouldn't matter if Harry was innocent or not.

“I realize that you have not known the boy for very long,” Snape started, directing his first comments to Hoppity, “But you should know that he is a magnet for trouble. Not only does he goes looking for trouble, but trouble seems to go looking for him.”

Harry frowned and sat up, “I don't go looking for trouble!”

Snape gave him a look, offering Harry a chance to explain himself. Harry couldn't, of course. He couldn't remember much besides what happened these last weeks, and he was not completely innocent in all cases. Okay, maybe most cases...

He decided to fold his arms and close his eyes instead, burrowing into the sofa next to Hoppity. It didn't seem like Snape wanted Harry's input anyway, and Harry didn't want to acknowledge someone who wanted to put him in a bad light.

Snape narrowed his eyes but allowed this for now. He knew the boy was listening and this way maybe there would be fewer interruptions.

“The boy is a risk taker, there is no doubt of that. The Headmaster fosters an attitude of indulgence at the school Harry has attended the last few years. And as you are no doubt aware, Harry himself possess certain... qualities that make some people in authority reluctant to punish him as much as is warranted.” Like the Headmaster, and Minerva. Certainly not Delores Umbridge, or any of the Dark Lord's or the Ministry's lackeys. They would skewer him if given the chance.

Hoppity listened and nodded, allowing Severus to say his piece, carding her fingers through Harry's hair all the while. As far as she could tell Harry was rather sweet, well-mannered, and anxious to please. He didn't seem to disobey or do anything too dangerous, besides grabbing bacon off of hot pans and burning himself, climbing up tall iceboxes in the kitchen, throwing his dinner on the floor, and stepping on bees... Perhaps that was rambunctious for a six year old, but perhaps it was just right. Hoppity did not have a lot of experience with children. Harry did seem like an angel most of the time though.

Before this summer she did not know much else about him besides what everyone in the Wizarding world knew; that he was the Boy-Who-Lived, and he was the winner of the Triwizard Challenge at Hogwarts over a year ago, and fought a dragon and won. In the past three weeks she had learned more about the true nature of “The Boy-Who-Lived.” In comparison, Severus knew the boy for years before Hoppity even met him, but Severus also seemed very strict, making Hoppity uncertain of the truthfulness of his interpretation.

Snape continued, “The leniency applied to the boy is also in part due to his status in the Wizarding world.” And his orphaned status, but Snape did not wish to go into that. Dumbledore seemed to think that because Harry was an orphan with a target on his back he deserved to be allowed free reign over the school. There were certainly other orphans, other people with targets on their backs who did not get the same consideration.

It was merely an old man's pity, and Snape refused to pity the child. Furthermore, Snape felt it his duty to make sure the boy stayed out of trouble, and was punished for getting into it, whenever Severus could enforce it under Dumbledore's watch.

He was determined to make up for Dumbledore's foolishness, and he was determined to make sure that Harry learned that he was not a Golden-child, able to get away with anything... like his father.

He owed it to his mother too.

No! He wouldn't go into that. Snape ruthlessly pushed his meandering thoughts away and focused on the present, mainly convincing his ill-conceived partner of the need for greater rules and oversight where the Potter boy was concerned. She took more after the Headmaster than he cared for.

“This leniency, and perhaps encouragement has resulted in the boy getting away with things that other students in the past have been expelled for.”

Hoppity gave a slight gasp, barely noticeable but it was enough. He knew that she was starting to at least see his side.

“Hey!” Harry piped up, turning away from the couch cushions to face Snape. “I don't do bad things like that!”

Snape stayed silent for moment, allowing Harry to speak up and explain. He didn't. Perhaps because...

“You don't remember.” Snape knew that this particular potion made one forget their past, more and more as time passed until they are reminded of things, or they take the antidote. He was still surprised at how well it was working. It was probably for the best, the boy had wonderful memories, to be sure, but also nightmarish ones too. Severus tried his hardest to not remind the boy of certain things; he preferred a nightmare-free Potter.

Harry folded his arms. “Well, that's not fair then, if I can't defend myself because I don't remember!”

“How about attacking teachers, disobeying rules left and right, causing mischief and mayhem-”

Harry interrupted, “No! You're telling it wrong!” He was sure of it, but he couldn't remember.

“We will have a discussion about this when you have returned to your proper age,” Snape promised, “And then you will have a detention for disagreeing with me.”

“Severus!” Hoppity admonished, “You can't give him a detention for something he does over the summer. Besides, I'm sure that he was appropriately punished for all those things.”

It was almost sad, the belief she had in the Headmaster. Severus was not loath to shatter it. “I assure you, many times he was rewarded.”

Hoppity gasped again in shock, then seemed to come back to herself. “I'm sorry but I'm not sure I can believe such blatant favoritism.” But her forehead was creased in doubt. He was swaying her, at least a little.

“No matter. When we get back to the school we will have a chat with the Headmaster.” No doubt he will tell the truth from his certain point of view, make her believe what he wants her to believe. Severus would just have to do his best to convince her elsewise.

He continued, “In any case, I believe that we can agree that Harry should be protected, not only from the usual childhood woes, but from people who actively wish him harm, death even.”

The change in subject created a sense of sudden seriousness over the gathering.

Hoppity's eyes were as wide as moons, “But he's safe here.” She subconsciously pulled the small boy to her, holding him close. “That's why we came all the way over here to America, so that he would be safe.”

“We'd like to believe so. History, however, has shown that the places we believe are the safest are in actuality the most dangerous. His care requires vigilance.”

Hoppity breathed out heavily, and Harry turned to her, concerned. “Don't worry, I'm sure I'm safe with you,” he said, reaching up to awkwardly pat the side of her arm.

“Thank you, Harry,” she said, giving him a small smile.

“Indeed. I believe that we have been safe, and are safe at the moment...”

Hoppity and Harry looked at Snape, both feeling better at his pronouncement.

“As long as the boy follows certain rules.”

There it was. Harry was sure that this meeting would come back to him and the trouble he gets into.

“Hey, I follow rules! Erm... most of them,” he amended at Snape's look.

Hoppity suggested, “Perhaps we should go over them again and explain them all. I wasn't aware that Harry wasn't to hop in large children's rides, for instance.”

Snape sat up and cleared his throat. “This was my intended purpose for this meeting.”

Harry felt like groaning. He hated rules. Furthermore, he wouldn't be able to feign ignorance after this if he broke one of them.

Snape tapped Harry's knee. “Sit up and pay attention.”

Harry wiggled to a more attentive position next to Hoppity, his bare feet still hanging straight off of the couch, his legs not long enough to have them bend at the knee unless he sat more forward.

“I suppose that we should write these down.” Hoppity reached out and pulled a Muggle pad and pen to her that had been sitting nearby on the coffee table.

“Good idea.”

“Thank you.”

“Rule number one, obey the rules.”

“...Obey the rules.” Hoppity wrote down. “And what will happen if he does not?”

“We will come up with appropriate punishments as we go. The situation will dictate it. It is probably better not to overwhelm him with too much at once.” It was unlikely that the boy would remember the rules as it was, and Snape liked to have the threat of dire punishments hanging over Harry's head, even if he never intended to go through with them.

Harry swallowed. He hated talk of punishments and consequences, but he was glad that they were not talking about those now. Talking about rules was bad enough as it was.

“Rule number two, you will do as I say.”

“Ahem, as we say,” Hoppity interrupted.

“Yes, as we say,” Snape amended. “It is important to do as we say, especially in times of danger. Even if you think that you are safe, you must obey us. This is important, Harry. Do you understand?”

“I think so, but what if what you say is stupid?”

From next to him, Hoppity gave a chortle and tried to cover it up.

“I never say stupid things.” You just hear stupid thoughts, like the idea that adding crushed dung beetles before the gnome spittle is a good one.

Hoppity patted Harry's head to get his attention, “What if you were walking in a muddy puddle, and I told you to duck because someone was throwing the killing curse at you, only you didn't know that and thought I was stupid for telling you to jump into a muddy puddle?”

“Hm... I guess it wouldn't be stupid then,” Harry conceded.

“Yes, but you wouldn't know that.”

“But what if you told me to do something just to be mean?” Harry had plenty of experience with that.

“We promise not to do that to you, Harry. Right Severus?”

Harry turned to look Snape in the eye, and the man gave one curt nod.

Harry relented. “Okay, but if you break your promise you have to have a punishment.”

Hoppity beamed in amusement at Harry's idea.

“That's absurd,” Snape said.

“It's only fair,” Hoppity countered. “Anyways, you don't mean to ever misuse your authority, do you?” She gave the Potions Professor a measuring look, her eyes taking on the same piercing gleam as the Headmaster's when Albus was sizing him up. It made Severus slightly uncomfortable.

“No, of course not.” Snape tried to lead back to the topic at hand, “Which leads me to the next rules: No lying, no stealing, no trespassing, no pranks.”

“Do you know what trespassing is, Harry?” Hoppity asked as she wrote.

Harry nodded. “It means going somewhere you're not supposed to be.”

“In this case our rooms, or the basement.” Snape thought for a moment, “Unless there is an emergency and you need help. That is the next rule, you are to find and tell one of us if there is an emergency. I expect to know if you are ill, hurt, in trouble, or have a bad feeling about something.”

“That is a good rule,” Hoppity murmured into her paper. She asked Snape to repeat it, and he did.

“But what if I just stub my toe?” Harry asked. “Does that count?”

“Of course not, Potter-”

“Harry,” Hoppity corrected.

“Harry, unless your toe swells up and your toenail falls off. I would consider that an injury.”

Harry made a face. “Ew.”

Hoppity seemed concerned. “I would hope that you would not wait until that happens.”

“No, perhaps not that long. Just consider that I have healing potions and poultices,” Snape said, “And that I can heal you. If however, you would like a plaster and a kiss to make it better, you may see to your other guardian.”

“You may see me anyway.” Hoppity smiled, and gave Harry a peck on his head. “I have kisses to spare.”

Now Snape was the one making a face. Harry didn't care, he was getting love and Snape wasn't getting any. So there.

“I have the next rule,” Hoppity said. “No leaving the house without permission.”

“Yes, and make sure that we know where you are at all times. No wandering off. No dangerous activities without permission. Perhaps we should change that to fun activities.”

“Oh, don't be ridiculous Severus. 'Fun' does not mean dangerous.”

“I beg to differ. Quidditch?”

“Not dangerous... really.”

Snape snorted.

“Well I have a question now,” Hoppity said as she put down her Muggle pen. “Is this why Harry shouldn't play on the Muggle bounce ride? Because that is quite safe. There were lots of other children in there. It was made for children, in fact.”

“Falling from tall heights is always dangerous, the boy was at least over my head. It only takes one bad fall to break a leg or get a concussion. Furthermore, if he falls wrong he would likely have to go to a Muggle healer, or a previously unknown magical healer we may not be able to trust. The only other option would be to risk using our emergency transatlantic portkey, which would jeopardize the mission of Harry's safety. I also doubt that the boy would take such a journey well in an injured state. I would rather not risk it. I am sure that since you care for the boy, you would not like to risk it either.”

“Yes, but how was Harry to know all this?”

“I previously caught him doing flips on a similar contraption, and made him promise not to do it again. Isn't that correct, Harry?”

Harry swallowed. “Yes sir, but I didn't think that this was the same!”

“But now you know better.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes sir.” Harry watched his hopes to play on a bouncy ride dash to pieces.

Hoppity looked affronted, “Well it would have been nice if you had told me as well! I had no way of knowing about your agreement, or your reasoning.”

“I see that now. For future reference, Harry is not allowed to risk his life, or neck. Jumping more than one meter high especially counts.” Unless there is cushioning charm, which there won't be here. One meter should be enough to ruin any 'almost dangerous' fun like Muggle jumping contraptions.

“So, no endangering yourself,” Hoppity wrote on their list. She supposed that the danger was based on Severus' reasoning. She still didn't see Muggle children's toys as dangerous, but she did see his point that there could be some danger... as slight as it was, however it was better not to risk it because of their circumstances. “And, tell each other if there is a new rule.”

“Go to bed when you are supposed to.” Severus knew to specify it that way; many a snake had stayed up until someone literally told them to go to bed. “Eat your meals.”

“And I get meals,” Harry demanded suddenly. “No shutting me up in my room when I'm hungry.”

Snape raised one eyebrow. “You will get all your meals unless you throw them on the floor.”

Harry turned a little red at the reminder of his poor behaviour the day before. “I won't.”

“Even so, you will not be allowed to skip more than one meal unless you are sick,” Snape said sternly. “Then of course, you are to inform one of us.”

Hoppity came up with the next, “And Harry is allowed one treat every day.”

Snape appeared as if he was tasting something terrible, but he agreed in his own way, “He may have one serving of a sugary snack each day, as long as he has been good, which reminds me of the next rules: No fussing, and no arguing.”

Augh, there were so many rules! Harry didn't know how many more he could take! But at least he was allowed one treat a day, and Snape promised him that he would eat. And Snape more or less promised that he would heal Harry if he was hurt, and Hoppity promised him a kiss!

The fact that his guardians were part of the rules also made him feel better about them.

Everyone was silent for awhile, as if thinking. Perhaps they were done?

Hoppity put down her pen and looked at him. “Harry, do you have any other rules you would like to add?”

Harry thought for a moment. What did he want to make sure his guardians couldn't do? “No locking people in cupboards. Or their rooms.”

“Okay Harry.”

Snape was giving him a look, no doubt wondering why.

Harry continued, “Unless they don't belong here. Like if they are a bad guy. But not Michael. He's not a bad guy.”

“Okay Harry, let's add no unnecessarily harsh punishments as well. I think locking someone in a closet would go under that. We won't lock your friend in a closet while he is here playing with you, will we Severus?”

“No, of course not.”

Hoppity peered over her spectacles at Snape. “I have one last rule to add: No detentions during the school year for things over the summer!”

“Really now...” Snape started.

“I mean it, or I won't sign!”

“We're signing this?” Harry asked.

“Well of course! How else would we show we agree to them all?”

“Fine,” Snape grumbled. He decided that he would simply have to get the boy in trouble at the start of the school year. It was not difficult.

“Alright, nothing else? We can always add more later...” Hoppity looked around, and at everyone's negative nod she started to read the list, lowering it so that Harry could look on. She didn't know if he could read yet or not, but it couldn't hurt.

“House Rules:

1. Obey the rules
2. Do as your guardians say, even if it's stupid
3. Broken promises and rules will have a punishment (to be decided depending on the situation)
4. No lying
5. No stealing
6. No trespassing (except for emergencies)
7. No pranks
8. Tell your guardians when you are ill, hurt, in trouble, or have a bad feeling
9. No leaving the house without express permission
10. No wandering off
11. No endangering yourself - ask permission
12. Tell each other if there is a new rule
13. Go to bed when you are supposed to
14. Eat your meals
15. Don't go more than one meal without eating something (unless you are sick)
16. Limit sugary snacks to one serving a day
17. No fussing
18. No arguing
19. No locking people in cupboards (unless they are bad guys)
20. No unnecessarily harsh punishments
21. No detentions during the school year for things over the summer

We, the undersigned, agree to abide to these rules as long as we are together...”

Hoppity wrote her name at the bottom in a big flourish. It looked bubbly, just her first name. She wasn't sure who would be reading it so she wanted to make sure that she didn't put her real, full name, just in case.

Severus took the list next, and signed his first name in a scrawl below Hoppity's before handing it to Harry.

“Go on Harry,” Hoppity encouraged.

Harry looked at the list. He couldn't read all of it, but he recognized most of the words, and he watched Hoppity write them down as they added them. He took the pen clumsily from Snape's hand, and then wrote his name out in careful letters.

“Well done! I think we should stick this to the icebox. We can look at it tomorrow, and then until we learn it.” Hoppity got up to hopefully find some cellotape, or a magnet. She loved magnets.

Harry was left along with Snape. He went to get up and follow Hoppity.

“One moment,” Snape said, pulling him back onto the couch. “How is your foot?”

Harry considered it for a moment. It hardly hurt at all. “Much better. It hurt so bad before, but now it's better. Thank you.”

Snape might have looked pleased, but Harry wasn't sure. “Let me have a look at it.” Harry lifted his foot up, and Snape peered at the white crust he put over Harry's bee sting. “Indeed it looks less red... I shall put more on before you go to bed, which will be soon. You are still being punished for your little show yesterday.”

Harry sighed. He hated early bedtimes.

“But first, I believe a healthy snack is in order.”

“I hope it's not-”

“Yes, vegetables.” Snape did look pleased then. “Up you go, to the kitchen and I will make you a nice, steaming hot plate of vegetables. And this time they will end up in your stomach and not the floor.”

“Do I get noodles with them?”

“I suppose, if you eat your vegetables first. Stand up, does it hurt to walk on your foot?”

Harry tested it. There was a sharp twinge where he got stung. “A little. I don't want to walk on it.” Perhaps he could hop, or crawl to the kitchen.

“Alright,” Snape said, “Just this once.” And then he was picking Harry up, securing him in his arms to carry him to the kitchen.

Harry did not expect it, but then he realized that he felt safe.

Harry found himself at the kitchen table, a plate of warm noodles and vegetables before him. Hoppity sat across from him, enjoying a warm cup of tea. She excused herself to take a warm bath.

“Can you see Harry to bed tonight, Severus?”

“Yes,” Snape replied by the icebox, looking at the list of rules as he gathered his own plate of food.

Hoppity did not want to be the one to put Harry to bed early. She thought that he should be allowed to stay up as late as he wanted. If Harry was cranky in the morning, well that was something sugar could fix, right? She didn't want to go against Severus though, according to both him and Harry they had an agreement, something that Harry broke and was in trouble for.

Hoppity thought that Harry should be allowed to get in trouble, be mischievous and make mistakes. That was a part of childhood, right? Severus seemed to want and try to forestall that as much as possible. Maybe after her bath she could have a talk with Severus, when Harry was in bed.

“Goodnight, Harry bean. Sleep well,” Hoppity said, trailing her hand through Harry's hair before turning to leave.

“'Night,” Harry said, a little disappointed that she would not be putting him to bed.

Snape joined him at the table. The Professor took several bites of food, chewing and swallowing carefully.

“You added some rather nice rules.” Snape stated.

“...Thank you,” Harry replied. The praise was unexpected. Did Snape ever praise him? Only that once when he blocked Snape's mind magic this morning. Maybe... Snape was starting to like him?

“I am wondering, however, what you have against cupboards. Something your cousin did, perhaps?” Snape's tone was mild, he was seemingly interested in his plate of food.

Cousin? Harry wrinkled his nose as an image of a fat boy came to mind, loud and rough, and shoving Harry into darkness. Dudley. “I don't know, I guess so.”

“Try to remember...” Snape's voice was long and slow, almost hypnotizing.

Harry almost shivered as a memory of darkness came to the forefront of his mind, pressing himself against a door but not being able to get out.

He didn't like it.

“I'm not hungry anymore. May I be excused?”

“No, finish your food anyway.” Snape said. Harry looked up to see Snape's eyes peering down at him, focused and glinty.

Harry picked up his fork again, and ate some noodles. Snape was acting too interested for Harry's liking.

When Harry was done with his plate, he made to stand up again.

“No- don't stand up, stay there,” Snape said, getting up and taking Harry's plate away. “I don't want you undoing my hard work. I want to put more salve on your sting, and let it dry before you go to bed.”

Harry waited as Snape left to get the poultice from the other room. Snape returned with it and some bandages, then pulled out the chair next to Harry's. He moved Harry so that he could get better access to the bee sting on his foot, and then sat in the chair, lifting Harry's foot to his knee.

Harry watched as Snape peered at the sting and dressed it with more salve, the Professor's expression focused. It made Harry feel nice, like a prized potion.

Harry's foot still hurt a little, and the cool poultice felt good, soothing on his injury.

Snape left it unwrapped to dry. He released Harry's foot, wiped his fingers off on a towel, and then said, “Let me see your arm.”

Harry looked at him warily before stretching his arm out, the crook of the elbow up for inspection.

Snape pulled the arm closer to himself, then took out the small red bottle of scar reducing potion from a front pocket. He had almost forgotten it in the last two weeks, something that he intended to rectify. The scar on the inside of Harry's elbow was still squiggly and red, but less mangled. Since this was a physical wound and not a magical one it could heal. With enough applications the scar would disappear completely, but he was saving those applications to barter for answers to his questions. He had applied the potion four or five times already. That number again would heal the scar completely.

The Potions Professor always gave the boy a choice of whether or not to answer his question. If Harry decided not to answer, he would forfeit the application. So far, the boy had answered everything.

“What was the worst time you were in a cupboard?”

Harry cringed, memories of a large beefy hand coming down on his head to yank his hair and fling him into his cupboard. A large man yelling, his face puce and scary... it wasn't his fault, but he was in there for such a long, long time... and he felt so sick... crawling out of his skin in the hot, sticky darkness... and hungry, thirsty...

“I don't want to answer that,” Harry said, pulling his arm back.

Snape's lips flattened, but his voice was calm and not mean like Harry expected it to be. “Fine, perhaps you will answer this. How did your relatives usually punish you? The relatives you lived with before.”

Harry looked away and held his arm to himself. He didn't like to remember before, but it came to him. The silence of the kitchen and the intensity of Snape's boring eyes made it easier.

“They shouted... a lot. Said bad things. Like...” Worthless. Freak. No he couldn't repeat them to Snape. “They shut me in a cupboard sometimes, locked me in. Let my cousin-” Dudley, “Beat me up. I did a lot of chores. Never got dessert.” Often didn't get dinner either.

“Is that all?” Snape asked.

No, they starved me too. But they didn't, not really. Harry would be dead if they did. He did a sort of half-shrug in answer.

“Did they hurt you?”

Not when Harry ducked, which was almost all the time. “Not besides what you already know... I don't want to answer questions anymore.” He suddenly realized, “Hey, that was more than one!”

“So it was,” Snape said carefully, looking at Harry. “Your arm.”

Harry laid it out on top the table again, and Snape leaned over it and gently dabbed some potion onto Harry's scar. The deaged boy watched with interest. Already his scar looked less raised, maybe less red too.

Harry watched as Snape capped the potion and put it away into his pocket. It would be great if Harry could find that bottle, and not have to answer any more of Snape's questions but Harry knew better than to try. Snape was sneaky, and would surely catch Harry, and then Harry would have to sleep in the basement next to a vat of live worm guts and eat them for breakfast. The Potions Master said so, and he rarely went back on his promises.

“I suppose the poultice is dry enough now,” Snape said, and picked up Harry's foot to bandage it.

Harry wriggled his toes as the white cloth was wrapped around his foot. The edges ticked a little, and then Snape was tucking the end under a fold on the top.

“It should be completely healed before morning. Off to bed now.”

Harry stood up and tested his foot. It still hurt. A little.

“Still tender? Alright,” Snape said, and picked him up for the third time that night. Harry was starting to get used to it, maybe. Maybe he even liked it.

---

The next day Harry's foot was healed, like Snape said it would be.

Harry was very glad about that, as he could run and play with comfort during recess with all the other children.

The questions of last night stayed with him, however. They resurfaced in the afternoon when his class was to finish the stories they had been writing for the last week. They got to draw pictures too, and make a little book. Harry wrote his about himself, only a little more fantastical. It wasn't like anyone here would recognize him and what he wrote about. He relished the opportunity to express himself without judgment. His book was actually more pictures than words, but Harry knew what was going on, and that was the important thing.

The star of his story was a little boy named Henry, and Henry lived in the cupboard of a cave of trolls. The trolls were ugly and fat and stupid, and tried to eat everything. Henry talked to snakes and unicorns, and tried to hide from the trolls because they were mean and ugly. Whenever they caught him, they would try to eat him, but Henry was fast and small. When the trolls came for him, he would run away or hide in his small cupboard and then they couldn't eat him. The trolls were so stupid that they got themselves in trouble, and they always blamed Henry.

One day when Henry was hiding, he found a hole in the back of this cupboard. It took him to a land of unicorns. He loved to play with the unicorns, and they loved him so much.

Then a big snake came, and wanted to eat the unicorns and Henry. The snake chased them, but Henry found a MAGIC sword and was going to chop off the snake's head! The snake got scared and slithered away through the hole in his cupboard back to the cave with the trolls! The trolls were so stupid that they thought that the snake was Henry, and they tried to eat it.

The snake ate the trolls instead. This was Harry's favorite part. He drew the snake with three big lumps in its tail and a lazy smile. One of the troll's head was bitten off on the floor.

Then little Henry chased the snake with the sword, but the snake said that it was sorry and that it had just been hungry. It had been too hungry because there was a monster who ate all the food and made all the snakes and animals starve. This was why the snake tried to eat them, but it wouldn't anymore. The trolls had been so fat that the snake never had to eat again for 100 years.

Henry and the snake became friends. Then Henry and the unicorns rode on the big snake. They all found and attacked the giant monster, and then everyone was happy and safe. To celebrate they ate chocolate cake that grew on trees. The end!

Harry Potter had a great time drawing the trolls, and writing their misfortunes. Most of his story had been written already, but he went back and drew more about the trolls and how mean they had been, making more detailed illustrations.

When the teacher came around, Harry explained his story proudly. The teacher said that he had “a wonderful imagination” and that he should keep writing because he could “be a great writer one day.” Harry didn't know about that. He turned back to his work and missed the worried looks his teacher gave him over the content of his story.

One by one, the students got to explain their stories. When it was his turn, he then got to tell it to the class, and everyone listened. He could see admiring looks from Jessica and some of the other students, and jealous glances from Bobby, the classroom bully.

Some of the students thought that his story was gross, or scary, but that was okay. He though that others loved it. Harry was feeling proud, and happy.

At the end of the school day before the bell rang for dismissal, his teacher gave him a folded piece of paper. “Make sure that you give this to your parents, okay? They have a Parent-Teacher conference tomorrow with me, and this is a reminder. Will you give this to your Mommy or Daddy as soon as you see them?”

“Yes,” Harry said, taking the paper.

“Thank you.”

Harry remembered hearing something about a conference, but promptly forgetting about it before. No one had wanted to go to one of those before. They didn't have them at his last school, and he couldn't remember anyone caring about it then, or before. He wsn't really sure what it was about , but he didn't think that it was something for him... but maybe, just maybe Hoppity would want to go! He smiled. Maybe the teacher would tell her how wonderful he was, and how great his story had been. Maybe his teacher would tell her that he was a pleasure to have in class, and that she liked him. Maybe Hoppity would be so proud of him after the meeting that she would take him out for ice cream!

With these cheerful thoughts in mind, he walked down the school corridors until he met up with Hoppity, and handed her the paper his teacher gave him.

Little did he know, that Hoppity wasn't going to be the “parent” who attended the meeting...

When Hoppity and Harry come home, Snape was sitting in the kitchen on a chair by the window, his dark eyes glued to the back garden.

“We're home! I have something to tell you,” Hoppity said.

“Quiet,” Snape whispered strongly, a guttural sound coming from the side of his mouth.

There was silence while Hoppity blinked, startled at Snape's response. Surely Severus wouldn't be so mean without a reason... was something wrong? Were they in danger?

Harry moved to the window next to Snape, his curiosity unflagging as he tried to peer out the window and see what Snape was so intent on. The potions master glanced down at Harry's dark head in slight annoyance before taking watch again.

“What are we looking at, Sir?”

“Shhh...”

Harry folded his arms and pouted. He hated being ignored.

Snape got up off of his chair and then pulled the little boy to the front room, beckoning Hoppity to follow. Only there did he explain himself in a low voice as they stood around the sofa, “I believe that we have an endangered species in our backyard.”

Silence, but it was impregnated with excitement and mystery.

“Like what, a flying squirrel?” Harry asked.

“No, better. I believe there is a snidget.”

Hoppity gasped. Harry looked curiously at each of his guardians. He couldn't remember what that was.

“It's a little golden bird, about this big,” Snape demonstrated, holding his hand up in front of Harry's eyes so that his fingers made a small circle. He hoped to jog the memory of his deaged ward. “The wings flutter very quickly, and you can catch one with your hands,” he pretended to catch a small snitch.

Harry's eyes widened as he reached out, mimicking Snape's catching movement, allowing it to bring back memories. “I know them! I love snidgets!”

“Shh, and yes I know,” Severus said a hint of deviousness in his voice, “They are very useful for potions.”

“Severus Snape!” Hoppity berated, “You cannot possibly be considering killing an endangered creature for a potion!”

“Hush, woman! I never said anything about killing it.” He turned his head to glance at the kitchen and spoke quietly, “You must keep your voices down and not scare it off. It must consider this a safe place for I intend to lure it and catch it.”

“But isn't that illegal?” Hoppity whispered, her blue eyes wide as she leaned against the side of the sofa.

“Not here.” Snape said lowly. He seemed pleased with himself and the opportunity that literally landed in his backyard. “There are many important and useful potions that require snidget feathers, or snidget droppings.”

“Snidget poo?” Harry asked, his green eyes sparkling inquisitively.

“Yes.” Snape glanced at Hoppity. “Some of the potions may turn the tide of the war. And,” he glanced at Harry, “Wouldn't it be nice to have a little bird to take care of?”

“Yes, yes!” Harry exclaimed, nearly jumping with excitement. He'd love a little bird, and if Snape was willing to let him keep it...

“Shhh,” Snape reminded him, covering his ward's mouth with one hand to quiet him.

Harry tried very hard to calm himself and be a very good, well-behaved boy. He wished for a snidget, it was so exciting to think about capturing one, and playing with it, and feeding it, catching it for fun.

“Will you help me?” Snape asked them, looking in each person's eyes at a time.

Harry nodded enthusiastically. He was already set to keep it. “Can I name it?”

“Perhaps,” Snape replied evenly. He was still looking at Hoppity, waiting for her answer.

She finally sighed. “I don't know, snidgets are protected creatures. It should be sent to a breeding ground and taken care of, not kept as a pet.”

Snape's mouth turned into a frown, and his voice took on an icy edge, “If you would like to call the Ministry of Magic and inform them of where we are, thus threatening-” Snape looked at Harry, “our safety over a little bird, then by all means.”

“You know we can't do that.” Hoppity sighed, ignoring Snape's tone. She moved to sit down on the sofa, hugging herself. “But it's free now, perhaps it's meant to be free and we should let it alone.”

Snape paced, tying to control himself. “Do you think that this creature, this magnificent, fortuitous creature that landed in our laps would be better served as a free chew toy for a mangy dog?”

“No, but-”

“Then, perhaps following the rules is more important to you than the safety of this child.” Snape stood near Harry, and gently pulled him close to his side.

Hoppity looked at Harry. It was hard to ignore his young eyes, so large and pleading.

“Oh!” Hoppity stood up, her fists balled up, “Severus Snape, don't you dare imply such a thing! I love this child!” She pulled Harry suddenly to herself, hugging him into her side. “For you to say such a thing-!”

Harry was wild-eyed at Hoppity's declaration and the rough handling. She said she loves me...

He looked up at Hoppity's face, her mouth and eyes set in a hard line, her red, curly hair fizzed all over, a strand was tangled in her glasses. In that moment Harry couldn't help but feel admiration for her. His heart warmed, and he felt like the most important little boy in the world.

“Forgive me. I misspoke.”

It was the first time Harry had ever seen Snape back down.

“I was merely trying to illustrate the point that Harry's safety is paramount. We are not operating under the Ministry of Magic's thumb right now, but even if we were, there are times when need takes precedence over rules.”

“I'm not sure this is such a situation...”

“It is. There are such powerful, protective potions that can be made, with just a bit of snidget fluff... potions that the enemy would never expect.

“Isn't it more important to do everything in our power to help and protect Harry, your Uncle, and everyone you love?” Snape knew that he was laying it on thick, but it was pointless to capture a snidget if someone else would let it free not five minutes after. “This snidget may be a chance where there was none. It may be the difference between life and death.”

“Surely not,” Hoppity said, but she was unsure. She looked at Harry, noted his soft, black hair and large green eyes. He was such a sweet child, so full of promise and hardship already. Her eyes rested on his faint curse scar, hiding beneath his fringe and nearly reaching between his eyebrows.

“Yes,” Severus said.

“Alright,” Hoppity agreed softly. For Harry.

Severus gave a small, pleased smirk. Potter was useful for some things after all.

The small boy was still beaming from the declarations of care, and this new agreement was just more proof of it. He unexpectedly turned to give Hoppity a tight hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered for only her to hear.

Snape looked away from the scene, uncomfortable with it all. He cleared his throat.

“Now then,” he started once he was sure of their attention. “We require some supplies. A net, a cage, a perch, some small dishes for food and water. I left out a bit of toast with sugar earlier to entice it to stay, and a bowl of clean water.” He would not mention that he had placed an invisible barrier around the back garden so that it could not fly away, similar to the barriers used in Quidditch matches. He was sure to catch hell for that, so he had to pretend that it wasn't there. In any case, he wasn't sure that his barrier spell was fool-proof. The snidget might have found a way out around the edges.

“It will be luck if we catch it at all,” Hoppity stated. “Snidgets are dead fast.”

“Yes, but we may have someone even faster.” He looked at Potter. The youngest seeker in a century. The boy's reflexes might be off in this younger body, but Severus was certain that under pressure the boy would perform.

“Do you mean me?” Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Yes. Now come with me to get some supplies.” He wished to keep Harry out of trouble, and also keep him from accidentally scaring the snidget away. “Smirkett, stay here and watch through the back windows and see if you can spot it. I am sure that it is there somewhere hiding. Perhaps you will be able to locate it by the time we return.”

Snape reached for Harry's shoulder and guided him towards the door to the garage. “Quickly, now.” Snape was anxious to return and capture that bird. There was so much that he could accomplish with such a bird at his disposal.

“Be safe,” Hoppity said.

Harry gave a wave before they shut the door and lost sight of her.

Snape reached the car in long strides and opened the back passenger door. He reached down and picked Harry up without a word, swiftly helping him into his car seat and snapping the safety belt in place far quicker than Harry was able. He then practically leapt into the driver's seat and they were off!

Harry and Snape stopped at the first pet store they could find. They grabbed a shopping buggy and collected various bird supplies and food (including some live larvae and eggs). Snape decided on a medium-sized cage that sat on legs. “I could almost fit you in there,” he noted distractedly. Harry thought that he was teasing, but wasn't sure.

They found several medium and large nets at the back at the store. Snape tested them out, swishing them around as if trying to capture a bird. Finding them satisfactory, Snape purchased their supplies and then they were off, back to capture one elusive bird.

When they came home Hoppity was sitting in the kitchen, peering out the window Snape had been at earlier. Harry went to join her as Snape put together the cage.

“Did you find it?” Harry whispered.

“Yes, it's hiding behind that bush, there in the corner. Do you see it?”

Harry peered out, trying to see. After awhile he thought that he saw a flash of gold through the bush.

“Yes!” Harry whispered in excitement. “I saw it!”

They heard some metal scrapping noises, and a muttered curse behind them.

“Severus,” Hoppity admonished in a whisper, covering Harry's ears.

The potions master put down the piece of bird cage he was working with. “My apologies. I'm sure he knows worse. Although if I hear any of them from him...” Snape lead off, threatening with his eyes.

Harry swallowed. “I won't!”

“Likely story.” Snape motioned, “Come here and help me.”

With Harry's help holding up the cage, Snape was able to put it together quickly. When Hoppity and his young charge were looking away, he placed a containing spell on it, making sure that its future occupant would not find a crack or a loose bar to escape from.

“We will lure it with some food,” Snape said, “And then when its attention is focused on the food, we shall catch it with the net.” It seemed like a fool-proof plan.

“Do I get to help?” Harry asked.

“Yes, go put on some less conspicuous clothing.”

Harry looked down at his bright red shirt. It was the one he picked out, with a lion on the front, just to annoy Snape. Just then his tummy decided to rumble.

Hoppity smiled. “Maybe we should all eat first.”

“No, it should not take long and if we wait it may get away. Hurry, Potter, something brown, or green preferably.”

Harry ran up to his room, and went through his clothes, trying to find something that would help him blend in with the back garden. He finally found a green shirt in the bottom of his small wooden chest of drawers. His frenzied search left clothes scattered everywhere, but he was too excited to care to pick them up. He'd take care of it later.

When he arrived back in the kitchen, it was to see his guardians practicing with the nets. Apparently Hoppity's blue and green patterned shirt and tan trousers were acceptable for blending in with the back garden. Snape's normally white long sleeved shirt had been exchanged for a brown one.

When Harry came in, Snape stopped what he was doing and looked at Harry silently. His expression was unreadable. Harry looked down, self conscious. He didn't remember ever wearing this shirt before. Maybe it looked bad?

“Here,” Snape finally handed Harry a net with a handle that was not too long. “Practice.”

Or maybe Snape was just weird. Harry took the net and swished it around, feeling it move against the air.

“No, no, not like that. It's not a wand. Try like this.” Snape placed his hands over Harry and moved the net around, making sure that the opening faced the direction it was going. “Quick, but controlled.” He let go and let Harry practice on his own. Harry moved it, concentrating on moving it the way Snape had. Hoppity mimicked them. “Better.”

Harry couldn't help his pleased grin.

Snape produced a small ball and had Harry and Hoppity take turns catching it. After a couple of tries, Harry caught the ball nearly every time. Snape didn't say anything, but Harry thought that he was impressed. Hoppity gave him proud looks, and he just knew that he was going to be the one to catch the snidget.

“Alright, we will go out quietly, and calmly. This dish will be placed in the garden to lure the bird in.” Snape moved to pick up a plate from the counter by the sink. There were bits of stuff on it, grubby-looking larvae and seeds. “Harry, you will wait by the door, since it's impossible for you to sit still. Your squirming will scare it off if you are too close.”

Harry frowned at this. He could too sit still! And he didn't squirm! Really.

“We will hide around the food dish. If the bird comes near, catch it with a net. Once caught, either twist the net closed, or put it against the ground so that the bird cannot escape. Then wait like that until we all come.” He turned to the little emerald-eyed boy, “Harry, it will be your job afterward to reach in the net and capture it without letting it escape.”

That sounded like such an important job! “Yes, sir!” Harry said smartly.

Snape gave him a look. “Do not reach in until I am there. Understood?”

“Understood, you can count on me!” Harry saluted.

“Cheeky brat,” Snape muttered as he lead them outside, but he said it with a smile. “Now no more sounds from you until we catch it.”

Once the backdoor was opened, Snape made sure that Harry would wait by it outside, and stay there. And not squirm so much. The potions master motioned for Hoppity to move to the right, and then he slowly walked to put the plate on the grass before moving away to the left and sitting behind a tree.

At first it was fun. The excitement of the activity coursed through Harry's body, and he watched the plate with alertness. As the minutes ticked by though, Harry found himself becoming impatient and bored. He watched for birds and animals, but the elusive golden snidget was nowhere to be seen. Had it flown away?

The air kicked in, the large outdoor unit by the house making a humming sound. A warm breeze ruffled Harry's hair, and his stomach growled.

Snape was still hiding behind a tree, his dark eyes peering out. He gave Harry a look that said, 'Stay still and quiet or else.' Harry pouted and looked at his net.

He was hungry. Before he didn't notice it so much, but now he was waiting and doing nothing and it was all that he could notice.

No sign of the golden snidget yet. Was it even still around? Maybe it was hiding. Maybe someone should run through the bushes and surprise it out of its hiding spot.

Harry breathed out, tired of waiting. When would his bird show up?

Incredibly fast, a golden blur flew to the plate, catching Harry's eyes.

It was the golden bird. It almost looked like a hummingbird, small and with a long, thin beak. Its motions were quick and sharp, its beady eyes glanced around before it bent down to catch a grub larvae.

Snape was up and out of his hiding place, leaping toward the plate. The net came crashing down, over the bird. The plate broke from the force of the swing, but the bird escaped.

Hoppity's swiped next with her net as the bird flew away but she missed it as well.

“Drat!!” Snape fumed.

“Rats!” Hoppity exclaimed.

“Woah.” Harry breathed out, running out to his guardians. “That thing was wicked fast! Can you catch it?”

Hoppity blew at the curly red hair in her face. “We could wait here all night and all day, and miss it every time.”

“We may need to change our strategy,” Snape conceded. “Perhaps something with more cunning...”

“Yes, but not now. It's past time for tea.”

Harry nodded his head. He was ready to eat!

The potions master looked as if he might argue at first, but instead wordlessly collected the nets and started back for the house.

Once inside, Hoppity started to cook and Snape let her be for once. He was too busy trying to devise a new plan, a pad of paper and a quill sat before him at the kitchen table. He scribbled on the pad, and then just as quickly crossed out what he had written or drawn.

Harry peered over the table, at all the squiggles and boxes scratched out. It almost looked like a nest. “Maybe we can make a home for it.”

“We already have one,” Snape muttered, jabbing at the cage off to one side of the kitchen.

“Yeah, but maybe we could make a more natural one that the bird would fly into, and want to be in, and then we could surprise it and it would be trapped.”

Snape's quill stopped. He looked thoughtful before reaching out and patting Harry on the shoulder. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just licked his lips and tightened his grip on Harry's shoulder before turning back to his notes. “It may just work,” he praised, before drawing out a new set of plans.

Harry beamed. Snape was going to use his idea!

The food was prepared quickly, and Harry was pleased to find that it was noodles! He was not quite as pleased to see that there were vegetables to go with it. Wouldn't his grownups get tired of the icky, green things?

“I still don't understand how there's a snidget in America.” Hoppity twirled noodles around her fork.

Snape was uncharacteristically chatty, perhaps in a good mood over their latest plan. “They play Quadpot here, not Quidditch. Hence, no snidgets were hunted to extinction because they were not used.”

“Yes, but are snidgets indigenous here?”

“Obviously at least one is.”

“We're going to catch him,” Harry declared. “I know it.”

“We'll see, Harry,” Hoppity said as she served herself some more noodles and Harry lifted his plate as if to ask for more. “Eat your vegetables before taking more noodles.”

“I think I'll call him Snidgen.”

“What if its a girl?”

“Well, then I'll call her Snidgen.”

Hoppity laughed, “Okay Harry. I doubt we'll be able to tell anyway.”

After dinner Snape asked for Harry's cardboard box.

“What are you going to do with it?” Harry asked curiously.

“With a few alterations... use it to capture Snidgen.”

“Well, I'm done.” Hoppity said. “I've been enough bird catching. The telly is calling me.”

Snape looked at her. “Very well. Potter, the box.”

“Okay.” Harry ran off and when he came back with the box Snape was working on something, a sort of bird feeder. It was an old sock, and Snape was stuffing it full of wet fluff, and live grubs and bits of food.

The little boy pushed the box the last few feet to rest by Snape and watched curiously as the man cut some small holes in the sock. One of the larvae started to poke out, and Harry wrinkled his nose.

“That's kind of gross.”

“Not really on the scale of things,” Snape mused. He put the holey sock down, and started to work on the box. First he made three cuts to create a little door, bending it open into the box. Then he attached the sock to the bottom of the box, making sure that it would stay.

“The only problem is making sure that the snidget makes his way into the box, and not another little bird... or pest.”

“But the door's so small. Who else could fit?” Harry asked as Snape closed the top of the box and sealed it.

“Hopefully, nothing.”

Harry followed Snape into the back garden, and watched as Snape placed the box upside down. The little makeshift door was facing down now, and Snape shook the box a little to make sure that the sock feeder was hanging right, and not rolling around the bottom.

“The door this way should make it easy for a little bird to get in, but not to get out,” Snape explained to Harry's bright eyes.

“What do we do now?” Harry asked as Snape stood up.

“Now I wait. You will practice clearing your mind.”

That was so beastly unfair! How was Harry supposed to clear his mind when his new pet was about to get caught?

“I doubt that the snidget will take the bait within the next hour. After you practice clearing your mind, you may join me and watch the box.”

Harry pouted and folded his arms. He didn't want to get sent off to practice on his own, he wanted to watch Snidgen get caught!

Snape reached down and guided a petulant Harry back into the house. “Fifteen minutes,” he said and pointed to the back room. “For every minute you waste before starting I will add two to your practice time.”

Fine, Harry stomped off, quietly though. He didn't want to get more time added on for peevishness.

It was a looong fifteen minutes. Every time Harry's mind wandered off, Snape's voice came from the kitchen not too soon after, telling him to focus.

Finally the practice time was up.

“Alright Potter,” Snape called out. “You may watch now, though I daresay you'll soon realize that you are not missing anything.”

Harry decided that he'd be the judge of that, as he pulled over a chair to sit next to Snape and peered out the back door. The box was sitting there, just as Snape put it.

“Did anything happen? Did you see Snidgen?” Harry asked eagerly, in a hushed tone.

“No, Harry. Nothing happened at all.”

Harry sighed out, both in disappointment and relief. Disappointment because he'd wanted to hear something more interesting, but also relief because he didn't miss anything.

They sat there for awhile, eyes anxiously peering out into the back garden for a glimmer of gold. Now and again they would make small comments, Harry's mostly exploratory and imaginative. Snape's measured and explanatory.

It was an hour before Harry finally lost the battle of interest. Severus was impressed at the little boy's fortitude.

“I'm going to see what Hoppity is doing.” Harry huffed and wandered off to the back room.

She was watching the telly, some show that Harry found himself drawn to.

“Come sit down next to me, Harry-bean,” she called and patted the couch next to her. Harry climbed up and cuddled into her side.

He eventually fell asleep, listening to the drone of the telly as Hoppity carded her fingers through his hair soothingly.

What seemed like hours later someone was gently shaking him with strong fingers.

“Come now, Harry. Time to wake up and go to bed.” A deep masculine voice spoke into his ear, and Harry groaned and rubbed at his eyes.

“Did you catch Snidgen?” he asked tiredly. “Cold,” he murmured.

Snape pulled him up to a sitting position, and then standing. Harry sagged a little against his side, disoriented from his nap.

“Yes, I caught him,” Snape answered, but Harry was already burrowing his face into Snape's side, seeking warmth and wanting to fall back asleep. Snape sighed. “It seems that it will be straight to bed with you.”

“Tired,” Harry murmured.

“Yes, I can see that,” Snape answered and hoisted Harry into his arms. The little boy made contented noises and burrowed into Snape's warm shoulder.

Nearby Hoppity smiled as she watched them. “It seems as if you are making a habit of this.”

“Hush. Not another word,” Snape threatened but his heart wasn't in it. He reached up and rubbed Harry's back, looked at the dark messy hair, and the innocent expression on the child's face as he slept.

Maybe he was.

Harry woke up very excited to meet his new friend, Snidgen the snidget. He remembered trying to stay awake last night, and then he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew it was morning. He thought he'd heard Snape tell him last night that Snidgen was caught, but he could have been dreaming.

Throwing off the covers, Harry didn't even bother to get ready before rushing out of his room, then down the hallway, down the stairs, and to the kitchen.

There against a wall was the birdcage, covered with a blanket. Harry held his breath as he lifted one corner of the blanket, peering under it.

A small golden bird zoomed around in the cage, its motions quick and restless as if searching for an escape. Its body was fat and round like a ball. The snidget suddenly hovered in the cage before Harry, peering at him with tiny red eyes, its wings a blur. Harry regarded its rounded body, and its small, long beak before it flittered off, searching for an escape again.

“What are you doing?” Snape asked, striding over to tug the blanket away from Harry and back down over the cage.

“Looking at Snidgen!”

“Leave it alone for now,” Snape said, bending over so that he could look at Harry extra sternly. “It's newly caught and needs to calm down for a few days. We don't want to exhaust it, now do we?”

Harry shook his head and allowed himself to be lead away from his new pet.

“Go on up and get dressed. And straighten your room. No doubt it is a mess.” Snape knew that it was messy because he saw it last night when he put Harry to bed, but there was no reason to let the boy know. “And ask before even thinking about looking at that bird again.”

“Yes Sir,” Harry answered, trudging up to his room. Having a bird was a lot less exciting if he couldn't even look at it, or play with it.

That must change.

---

By the time Harry got to his classroom he almost forgot about Snidgen. That was because one of the boys was picking on Benny, the smaller nerdy boy who looked to Harry for friendship and protection.

Benny was an easy target. He was a nice kid, but the other children couldn't see much beyond his glasses, inhaler, and clumsy playground skills. It didn't help that he was a bit smaller than the other children too, and didn't have any cool things to show off. Even though Harry wasn't too keen of him, he couldn't help but be a friend to him.

Bobby, a large boy who Harry thought of as the classroom bully, tried to steal Benny's glasses. Of course, Harry couldn't help but intervene. Before it got out of hand, their teacher Ms. Kincaid came and made everyone sit down, giving everyone involved a demerit for being rowdy.

Ms. Kincaid was their only teacher now. The young, brown haired woman took over the class after the old Ms. Alkins stopped coming. The old teacher was in the hospital sick with something but was supposed to come back next week. Harry thought that Ms. Kincaid was nicer than the older teacher, less stern, but the class was more rowdy now and some of the children tried to make trouble. Like Bobby.

Harry rarely got a demerit, but when he did he thought that it was worth it. Surely Hoppity would too. Snape probably wouldn’t, and would probably make Harry help prepare some gross potions ingredients, so Harry would make it a point not to tell him.

The rest of the morning went fine until lunch. His lunches got better and better every week because Hoppity talked with the other mums while Harry was at soccer practice and learned what the other children got. Harry really loved how much she thought of him. It must be what having a mum was like, someone to think about your lunch, give you treats, rub your hair, and be nice.

Hoppity always gave Harry extra food in his packed lunch. He loved that too. He thought he remembered what it was like to not have enough to eat.

As Harry went through the items in his lunch, Bobby walked by and tried to steal one of Harry's desserts. Harry was too fast for him though, and snatched everything up before the bully could get anything.

“Hey, this is mine!” he yelled, gaining the attention of the lunch aides and getting Bobby in trouble.

As punishment, Bobby had to stand by the lunch aides for the first half of recess.

When Bobby was released, he was mad and looking for Harry.

The larger boy picked up a ball, and once Harry was in range he threw it at him. Harry evaded it easily, but Benny wasn't so lucky.

“Ow!”

“Stop that!” Harry yelled, incensed at how the bully was treating the smaller boy.

“Stop what?” the bully taunted.

Harry clenched his hands into fists. He wanted nothing more to pummel the bigger boy, and tell him that he was a big, fat bully! To stomp his face in. He deserved it. But no...

Maybe he could frighten him with magic, but no, he couldn't do that. It was a big mistake to use magic around people who didn't have it. What to do then ?

Nearby, Benny watched everything warily and took out his asthma medication. Harry knew that he could walk away from Benny, break their friendship off and the bullies would leave Harry alone to go after the other boy. But Harry could never do that. Never.

“What do I have to do to get you to leave us alone?” Harry demanded.

The question caught the larger boy off guard. Then he thought for a minute. “How about we play a game? If you win then I leave you alone, but if I win then you do whatever I want.”

“Fine. What game?”

Bobby smiled as only an evil six year old can.

The boys haggled over what game to play before discovering that they were both on soccer teams.

“Soccer, then,” Harry challenged. “When my team plays against your team.” He knew that his team would win, they were the best!

“Okay,” the bully agreed smugly. “When I win both of you have to stand in front of the ball wall and get hit with the balls when anyone gets out.”

Harry glanced over at the wall. The children there played a sort of hand ball, and if they touched a ball without catching it they had to run and touch the wall before the ball hit it or they were out. If they got out enough then they stood at the wall while the other children threw balls at them. It didn't happen often, and when it did the lunch aides usually told them to stop.

“Fine,” Harry said. “But until then you have to leave us alone. All the time.”

The bully wasn't happy about that but he agreed. “Fine. Can't wait,” he said with a threatening smile as he ran off to join some friends.

Nearby Benny was looking at Harry with a scared look. “Why'd you do that Harry? Now I'll have to stand against that wall and get hurt! I don't want to get hurt!”

“No, it won't happen! My team will win and then he'll have to leave us alone. And until I win he'll leave us alone too. It's great.”

Benny swallowed and dug the toe of his trainer into the crumbly blacktop. “Do you really think you'll win?”

“Yeah, of course!” Harry wasn't worried. He knew that his team with Michael would win and then Bobby and his goons would have to leave Harry and Benny alone. Michael was a great player, and they had lots of star players on their team, Harry heard some of the mums talking about it. They could win everything!

“Okay,” Benny said in a small voice. “But if you don't, let me know, okay? So I can stay home.”

“Bennnyy... I'm going to win. 'Sides, the ball wall probably doesn't even hurt. They got terrible aim.”

Benny snickered.

“Let's go play.”

The rest of the day was uneventful in comparison. They did the most boring math in the world. He finished so quickly that Jenny accused him of cheating.

Afterward he wrote another story, but he noticed that he wrote a lot more than the other children in his group. He was quicker, and the few words he did write looked neater than most of the other children around him.

Harry wondered if he wasn't doing a very good job of being a normal little boy today. It was frustrating because he didn't want to be different, but he also didn't want to act differently than what he was.

He knew that he'd feel better at soccer practice though. It was the one place where he felt normal, accepted. Harry didn't have to try to do bad there, he could try his best and still fit in. His best friend Michael was on his team too, and all the children liked him. There were no bullies there.

---

That afternoon, Severus Snape made his way to Harry's classroom for something called a Parent-Teacher conference. It sounded horrid, and Severus thanked Merlin that nothing like it existed at Hogwarts.

He shuddered at the thought of wasting countless hours meeting with each and every student's parents to discuss the achievements of their offspring, or in most cases their lack of achievement.

He'd probably get sacked.

It should be interesting hearing about Harry though, and just what mischief the brat was up to while at school... perhaps make the teacher squirm. It might even be enjoyable.

The twit and the boy were at football practice with a ride from the neighbors. Smirkett was torn between the two tasks, but when given the choice, Severus much preferred to go to the mandatory parent-teacher conference than babysit the boy and play nice with the Muggle American family two houses down. Afterward, they were planning to stop for pizza on the way back. Snape was not a fan of football or pizza, so the choice to go to the school instead was an easy one to make.

He hoped he would not regret it.

Severus sneered at the colorful cartoon characters on the walls of the school, and made his way down a hall filled with children's drawings. It was no doubt a very happy place. The Headmaster would have loved it had he seen it and requested the same be done in the dungeons.

Severus would be sure to never tell him about it.

Potter's classroom was almost at the end of the hall. Snape entered and was immediately greeted by a young woman who introduced herself as Ms. Kincaid, “I'm Harry's teacher. As you know, I took over for Mrs. Alkins. Thank you for coming.”

The Potions Master took in the tiny chairs and desks, grouped in sets of four, the colorful posters on the walls, and hundreds of children's art projects scattered on every available wall space. The artwork was even taped along strings or rope running across the space above the children's desks. Colorful books and toys were crammed into every available shelf.

“Delighted to meet you,” Snape said, trying to appear pleasant while being tortured with such surroundings. “Yes, I'm Harry's... father.” What a strange thing to say, and yet he was slightly pleased at being able to say it.

James Potter must be kicking and screaming in his grave. The thought made Snape smile.

“Let me show you around...”

Snape followed the young teacher as she showed him the classroom, and the particulars Harry enjoyed before showing him where the boy's desk was.

“Harry sits here,” she told him as she pointed out the “Harry” name tag taped to the top of the desk. She pulled out some of Harry's work from the desk's cubby area to carry with her.

“Let's sit in some of the larger chairs,” Ms. Kincaid suggested as she led Snape to the front of the classroom. To Snape’s relief the chairs there were adult sized and not the horrid colors the children’s chairs were. He would of outright refused to sit on one of those tiny contraptions. The teacher put Harry's work on a nearby table before sitting down herself.

“Harry is a delight to have in class. He is very obedient, and willing to do work.”

Snape had to keep back a snort. Harry Potter, obedient?

“He also tends to stand up for some of the other students. He is kind and has a strong sense of justice. You must be very proud of him.”

“Very,” Snape answered carefully, wondering at this new information. He shouldn't be surprised though. For as long as Snape knew him, Harry was always trying to get into the thick of things, putting himself in danger to save others. Harry was a naturally troublesome child who tended to do things others praised him for. Snape wondered what the child had been up to in this Muggle classroom.

“Has he got into any trouble?”

“Well... no more than any other children his age. He has a couple of demerits, but I'd say that he is one of the most well behaved boys in the class.”

“Demerits?” Snape asked, wanting more information about Harry's trespasses.

“Demerits are one way we warn the children of their bad behavior. If they get more than three demerits a week, we request a meeting with their parents.”

“And what did Harry do to earn these demerits?”

“Hmm... let's see.” The young woman pulled out a notebook and flipped through it. “The first one was during his first week for trying to wander out of the classroom during lunch time.”

Classic Potter.

“I don't think he knew the rules. Apparently he was trying to find the bathroom.”

Snape folded his arms. “And the other ones?”

“For rowdy behavior. The boys tend to get that often.”

“I see...” Snape said. Nothing too bad then, typical childish behavior. If they weren't trying to fit in so well, Snape would have a talk with the boy about his behavior. As it was, it probably helped Harry to appear more normal and so, Snape would allow and ignore it.

“Your son is a very smart child,” Ms. Kincaid informed him.

“Oh?” Was Harry unfairly using his years of experience and education to show off? Was he capable of doing that with the potion that changed him?

“Yes, he learns quickly and is able to complete every assignment. He should have no trouble transitioning to the next grade.”

Snape smirked. Well they should hope so, if Potter was about to start his sixth year at Hogwarts.

“Harry seems to be particularly good at math. He is usually one of the first students done with the math assignments... Sometimes I think he may be bored. Have you noticed this at home at all?”

“I can't say that I've noticed,” Snape replied. “He does not do math around me.” Besides counting flobberworms, or how many beetle's eyes he's harvested. In fact, if he had to go off of the boy's past performance in potions, he'd have to wonder about the boy's ability to count correctly.

“I'd like to set up an appointment to test him... see if we can get some more challenging work for him.”

Snape thought about that for a moment. It would not be good for Harry to be any more different than he undoubtedly already was, and they were not planning on staying around for much longer. Perhaps he could somehow put off her request long enough that she would forget about it. “I will ask him.”

The teacher nodded, it was not the answer she wanted to hear, but it was better than saying no.

“He does seem to have trouble in other areas, however.”

“What areas?” Snape demanded.

“Focusing, for one. I am not sure if he's bored, or thinking, but he often finishes early, or stops in the middle of something and stares off into space. Frankly I'm concerned. And it's not just that that I'm concerned about.”

Snape watched intently as the young lady pulled open Harry's folder and started to lay some of the work out on the table for him to see.

His eyes caught onto the pictures of what were probably dinosaurs, hearts, unicorns, snakes, blobs of... something, and people. The scribbled people, a boy with a red scar, nearly cleaving his head in half in every picture he was in. Then he saw the dark, black circles, swirls of crayon. Why would the boy draw that? Was it supposed to represent something?

“I don't understand,” Snape told the teacher. “It just looks like a child's drawings to me.”

The teacher pulled out something from the back of the pile, a collection of papers stapled together filled with childish writing and drawings.

“I'd like you to see this. We have been working on writing our own stories in class. Mostly it is an opportunity for the children to draw pictures in a logical progression. This is Harry's story.”

Snape picked up the packet of papers and started to look at the pictures, the few words and occasional, very short sentence.

The little boy with dark hair and a red scar featured prominently, it was obviously a representation of Harry.

There were lots of monsters too, trolls by the looks of it, and a giant snake. But it was the trolls and how they were depicted that made Snape worried himself.

Or rather, how the little boy was depicted with the trolls.

The trolls were large, their heads small with tufts of yellow hair. They had big fists and feet. Two of them had even bigger stomachs. One was holding a club, another a frying pan. A third was holding the stick-figure version of Harry by the hair, a fist pulled back as if to strike. The little boy's face looked frightened, the mouth open in a big “O”, and there were blue tear drops falling off his face.

Another picture had the little boy in what looked like a black box off to the side. The trolls were outside, dancing, and eating huge slabs of meat and what looked like birthday cake (he could tell from the candles) and there was blood beneath them. The boy was still crying.

Snape flipped through the rest, noticing more trolls, blood, possible magical creatures, and a sword. It was quite the violent tale. Tears were a reoccurring theme.

He wondered at what it meant. Was it just a story? Some event from Harry's life? Severus knew that Harry had faced down a troll before, but it was only one, and as far as he knew the boy had not even been injured. It seemed more fiction than fact. Yet the emotions in the little boy were plain to see.

Severus covered up a snort at the picture of a giant snake with three big lumps in it, a decapitated troll head off to one side with blood pooling beneath it. A sense of justice, indeed.

Harry faced a giant snake in his second year, dreamed about one in his fifth, but no snake Snape knew of ate three trolls, not even the basilisk...

The last page had the boy again, smiling with the lumpy snake and some weird creatures – were they unicorns? Whatever they were, they had red manes and tails. All of the characters were holding some brown triangles. Severus had no idea what those were. Fruit, perhaps, the brown triangles were on some trees as well.

It was a puzzling story. Worrying, yes, but in that vague warning sort of way.

Snape looked up to see the teacher regarding him carefully. No doubt, she thought Harry traumatized in some way based off of the drawings. She was probably correct. No six year old would not be traumatized with the sort of things fifteen year old Harry kept in his unconsciousness. Even the most benign magical hex could bring nightmares in a child who didn't know better.

He had hoped that those would all be repressed, but apparently something was coming through, if the drawings were an indication.

Severus glanced around the classroom full of happy drawings of dinosaurs, flowers, suns and rainbows, and families. There was an absence of trolls, and blood in the other drawings around the room from what he could see.

Snape cleared his throat. “Yes, I can see why this might be worrying.” He then prepared himself to explain himself, and Harry out of this.

Ms. Kincaid regarded him, apparently waiting for more enlightenment on the matter.

Snape wasn't sure what to tell her. “I am not sure where it all comes from. Harry is very imaginative. I'm sure you've noticed.”

Ms. Kincaid nodded.

“I wonder if I was not vigilant enough, if he got into some grownup horror stories he wasn't ready for.”

The teacher pursed her lips before placing her hands on the desk, clasping one into another.

What else could he say? “As far as I know, Harry has not encountered such violence in his life. He is a sheltered, happy little boy.” Think, where could the images have come from? “He does play some games, there is a game console on the television… and I don’t know all the programs he watches on the telly as well. Perhaps he came across a story like this, and recreated it with some embellishments.”

Ms. Kincaid stayed silent, and Snape would be breaking out in a sweat if he wasn’t so good a spy. This young teacher had nothing on Voldemort’s interrogations, yet Snape felt uneasy and worried at the situation he found himself in. He also had some foreboding as to Harry’s mindset and coping with his repressed memories. Obviously the boy needed more targeted help if they were coming out in such a fashion, likely scaring the teacher and other children if the story were shared.

“I shall ask his mother,” Snape said, referring to Harry’s adoptive mother for the summer. “Perhaps she will know where this came from,” Snape waved his hand over the makeshift booklet. “May I take this home to ask her?” And hide the evidence away from Muggle prying eyes. They did not need another visit from child protective services. Although, perhaps he should Obliviate her if there was any indication she might think of involving them.

“Of course,” the teacher graciously allowed, but did not seem content to leave it at that. The teacher motioned to all the drawings of Harry, “As you can see, tears are a prominent feature in nearly every drawing of the little boy. Harry is expressing sadness, or pain. Is there someone in Harry's life who might of hurt him?”

Snape sighed. Time for some elegant truth wrangling. “As you know, we did move here recently.”

The teacher nodded, all ears for an explanation.

“Part of the reason why we moved to this particular location is because of your school. It has a glowing reputation, and since it meets year round, Harry always has a safe place to spend his day with other children and caring staff.” A little bit of flattery, and now for some sympathy. Snape leaned forward and lowered his voice, noticing that the teacher leaned forward too, “I’m afraid that the last people we entrusted to watch over Harry were not kind to him.” Snape opened the book to where the three trolls were introduced, “In fact, they rather looked like this.”

The teacher had a look of surprised alarm, and Snape hastened to explain. “As far as I know, they were neglectful, and at times verbally unkind, but never physically harmed him in such a manner.” A half-truth, Snape had seen the bruises, Harry had admitted to them, but never was a club and a frying pan mentioned. “This… tale worries me and makes me wonder if they had...” Snape played up the character of the worried father for his son. “I shall have to ask him and find out.”

Ms. Kincaid reached out, and placed a well-meaning hand over Snape’s in a comforting manner. “Regardless, it may be a good idea to look into some counseling for your child.”

Snape merely nodded.

---

When he arrived home, Snape took a couple of moments to compose himself before leaving the garage. If he played his cards right, perhaps he could get Harry to explain the drawings easily, without noticing anything amiss.

The boy and Smirkett were likely to be still out though, socializing with the Muggles. Snape opened his pocket watch to be sure. It was the pocket watch Dumbledore had given him near the beginning of summer, not only did it tell time, but it gave the status of anyone added to it. For now, the clock hand with Harry’s face was firmly pointing to “Away but safe” and not the nearby “Up to mischief,” or the more alarming “Danger,” “Mortal Peril,” or “Death’s door” selections that Snape hoped Harry would never visit on his time piece. Only this boy would necessitate such distinction on a watch.

There were other areas listed on the watch, and Snape learned that some areas could come and go, or move about, based on the activities the boy engaged in, or places he frequented. For now it listed on the face “Home,” “School,” “Traveling,” “Playing,” “Shopping,” “Lost,” and “Needing attention.”

It was very useful, Snape had taken to checking the watch periodically, to discreetly see what the boy was up to. He wondered if Dumbledore had done the same while Harry was at Hogwarts, or before that when the boy had been staying with his Muggle relatives.

Snape tucked the pocket watch away, and went to check on his newly acquired Snidget. The bird was still in the covered cage, Snape could hear it fluttering about. The water dish was full but messy, and the food dish still had some grubs and bits of seeds from produce, but much of it was gone. The bird had a fast metabolism, and much of Snape’s larvae supply for his potions making was already eaten. The floor of the cage already had feces material, and Snape was excited at the prospects of potions he could try with this new ingredient. Eventually, bits of the bird’s downy under feathers would shed, and he could use them as well.

In time, perhaps the bird could be domesticated and preened by his hand, but for now, Snape was content with the bird’s discard and waste. What the bird would shed in the cage would be more than enough while he sorted through which theoretical potions might benefit from these new ingredients.

In a couple of days he would start putting his hand into the cage and leaving it inside for some minutes, accustoming the bird to his presence. He would have to find where to buy larvae and mites as well. Perhaps a fishing store? Maybe the pet store would know where to go. Keeping to the bird’s natural diet would be best, he assumed it was like a hummingbird’s, as the snidget had a similar beak. Perhaps he could get some flowers.

Snape summoned his working potions journal, intending to read through those potions while he waited for Harry and Smirkett to return home. Perhaps have some tea as well to reward himself after braving Potter’s childish classroom.

At the table is where Harry and Hoppity found him later, when they arrived from their outing. Harry was busy chatting away, regaling Hoppity with his childish escapades.

“-And we’ll win the next game too, and the one after that. We’re the best and Michael is so good, I just know we’ll win.”

“I’m sure you’ll all do very well,” Hoppity said, smiling, and bending down to give Harry a fond pat on the head. “Now, come sit down, Harry-bean” she said as she led him to the kitchen table. The boy beamed at the attention and praise.

Snape put away his potions journal and quill.

“How did the meeting go with Harry’s teacher?” Hoppity asked, sitting down at the table and helping herself to the still warm teapot.

“Fine,” was Snape’s first answer. “She said that Harry was… obedient and very smart.” Green eyes looked at him hopefully, but warily. “He is fitting in well with the other children, even as far as getting some demerits.”

“Demerits?” Hoppity turned to look at the embarrassed little boy, who seemed rather keen to stay silent.

Snape decided to rescue Harry, in hopes that it may make the boy more amiable to his later questions. “Yes, apparently it is expected especially for the male members of the class. Harry has neither too many nor too few to stand out. Well done,” he added in Harry’s direction.

Young Potter seemed shocked at the unexpected praise and his pretend mum added her congratulations as well, patting the shy boy’s hair fondly.

Snape continued, “He has done a little too well in his classwork, the teacher seemed to think he might be bored and wants to see how much he knows, which of course we will not be pursuing. It would be the very opposite of fitting in if she found out he could do maths years beyond his agemates.”

“I knew you were bright,” Smirkett beamed, and Snape had to suppress his snort as Harry’s face reddened in embarrassment. One would hope the deaged golden boy could manage such things as simple, basic maths or the Wizarding World was doomed.

Snape did wonder though just how much the boy retained, and how much knowledge he had as his older self to retain from. If Severus had more than a summer to care for the boy perhaps he would put in enough effort to discover such things, but there were far more pressing matters to see to first.

“We looked at some of Harry’s work, and I thought you might want to see something yourself since you could not be there to see it all.” Snape pulled out Harry’s story from where it was hidden underneath his potions journal, and placed it between his two surprised companions. “According to Harry’s teacher this is a story, some recent work. Perhaps the boy can explain it to you, there are not many written descriptions due to the children’s age.”

Hoppity seemed delighted at the prospect, Harry seemed shocked and looked owlishly up at Severus. Snape purposefully avoided the green eyes and picked up his tea cup, taking a deep draught and appearing uninterested. Of course, the master spy was paying attention to every word but the boy would share more if he did not expect anything amiss.

“Oh, will you tell me about your story, Harry-bean? I’d love to hear it.”

The boy smiled up at his temporary mum and eagerly sat up, pointing at the first page.

Snape opened his potions journal to appear uninterested to the others when he was in fact intently listening to every word. He readied his mind to take note of anything that might clue him in to Harry’s mental state, or the boy’s living conditions outside of school.

He could ask questions later, once he had more information and ideas of what to ask about.