Harry followed behind Snape, too frightened to actually say anything to the man. He wasn’t sure what he was afraid of. Just that the man acted too much like his uncle for comfort. Perhaps it was just because he was in a bad mood, and he wasn’t always like this. He normally wasn’t even this callused at school. He, therefore, decided on hoping the pissed off attitude would go away soon.

They were almost at the front doors of the castle, and he hadn’t even noticed. Hedwig started making noises from her cage, letting him know she wanted out. He had almost forgotten he had her on him. And that’s when he remembered something else. In Snape’s rush to get them out of the train station, he had left his belongings in the trunk of his uncle’s car.

“Oh no.” he whispered to himself. He was fairly certain that if Vernon remembered that Harry’s things were in his trunk, he would destroy them at the earliest convenient moment.

“What?” asked Snape, interrupting Harry’s distraught thoughts.

Harry about jumped a foot at the voice.

“My…my things. I left them in the trunk of my uncle’s car. He’ll destroy them if I don’t get them back.” he said, hesitantly.

“Well then, perhaps you should have thought of that before leaving them there.” he said, hatefully. Snape knew at this point that he was just being an asshole to Harry because there was no one else to take his frustration out on. Of course, by the looks of things, he figured he had better stop.

Harry didn’t even look like he was going to argue the point. He knew he was flat out lying to the boy. In all reality, it was his fault the things had been left behind. He had disapparated before the boy could have possibly retrieved his belongings. Maybe that blasted muggle had more of an influence on the boy than he thought. And, certainly, his attitude did wonders. The poor boy probably thought he was just as bad, if not worse, than his uncle. ‘Time to act relatively normal.’ he thought.

“Potter, I can only assume you were ignorant enough to leave your wand in your trunk.” he stated. Okay, so old habits die hard. He was going to use the boy’s safety as an excuse to go back and get his stupid trunk.

Harry could barely restrain the flinch that wanted to so desperately show itself. “Well, I left it there…I would have gotten it out as soon as we got home. He would have seen it if I didn’t hide it there.” he replied, defending himself.

“Very well, then. Let’s go get your personal items, and hope your damn uncle hasn’t destroyed anything.” he paused, wondering how long it would take a car to drive back to Privet Drive. “Would your uncle be home yet?” he asked.

Harry looked down at the watch on his wrist. “Probably, it’s been a few hours since we left him there.” he replied.

“Alright. Let’s go.” he said, placing all of his belongings on the ground. After telling Harry to let the bird out of its cage, he placed the cage with his things as well, and then cast a protection charm on them. No one would be able to touch them without receiving quite a shock. With that done, he grabbed Harry’s sleeve and disapparated to Private Drive.

They apparated about a block away from the Dursley residence. “Which one is it, Potter?”

“It’s the fourth one on the right.” he said, pointing to it as well.

Without another word, Snape started walking towards it. Once again, Harry found himself following closely behind the older man. He suddenly felt like a puppy following his master or something. This was definitely not a pleasant thought. So, he gained some speed and matched his pace with Snape, walking beside him. The professor, however, didn’t seem to notice.

They reached number four in record time. The car was thankfully parked outside. Pulling out his wand, Severus muttered “Alohamora.” and the trunk sprang open. And as luck would have it, his trunk was still there.

“I can’t believe it.” muttered Harry. He was beyond shocked that it was there. But he had the feeling that Vernon was so angry that he completely forgot about it.

“Is everything intact?” asked Snape, startling Harry.

Harry sighed, annoyed with himself. ‘Calm down.’ he told the ‘Vernon Dursley conditioned’ part of his mind. He opened the trunk and was once again relieved. “Yes, it’s all here.”

“Good. Now, is there anything else you may be forgetting, or can we finally leave?” he asked, hitting a nerve in Harry.

“No, that’s all. We can leave.” replied Harry. He grabbed his trunk, hurriedly this time, and started to pull it out of the car. It was extremely heavy, and a heck of a lot more difficult to get out than to put in. He was beyond shocked when Snape pushed him to the side and got the trunk out himself.

“You’ll break you back.” he said as way of an explanation.

“Oh.” said Harry, clearly beside himself. He was still looking at his professor in shock when he grabbed his sleeve and disapparated.

***************************

Ah, Hogwarts, once again. Harry decided to ignore his earlier description of apparating, because he was fairly certain that he hated it now. He felt nauseas. Of course, this could also be a contributing factor to extreme lack of food. He hadn’t eaten in at least two days. He had been so depressed about returning home that he had stopped eating. It seemed to be a new end of term ritual. He found himself leaning on Snape for the support, and quickly pushed himself off. This made him dizzy. The next thing he knew he was on the ground, dry heaving.

Snape had been surprised to find the boy leaning on him when they had apparated near Hogwarts grounds. He had been even more surprised when the boy collapsed onto the ground, dry heaving no less. Didn’t he eat this morning?

He kneeled down beside the boy. “Potter, when was the last time you ate?” he asked, curiously.

As the dry heaves ended, he looked up into his professor’s face. He was actually afraid to answer that question. Would he be mad at him for not eating? He didn’t know.

“I…um…it’s been…two days.” he ended, lamely.

Snape raised his eyebrows at this. “Why on earth haven’t you been eating?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to tell the Potions professor what his reasoning was.

“Fine then, don’t answer me. Let’s go, I’ve got some anti-nausea potions in my bag.” he stated, annoyed. He bodily lifted Harry from the ground and practically carried him over to their things. Sitting Harry back onto the ground, Snape grabbed a bag that looked quite small to have potions in it. But, as he opened it, he pulled out several large vials, which couldn’t possibly have fit in a bag that small. He realized it must be magically enlarged on the inside. He watched as his professor finally picked a vial from the lot and gave it to him. “Drink it.” he ordered, placing the other vials back into the bag. Harry did as he was told and almost instantly felt better.

“If you’re done being sick, we’re going to disapparate, hopefully for the last time today, Potter. Can you handle it?” he asked, but with a touch of sarcasm, laced with what Harry thought might be concern.

“Yeah.” he replied. “But, may I ask where we are going?”

“You may ask, but as of now, it is imperative that you know nothing. There are ears everywhere, Harry. Besides, you’ll know eventually.” he replied, neutrally.

Harry felt his shoulders sag. So, basically, he was in a situation he knew nothing about, and he got the feeling someone might be following them, by Snape’s evasive words. Great. If anything, this only made Harry worry more. He was with a man prone to bad moods and now he basically felt completely out of control of the situation.

Snape saw the apprehension and fear on the child’s face and knew he’d have to give up some more information. Before, he had thought Potter’s uncle had been acting out in a single fit of rage. That perhaps something had happened that day to set him off, since Potter had never shown any signs of that kind of abuse. But now, watching him grow more and more withdrawn, he began to wonder. He assumed it was his lack of knowledge that was sending the boy into near hysteria. He wasn’t there yet, but he watched as the boy’s eyes filled with uncertainty. Harry didn’t want to go with him because he was scared of him. Wonderful, just wonderful. Really, now he definitely had to kill some old habits.

“Potter, we’re searching for someone, better now?” he asked, and Harry flinched violently. Now he was certain the abuse had been going on for a while now. Softening his tone, he continued. “This person knows where a certain something is. And we are going to collect this certain item.”

“Oh, okay.” he replied, at least now he knew a little more. But the fact that Snape had told him at all relieved him greatly.

“Now, do we have everything?” he waited until Harry nodded in the affirmative. Then he asked again. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ve got everything.” Harry was sure his professor was trying to annoy him.

“Very well then, do you think you can disapparate without getting nauseas?” he asked, since he would rather not have the child puking on him.

“I think I’ll manage.” said Harry, grabbing his things, and standing near his professor.

Snape grabbed his things as well and, taking Harry’s hand, they disapparated.