Early Friday morning, Remus found himself being unceremoniously knocked from his bed and onto the floor by his overly enthusiastic friend. He glared up at Sirius, daring him not to have a damn good reason for this abrupt wake up call.

“We can’t find Harry.” Remus’ glare disappeared instantly as he got to his feet.

“What do you mean? He’s not in the castle?” asked Remus, quickly throwing on the nearest robe and shoes. He didn’t notice that his socks didn’t match, and neither did his shoes. He was more than preoccupied with the missing Harry.

“Dumbledore and Minerva have searched the entire castle. He’s not here. Ron and Hermione couldn’t find him this morning for breakfast and became worried. They said neither of them had seen him the night before past their last classes together. What if something’s happened to him?” he asked, growing more and more upset.

Remus laid a comforting hand on Sirius’ shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him. He’s bound to be around here someplace. He probably just wandered off by himself last night and fell asleep. You know he was upset about his relatives. Have you searched the grounds?” he asked.

“Um…no. We haven’t gotten that far. Really, it’s just the four of us looking for him, and I was on my way to fetch Snape.” he said irritably. “Dumbledore doesn’t seem to be too extremely worried, but you can never know with that man.” replied Sirius.

“Look, why don’t you go get Professor Snape while I start looking around for him as well. We can meet back with each other here.”

“Okay.”

Remus patted Sirius’ shoulder once more before leaving the room. He swiftly headed for the Entrance Hall. He had the feeling he would find Harry out there. He descended the steps and paused about halfway across the lawn, looking all around for any sign of the teen. Seeing none, he continued towards Hagrid’s hut, hoping the half-giant had seen Harry at some point the previous evening.

As he drew ever closer to Hagrid’s house, he thought he could distinguish something odd towards the side. When he finally reached the front door, he realized it was a dog. A rather large dog, actually, being even larger than Sirius in animagus form. Remus walked closer to the edge of the house, towards the dog. There was something else there with it, and his heart nearly came out of his throat when he saw an arm lying limply in the grass.

His first impression was that the arm had been dismembered, and his mind had run rampant with all kinds of horrible scenarios, including the dog ripping the arm from Harry’s body, as he had automatically assumed the hand belonged to the boy he cared deeply about. But as he rounded the rest of the house and got a complete view of the dog, he realized that the arm was indeed still attached to the boy’s body, and that the boy was sound asleep, lying comfortably on the dog’s belly.

Remus let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding and dropped to his knees beside the teen. The Rottweiler woke up at the thud of knees and began growling dangerously at the older man, making him shy back in response. Remus quickly drew his wand and leveled it at the dog, ready to stun the animal if need be. This only seemed to infuriate the dog further, and it quickly got to its feet, dumping Harry’s body onto the cold ground, and effectively waking him up.

“Harry, don’t move.” whispered Remus, urgently. The dog had grabbed the back of Harry’s collar and had started to drag him backwards, away from Remus. The man was afraid the dog was going to seriously hurt the teen’s neck by doing so. Its fierce jaws had forced his head into an unnatural angle.

“Zane, stop! ”commanded Harry, but the dog continued to drag the boy away from the perceived threat. Remus instantly lowered his wand, which seemed to calm the dog somewhat, but he didn’t release his hold on Harry. “Zane, let go.” Harry tried again, and this time the dog released him, but refused to leave his side.

“Are you okay?” asked Remus, trying the hedge closer to the boy he considered a son.

“Yeah. This is Zane, by the way. He’s just overly protective of me. I don’t know why, but, once he figures out you’re my friend, he’ll be just as protective of you as he is me.” explained Harry.

As soon as Harry was within arms reach, he pulled the teen into a quick hug, if only to reassure himself that the boy was fine. “We should get back inside. When your friends couldn’t find you this morning, they went straight to the headmaster. Sirius and Severus are undoubtedly worried sick by now, too.”

Harry’s eyes grew wide. “What?” he asked, glancing down at his watch. He gasped. “It’s tomorrow. I don’t even remember falling asleep. Oh, I hope he isn’t mad.” he muttered, making Remus frown. The lycanthrope knew Severus was Harry’s guardian and assumed he was referring to Snape.

“Why would he be mad?” asked Remus.

Harry sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. He’s just been in a mood lately, and I really irritated him yesterday just by being my stupid self. I’m just hoping he’s in a better mood today, I don’t want him to be mad at me.” he said.

Remus looked closely into Harry’s eyes and saw the despair there. He knew in that instant that the boy thought Severus wouldn’t keep him for long. He knew Harry too well not to see that. The Dursley’s had constantly drilled it into his head that he wasn’t worthy of their love and affection. Remus grabbed Harry around the shoulders and pulled him closer.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. He’ll probably just be worried that you were missing.” he said, and hoped he was right. He could understand that both Sirius and Severus would probably be upset that Harry had foolishly fell asleep outside of all places. It was dangerous, after all. But they had better take into account that this boy was also going through a hard time, trying to deal with his relatives death and what that meant to him. Remus only hoped they acted responsibly.

Severus was beyond worried, and his stress factor had increased ten fold since Sirius had barged into his classroom that morning, telling him Harry was missing. If they didn’t find Harry soon, he thought he would pull out his hair. Sirius was pacing the floor, waiting impatiently for his friend to return with any news. They had searched a bit themselves before heading back to Remus’ rooms.

Not five minutes later, the door opened and in walked both Remus and Harry, the younger of the two looking quite disheveled after sleeping outside and just recently having a dog dragging him around by his shirt collar.

Sirius was across the room instantly, wrapping his godson in a tight hug. “Where have you been? Are you okay? We were worried sick!” he gasped out, clutching Harry to him. Remus rolled his eyes.

“I’m fine.” replied Harry. “I accidentally fell asleep last night outside of Hagrid’s cabin.” Harry noticed that Sirius and Severus did not look too pleased with this revelation.

“What in the world were you thinking? Hagrid’s cabin is mere feet away from the Forbidden Forest! Anything could have happened to you.” ranted Sirius.

Harry took a step away from Sirius, instinctively. “Nothing would have happened, I wasn’t…” began Harry, but Sirius cut him off.

“How do you know? You, more than anyone, should understand the dangers of the forest. You’ve been in it, you know what lives there, what could have come out and hurt you!” continued Sirius.

“But it didn’t.” insisted Harry. “I was…”

Sirius interrupted again, “You need to be more careful, Harry. Promise me you will never do something like this again.”

Harry looked at him oddly, wondering why it was that Sirius seemed to be so overprotective all of the sudden. “I promise. But it would have been fine you know. Zane was with me.”

Sirius stopped. “Who?” he asked.

“Zane. He’s my dog.” said Harry.

“Oh.”

Harry turned his attention to Severus, who hadn’t said a word since he came in. “Are you going to yell at me too?” he asked.

“No, I believe your godfather did enough yelling for the both of us.” said Snape, and smirked at the indignant look on the other man’s face. “But, I do agree with him. Don’t let your guard down, alright?”

“Alright.” agreed Harry, unsure of what to think of both men’s behaviors. They knew something; something he wasn’t privy to, and probably wouldn’t be, either. “Can I go back to the tower now? I’ve got to get ready for classes.” he said, even though it was already time for lunch and there were only two classes left afterwards.

“That’s fine. Would you mind meeting me tonight after supper?” asked Severus.

Harry hoped he wasn’t going to get yelled at in private instead of in front of his godfather and Remus. “Yeah, I’ll see you then.” He waved goodbye to the three men and headed up for Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione and Ron had run into him on his way down for lunch and escorted him to the table themselves. He knew they had been extremely concerned, but the way they were following him around was a little disconcerting. It was now time for Defense Against the Dark Arts, a class which only Ron and himself shared, yet Hermione was still walking him to the class.

“Hermione, don’t you have Arithmancy or something?” he asked as he and Ron were about to enter the classroom.

“Yes, I just wanted to make sure you go to the next class safely.” she informed him.

Harry shrugged. “Fine. But you’re going to be late if you don’t hurry.”

Hermione looked down at her watch and gasped. “Oh no.” she moaned. She waved at the two boys and took off down the hallway at a very fast pace.

“She was really worried about you, mate.” said Ron, trying to explain their friend’s actions. “She had jumped to a million and one conclusions before we found out you had just fallen asleep outside.” he said and laughed.

Harry laughed a bit himself. “I know, it sounds kind of stupid now. But, I had a lot on my mind, I didn’t even realize I’d fallen asleep until Remus woke me up.” he explained.

The two seated themselves towards the middle of the room, by Seamus Finnigan. It wasn’t much longer before Dean came in and sat beside them as well.

“Hello.” he greeted. “Did you get your essay’s done?”

Ron and Harry simultaneously pulled out their parchments from their bags. Ron’s was considerably shorter than the other boys.

“Run out of things to write?” asked Seamus.

“Shut up.” growled Ron, but not really minding.

At that moment Mr. David Dillard came in, the newest DADA professor. No one was sure how he or she felt about the new teacher. He was an excellent teacher, but his moods were what confused the students. Some days he came in with a wonderful demeanor, while other times he was a complete jerk. This was only the second class Harry had had with Mr. Dillard, but he felt extremely uneasy around him. He hoped that would change once he got used to the man and his mood swings. He assumed his attitude was due to the new job and the accompanying stress.

“Please open your textbooks to page 124.” said Professor Dillard. He wasn’t very old, probably in his late thirties, with short, dark brown hair. He was always well dressed and well mannered. Harry figured he came from a family with money just by the way he held himself. Most of the girls thought he was handsome, but his attitude pretty much ruined any crushes they might have had on him. He was unreasonably strict, in Ron’s opinion, and most agreed with him. In their last class, a boy named Jeremiah had said he didn’t know the answer to what the seven most deadly hexes and curses were, listed in order from least deadliest, to most deadliest. The new Professor had thrown down his wand, which he had been waving around dramatically, and yelled at Jeremiah that ‘I don’t know’ would never be an appropriate answer. Any who said it again were given detention. Most students were already ranking Dillard right up there with Snape, which Harry didn’t like at all.

Presently, Harry had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t noticed when Professor Dillard had asked him a question. He rapped Harry’s hand with his wand, startling Harry out of his reverie. He gingerly rubbed his hand and turned to glare at whoever had hit him. The glare was wiped from his face when he realized who it was.

“Professor?” he asked timidly.

Dillard looked like he was just barely managing his anger. “In my classroom, Potter, you will pay attention. Detention tonight at 8.” he hissed. “Do not be late.”

Harry was seething. Half of the class hadn’t been paying attention, yet he was the one that had been singled out. He had the feeling this man didn’t like him very much. Ron, Seamus and Dean were looking just as annoyed as Harry was.

At the end of class, the boys filed quickly out of the room, not wanting to entice their teacher’s anger any further.

“What a jerk.” grumbled Harry, once out of earshot of Professor Dillard. “If he gave me detention, he should have given everyone else detention too. I wasn’t the only one not paying attention.” he griped.

Ron patted him reassuringly on the back. “Just don’t be late.” he said, jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. That didn’t work too well.

“I’m supposed to meet Severus tonight to talk. He’s going to be mad that I got detention.” he moaned, and started to walk down the stairs towards the Great Hall for dinner.

“What did you just say?” asked Seamus and Dean at almost the same time.

Harry turned back around and stared. He hadn’t even thought about it, he’d just said his guardian’s name. Uh-oh. What were they going to think of this? He wasn’t too sure they would be okay with it.

“Um…” he stuttered, not sure how to explain this.

“You just said ‘Severus’, like you were old friends or something.” said Seamus. He looked confused. “What’s going on?”

Dean nodded in agreement, and Harry looked to Ron for advice. He shook his head, the universal signal to spill his guts.

“This is going to sound really weird, but believe me when I tell you, because it’s the truth.” He began, and both boys signaled for him to go on. “Alright…well, this past summer, Professor Snape was given guardianship over me.” He said, and waited for the inevitable explosion.

“What!” they both asked, shock written clearly on both their faces. They also looked worried, which Harry wasn’t too surprised about. He just hoped the two of them wouldn’t react the way Ron had.

“How in the world did Snape become your guardian? Why would you want him to be? Is this a willing agreement, or were you forced into it?” asked Seamus.

Harry sighed. Things couldn’t be easy, could they? “Yes, I am a willing participant in this agreement. I wanted Professor Snape to become my guardian.” He said and nearly laughed at the looks on Dean and Seamus’ faces. “What? You don’t know him like I do. If you did, you wouldn’t be acting this way. Just ask Ron, he knows how he is, kind of.” he said uncertainly, turning towards Ron.

Ron grinned at Harry’s discomfort. “Don’t worry guys, Harry’s not in any danger or anything. Snape is a fairly nice guy if you can stand to be around him for more than a minute to notice. I saw him with Harry when he didn’t know I was there. He’s really nice to him, and I really think he cares. Otherwise, I’d be kidnapping my best friend here, and running away with him.” he said, laughingly. Harry looked curious as to which moment Ron was referring to. He was also surprised at the seriousness he had detected in Ron’s tone when he mentioned running away with him. If Ron had seen Snape hurt him, he had no doubt in his mind that his friend would have indeed kidnapped him, just to keep him safe. It was nice to know.

“Are you sure?” asked Dean, directing his question towards Harry.

“Yes. If I wasn’t, you’d know about it.”

“I hope so.” The two boys still didn’t look completely reassured, but Ron’s behavior seemed to appease their worries.

“Come on, it’s time for supper and I’m starving.” mentioned Ron, walking away from the other three without waiting for a response.

“Don’t wait or anything, Ron.” griped Harry.

Ron laughed. “It can’t be helped, I’m hungry.”

Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the Common Room, the latter reading a book and the two boys were playing a game of Chess.

“Don’t you need to get going Harry?” asked Hermione, glancing down at her watch.

Harry groaned miserably. “I don’t want to, but yes, I do need to get going.” He quickly got up from the table he and Ron were sitting at and grabbed his backpack. He didn’t know if he would be doing homework or manual labor. Knowing Dillard, he’d be doing manual labor for the entire evening.

Ron grabbed Harry’s wrist to stop him. “Do you want me to tell Snape where you’re at, so he doesn’t freak?” he asked.

Harry nodded gratefully. “Yes, please. I’d appreciate it. I don’t want him worrying or anything.” Harry had hoped to tell Severus himself after supper, but the older man hadn’t been there. He waited for a bit afterwards, but the Professor never showed. He had garnered a suspicious look from Professor Dillard, however, and a strict reminder not to be late.

“Good luck.” He said, and meant it. He didn’t like Dillard, something about the man just wasn’t right. “Be careful.” Ron added.

“I will, thanks. See you tonight then, if he doesn’t keep me too late.”

Harry waved goodbye to his friends and left for his detention. He made it to the DADA classroom in record time, he was early in fact. He carefully turned the doorknob and let the door creak open on its hinges. He flinched at the sound.

“Don’t you know how to knock, Potter?” snapped Dillard. The professor was sitting at his desk, reading a book, one leg propped up on the desk. This seemed odd to Harry, as he never imagined the older man looking this relaxed or casual. Well, maybe not relaxed, as the man looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel by the look on his face. Harry’s discomfort grew as the man stood from his seated position and told Harry to sit down, pointing at the desk directly in front of his own.

Harry obediently walked to the front of the room and took the seat he was just ordered into. He pulled his backpack into his arms in an unconscious act to put as many objects between himself and his Professor as humanly possible.

“You brought your homework, good. I had hoped you had enough space in that little brain of yours to bring along your work.” Harry bristled at the insult to his intelligence, but wisely remained quiet. Professor Dillard grabbed a piece of paper off his desk and slapped it down in front of Harry. “I want you to fix this.” he said, going back to his desk.

Harry looked down at the paper on his desk and realized that it was the essay he had turned in earlier. “What’s wrong with it?” he asked. Hermione had read the essay after he had gotten done writing it and, besides telling him to make a few changes, had said it was rather good. He had made the changes, so nothing should be wrong with it. He flinched at the glare Dillard was sending him.

“What’s wrong with it?” he asked, venom in his voice. “I do believe you know what is wrong with it.”

Harry blanched at the man’s anger. What was wrong with this guy? “I don’t understand. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Hermione Granger proofread it for me. She said it was fine. What could possibly be wrong with it?” he asked, and hoped he hadn’t just gotten Hermione into trouble. The only reason he mentioned it at all was to confirm to the man that an incredibly intelligent witch had read that particular essay and thought it was good.

Professor Dillard stood abruptly from his chair and stalked towards Harry. The boy immediately stood up, knocking his chair to the floor in his hast.

“So you cheated, did you? Got your little friend to help you write this essay?” he asked, which set Harry off.

“I did no such thing!” he yelled, slamming his fist down on the table. “How dare you. Hermione would never help me write it, she just looks over them, like any descent teacher would do to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes!” he yelled, completely disregarding the fact that he was going off on a teacher.

Dillard’s face turned red in his anger, and he unthinkingly grabbed Harry by the arms and shook him roughly. “Don’t you ever talk back to me like that!” he hissed and pushed Harry into the chair that wasn’t knocked over. Harry lost his balance and fell over the chair, landing hard, smacking his head against the floor.

Dillard froze on the spot, shaking. He had gone pale seeing what he had just done to a student. “Harry?” he asked. He cursed under his breath as he watched the boy’s trembling arms as he tried to pick himself up off the floor. Blood ran freely from a split lip and he could tell a bruise was forming on his cheekbone from the impact.

“Harry?” he asked again, fear entering his voice. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. Are you okay?” he asked, and carefully put his arms under Harry’s, helping to lift him into the nearest chair.

Harry saw that the man was truly sorry and felt the fear and anger leave him. “I’m fine.” he whispered.

Professor Dillard ran a hand over his face, roughly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that, at all.” he said. “Please, don’t tell anyone. I could lose my job. I really need it right now.” he said, and dropped his head into his hands. “I am such an idiot. I never should have taken my frustration out on you.”

Harry took pity on the man, ignoring his internal worry. He had apologized. He hadn’t meant to push him like that. “It’s okay. I promise I won’t tell. It was just an accident.” he said, and he felt much better once he saw the man’s worry leave him. Dillard even smiled at him.

“Thanks, Harry. Here, let me get you something for that split lip.” he said and hastily walked back to his desk. He returned with a white handkerchief and handed it to Harry. “Sorry, I don’t have any of the potions I would normally have on me for accidents in the classroom. I could heal the split lip, but the bruise on your cheekbone will have to be fixed by Madame Pomfrey.” he informed Harry, and the boy nodded.

“That’s okay, I know someone who can make me a potion for the split lip.” he said, and was startled to see a dark look flittering over Dillard’s face before it disappeared again.

“Do you?” he asked, as if nothing was wrong. Harry suddenly wanted to be far away from this man.

“Yeah, do you mind if I go ahead and go? I know the detention has hardly begun, but my head is really starting to hurt from hitting it so hard.” he said, hoping to get the man to feel guilty again and let him go. He was more than glad when it worked.

“Of course, Harry. You go ahead and go to the Infirmary. You won’t tell, right?” he asked.

“No, I promised.” he said, and headed for the door.

“See you on Monday, then Harry.” said Professor Dillard. Harry nodded and hurriedly shut the door behind him as he stepped into the hallway. He gingerly touched his bruised cheek, flinching at the pain. Walking away from the classroom, he wondered if he should really go to the Infirmary. He was suddenly exhausted, the adrenaline and fear that had been flooding him just moments before fading. He wanted only one thing at that moment, and that was to feel safe.

Harry found himself standing outside of a familiar portrait. The snake slithered up on of the tree’s branches, trying to get closer to the boy so he could identify him. Harry stepped closer and let the snake scan his retina. The portrait immediately slid backwards, allowing him entrance to Professor Snape’s private quarters. Severus was nowhere in sight, but Harry felt safer just being in the man’s rooms. He walked into the kitchen and wet down the handkerchief Dillard had given him and began dabbing at his split lip. After rinsing the blood away and making sure the bleeding had stopped he tiredly walked into the living area and flung himself onto the couch. He grabbed a pillow and pulled his knees up towards his chest, and laid his head down on the fluffy pillow. He sat that way for a long time, wondering why it was he always seemed to get hurt. He was sadly wondering whether there was something about him that was so bad that it made people want to hurt him. It was at that moment that Severus walked through the opened portrait and spotted Harry sitting in the gloom of the living room.

“Harry? I thought you had detention.” mentioned Severus, walking through to his bedroom. “I’ll be right back, I just need to change.” he yelled out. Harry nodded, even though his guardian couldn’t see him.

“Weasley told me you weren’t paying attention, and that’s why you got a detention, is that right?” came Severus’ voice from his room.

“Yeah.” Harry said, just loud enough for the Professor to hear him.

“You do seem to daydream a lot, Harry. You need to pay more attention in your classes. And I don’t want to hear that you’ve gotten anymore detentions over this, got it?” he asked, stepping into the living room. “Why are you sitting in the dark?” he asked, and with a flick of his wand a fire ignited in the fireplace.

As he looked down at Harry, sitting dejectedly on the couch with a bruise on his cheek and a split lip his first thought was that Jeb had somehow come back and gotten his hands on the boy. He soon disregarded that notion, knowing the man was dead. “Harry?” he asked, hoping the boy had just gotten into a scuffle with another student. “What happened to your face?”

Harry shrugged. “I tripped in the corridor and fell on my face. I’m such a klutz lately.” he said, laughing slightly. But Severus could tell it wasn’t sincere. He cautiously sat down beside Harry, and felt his heart constrict when the boy shied away from him. This was more than just tripping in the hallways. He suddenly remembered the detention he was supposed to be in and he immediately jumped to the newest Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He hadn’t liked the man, and now he was harboring dark thoughts of the man slapping Harry.

“What happened in detention, Harry?” he asked, hoping the boy would prove him wrong. Hoping he really was just jumping to conclusions due to Harry’s past experiences.

Harry looked up at him. “Nothing happened, really.” he said easily. “He just had me correct some errors on my essay I turned in today and then said I could leave. He said he was still busy unpacking and getting things ready for his classes, and really didn’t have time for the detention. He told me to pay more attention in his class and then let me go.” he lied smoothly.

And Severus bought it. “You really tripped?” he asked, disregarding David Dillard as a threat to his charge.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, stupid, I know. I wasn’t paying attention and fell flat on my face.” These lies were getting easier and easier to tell. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to tell them again. He decided then and there if Dillard did anything like that again, he would tell Severus. He’d give the new Professor one more chance, hoping he really had just let his frustration get the better of him.

“Well, be more careful, kid. Come on, I’ve got a potion for your lip, and I’m sure I’ve still got some of that ointment for bruises still.” He said, thinking back on when he had to put the ointment on Harry’s back everyday for the first few weeks they’d returned to the school. After Harry’s injuries were taken care of, Severus insisted he stay the night. “You look exhausted. We can talk later about this morning.” He said, making Harry realize he was going to be questioned by Severus away from his godfather and Remus. “It’s nothing serious, kiddo.” He added, seeing Harry’s distressed look. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay about your relatives.”

Harry dipped his head down. “Okay. I think I’m going to get some sleep then. Thanks for letting me crash here.” he said, and walked into the spare bedroom, which was now his.

“No problem. Sleep well, Harry.” he said, and closed the door after the boy.