Harry was surprised when he saw his bedroom. It was more than twice the size of the bedroom he once occupied on the second floor of the Dursley house before he was moved back to the cupboard. His new room was also furnished beautifully with black oak wood making up his bed frame, desk, and dresser.

He’d expected Snape to give him a room more like the Dursleys had, but he was wrong and he was thankful for that. He set his trunk down at the foot of the bed and re-sized it. Then he dumped his knapsack out on the bed and shoved his old ratty pillow under the mattress. He began to put everything away and it didn’t take long as he only had three outfits other than his school robes.

After he was done, he found himself bored but didn’t want to bother Snape. The man had been nice enough to give him a room to stay in and Harry didn’t want to ruin whatever was keeping the man from sneering about Harry somehow being ‘just like James Potter’.

Looking around, Harry found he had his own bathroom through one of the doors and so he took a shower that he’d been wanting for a couple days and then he started on some of his summer homework.

----

Severus tried to work in his office but found himself glancing at the barely open door every few minutes. He couldn’t figure out how Harry was feeling about being plucked from one home and placed in another so casually. The boy had been surprised, that was obvious. Severus hoped that Harry was at least relieved to be out of that damned cupboard he’d been locked in.

The cupboard had surprised Severus. It was obvious that Harry lived in that small space and Severus had had to admit to himself that the boy wasn’t as spoiled as he’d once thought.

The knowledge of Harry’s home life also gave Severus some hope. He had been worried before that Harry would be accustomed to a life of luxury and would be bitter towards Severus for moving him into a normal home and making him live a normal life for a child. He knew now that he could provide a life for Harry was better than the one he’d known before.

So now Severus was aware of one assumption he’d been wrong about, but he was still unsure about the boy. No matter Severus’s changed feelings, he still couldn’t deny that Harry was a child who tended to disregard rules at school and ran head first into danger. So far Severus hadn’t seen much of the brattiness that he knew Harry was capable of, but he still expected it to pup up sooner or later.

The only difference this time would be that Severus would be able to handle Harry’s temper without losing his own due to blind hatred. This time there would be no jealousy of James and Lily for having a child when he had lost his own.

After a few hours had passed without Harry showing up at his door, Severus decided to seek him out for lunch. Harry’s door was open all the way so Severus entered the room without a knock. He saw Harry sitting at the desk against the wall taking notes from a book and biting his thumbnail.

Severus stood behind him and read over Harry’s shoulder for a moment, seeing what subject the boy seemed so involved in. He smirked when he saw that it was Potions. He put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and was going to give some advice, but Harry’s reaction stopped him.

Harry hadn’t noticed the professor enter the room and when he felt the pressure on his shoulder, he flinched and jumped in surprise. His food had been hooked lazily around one of the legs of his chair and he fell to the floor.

Nothing bruised but his pride, the little Gryffindor lashed out at the only other person in the room. When the older man reached down to him, Harry failed to see the helping gesture or the concerned eyes and he drew back and stood on his own.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” he yelped, frowning a bit as he tried to ignore his blush of embarrassment.

“I didn’t ‘sneak’ up on you, Mr. Potter.” Severus drew his arm back and his eyebrows raised.

“Sure, I’ll be you just wanted to see if you could scare me just because-” Harry’s little tirade was interrupted.

“The door was open. I only entered to inform you that it is time for lunch. I saw your studies and was merely going to offer some advice.” Severus’s voice was quiet as he tried not to be too annoyed with Harry’s outburst. With the knowledge of their blood bond also came love for the boy… but liking and tolerating were much more difficult than loving.

“You were-! You…? Oh.” Harry stuttered to a stop, unsure of what to do or say then. He was saved from any further embarrassment when the other man’s voice spoke out.

“Perhaps we should just make our way o the kitchen for lunch.” Severus turned and walked from the room with Harry following.

“The kitchen?”

“Yes. I only use the dining area for breakfast and dinner. I rarely take a lunch, but with a child in my care… well, you should continue with the good eating habit of three meals a day as you are still growing.”

This time is was Harry who raised an unbelieving eyebrow, but it went unnoticed by the man in front of him.

The kitchen was different than Harry had expected. He was used to the small kitchen area at the Dursley house and he’d seen the old looking kitchens at Hogwarts, so he expected some sort of magical in-between. This kitchen was sleek and muggle-looking with lots of marble counter and storage space and the best equipment. There was an island of marble counter space in the middle of the room with two barstools near it.

“Brilliant,” Harry whispered as he took in the scene.

“I never would have thought you’d have an appreciation for a good kitchen, what with your lack of enthusiasm for potion brewing.” Severus smirked as he reached into a cupboard and grabbed a loaf of bread. “Sandwiches?”

“Sandwiches are good.” Harry nodded. He knew he should be hungry, but he wasn’t. His body had already gotten used to being so deprived of food that it had learned not to remind Harry or demand anything. But here was Snape, being so casually domestic that it unnerved Harry a bit, so he decided to make himself useful and he went to the refrigerator to find some sandwich makings.

“I do… well I used to do most of the cooking at the Dursley’s. Sometimes, if I’m left to myself and not on some time limit, it can be relaxing. Besides, cooking food is a lot different than brewing potions. If you spill a little extra salt into a sauce, it’s not going to explode.. much less pressure.” Harry took two pieces of bread and made his sandwich.

“Usually, with basic potions, a mistake can be fixed if you are quick an know what you are doing.”

They finished making their lunches and put the ingredients away and Severus grabbed a bottle of pumpkin juice for each of them as Harry took a seat on one of the stools.

“But how am I supposed to know what to do to fix each mistake?”

“By now you should know the properties of each ingredient you are using,” Severus said as he took a bite from his sandwich.

“How should I know that? They didn’t exactly teach it in primary school before I got to Hogwarts,” Harry replied.

“Then you should be reading up on the topic to find what you need.”

“Where? Our potions text only has page after page of different potion instructions and a summary of what each potion is… like a cook book. It doesn’t really get in depth with other things we should know for the class. So I can memorize how to make certain potions but I can’t tell you why they act the way they do. I tried to look in the library before but a lot of the potion books there are just like our textbooks. I don’t know where to look for this information and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Maybe there should be a supplement to our regular text or something…” Harry shrugged. Then he realized how casual and forward he’d just been and he froze.

“I- I’m sorry. I didn’t-”

“No… no need to apologize. It is a good idea. I’m not sure how I feel about my teaching methods being critiqued by a thirteen year old… but it is a good idea.” Severus nodded to Harry’s half eaten sandwich that the boy was picking at, “Finish eating.”

“I think I am finished. The sandwich is very filling,” Harry softly said.

“It’s ham and cheese. It’s not that filling,” Severus countered. “I’ve seen you eat at Hogwarts and I know you eat more than this for lunch.”

“I eat more during the school year. It’s not a big deal, I just don’t eat much in the summer.” Harry frowned at the food, avoiding his guardian’s stare.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Mr. Potter, don’t give me cheek. Why don’t you eat the same amount of food year round? It’s not a difficult question.” Severus was wondering if he would be dealing with a child who had an eating disorder that was easily hidden during school.

“I’m not allowed, alright? Is that what you wanted to hear, Professor? Now you can laugh about it with all your Slytherins when school starts again. Poor, weak Harry Potter… even his own relatives don’t like him enough to feed him.”

Severus was surprised and chose to ignore Harry’s tone.

“No, that is not what I wanted to hear. Believe it or not, I do want you alive and well. Why didn’t anyone notice before?” To Severus, Harry looked thin but not dangerously skinny until he looked more carefully at certain things like Harry’s wrists or sometimes his shoulders when the overly large t-shirt slid to the side.

“School robes, baggy hand-me-down clothes… it’s easy to hide how much weight I’ve lost. I can usually gain enough back before Quidditch starts… so that nobody in the locker room says anything…” Harry waved his hand as if to say it wasn’t a big deal.

“Hmm…” Severus stood and looked the boy over as he thought quickly to himself. “Come with me.” He waved to Harry as he walked out of the kitchen.

Harry hopped down from his stool, swallowed what was left of his juice, and followed the potions master. They ended in the lab, which Harry was different from the labs at Hogwarts. It was more personal to the older man and it had many more tools and gadgets than what was available for the students.

“Take off your clothes.”

“What? No!” Harry stiffened in surprise at the command.

“Take your- Merlin’s sake, I just need to examine you. I’ve just been informed (by you) that your former guardians have basically starved you. You cannot expect me to believe that’s all they did.” Severus’s face showed no expressions except for two slightly raised eyebrows.

“Well, it is and I do.” Harry insisted, crossing his arms over his chest to make sure his clothes stayed on.

“Well, even if that is all that happened, I still need to know what I’m dealing with so that I can make a nutritive potion to suit your needs. I’ll need your exact height and weight, and I’ll need to see your body to estimate how much of the weight is muscle, fat, bones, etc…” Severus tried to explain. He could see Harry’s resolve start to waver as he was given reasonable explanations. “I had to weigh and examine Lupin the same way… if that makes you feel any better. Some medicinal potions need to be tailored to each person that they are made for while many basic potions… a burn or bruise salve, Skelegro, Pepper-Up… those I can usually make a generic base for Madame Pomphrey and she can make specific additions if needed for each patient.”

“The Wolfsbane Potion is specific like that?”

“Yes.”

With a slight sigh, Harry finally nodded his consent. He pulled his shirt off and held it to his chest, still shy and unsure about his exposure to the man he’d known for three years but really only met today.

Severus could see the boy’s collar bone jutting out and a dark patch of skin near the left shoulder. He reached out and gently pried the shirt from Harry’s grasp and set it on the table next to him.

“Harry…” The sigh of the name made Harry look up from where he’d been staring at the floor, surprised. He was even more surprised when he looked at the man’s face. Where he’d expected to see a sneer of disgust or a smirk because Harry had gotten when he deserved, he instead saw that the man just looked sad.

Severus had to take a deep breath before knelt closer to examine Harry. His ribs were visible and there were some bruises on the sides of Harry’s torso and his back.

“What are the bruises from?” Severus asked, turning from Harry and walking to the shelves against the wall to get a jar of bruise salve. He was still waiting for an answer from Harry when he finally found the jar he wanted and he walked back.

He scooped a large dollop from the jar and reached out to touch Harry’s back. Harry’s muscles went taut at the unknown touch and Severus gently massaged the salve in, calming Harry enough to relax.

“Sometimes I don’t always get my chores done and I get a smack, nothing major. Or if I’m in the way, I just get pushed aside… or sometimes I get shoved into my cupboard a little rougher if Uncle Vernon is upset with me. They don’t beat me or anything though… so it’s not what you’re thinking.”

“What I’m thinking is that you don’t even know what child abuse is.” Severus was unable to keep the slight growl out of his voice.

“Sorry, sir.” Harry took a step away from Severus, making him pause. He knew that being exposed would make Harry feel more vulnerable and he felt horrible for exacerbating it.

“No, don’t apologize when you haven’t done anything wrong.” Severus capped the jar and set it on the table next to Harry’s shirt. He took a breath and tried to make his voice as gentle as possible. “Take off your pants and stand on the scale. I need your exact weight and as baggy as those pants are, I’m afraid they’ll make too much of a difference.”

Reluctantly, as anyone in his situation would be, Harry undid his belt, which was a bit loose even at the tightest notch, and let his baggy jeans fall to the floor. His embarrassment showed in the red flush that went from his face down to his chest. He’d never had a real check up from a doctor and he’d been unconscious anytime that Madame Pomphrey had needed to put him in hospital pajamas. He usually took his showers at night while the other boys at school showered in the morning and during Quidditch everybody worried about themselves. So Harry’d never had any attention paid to him in such a state of undress.

Severus studied Harry with a clinical eye, trying to keep his emotions at bay until he could deal with them alone. Harry’s hip bones were too visible for anyone his age and his legs were little sticks. He cleared his throat when he felt a sharp sorrow reaching from his chest to his throat.

“Just step onto the scale and then you can put your clothes back on.” His voice was thick and he was almost surprised that Harry could even hear him enough to do as he was told.

“Hey, it’s a muggle scale.”

“Yes. They are more reliable than a weight diagnostic spell.” Severus demonstrated by waving his wand over Harry’s head and murmuring a quick spell. “According to my wand, you are 5 feet tall and-” Severus hissed in through his teeth and winced, “- you weigh about 78 lbs.”

Harry cringed, not really at the numbers but at the voice that had croaked them out. He hated his short stature, but he wasn’t so concerned about the weight as he’d been skinnier before. The man standing beside him didn’t know that though and was quite concerned enough for the both of them.

He watched as the other man then brought down the metal bar on the scale so that it lightly touched Harry’s head. The professor wrote something down on a parchment on the table. Then he moved the small weights that sat along the numbers at the top of the scale until everything balanced out and he wrote some more on the parchment.

“According to the scale you are 5 feet and 1 ½ inch tall and your weight still remains at 78 lbs. You are extremely underweight and if I had used the information from the diagnostic spell, your potion would have been too weak by a small bit because of the incorrect height. It would not have done any damage, but it would have taken the potion longer to work,” Severus explained as he motioned for Harry to step down and put his clothes back on. He walked back to the table and stared at the parchment for a moment, giving Harry a small bit of privacy to dress himself.

“Your potion shouldn’t take too long to make. It will be done by tonight. It is an exact potion, though, and I’ll need to concentrate. You may entertain yourself until dinner, but do not leave the house. I still need to ward the yards.”

Harry nodded, pushing his arms through the large holes in his shirt, and knew that he was dismissed.

“May I read in the library?” He wasn’t usually one to read for recreation, that was Hermione’s role in the group, but he didn’t think he had the energy to do much else. The summer had not given him much and he used up anything he got and more when he was doing chores. The sandwich half did make him feel a bit better, but he knew it usually took a week or two before he felt normal after summer.

“Of course you may. This is your home now and there is no need to ask permission. All you need to remember is to knock and wait for an answer before you enter a room with a closed door. That is all the instruction you need until we have the discussion of house rules.” Severus frowned slightly as he gave his answer.

Harry figured the frown meant that he was being annoying and that made him feel a little guilty. The man was taking time out of his day to make a potion to make Harry feel better and he could at least try not to bother him by asking stupid questions.

“Er… right. Sorry, sir. Oh, and thanks.” Harry quickly left the room.

Severus watched the boy scurry out. With this special nutritive potion business going on, he was going to have to wait a while before he would be able to attempt some sort of bonding with Harry. This situation was going to be in the way and damn the Dursleys and damn James Potter for delaying him from gaining Harry’s favor and trust even longer.

Damn them all for hurting this child. Damn them because Harry had gotten so used to it that he didn’t even know he was hurting. He knew that if James had not taken Harry and if Severus had raised him, he would be healthy and maybe happier. And he knew that now he could only try to make things better for Harry from now on.