Harry hated that this decision was on his shoulders. When he first spotted the Snitch it was twenty minutes into the game and Slytherin was ahead 60 – 20. However, before he could finish wondering which house he wanted to win, the Snitch had disappeared.

The Hufflepuff Seeker, who had already played a Gryffindor – Hufflepuff match against Harry in autumn, should really have known better than to be fooled by Harry’s sudden dives and climbs and yet… he was. Finally 38 minutes into the game, Harry caught the Snitch. The score was 80 – 30 and the Slytherin side of the tribunes erupted into a deafening applause.

While his teammates were joyfully jumping and dancing around him, Harry didn’t know if he should be happy that he helped the Slytherins win the Quidditch Cup or sad because he didn’t let the Gryffindors win it. As soon as he could he escaped his cheering House mates and made his way to Professor McGonagall. He apologised for being too slow catching the Snitch.

With a hint of disappointment still written in her face the teacher assured him, “It’s not your fault, Harry. If your Gryffindor teammates had gotten just one more goal, Gryffindor would have won the Cup. So don’t blame yourself, Harry. Go and enjoy your party with your other House. Have fun today and don’t worry: I don’t expect you back in Gryffindor tonight.”

Consoled, Harry went back to his House mates. Hopefully, Ron and his Gryffindor teammates would feel the same way their Head of House did.

The party in Slytherin House was huge. The house elves even brought lunch to the Common room and Harry could hardly believe his eyes when Severus joined them for lunch. He didn’t even scold them for drinking the butterbeer that some older students had brought from Hogsmeade.

So far, Harry was torn and not reallyenjoying the party as half of him was very disappointed and sad for Gryffindor. Moreover, he had been wondering if Severus was expecting him to join him as he did every Saturday afternoon, in brewing potions together. When Harry noticed that Severus was leaving the Common room, he followed him and whispered, “Professor, are we going to brew potions today?”

Severus threw him an astonished glance and answered quietly, “If you have enjoyed your admirers’ fawning for long enough, you are welcome to assist me.”

Harry gave him an annoyed glare and followed his teacher over to the Potions classroom where he sat down, waiting for instructions.

-----

Severus chose a potion he knew Poppy often gave Harry when he had difficulty breathing. It was called the ‘Eucalia Potion’. In case Harry had to spend his summer holidays somewhere without Poppy or himself nearby, it would be best for the boy to be able to brew the potion. Of course, he didn’t voice this thought and only made a mental note to explain the purpose of the potion later.

As usual, Harry was very diligent preparing the ingredients. He was extremely careful brewing the potion that was definitely not a first-year-level one.

As soon as Harry was finished brewing, bottling, and cleaning up his workspace Severus ushered Harry over to his private quarters. While they had tea and biscuits Severus quizzed Harry about the potion.

“Do you know the purpose of this potion? What ingredients are responsible for the effects of this potion?” he asked the boy questions, which in normal classes were at least third year level.

Harry thought for a moment, before he replied, “Birch bark helps to strengthen the immune system. The combination of moon fern and crushed eucalyptus leaves should cure – I’m not sure – a sore throat?” he guessed.

“Not exactly,” the Professor replied and gave Harry a detailed explanation about every single ingredient in the potion and the effects it had. Finally, he told him that it was the potion Poppy often used on him.

Although Harry had been carefully listening to the explanation and had even taken notes on each ingredient Severus had explained, his thoughts had drifted away as soon as the teacher had finished his dissertation. He couldn’t help thinking about the Dursleys. It was their fault that his condition was so bad that he was forced to take this potion nearly once a week.

-----

“Harry,” Severus carefully moved Harry’s attention back to their conversation, “I would like to speak with you about something.” He paused for a moment to be sure that the child was listening, before he continued, “As you are certainly aware, the summer holidays are going to start in less than a month.”

Harry nodded anxiously. ‘Oh, no! Will they make me go back to the Dursleys?’ He summoned all his courage and asked, “Do you think it would be possible for me to stay at Hogwarts, sir?” Although he had turned his eyes down to his shoes, he knew that Severus was shaking his head and moaned inwardly.

Severus sighed deeply and replied, “Students are not allowed to stay at Hogwarts during the summer holidays. However, there may be a way for you to remain at the castle during this time,” he added calmingly when he noticed the boy’s panicked expression.

“I will do anything if it saves me from going back to the Dursleys, Professor,” Harry said urgently.

Severus rubbed his forehead as if to get rid of a headache, while Harry was watching him anxiously. Finally he said, “Somebody would have to become your temporary guardian. Then you would be allowed to stay as a teacher’s ward and not as a student.”

Hearing this, Harry didn’t know how to react. Severus had let him stay in his quarters over Christmas but that had been because he was ill and couldn’t stay in his dormitory. And it had only been for two weeks. Becoming someone’s guardian for more than two months was an entirely different matter.

Seeing that Harry was deep in thoughts, Severus could imagine what he was thinking and tried to assure him. “Harry, I have told you before that you are not a burden, not to anyone. Several people here would be pleased to take you. Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Madam Pomfrey, or I, of course, would be more than happy to have you,” he added.

“You, too?” Harry asked with a hint of fear and a lot of hope clearly written all over his face. If Severus said this after experiencing his company before, he would probably really mean it, Harry thought, unconsciously rubbing his forehead.

“Of course, Harry,” he said softly, only to add, “I would even be willing to become your permanent guardian, if you so desired.”

Harry just stared at his teacher. Would that mean that he could always stay with him? That he never had to go back to the Dursleys? But why would someone want to take him in? It had to be very inconvenient.

“Why?” he simply asked. “I mean, why would you want to do that for me?” he elaborated.

Severus frowned. “Don’t tell me again that you are a not worth it, because that’s not true,” he said sharply, before he continued more softly, “As I have told you before, your mother was my only real friend. In fact, I loved her very much. You have a lot in common with your mother. Moreover, although until now your mother was the only person whose company I could stand more than a few hours, I found that your company doesn’t bother me either. If you wanted me to become your permanent guardian, I would be willing to do so. However, this is your choice, and you don’t have to decide now. You may think about this matter until a week before the start of the holidays.” He threw Harry an encouraging smile and proceeded to take a sip of his tea.

Harry’s thoughts were going haywire while he was busily munching a biscuit. Finally, he cleared his throat and said hesitantly, “Um… Professor, thank you very much for offering. Um… I mean… I don’t have to think about it. If you’re really sure that you wouldn’t mind, I’d like that very much.”

“Very well,” Severus replied. “I will speak to the Headmaster about it, and he will probably call you sometime to hear the same thing again directly from you. Now, I do believe it is time for dinner. I don’t know if your House mates will join us for dinner, but I suggest that you go and console your desolate Gryffindor house mates during the meal, before you re-join the party in the Common Room.”

-----

On Sunday evening, Harry was having dinner at the Gryffindor table when Severus showed up behind him and stated sharply, “Please come with me to the Headmaster’s Office as soon as you have finished eating, Mr. Potter.”

Harry nearly jumped out of his seat. “Yes, of course, Professor,” he said with a slightly shocked expression on his face. ‘Why am I so shocked?’ he thought. ‘I knew this would happen, and it’s not a bad thing.’ Under the worried glances of his Gryffindor House mates he went over to the Head table where Severus got up immediately upon Harry’s arrival.

“Harry,” the Headmaster started the conversation without offering a lemon drop, which was the first time in Harry’s experience. “Professor Snape has told me that you want him to become your permanent guardian. Is that correct, my boy?”

“Yes, Professor,” Harry replied immediately. His eyes turned to Fawkes, admiring his pretty wings.

“All right. Now, I appreciate your decision very much. However, I want you to know that there are several more people who would be willing to take guardianship over you. There are, for example, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Madam Pomfrey, the Malfoys and the Weasleys. Neither the Malfoys nor the Weasleys know about your treatment at the Dursleys. They have offered because they thought it might be convenient for you to have a magical guardian.”

Harry threw an anxious glance to Severus and, seeing his encouraging nod, he answered, “Thank you, Professor Dumbledore, but I have already decided on Professor Snape. Apart from my decision, whom would you have recommended, sir?”

Dumbledore laughed at the boy’s honest answer and told him, “I would have recommended Professor Snape, Harry. And if you wouldn’t be comfortable with him, I would have recommended Professor McGonagall. However, I believe that your choice will be the best. And, please, don’t misunderstand me. Professor Snape has already told me about your decision, but I wanted to hear it directly from you, Harry.”

Harry smiled at the Professor, thanked him and bid him ‘Good night’, before he left the room with Severus.

-----

“All right, Harry. Let me escort you to your Gryffindor Common Room,” Severus suggested, but Harry declined.

“No, thank you, Professor. I have to go to see Madam Pomfrey first, and then I can return on my own.”

“No, Mr. Potter, definitely not. You know that you are not allowed to roam the halls all on your own. I will accompany you to the Hospital Wing and then to Gryffindor.”

Poppy’s check took a lot more time than usual. Finally she said, “Harry, I have to keep you here for a while.” Noticing the flabbergasted looks Harry and his Head of House gave her, she explained, “I am sorry, but I am hearing sounds from your lung that shouldn’t be there.” She motioned Harry to sit on a bed, put a breathing apparatus on the side table and connected him to the machine. “Let’s see if it gets better with this.”

After ten minutes, Harry felt a lot better. Poppy checked on him again and told him, “Yes, it is better, but it is not good. You have to stay here tonight, and I will let you do this again every few hours.”

Seeing Harry’s shocked face, Severus said soothingly, “Harry, it is not the end of the world, and tomorrow morning you will probably be able to attend classes. However, if you don’t do what Madam Pomfrey suggests, you will almost certainly be stuck here with pneumonia for several days.”

Fortunately, in the morning, Poppy deemed him fit to leave, and Harry was happy to be able to join his friends, although he was tired because Poppy had woken him up every three hours.

-----

After dinner, Harry joined his four friends who wanted to visit Hagrid. However, during their talk with the Half-Giant it became obvious that the stone was in even more danger than they had thought because Hagrid had told someone how to make Fluffy sleep. Therefore, they left Hagrid’s Hut quickly in order to prevent Snape – as Ron thought – or Quirrell – as the others thought – from taking the stone. They ran up to the castle in order to talk to Professor Dumbledore but could only speak to Professor McGonagall who told them that the Headmaster had been called to London for the night.

While Ron and Hermione decided to go through the trapdoor later in the evening, Harry, Blaise and Draco went to see Professor Snape and told him everything they knew. In turn, Severus shared his knowledge with his students and assured them that he and Professor Flitwick would follow Quirrell, disillusioned, in case he would descend. Yes, he would be very careful, and yes, he would tell them what had happened immediately.

Severus thought about what to do with the five students. He could rely on his three students not to do something stupid. However, noticing that Harry was obviously having breathing problems, he decided to put all five into the Hospital Wing and make Madam Pomfrey watch them or lock them in. Poppy immediately fussed over Harry, connecting him to the machine again. Before she could get angry at him for running, however, Severus asked her not to scold him as the students had had a very exciting evening and just needed to be safe somewhere while he was gone.

As soon as Professor Snape had left the Hospital Wing, Poppy locked the doors with a flick of her wand, putting a charm that would allow people entrance but would not allow them out.

A few hours later, Severus was back, looking very tired but relieved. Harry, who had just been woken up by Poppy, was the only one except for the Healer who was awake. He looked at him expectantly.

“Quirrell is dead,” Severus told him. “When he tried to get the stone out of the mirror that was in the room downstairs, he died. The spirit of the Dark Lord, however, escaped. Therefore, the Dark Lord is not gone, but at least he is not at Hogwarts anymore.”

“And I have destroyed the stone,” Dumbledore, who had entered the Hospital Wing after Severus added, and Harry nearly choked because he hadn’t noticed the presence of the Headmaster at all.

Harry was very relieved that Quirrell was gone, although the threat with Voldemort seemed to remain. Now he should be able to really concentrate on his studies as the End of Year tests would start the next week.

-----

The next days went by quickly, and too soon the test week arrived. Harry had made Ron and Hermione apologize to Professor Snape because of suspecting him – not that they wanted to talk about it; however, Harry had told them that the professor probably would become his guardian and that they had to be careful if they wanted to be able to visit him during the holidays. Harry found that the tests were as easy as the last ones, again with the exception of his Defence Against the Dark Arts test, which obviously had to be at least a second years’ test.

On the last day of tests, they had their Potions test. When the instructions appeared on the board, Harry relaxed and smiled at his teacher. They only had to brew a Dreamless Sleep Potion, which was very easy. He already knew it by heart as he had brewed it for the Hospital Wing several times. However, as Harry was adding his last ingredient, Peeves, the Poltergeist, showed up and threw something into Harry’s cauldron. Whatever he threw into the potion caused the mixture to hiss angrily before the brew exploded all over the shocked Harry, who immediately fell to the floor, unconscious.

“Go on with your work. You have three minutes left,” Severus admonished the students, before he knelt down next to Harry to check on him. He couldn’t find anything wrong with him except for the fact that he seemed to be in a deep sleep. Severus hurried to the fireplace and called Albus and Poppy to come immediately. Seconds later both of them stepped through.

“Albus, ask Peeves what he threw in Potter’s potion NOW!” Severus urged the Headmaster, who proceeded to have a stern conversation with the Poltergeist while Severus threw the students out of the room and Poppy checked on Harry.

“Oh no!” Severus suddenly groaned. “Peeves! Did you add basilisk scales?”

Under Dumbledore’s angry look, Peeves finally acknowledged that it had, in fact, been basilisk scales.

Severus turned to Poppy and Albus. “The mixture of the Dreamless Sleep Potion and basilisk scales is a potion I know from my days with the Dark Lord. It makes someone sleep and, at the same time, relive all their bad experiences they ever had in their dreams. It is about the most horrible thing someone could do to Harry! Headmaster, don’t you think it is time to throw this good-for-nothing ghost out of the castle?”

“Severus, is there nothing you can do to help Harry?” Albus asked urgently. “Isn’t there any antidote?”

Severus shook his head. “The only thing I can imagine would work is to try Legilimency on him. I could try to enter his mind in order to see his dreams and also reassure him that they won’t happen again. I don’t know if that will manage to help him, however.”

Albus threw him a grateful glance. “Please, Severus, try to help him. I will cover your lessons for the last two days. Poppy, please help Severus and Harry.”

“Of course I will,” Poppy replied and suggested that Snape should take Harry into his guest room where Harry had stayed before.

Harry and Severus spent nearly two days watching Harry’s memories of the Dursleys. From time to time, Poppy pulled Severus out of Harry’s mind in order to force the teacher to eat, drink, or rest for a few minutes, before he entered Harry’s mind again. He witnessed scenes where Harry was beaten by his uncle or hunted by his cousin.

He saw a three or four year old Harry toddling into the kitchen, climbing onto a stool, and starting to cook breakfast. Only minutes later, the boy fell off the chair, hit his head on the stone floor, only to be hit on the head and be shouted at by his aunt, who threw him into the cupboard, where he had to suffer from a bad headache, chattering teeth and a churning stomach for several days.

In one scene he saw a six or seven year old Harry painting a picture of someone in what looked like robes giving a little child – also clothed in wizarding robes – a present. When he was finished painting, he looked at the picture thoughtfully, and suddenly the people on it began to move – yes, it was a wizarding picture. Harry pinned the picture onto the wall of his cupboard, folded both hands, looked up to the ceiling and said, “Look, Santa, I have drawn a picture for you! You may take it with you. Oh, and I would so love to get a present this year. I promise I’ve been very good.”

The scene changed, and Harry was coming back from school. He entered his cupboard to put his books away. Suddenly he saw that his picture had gone. ‘Oh, Santa has come and taken it,’ he told himself, and happiness and hope were written on his face. However, as soon as he entered the kitchen, he saw his picture torn into pieces that now lay in the rubbish bin.

During each scene, Severus talked to the eleven-year-old Harry, who was standing next to him watching the memories. “Harry, you know, this is only a bad dream. You do not have to live with the Dursleys anymore. It’s only a memory. Remember, you are going to stay with me now. Try to wake up, Harry. Your friends are all waiting for you to wake up.”

Finally, Severus managed to coax Harry to let the dreams go and wake up. He slowly opened his eyes and reached for his glasses, not noticing that it was kind hands who helped him to put them on. He looked around carefully. ‘No, it’s not Dudley’s second bedroom, and it’s definitely not the cupboard. Where am I?’ he thought frantically throwing a worried look in the direction of the door, fearing that his uncle would be about to enter at any moment. Suddenly he felt his eyes being pulled into the other direction when he heard a soft voice talking to him.

“Harry, you are in your own room in my quarters at Hogwarts. Your uncle is not here and he will not come here.”

Harry recognized Severus, and his recent memories – of school and friends and kind professors – fell back in place at once. He let out a deep sigh and let himself sink back into the cushions. When Severus sat down at the edge of his bed and made him drink two potions, he asked warily, “What happened?” Hearing the whole story from his teacher, Harry was utterly shocked. However, Severus managed to coax him into taking one more potion, and Harry fell into a long, dreamless sleep.

When Harry woke up, Severus made him sit on the sofa in the living room for a while and talked to him about several things he had witnessed in Harry’s dreams, while they were eating breakfast. Seeing that the boy was still exhausted, he suggested to him that he should return to bed and sleep for a while in order to be fit and able to attend the leaving feast in the evening.

-----

Harry suddenly fell back into consciousness when he heard several voices. He blinked several times and reached for his glasses, this time fully aware of kind hands helping him to put them on. The first thing his eyes took in was bushy, brown hair that could only belong to Hermione, who was sitting next to him. He could also see Draco, Blaise and Ron and grinned happily at his friends.

“Wow,” he said in awe, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

His friends giggled, and Draco explained, “Severus sent his house elf to us telling us that our immediate attendance at his office was requested, so we all met at his office, and then he brought us here.” The five friends talked for an hour or two, until Severus entered the room and threw everyone out telling them that Harry had to get up and get ready for the Leaving feast, which was going to start in an hour.

“Professor?” Harry started anxiously, just before they were going to leave Severus’ quarters. “Um… Sorry, I know, it’s a stupid question, but I don’t know which table to sit at during the feast. Will I be staying in the Slytherin dormitory tonight?”

The teacher gave Harry a surprised look and replied calmly, “You may either stay in the Slytherin dormitory, or you may return to your own room here. It’s up to you. However, for the feast, I would recommend the Slytherin table over Gryffindor. As for why, you will see at the feast.”

Harry threw the teacher a grateful glance and said, “Thank you very much for your advice, sir.”

Half an hour later, Harry knew exactly why Severus had suggested for him to sit there. Slytherin had not only won the Quidditch Cup but had clearly achieved the House Cup as well. The party in the Common Room lasted until an hour before breakfast, when everyone hastily started to pack their things in time to take the Hogwarts Express, which was leaving from Hogsmeade shortly after breakfast.

-----

At breakfast, two owls entered the Great Hall. One flew over to the Head table, the other landed on the Gryffindor table in front of Harry. Very confused, he took the attached parchment, which read, ‘Please take the carriage to the station together with everyone else but do not take the train. We will apparate from Hogsmeade. S. Snape.’

‘What does that mean?’ Harry thought frantically. ‘Do I have to go back to the Dursleys? I thought it was already fixed that I could stay here with Severus.’

Hermione saw his expression and asked what was wrong.

When Harry told her the whole story, she remained pensive for a moment, before she replied, “I don’t think that Professor Snape will let you down, Harry. Have confidence in him; he has always helped you so far.”

Encouraged, Harry put the thought aside and waited for the things to come. When everyone had boarded the train, Severus motioned Harry to put both hands onto his arms so that he could Apparate them safely.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked.

“To the Dursleys,” was Severus’ sharp answer that came just before they Apparated away without leaving Harry a second to pull his hands away from Severus’ arms.