It was three days since Harry and Severus had moved into Aurelia's cottage and Harry had managed to finish unpacking all of his things and assisted Severus with setting up a new potions lab in the basement. Harry didn't have too many things, just his school clothes and books, his Nimbus 2000, and the two photo albums. Severus was appalled at his lack of proper clothes, since all he had were Dudley's old ones, so the first order of business was to take Harry shopping for new clothes.

Severus asked Aurelia where the nearest store was, and all three of them took a trip down to Target to pick up a whole new wardrobe. Harry couldn't remember the last time he'd gone shopping for anything new, except school robes, and discovered that he enjoyed being able to choose his own outfits, sneakers, a wind breaker, and other assorted items. He was also shocked that Severus knew how to shop like a Muggle, and that price was no object.

"I was paid very well for my duties for the Order, Harry," he explained when Harry gaped at the final cost of everything. "I have more than enough money to support us. Eventually, we might start looking for another house, if I can find one that is suitable."

"You don't have to do that, Sev," Aurelia put in. "I don't mind the company and there's more than enough room." She picked up several bags and began to carry them towards her beige Hyundai Sonata.

"I don't want to put you out, Aunt Relia," Severus began.

"Sev, you're family, for heaven's sake!" the older woman said, sounding a little insulted. "Now just swallow that blasted Snape pride of yours and let me give you a roof over your head, free and clear. It's the least I can do, seeing as I couldn't help you after my sister died all those years ago."

Severus sighed, then said reluctantly, "I'm not used to accepting favors from anyone, but this time I will, and thank you very much. We really appreciate this."

Aurelia smiled. "I think I appreciate it even more. The house has been so empty since my Sam died." She got into the car and they drove back home. "Oh, I still see my daughter Melody and my granddaughter Mia on occasion, but it's not the same as having another person there. I was considering getting a cat until you two showed up."

Aurelia worked as a freelance business consultant from her home for four days a week and was semi-retired. Her husband, Sam Burns, had been a Major in the Air Force and his widow received quite tidy pension from the government. "So I really don't need to work as much as I do, but I like to, it keeps me busy. My mother is probably turning over in her grave right now, seeing her youngest daughter working for a living."

"Why?" Harry asked, seating himself at the table with a glass of Coke.

Aurelia snickered, her blue eyes dancing merrily, and seated herself next to him with her own glass of Coke. Severus sat opposite them with a glass of iced tea. "Because my mother, Casseopia Thalia Prince, who was once from the ultra pureblood Black family, believed the only things a lady should do were look glamorous, marry well, and graduate Hogwarts. I was a disappointment to her on all three counts, I'm afraid. I didn't inherit her stunning looks, I'm a Squib, and I married-horror of horrors-an American Muggle. I was lucky she didn't disown me. But that was probably due to my father, your great-grandfather, Harry, his name was Gavin. He was a pureblood too, from an ancient and respected lineage, but he had none of their prejudices against Muggles or Muggleborns."

"I remember him, a little," spoke up Severus. "My mother took me to meet him when I was six. He gave me Chocolate Frogs and Ice Mice and told me a story about Merlin. He also said that I should never be ashamed of being a half-blood, because then I had the background of two cultures to draw on and that made me a special person. I really liked him and I wished my mother had been able to bring me to see him more often before he died."

"Yes, my dad was a wonderful man, he used to get into some fine arguments with my mother over all that pureblood racist garbage. She tended to treat me like I didn't exist sometimes, since I was an embarrassment to her pureblood perfect family, but my father always told me that I was his little girl and perfect just the way I was, magic or no magic. Once, one of my snooty Black cousins, Bellatrix, I think her name was, visited my house and started teasing me something awful. I think I was around five then and Eileen was seven and Bellatrix the same age as Eileen. Well, Bellatrix was going on and on about how she was better than me because I was nothing more than a magicless freak, almost as bad as a Mudblood. Eileen slapped her right across the face and she ran inside saying she was going to tell on us. But the first adult she found was my dad, and when she told him what had happened, he was furious."

"At my mother?" asked Severus.

Aurelia shook her head. "No, at Bellatrix, for saying such terrible things to me. And when he saw she wasn't the least bit sorry, he washed her mouth out with soap and spanked her."

"Good for him," Severus said with a satisfied smirk. "I never heard that story before."

"It was so long ago, Sev, your mother probably forgot about it. We never saw Bellatrix after that, for which we all thanked God. And Eileen always defended me against any pureblood child who dared to sneer at me for being a Squib. She was a good older sister, when I met Sam and we decided to marry and move here, she was the only one of my family who supported me and who I invited to the wedding. And she came too."

"What about your dad?" Harry queried.

"Oh he would've been there too, if he'd been alive. But he died just before I met Sam, he had a heart condition, it's common in the Prince line with the men." She looked at Severus and Harry speculatively. "Have the both of you received yearly check-ups with a heart specialist or whatever you wizards have? I'm not worried so much about you, Harry, you're too young, but Severus needs to watch now that he's approaching thirty-five."

"My heart is fine, Aunt Relia. The last Healer I saw confirmed that I have no hereditary signs of any heart disease or any other heart related problems," Severus reassured her.

"That's a relief," Aurelia heaved a sigh.

"Harry, why don't you go and put all of your new clothes away?" Severus suggested. "By the time you're done with that, lunch should be ready."

Harry agreed, then picked up all his new purchases and went to put them in the closet and dresser. It felt a bit odd, having so many clothes that were all brand new and actually fit, instead of being too big or too long. He wished he could cast a spell that would put away his clothes in a twinkling, but he'd showed no signs of his magic returning, and so had to do it the Muggle way.

After he was done, he sat on his bed, which had a blue comforter and thick plump pillows, much more comfortable than his old cot at the Dursleys with its sagging mattress and threadbare sheets, and picked up his Nimbus and stared at it.

This and his school books and robes were all he had left of his time at Hogwarts, he thought sadly. He wondered if he dared fly his broom here. The loss of his magic was like a gaping hole within him, sometimes he could almost forget it, but other times, like now, he was reminded of it sharply. He tried not to think about it, but it throbbed and he couldn't resist poking at it, sort of like the way a kid poked at the empty space where a missing tooth had been with their tongue until it was sore.

He sat and stared morosely at the polished golden wood grain of his broom, tears slowly falling onto it unnoticed, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, it's time for lunch," Severus told him.

Harry jumped, startled by the other's noiseless approach, and looked up. "Huh? Oh, right." He turned to set the broom against the wall.

"Harry, what's the matter?" Severus asked, alarmed at seeing the tears on his son's face. "Why are you crying?"

"It's . . .nothing!" Harry said quickly, only then realizing he had tears on his cheeks. Mortified, he swiped them away.

"Harry, if you're upset about something, we can discuss it," Severus began.

"No! I don't want to talk about it!" the boy growled, flushing. "There's nothing you can do anyway." He turned and started for the door.

"Harrison Remus Snape, come back here!" ordered his father, his stern tone freezing the younger wizard in his tracks.

Reluctantly, Harry turned and faced him, noting that Severus was wearing a familiar scowl on his face. "What? I don't need to discuss anything with you."

"You may not, but I need to have a discussion with you, young man," Severus snapped, and pointed to the bed. "Sit down."

Harry obeyed, wondering uneasily if he was in trouble. He began to regret snapping at Snape that way. The man wasn't his teacher any more, he could do far worse than give him a detention for his smart mouth.

"First of all, you will not use that tone of voice with me, mister, I don't care how upset you are," Severus began, fixing the rebellious teen with his trademark Snape glower. "I'm an adult and your father and the least I deserve is respect from you. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir. I'm sorry."

"Now, I can understand if you're not ready to discuss whatever was upsetting you, and I'm not going to push you, but sometimes a problem is best shared, Harry. I want you to know that you can come to me if you need to for advice and I will try my best to help you. That's part of my job as a parent. Secondly, I need to go over some rules with you for the summer." He cleared his throat and Harry braced himself. "I don't believe in allowing a child to do nothing all summer except laze around in bed, so you will have chores to do, very basic ones, picking up your room, helping your aunt if she needs it, setting the table and washing dishes. I may also require you to help me brew certain potions. Even though you can't use your magic, magic is not necessary to chop up ingredients or memorize a recipe. I also want you to finish your summer homework."

Harry scowled. "But why? What's the point if I'm not going back to Hogwarts this year?"

"No knowledge is ever wasted, Harry. Besides, no one can be sure when your magic will return."

"It might never return," Harry said bitterly.

"Or it might return tomorrow," Severus said gently. "You should not abandon all hope just yet, Harry. You suffered a grave injury to yourself, much like a stroke, and these things take time to recover from. Months, possibly a year or more. I wish there was something more I could do for you, but the fact is that time is the only thing that can heal your magic."

"What if it can't? What if I'm a-a Squib forever?"

"Then we will deal with it, son, if and when it becomes necessary," his father replied quietly. "Aurelia manages quite well without magic, you know."

"It's easy when you've never had it to begin with," Harry said sullenly. "She doesn't know what she's been missing. I feel so . . .empty inside. I start to say a spell, only to remember that I can't. I lost my wand, but it doesn't really matter, since I doubt I'd be able to use it."

"Actually, that's not true. I have your wand. I summoned it from the table where Lucius put it just before I came to you in the cell," Severus told him.

"You still have it?"

"Yes. Would you like it back?"

Harry almost said yes. Then he shook his head. "No. What good will it do me now?"

Severus reached out and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Very well, I will hold on to it for now. When you're ready, simply ask and I will return it to its rightful owner." He gave his son's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I know this is hard for you, Harry. I would be going mad without my magic. But you aren't alone. If you need to talk, I'm here."

"Too bad you weren't all those other years," his son cried, then froze. He hadn't meant to say that, but his anger at losing his precious magic was too close to the surface and it had just come out. "I-I didn't mean that, sir. Not the way it sounded." He cringed, waiting for the explosion, wondering if Severus would lose it now and slap him one.

Severus was watching him closely, noting the instinctive flinch when he leaned towards the boy, the half-raised arm, as if to ward off a blow. He knew the signs, no one knew them better, having lived with a drunken bum who beat him for every little thing. "Harry. Calm down," he made his voice very soft and sat down on the bed, so he wasn't towering over the boy. "I'm not going to hit you. I would never do that, son."

Gradually Harry felt his heart stop racing in instinctive fear and he lowered his arm, which he didn't even recalling throwing over his face. He glanced away from the other man, embarrassed and ashamed at acting like a cringing crybaby in front of him.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"It's all right. It was inappropriate, but I deserved it. I treated you awfully and you have a right to be angry with me. Look at me, please." Severus waited until his son had turned around and was facing him. "I know that my actions in the past haven't caused you to trust me much, Harry, if at all, but I promise you that even if you disobey me, even if you make me angry enough to yell at you, I will never hurt you the way your so-called relatives did. I will never beat you, whip you, starve you, or lock you in a cupboard. What they did is abuse, plain and simple, and if I could have I would have cursed them until they went insane for the way they treated you. No child deserves to be punished that way, no matter how badly you misbehave."

"Uncle Vernon said that I was a freak and the only thing worse than me was an adult freak," Harry recalled.

Severus swore under his breath. "How in the name of Merlin could Albus have left you with them all those years? Harry, did you ever mention to anyone what your life at home was like?"

Harry shrugged. "I tried, once or twice when I was in primary school. But when the principal called my aunt and uncle to talk to them, they said it was all lies, that I made it all up, and I was a-a chronic liar. Then Uncle Vernon beat me for being a lying no-good freak and said if I ever said anything to anyone ever again about what went on at home, he'd kill me. So I didn't. That's why I was so glad when I got my Hogwarts letter."

"I can see why. But why didn't you tell a professor then, Harry, or even the headmaster? Meddling old coot that he is, Albus would never have condoned sending you back if he'd known what they had done."

"I did try and tell him, sir. After the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. He told me to make sure I got lots of rest when I got back home and I said that would never happen, that I had too many chores to do for my aunt. I told him that I wished I could stay at school and he said it wasn't possible. He knew I'd never really gotten letters from them, or presents at Christmas. Ron mentioned to him about last summer, when Dobby came and made the cake fall on dumb Mrs. Mason's head and Uncle Vernon . . .he smacked me upside the head and put bars on my window and locked me in my room for half the summer until Ron and Fred and George got me out with Mr. Weasley's flying car."

Snape was gazing at the child in mute fury and anguish. "He put bars on your window?" he repeated, very softly. His eyes glittered with a terrible rage. "He put BARS on your window and locked you up like a bloody CRIMINAL?"

Harry flinched at the way Severus was yelling, even though he knew the man's anger wasn't directed at him. "It wasn't too bad . . .at least Aunt Petunia fed me every day or two through the cat flap," Harry said, trying to mitigate some of the man's fury.

"She what?" Severus hissed. "She fed you through a CAT FLAP! What the bloody blazes did she think you were, a bloody goddamned wild beast?"

"Yeah, I guess. But at least she fed me. Sometimes in the cupboard, they used to forget."

Severus was nearly beside himself. With a shudder, he forced himself to get hold of his emotions before he scared the child to death. "And this was how they treated you all the time, correct?" he asked, breathing deeply.

"Well . . .not all the time. They only locked me up like that because of the Masons and all. Otherwise I was allowed to come out of my room to clean the house and work in the garden and cook dinner."

"How charitable of them," sneered Severus. "Did they throw you a bone too, when you were done? And Albus knew of this and still he sent you back there?"

"Umm . . .no, he didn't know everything. I-I never told him the details," Harry began, not wanting to make Dumbledore look bad.

"But he knew something wasn't right. He should have sent someone to check on you. Minerva, Filius, Remus, even me."

"You? You would have gone?"

"Yes, I would have. For all I thought you were a spoiled brat, and the son of bloody James, I would have gone to make sure they weren't abusing you. You were my student and it's part of my duty as a professor to make sure you were safe. And if I had discovered what they had done . . ." Snape's voice deepened to a midnight black tone that made chills run down Harry's spine. "Let us just say there would have been two new statues on their front lawn and a pig in their backyard. And that's if I was in a good mood."

Harry smiled a little imagining his aunt and uncle as lawn ornaments and his fat cousin a pig, squealing and grunting.

Severus shook his head. "Albus, damn you, what were you thinking? Blood wards will fail if the subject of them is abused repeatedly, because then they don't feel like part of a family. Merlin, Harry, I wish you had told one of us before."

"I-I didn't think anybody would care," answered the boy in a very quiet voice.

Severus stared at him, aghast. "How can you say that?"

"Because everyone at school only saw The Boy Who Lived. I was famous, I was Harry Potter, I had lots of money left to me from my dead parents and nobody wanted to hear about the other Harry, the freak his relatives beat and hated and wished dead. I was too ashamed to tell Ron and Hermione and Dumbledore just ignored me, McGonagall saw the star Seeker, and I sure as hell couldn't tell you, Severus, because you would only laugh at me and say I deserved it. Nobody cared!" Harry shouted, his eyes blazing with anger mixed with unshed tears.

"Oh God. Harry . . . I would have never said that . . ."Severus stammered, stricken to the heart by his son's assumption. "Was I really so bad as all that?"

"Yes! No! I don't know!" the boy yelled, then all at once he began to cry. "Why did you have to make me remember? I didn't want to."

"I know, son," Severus whispered softly. "I know it hurts. But now you can heal, a little." He cautiously put an arm about Harry's small shoulder, afraid that the teenager would not welcome his touch, but not able to simply sit there and do nothing while the child was in such pain.

At first Harry hunched away at his touch, but then all at once he turned around and grabbed onto Snape's neck, clinging for dear life. Severus's arms came about him, pressing the child's head into his shoulder, holding him close. "There now, child. You're safe. No one will ever hurt you like that again." He began to rub circles on Harry's back, whispering softly the way he used to when his son was a baby. "It's all right, son. Cry if you need to, I won't drown."

Thus encouraged, Harry sobbed, crying an ocean of tears, all the tears he'd never shed in his years with the Dursleys, and Severus held and rocked him, whispering over and over that he was safe and loved and that he was sorry, tears falling on his son's raven hair as well.

Aurelia came down the hallway to see what was keeping them for so long, saw the boy and the man clinging and weeping all over each other, and brushed a tear from her own eye before tiptoeing back into the kitchen. She knew the two of them needed time to come to terms with their imperfect past and this emotional release had been a long time coming and was much needed. Now perhaps their wounded hearts could begin to mend, a little at a time.