Harry ended up relinquishing the lead to the Potions master when they reached the main dungeon corridor. Snape had brushed past him, black robes flowing along, and led Harry down an offshoot corridor to the left, and then right at the next juncture. The entire journey had been conducted in silence, which had suited him fine. It allowed Harry to pay close attention as to where he was, as he knew he would need it in the future.

They stopped in front of a large portrait with a large ball of squirming snakes. “Runespoor, Potter. I’m certain that with your newly acknowledged abilities you are able to converse with them?”

Harry nodded; the snakes had been taking a great interest in him and were gossiping about him. “They’re talking about us, sir,” he offered up.

A raised eyebrow was the only reaction he received to the news. “Indeed. Well let us hope that your stay down here will not be the grist for other gossip mills.” He leaned towards the portrait and hissed at the snakes’ a small snick was heard as the door unlatched and swung open.

"You're a Parselmouth, too, sir?"

"Yes," came the curt answer. "Now go inside." He held the door open for Harry and the small boy took his time entering the quarters. A slight push in the small of his back propelled him further forward. "Don't dally, Potter, go take a seat on the couch." Harry looked over to where a sitting area was located and walked over to sit on the comfortable settee. Snape took a wingback chair that appeared to be well used. Harry guessed it was the professor's favourite seat.

Snape picked up a manila folder that was sitting on the table next to his seat. "I'm sure you are wondering why I would insist on taking you in myself, instead of Madam Pomfrey or one of the other professors, especially after the way we got along last term."

"It hasn't been so bad this year, sir..." Harry piped up.

"Nevertheless, it was ill-done of me and I wish to apologise for my actions," Severus said quietly. Harry's eyes grew wide behind the frames of his glasses. "I would like to explain to you why I have had a reverse in my opinions, if you would let me?" Harry nodded his head, scooting further back against the pillows of the couch, getting comfortable.

"First off, I overheard a conversation you had with Ronald Weasley at the start of term - the day before classes started. Do you remember what you said? Why you envied him?" Harry nodded, obviously a bit confused. "Your words caused me to seek out Professor McGonagall and discover what she could tell me." He stood up and began to pace in front of the fireplace, Harry watching him like a young hawk. "I should have checked on you many years ago - I was a close friend of your mother's, and had known her sister as well. I knew what Tuney was like, how she reacted to Lily's magic, but I ignored it - and as a result..." He turned to face Harry, slapping a palm against the outside of the folder. "As a result, you were treated abominably in that house. This can not continue."

"It can't? But Professor Dumbledore said..."

"Dumbledore has said a lot of things in the past that were not necessarily viable options for anyone," Snape pointed out. Harry shut his mouth with a snap. "We, as your teachers, have decided to take matters into our own hands. In Muggle football terminology, we are doing an end run around Dumbledore." His lips quirked as he took in Harry's wide-eyed understanding. "Now, I'm sure you don't wish to go back to Tuney over the summer, and if that is the case you must have an alternative in place. I am offering you that alternative, Harry," he said as he came over and sat down on the settee next to the boy.

"What kind of alternative?" the child enquired.

Snape had to hand it to the boy; he was checking things out instead of blindly jumping into the solution. There may be promise yet.

"This folder contains the results of the scans that Madam Pomfrey made of you at the beginning of last year and again this year." Harry blushed as he began to understand what was probably contained in the folder. "I intend to use that information, along with some other evidence, to petition for your guardianship."

"Guardian? Like a parent?"

"In some ways, yes. In your case it would come with a little broader scope of responsibilities - such as focused training in those areas that would help you defeat the Dark Lord forever, should he regain a body." Harry shivered at the prospect - the sight of Voldemort peering out of the back of Quirrell's head still gave him nightmares.

"What would I have to do?" Harry asked after a moment of silence.

"Tell the truth about your relatives to a court representative, sign some papers, take a potion that would link us in a magical guardianship," Snape explained.

"And how long would all this take to finalise?"

"Approximately a week. We want this in place by the time Albus returns from Holiday. It will be ironclad then, and he would be unable to break the bonds."

"Would I have to live down here permanently?"

Severus knew the real underlying question being asked - would Harry have to switch houses. "No, my quarters would be your home when school is not in session, or when you need to talk to me. This will be your permanent residence - much as your aunt's has been up until now, but you would still reside in Gryffindor during school." Harry sighed in gratefulness.

"Are you sure we can get along?" came the final timid question.

"Not at all," Severus was realistic - he'd never had to raise a child, although in preparation he had read a number of parenting books. "But we won't find out until we try, will we?" Harry shook his head in response. "I believe that I have skills I can offer you, Pot... Harry; knowledge that will help you not only defeat the Dark Lord, but hopefully let you survive the encounter intact." His upraised brow was answered with a shy smile on the part of the child. Severus let his hand rest for a moment on Harry's knee before standing up. "You do not need to answer now, give it a few days of staying with me before you come to a conclusion."

"Yes, sir."

"Good, let me show you where you will be staying." Harry followed him over to one of many doors ranged along two of the walls. Severus opened the second door along the wall, ushering in the young wizard. "This is your room, the next door down is the facilities that we will share - I prefer to shower in the evening..."

"I like the morning," Harry said absently as he gazed at the room. All his; the professor had said this was all his. He wandered in, taking in the furnishings, the thick fluffy rug on the floor, the curtained four-poster with his trunk sitting at the end of it, a well-equipped desk where his book-bag already hung off the back of the chair... and a closet where he could see his clothes... wait, those weren't his clothes. He shot a look back at the professor.

"Professor McGonagall checked your trunk when she pulled that surprise inspection last week... Consider the new wardrobe an early Christmas gift from your head of house. She decided that you shouldn't have to wear those horrid clothes any longer," the older man explained. “I believe she covered all the basics, school clothes and robes as well as casual wear, underwear and sleepwear. If you throw your old things into that bag over there, I will get rid of them for you.” He pulled out the desk chair and sat down, indicating to Harry that he was to sit on the bed.

“While you are down here, there will be several rules to follow. I want to see your holiday homework completed by Wednesday so that I may check it for accuracy. If I find you using that invisibility cloak, it shall be confiscated and will not be returned until I deem it safe to do so. I will be quizzing you on all your subjects to see where you actually place, and we will supplement your learning where needed.

“If you leave our quarters, you need to tell me where you are going and how long you will be there. You will eat three square meals a day; you are much too scrawny. Any infractions will gain you a grounding, lines, helping me prepare ingredients or all three – depending upon the rule broken. Bedtime will be strictly enforced. I know Minerva does not enforce any bedtime rules in Gryffindor, but in Slytherin I insist that the first three forms are in bed by ten pm on a school night and eleven on the weekend or holidays. As your guardian, I wish you to abide by those rules while in these quarters.”

Harry agreed, it was overall fair – although he really wished he could use the cloak. At least Snape wasn’t confiscating it, yet.

“Now, we need to have a little talk about the contents of that folder. Why didn’t you tell Professor Dumbledore about the way your aunt was treating you?”

Harry picked a bit at a piece of fuzz from the blanket he was sitting on before answering. He kept his head down when he finally plucked up the courage. “I did tell him… in a round-a-bout way. I told him they were awful and that I didn’t want to go back there… I figured he knew, though, and he didn’t care.”

“Because of your letter?”

“It was addressed to my cupboard… If you heard my talk with Ron, you know about that?” Harry peered at Snape through his fringe. The dour professor nodded once. “Anyway, he insisted I had to return to the Dursleys because of my mother’s protection. It wasn’t too bad, until Dobby showed up… then they figured I was somehow to blame and put the bars on the windows and locked me in my room until Ron busted me out.”

“With the flying Anglia car?”

Harry shrugged, although he didn’t try too hard to keep the grin off of his face in remembrance. “Yeah. Shoulda seen Uncle Vernon’s face when he realised I was escaping after all!”

“And what about what happened last year… if you children knew what was going on, why didn’t you tell a teacher?” Harry’s head flew up at that, anger burning in his eyes. Severus was taken a bit aback at the force of the look.

“We did! We told Professor McGonagall!” the child bit out. “She didn’t believe us, said the stone was perfectly safe, but it wasn’t! I’m sorry we thought it was you, sir, but it was the only thing that we got wrong.”

Severus leaned back in his chair as he studied the young Gryffindor. Harry went back to picking at the fuzz. “Just out of curiosity, Harry, knowing the magic behind the stone’s final resting place, do you honestly think Quirrell would have been able to retrieve the stone from the mirror?” Snape asked quietly.

“We didn’t know that at the time, sir. And three first years were able to get through every one of the professors’ obstacles – well, except the troll and it was still knocked out when we got to it. How good were the obstacles if WE could get through them?” Harry stated.

“Point taken. I also understand your reluctance to trust in adults, given you’re your track record with them. I will endeavour to be someone you can trust and come to with problems when you have them. But this will take a bit of effort on both our parts, do you understand?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll try.”

“Alright, it is getting late. I tend to read out in the sitting area most evenings. You are welcome to join me after changing into your nightclothes, or you may stay here.”

“I’m a bit tired, I’ll stay in here, sir.”

Severus rose and pushed the chair back in place. “Good night then, Harry. Breakfast is at eight o’clock during the holidays. I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t forget to brush your teeth – you’ll find a new toothbrush by the sink.”

“Thank you, professor,” Harry said as he slid off the bed and headed to the wardrobe to find a new set of pyjamas.

Harry wasn’t quite sure what to feel about his new circumstances. On the one hand, he was surprised that the professor he was sure hated him had turned out to really want to become his guardian, had provided a great room, and new clothes… Harry stroked the flannel softness of his new pyjamas, drinking in the scent of the brand new cloth. On the other hand, he kept expecting another shoe to drop. Surely, this was all a joke and when the holidays were over he would be booted out and told never to darken Snape’s doorstep again. But then there were the clothes, and his room, and the guardianship papers… Harry was clearly confused.

He wasn’t going to worry about it for now. He would just enjoy it, and maybe the professor wouldn’t be so bad to have as a guardian. The man clearly knew his magic; he was obviously quite brilliant… Harry had peeked at the varieties of books on the front shelves. Harry sighed and placed his glasses on the nightstand, snuggling under the warm covers after drawing the curtains closed against the cold draft that permeated the dungeon air.

****

Severus listened to the soft chimes of his mantel clock; eleven o’clock and all was peaceful in the Snape quarters. He shut his book over a leather marker and set it aside before deciding to check in on his guest. Quietly walking to the door, he gently pushed it open and walked in. The curtains were pulled shut and he parted them to discover Harry curled up in a little ball under the covers, hands crossed over his chest and knees pulled up tight. He looked cold, so Severus conjured another comforter and, after applying a warming charm to it, draped it over the boy’s body. He stroked the hair from Harry’s forehead, and the boy instinctively turned toward the caressing, leaning into it in his sleep.

“Such a wounded animal, Harry, and yet you can still care for those around you – how do you do it…” Severus wondered aloud, snugging the covers under Harry’s chin and giving one more caress to the messy hair before re-closing the curtains and leaving the bedroom.