On order, Severus Snape strode down the second floor corridors, his demeanor every bit as cynical as it had been that day and it wasn't too likely his bitter mood would lift any time soon.

This was the fourth order he had been given by Dumbledore today, and like the three before this one, it was concerning the matter of their ‘favorite tenant' as Snape liked to refer to him as.

Why Dumbledore insisted on throwing the two of them together all of the time was beyond him, but every couple of hours or so that day, he found himself stuck with the one person he wanted to be with the least, a spoiled seven year old whelp with no knowledge of anything magical, and to think that before this morning, he assumed there was nothing more irritating than the typical first year Hufflepuff.

He absolutely resented that old Mrs. Figg for tipping Dumbledore off about a much too skinny Harry being overworked outside, in summer no less. And according to Mrs. Figg, that hadn't been the first time the boy was given excessive yard work to do.

Snape scoffed. No ones childhood was perfect; his own surely wasn't. Why should that Potter brat be given special attention? The work he was given to do was probably punishment for his arrogance, the same arrogance his father possessed.

But no, Dumbledore just had to portkey them both to Privet Drive that morning and investigate Potter's situation and much to both men's dislike, Dumbledore found the boy's relatives negligent and unfit to take care of him so he brought him back to Hogwarts.

Since then, Dumbledore had been up to no good.

First he insisted that Snape should show Potter to his room. Of course that wasn't much, but when Dumbledore used the floo later to ask him to show Potter around the school grounds, he was irritated.

There was nothing more annoying than the brat's obvious fascination with every inch of the castle. Snape hinted how bothersome the task was by remaining silent as they walked to every section of Hogwarts, but Potter obviously was too daft to take the hint as he asked incessant questions that drove him absolutely mad.

After Snape was finished showing Potter the school and answering his childish questions, Dumbledore found the two of them and told them to come up to his office for lunch.

Snape didn't have anything, but he tried not to seem vexed by the way Potter had no manners.

Just like his father, he thought.

Snape remained in Dumbledore's office as the old man explained to the boy why he was here and how his parents were wizards, just as he was. He told Potter everything there was to know about magic and even explained how he came to be Headmaster of the school. Snape noted that Dumbledore obviously avoided subjects such as the fame Potter didn't know about yet among other important things that still needed to be addressed including how his parents died, and who had killed them. And why.

After the conversation, which Snape thought was rather vague, he slipped away to his quarters to brew in his private labs, but not thirty minutes later, Albus had yet another assignment for him.

"Severus?" The Headmaster asked, knocking twice before entering the room. To his dislike, the old man wasn't alone. He, of course, had the little brat with him.

"Headmaster," Snape greeted, with a detectable amount of annoyance in his voice. If Dumbledore caught it, he didn't say. Instead he spoke rather cheerfully.

"Ah, Severus. I'm afraid I've just been called out to a meeting at the ministry," he began. "I was hoping that in the meantime, you could perhaps watch over young Harry here?" Snape sighed.

"Of course, Headmaster," Snape droned.

"Excellent! I'll just be going now," he said, and pushed the boy further into the room. Snape smiled to himself. He was pleased that the child was reluctant to enter.

Once Dumbledore left, shutting the door behind him, Snape, with a sour expression, turned to Potter and pointed to a large oak chair in one of the far corners of the room.

"Sit," he instructed, not kindly at all, and continued to brew his latest project.

Snape just flat out pretended that Potter wasn't there. Every so often, the man would look up and glare at the boy, but the boy was too busy looking around the room to notice. In fact, he sat quite fidgety on the chair, as if plagued by extreme boredom.

After an hour or so, Snape was too much into his potion to even bother to look up at the boy. However, when he heard a small clinking noise, he looked up and saw that Potter was examining small potion vials on the table beside him. Though they contained nothing dangerous inside them, only spices and other common innocuous ingredients, Snape found himself suddenly annoyed. More annoyed than usual.

"Potter!" he yelled. The boy's hand snapped back to his side and he looked up at the man like he had just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Sorry-"

"Don't be sorry," Snape said angrily. "Just don't mess with anything. Don't touch anything, don't even look at anything-"

"But-"

"Silence! If you see fit to disobey me further, then... then...," the man began. He never had to deal with children younger than eleven. He quickly thought of something that might scare the young whelp into behaving.

"Ah... then the boogeyman will come and get you tonight."

Potter shut up and sat still after that. Snape grinned to himself as he finished his potion.

A good while later, a house elf popped into the room.

"Master Snape Sir," the house elf said. Snape raised his eyebrow to the ugly creature.

"What is it?"

"Master Dumbledore would like Grib to escort Master Potter up to his office, sir."

Automatically, Potter jumped off the large wooden chair and went to the door. Though he was supposed to, it vexed Snape that he was leaving before he said he could. He didn't bother to say anything though. The quicker the brat left, the better.

Potter waited as Grib opened the door for the both of them and before stepping out, the boy turned back to the potions master.

"He has red eyes," the boy said. Snape furrowed his brow.

"Who?"

"The boogeyman," Potter said. "He has red eyes."

Speechless, the man just stared at the boy. Even after the boy left, he stared at the empty space where he had once stood.

"So he does," Snape muttered.