Harry didn’t have to be asked twice. He turned and fled upstairs to his room. Severus also left the room, striding into his study and reaching for a handful of floo powder straight away.

‘Albus!’

‘Severus?’ Dumbledore looked up from the parchment he was reading at his desk as Severus stepped through the floo into his office.

‘You need to take that Potter away from my home before I do something we will both regret!’ Severus spat the words out. ‘The brat is out of control: completely disrespectful and smashing the place up.’

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.  ‘He has been through a lot.’ He remarked mildly.

‘He will go through a lot more if you do not remove him from my presence.’ Severus retorted.

Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair studying Severus for a moment.

‘He is one child, Severus. At Hogwarts you deal with a whole house.’

‘But they are not him.’ There was a slight pause and Severus added. ‘He tried to hex me yesterday.’

Dumbledore looked away for a moment as if he was trying to decide something. Eventually he looked back at Severus.

‘He’s staying with you,’ Dumbledore held up his hand to prevent Severus interrupting. ‘You were both beginning to get past this...reluctance you have to understand one another.’

At Severus’ disbelieving look he continued.

‘You were, Severus. I could tell from the way he was with you the other day.’

‘We might have been making a small amount of progress,’ Severus admitted, ‘but you’re mistaken in thinking this is a good idea. I am the worst person to have to deal with him at the present time.’

‘This is a difficult and confusing time for Harry.’ Dumbledore replied. ‘The two of you beginning to build some sort of foundations between you and then...well. He knows that you and Sirius didn’t see eye to eye. If he is reacting badly to you at the moment have you considered that he may be feeling disloyal to his godfather?’

‘If you think his misbehaviour is really a sign of his growing respect for me’ Severus said incredulously. ‘I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.

Dumbledore didn’t push the point any further but changed the subject abruptly.

‘Do you remember a conversation we had when you were a year or so younger than Harry is now? Where you made a disclosure to me?’

Severus was completely lost. ‘No. I don’t.’

‘You were in the second year and you had been sent to me for retaliating to Sirius and James.  It was one of the very rare occasions where you didn’t cover your actions sufficiently to avoid punishment.’

Severus raised an eyebrow. ‘I remember the occasion, but I don’t remember any disclosure.’

‘The hex you had used was particularly dark – it concerned me far more than your constant squabbles. I asked you why you had reacted in such a disproportionate manner and you responded “What did you expect given what I’m used to?” Of course at the time I assumed that you were referring to the violence you encountered from the Gryffyndors but seeing that you were more than capable of giving as good as you got, I left it at that. It wasn’t until the next summer that I truly appreciated the depth of your words by which point you had retaliated against your father and attracted the attention of Lucius Malfoy.’

‘Are you really suggesting that the boy is going to start turning towards the dark because of everything that has happened?’ Severus asked disbelievingly.

‘No. I believe that the only person that Harry is really in danger of hurting is himself. He’ll blame himself for what has happened to Sirius, it’s in his nature.’

There was silence.

‘You say that you’re the worst person to deal with Harry at the moment, but you could very easily be the best. He needs you to talk to him Severus, about his uncle and about Sirius. You need to show him that it’s not his fault.’

 Severus nodded slowly and turned towards the fireplace.

‘Severus?’

The younger wizard turned back. ‘Both you and Harry are critical to the lights cause. With your support and guidance I truly believe that Harry can become a force to be reckoned with.’

***

Severus stepped back through the floo with mixed emotions. On one hand he knew the potential was there should they work together. Look at what they had achieved with occlumency in the past week. And without any false pride he knew that no one was better placed to teach Harry than he. On the other hand there was no one who was able to irritate him so much and so quickly. And of course it didn’t help that the brat was the doopeldanger of his father. And yet...

Severus braced himself to go back upstairs. If he was staying here he had to deal with the boy’s behaviour. It couldn’t be allowed to continue like this. He frowned grimly deep in thought as he strode up the stairs. It was time to show the brat there were repercussions for his actions.

Harry felt his stomach muscles contract as his bedroom door opened. He knew he was in so much trouble ...he was just finished. They’d never allow him back to Hogwarts now, not after trying to hex a teacher and screaming those terrible things at him. Harry couldn’t even find fault with the fact that Snape would doubtlessly be coming to take him back to his relatives. He’d ruined everything and where else could they send him now that he’d lost his godfather? Utterly dejected, Harry felt that he would deserve everything he got anyway. When he wasn’t attacking people on purpose he still managed to cause their deaths indirectly. After all Sirius’ sacrifice for him followed on from his mum and dad’s.

When Snape stood in the doorway glaring at him Harry tried to pull himself together. He rose to his feet and heaved his trunk up. Snape pointed his wand at him and he could feel his tongue being freed from the top of his mouth.

Immediately he opened his mouth, he was ready for this: he would apologise and try to act like a man.

‘I just wanted to say...’

Whatever words Harry had planned to say Severus would never find out as the controlled, dignified apology disintegrated before it could begin.

Harry took a couple big gulps of air to try and choke back his tears but it was no good. Held back too long, enormous, silent sobs overtook Harry and were followed by painful waves of tears that racked his small body.

Completely wrong footed Severus had no idea how to react. An angry Potter was easier to deal with than this. It was too soon to give the child any more calming drought and although sending him back to bed was an attractive idea he had barely been up for an hour. No, he would have to find something to occupy the boy and calm him down. Removing the trunk from Harry’s hand, Severus led the boy to his lab.

Harry sat down at a desk and allowed his head to drop into his arms. Severus pushed a box of tissues towards him and then ignored him completely until his shoulders had stopped shaking.

‘Are you more composed now, Potter?’ Snape inquired eventually.

Harry blew his nose a final time before answering quietly.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Quite.’

Severus pushed a chopping board and knife towards the boy and a jar of bileweed stalks before sitting down at a separate table and unfolding a piece of parchment and reaching for a quill.

‘Dice them.’ He instructed.

Sniffing, Harry automatically started to dice.

‘I didn’t mean those things I said.’

‘Don’t flatter yourself by imagining for one moment that I care at all about any of your opinions.’ Snape replied in a bored tone. ‘Just concentrate on the dicing.’

Harry wanted desperately to ask what was going to happen to him now, but didn’t dare to disobey his professor’s wish for him not to speak.

‘What is it Potter?’ Snape asked irritably looking up from his writing.

 ‘Are you going to take me back to the Dursleys?’

‘Don’t tempt me.’ Severus replied acidly and continued writing before glancing back  up to see the boy was shaking worst than ever.

‘Oh for Merlin’s sake, Harry.’ He exploded. ‘Are you really dense enough to think for one moment that I will take you anywhere near that thug again?’

‘You said you would.’ Harry’s voice was so quiet that his professor could barely hear his response. ‘The other day.’

‘And if I said that I will chop you up and put you in a potion would you also take that literally? And do you really think that Professor Dumbledore would allow you to be sent back there?’

‘Sirius told me that after everything that happened Dumbledore said despite everything it might still have been the safest place for me.

Severus briefly shut his eyes. What a bloody stupid comment. And what a complete imbecile Black was to repeat it to Harry knowing that it would surely worry him.

‘You will not be going back there.’

‘But there’s nowhere else for me.’

‘What about Hogwarts?’

‘I can’t stay there in the summer.’

Heaven help him. ‘For the last time Potter you will not be going back to your relatives. I imagine there must be numerous places for you to stay and if it really came to it you could even stay here rather than going back to them.’

That shut him up. Satisfied Severus turned back to his parchment. Of course it would never come to anything. Harry would stay with the Weasleys without any doubt.

For a long time Harry chopped the ingredients silently. When he was finished Severus placed the parchment in front of him alongside a cauldron.

‘Now brew this.’

Harry looked at the instructions that Severus had scrawled. Navitas potion.  An energy boosting potion they had studied at school which he had been completely hopeless at making. He sighed slightly as he reached for the cauldron.

Severus banished his first attempt. And his second.

Harry tried really hard on his third attempt and Severus actually glanced at it for more than half a second this time before banishing it.

For the fourth attempt Severus stood close to Harry and watched him carefully.

‘I can’t do it when you hover like that.’ Harry muttered.

‘You can’t seem to do it anyway.’ Severus replied cuttingly. ‘If I help you perhaps we will be able to finish before it is time for tea instead of lunch. Or we run out of ingredients altogether.’ He added as an afterthought.

This had to be the most laborious punishment ever, Harry decided as he set up the cauldron again. He would quite literally prefer to scrub floors. He set the bileweed once again so that it was bubbling away, stirred it carefully and was just adding the frogs’ eyes when a cold hand pushed his hand back.

He looked up confused.

‘It says to add eight?’

‘Look at the potions colour, Potter.’ Snape replied impatiently.

‘Eight would be correct if you had diced the bileweed finely enough- see how dark it is? So you need to compensate by using fewer frogs eyes.’

Harry did as he was instructed and continued to stir the potion, adding slightly reduced amounts of the remaining ingredients in proportion with the frogs’ eyes.

The potion was finished at last, a radiant shimmering red unlike all the others which had been various murky shades of brown.

‘Finally.’ Severus said. ‘Your first acceptable potion. Come.’

Harry followed his professor into the dining room and sat down at the table. He felt his stomach growl hungrily as he eyed the food. Had it only been this morning that they’d had that terrible argument? It felt like longer than that, mind you five hours of potions would do that to you.