"Professor?" Harry asked, leaning against the wall at the entrance to the hallway an hour later.

"Yes?" Severus questioned looking Harry up and down. The boy had thrown one of his school jumpers on, and he was startled to see how much it hung off his frame. If Severus didn't know how unreliable Harry's magic had been, he'd question the boy if he'd been applying glamours before attending classes daily. Instead, Severus wondered how many layers Harry had been wearing under his jumper because robes could only hide so much. 

"Um...I..." Harry stumbled on his words under Severus' scrutiny.

"Can't sleep?" he assumed.

Harry shook his head as he teetered between retreating to his room and stepping out into the sitting room.

"Why don't you start on your summer assignments? You need to finish those before we can start you on your Sixth Year coursework," Severus suggested knowing it was something Harry could do while lounging around, and would likely lead the child to sleep. He was torn between coaxing Harry to get as much sleep before starting chemo as possible and trying to keep Harry awake so he was more likely to sleep through a larger portion of the first day of chemo. However, no matter what Severus suggested it would depend on Harry's body cooperating or not cooperating, so he decided to let things happen as they happened and not stress Harry over it.

The boy shrugged.

Severus motioned for Harry to join him in the sitting room. Now that Harry felt a little better and they were alone, it wasn't surprising to Severus that the boy reverted to being somewhat uncertain and withdrawn as the fog that came with feeling bad cleared, and Harry remembered the full extent of his breakdown and Severus' role in comforting him.

"Would you rather read?" Severus asked remembering that he'd been meaning to show the boy his library. "I can show you to the library and you can pick out some books that interest you."

"Okay," Harry agreed quietly, his eyes downcast as he stood before the old beat-up sofa, his hands tugging on the stretched out sleeves of his faded jumper.

"Come," Severus motioned standing up and directing Harry to the nook where the table sat.

"Sir?" the child questioned, looking up at him with those haunted green eyes of his. "Is this some kind of joke?" Harry gestured to the smooth stonewalls.

Severus took a step back, breaking eye contact with the child. Those eyes were too much like Lily's, haunted and jaded like the last time he had seen those emerald gems a few days before her death.

"Harry, it's not a joke," the Potions Master reassured the boy as he placed his hand on the angular shoulder. The boy flinched under his touch. Severus let his hand fall back to his side, careful not to overstep his bounds.

"Sorry sir," Harry apologized as he wrapped his arms around himself, a distinct sign of self-comforting.

"It's Severus," he reminded the boy, "and you have nothing to apologize for."

"I didn't mean to cry all over you and keep you up all night," the teen whispered, his face blushing in embarrassment. "It won't happen again."

"Harry," Severus sighed wondering just how much he hadn't seen in their Occlumency lessons concerning Harry's Muggle relatives as he wrapped his arm around the fragile teen, coaxing him to rest his head against his chest with his other hand.

"I know you didn't sign up for this, sir," Harry protested pushing away from Severus' hold. "I can manage at my relatives, really."

"Stay still," he ordered, letting a hint of sternness lace his tone to keep the boy in place.

Harry stopped fighting and leaned against him. Severus felt the boy tremble and a minute later heard a sob escape, muffled by his chest.

"There will be no such talk about returning to your relatives," Severus held Harry tighter. "You are staying," he dropped his voice to a whisper. "You're safe here, Harry."

A louder sob escaped Harry as he burrowed his head into Severus' shoulder. The Potions Master held the boy upright, raking his long fingers through the unruly mop of hair that would begin to fall out soon.

"I'm sorry," Harry cried in between sobs.

"Whatever for, child?" Severus questioned.

"For being weak," the boy admitted.

Anger rose inside Severus. Who and what made the child think he was weak? He stiffened and a second later Harry stiffened along with him. Severus cursed himself, fighting his fiery temper and forcing himself to relax.

"Who told you that you were weak?" Severus asked, his hand cupping Harry's chin to force the boy to look up at him.

"Uncle Vernon. Only weak boys cry," Harry spewed the line that made Severus believe there was more than neglect in Harry's past.

"You are not weak," he stated with finality, forcing himself to retain eye contact with those emerald pools filled with hurt. "You will forget whatever those blasted relatives made you believe. Real men cry, and I won't have you apologizing for it."

Harry turned his head, gulping as he tried to fight back his tears.

"Let it out, child," Severus coaxed, giving the boy permission to break down again if he needed to.

"It's too much too fast," Harry cried burrowing his head into Severus' chest.

"I know," Severus lamented, rubbing gentle circles across the boy's skeletal back.

"If we could just go a bit slower," the child requested, his voice hoarse and filled with grief.

"I wish we could, but we can't delay your treatments any longer, Harry," Severus apologized. He didn't want the child to know how serious it was that they started the chemo as soon as possible. Harry's form of leukemia was aggressive and in the Muggle world most started treatment within a day or two of the diagnosis. They had to get Harry into remission as soon as possible, and time was ticking since they had to wait for all the potions to get out of his system before starting chemo. Without treatment, the child would be dead within a matter of months.

Harry nodded against his chest, his tears pooling on Severus' shirt. Severus held the child for as long as Harry needed, letting the boy rest there after his tears stopped falling.

"The library?" Harry sniffled pushing away from him with red-eyes and a flushed face a quarter of an hour later. Severus handed the boy a handkerchief from his pocket. "Thank you," Harry took the white embroidered hanky and blotted his eyes dry before blowing his nose.

The Potions Master nodded, banishing the handkerchief to the laundry when Harry was finished and scourgified the boy's hands clean. "The library," he stated, ignoring the boy's disheveled state, "is up the stairs through this wall. Watch."

Severus strode over to the wall on the right side of the nook where a wall sconce hung. The stone was carved into a Cupid, complete with wings. He poked the Cupid's left eye with his finger. The stone eye pushed in followed by a click to reveal an open archway to a set of spiral stairs.

"This way," Severus said as he waved his hand for Harry to go first so he could make sure the unsteady boy wouldn't tumble down the steep steps. "Use the handrail," he ordered when Harry started his ascent and almost tripped over the first step making Severus' heart jump into his throat.

------

Finally reaching the top of the spiral staircase, Harry was dizzy and out of breath as he slumped into the closest chair and rested his head in his arms on top of the large wooden table. "How many flights was that?" he panted.

"Quite a few," Snape answered as Harry heard a glass being set down beside him. "We're at the lower levels of Gryffindor Tower below the common room and dorms."

Below Gryffindor Tower! He'd been living above Snape all these years! His head shot up, looking at Snape for the slightest sign that he was lying.

"I assure you the walls are too thick for me to hear how you and your housemates plan my demise," Snape said, his lips curling up into the slightest smile.

Had Snape of all people just cracked a joke? Harry's jaw dropped. He didn't think it was possible for the Slytherin to joke about anything, much less about others planning his death.

"Drink," Snape ordered gesturing towards the glass of water.

Speechless, Harry's hand wrapped around the glass and brought it to his lips to drink. The cool liquid slid down his throat invitingly, helping him to catch his breath and overcome his shock.

"Now perhaps you'd like to find a few books?" the Potions Master asked, moving to Harry's side, a tentative arm sliding around Harry's shoulder.

Harry brushed Snape off as he stood up, grabbing onto the table until the dizziness passed and his legs felt like they could support him. As much as it felt nice for Snape to let him cry all over him, it was also awkward and Harry couldn't get past Uncle Vernon's voice echoing in his head that only weak boys cried.

"I'm fine," he insisted when his professor's hand shadowed over his shoulder.

"Very well," Snape conceded though he made no move to back away from Harry.

Looking around Harry was surprised to see so many windows in the circular library. One section of the walls was devoid of shelves and books, featuring a fireplace and large windows that allowed natural light to shine through casting a soft glow over the entire library, the perfect amount of light for reading. The rest of the walls were covered floor to ceiling in shelves lined with books of all colors and size. The shelves reached up two stories with a catwalk making a horseshoe to stop at each side by the windows with a wooden ladder allowing access up to the catwalk.

The enormous amount of books screamed Snape, but Harry hadn't pictured the man having such a bright and inviting library. Hell, Harry would rather spend time in Snape's library over Hogwart's gloomy library any day. A sofa was angled towards the fireplace and Harry imagined that to be a cozy place to curl up and read or just relax on a cold winter day while watching flurries blanket Hogwart's grounds.

"Wow," Harry breathed, excited to be in a library for the first time in his life.

"Novels are over there organized by author," Severus pointed to a section of the wall to his left. "I assume that's what you wish to read?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, "Thank you." Forcing himself to look away from the windows where the view was nearly identical from the window in his dorm, he shuffled over to the section of the wall dedicated to novels.

Harry skimmed the shelves, reading spine after spine, but not knowing where to start. Muggle authors such as Shakespeare and Tolstoy jumped out at him as recognizable from his primary schools days and Dudley's complaints over summer homework. Right next to Tolstoy was a thick and worn book, though tome may have been more appropriate. Strange markings that appeared to be some sort of strange language marked the spine at the top and bottom in gold inlay. Harry pulled the book out, intrigued.

"A good choice," Snape commented from behind Harry, scaring him into nearly dropping the book and having to juggle it to keep it from hitting the floor.

"Could you please stop doing that?" Harry requested, tired of the man sneaking up on him, intentional or not.

Severus nodded. "Old habits die hard," his professor stated referring to his spying days. "That one is one of my favorites."

Harry returned the book to the shelf. There was no way he'd enjoy one of Severus' favorite books. It was probably full of words he didn't understand with a boring plot, not to mention how thick it was. He'd never finish it before term started, and maybe not even before the calendar year ended. 

Sighing, Harry continued to peruse the books, his eyes returning to that intriguing large book with the gold inlay every few minutes until he pulled out a shorter novel that not only had he heard of, but wished to read ever since primary school when Dudley had torn apart the copy Harry borrowed from the school library. Of course no one believed it wasn't Harry's fault the book was ruined, so he had to serve detention with the librarian for a week on top of the extra chores Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia made him do because they had to pay to replace the book.

"Have you found one?" Snape asked from the table where he had complied a stack of books himself.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, hugging the book to his chest to make sure no one could take away Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from him again.

"Good, you may return at any time to find books to read. I only ask that you handle them with care, and put them away in the same place that you took them from," Snape said gathering his stack of books into his arms. "Until you're through with chemo, I'd also like you to refrain from using the ladder to get up to the catwalk. If you need a book from there, please allow me to retrieve it for you."

"Okay," Harry agreed as he followed his professor from the library, descending the stairs with one hand on the railing and the other clutching the book close to his body. It was a lot easier on the way down, and Harry managed to make it without feeling dizzy or out of breath though he still needed to search out a place to sit before long.

Deciding to spend the rest of his afternoon reading, Harry continued walking towards the hall intending to return to his room. He was a bit cold, and it would be great to stretch out on his bed to allow his tired muscles to rest while he lost himself in the childish tale.

"Harry," Snape called to him, stopping his trek towards his room.

"Yes?" Harry asked, turning to face the Potions Master.

"You don't have to stay in your room," Snape remarked. "These are your quarters for the foreseeable future, and you should make yourself at home."

"Oh," Harry was dumbfounded. Snape didn't mind him roaming around his private quarters as he wished? He thought the man expected him to stay in his room for the most part. Why else would he be allowed such a large room? "I'm cold," Harry came up with as an excuse, only half-lying. Subconsciously, he couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of trick. Uncle Vernon used to invite him to sit on the sofa when he was little while he was watching the telly only to push him off and comment that freaks weren't allowed on the furniture.

"I think it's about time I rearranged the furniture," Snape commented as he took out his wand and levitated the sofa to sit in front of the fireplace that no longer housed a floo connection.

Harry watched in confusion as the Potions Master moved the coffee table in front of the couch and angled the two chairs towards the sofa before starting a fire. What did rearranging the furniture have anything to do with him?

"Come get comfortable on the sofa. You can read out here," Snape suggested though Harry knew it was a silent command.

"Uh, okay," he walked awkwardly over to the beat-up sofa and sat down before his courage left him. He slipped off his slippers and stretched out across the length of the soft cushions hoping that was what Snape meant by getting comfortable.

To his surprise, the Potions Master grabbed the large throw blanket from the back of the sofa and settled it over him. "Relax," Severus ordered, "I'll be in the kitchen. Call if you need anything."

Harry blinked at the strange and awkward scene taking place before him as his professor retreated to the kitchen. Did he somehow enter the Twilight Zone? Even at the Weasleys or Grimmauld Place, Harry had never felt comfortable enough to just sprawl out across the sofa.

Shrugging, Harry cracked open his book, unable to keep himself from diving into the story any longer. Maybe he'd become more comfortable the longer he lay there reading. Severus all but ordered him to, and Harry found that Snape had given him worse orders before. This one Harry could even grow to like.

-----

After adding the last ingredients to the various soups he was cooking to freeze for later, Severus poured two glasses of apple juice and took them into the sitting room while the soups simmered. He had purposely vacated the sitting room after sensing Harry's discomfort at the idea of lounging out in the sitting room. Severus refused to have the boy think he belonged holed up in his room. Harry's reaction gave him more evidence to believe there was more to the boy's past than any of them had ever guessed. Severus wouldn't let the subject go forever, but asking the boy to speak of the abusive treatment by his Muggle relatives was too much to ask of him right now. Mentally, Harry was too fragile to withstand such a conversation.

Rounding the sofa, Severus wasn't surprised to find Harry dozing with a trail of drool sliding down his chin, book propped up as a tent for Flurry across his chest. The boy hadn't made so much as a peep for the last hour. Picking up the book, Severus reached for a spare bit of parchment to mark Harry's place and placed it on the coffee table before slipping Harry's glasses from his eyes and setting them on top of the book.

"What are we going to do with you?" the Potions Master asked Flurry as he picked her up and settled her into his lap from his spot in a chair opposite the sofa.

"Meow," Flurry voiced and Severus swore he heard a questioning inflection in her meow.

"You can't sleep in Harry's bed," he stated, wondering if he was going crazy for talking to the cat like she understood him. If only there were a way she could understand him. He didn't want to punish the cat for something that would normally be okay, and there wasn't a potion that allowed a wizard to communicate with animals, no charm either.

But of course!

Severus scolded himself for not thinking of it sooner. He returned Flurry to Harry's chest before striding through the door to the entrance chamber. Taking a pinch of floo powder, Severus threw it down before sticking his head into the green flames while calling out for Minerva's quarters.

"Minerva," Severus called hoping the witch was in her quarters. He knew she stayed a few days after term ended to take care of some Deputy Headmistress duties before holidaying for a couple weeks to visit family.

"Severus," the witch greeted him as she came into view. "Is something wrong with Harry?" she asked, her voice filled with worry.

"No, though I do require your help," he felt awkward asking his old Transfiguration professor for help on a personal matter. It made him feel like he was fourteen all over again.

"Of course. Do you need me to sit with Harry?" Minerva moved around the room, collecting paperwork into a pile.

"You may see him, but I need your help with my cat," Severus admitted.

"Your cat?" Minerva questioned, stopping in the middle of the room.

"Flurry has taken a liking to sleeping in Harry's bed," he explained, "and she won't be able to because of his treatments."

"And you don't wish to scold her," Minerva assumed giving Severus a knowing smile. "I'll be right down. I have Harry's final grades that I've been meaning to give to him anyway. Just let me get the envelope."

He nodded before withdrawing his head from the flames and stood up to wait for his colleague. Minerva flooed in a few minutes later, Harry's envelope in her hand.

"Severus, why is there a sink by your floo and was that a sterilization charm I felt when I stepped out of your floo?" she asked.

"Harry's treatments cause his immune system to become suppressed," Severus stated gesturing to the sink. "If you'd wash your hands before entering my quarters proper, please."

"Oh dear, of course," Minerva tucked the envelope into her robes and then washed her hands in the sink following the diagram Severus posted to instruct on proper hand-washing technique.

"Thank you," Severus led the Transfigurations professor into his sitting room. "Harry's sleeping," he warned.

Minerva nodded. "Where's Flurry?"

He pointed to the tiny fluff ball curled up on Harry's chest.

She picked up the cat and set her on the floor. Then, she blurred into her Animagus form leaving a tabby cat in her place. Minerva gestured with her paws in a humanlike fashion like she did when she lectured students while Flurry sat at attention in front of the larger cat.

Severus wished Harry were awake to see it. It was quite amusing and would be sure to bring a smile to the boy's face if not a laugh, but he didn't risk waking Harry. The child was sleeping peacefully and from the slight upturn of his lips, it appeared he was having a pleasant dream.

"Meow," Minerva meowed sternly while stomping her front paw. Flurry hung her head in rejection. The larger cat stepped forward and licked the smaller cat's head, nuzzling the white fur ball against her to console the little monster.

A few minutes later, Flurry jumped back up onto the sofa and Minerva shifted back. "Poor cat feels a little dejected even though she understands why she can't sleep in Harry's bed any longer."

"Thank you, Minerva," Severus said, waving her to sit down.

"It wasn't a problem, Severus. Just make sure to give Flurry a bit of extra attention. She remembers him," she said as an afterthought.

"I thought she would," he sighed, refusing to think back to the night Lily died.

"Professor McGonagall?" Harry questioned with a yawn, stretching as he woke up. "What are you doing here?"

"I have your grades for you," she pulled out the envelope from her robes and levitated it towards her student.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Harry sat up and snatched the envelope out of the air in front of him on his third try. He blushed as he slid his glasses onto his face. Setting the envelope on top of his book, he smiled at the glass of apple juice and took a small sip.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Severus questioned. The child's grades would be a good indication of his O.W.L. scores, and it was important Harry decided which subjects he was qualified for and wished to pursue at the N.E.W.T. level, so they could start to plan Harry's course load for the next year.

"Maybe later," Harry shrugged.

Severus nodded, choosing not to push the boy. He'd had enough to deal with over the last day.

"Do you need me to pick anything up for you?" Minerva questioned Harry. "I have to pick up a few things in Diagon Alley for the upcoming school year tomorrow, and I could pick up anything you need while I'm there."

"Um..." Harry looked at him clearly uncomfortable. Severus nodded.

"My quills are pretty shabby," Harry admitted, "and Professor Snape said he'd talk to you and the other professors about getting my work early, so a few new quills would be nice."

"I'll bring them by within a day or so," Minerva smiled. "Let me know if you need anything, either of you," she turned to look at him.

"Thank you," Severus said for both her offer and helping with Flurry.

"I need to be going. There's so much paperwork to complete and file before I can feel like it's summer," Minerva stated rising from her chair. "I'll see you soon, Harry. Don't give Professor Snape too hard of a time," she winked.

Severus rolled his eyes and escorted the Gryffindor to the floo before returning to Harry and proposing that they eat dinner before taking a leisurely walk around the grounds. It might be Harry's last chance to enjoy the outdoors for a while, and Severus wanted to give Harry one more opportunity to savor a cool summer night while the grounds were in bloom because flowers and plants were on the list of things to avoid, too, and it might take Harry's mind off starting chemo in the morning.