His wild hair covered the scar on his forehead as he sat in the small compartment, and even Ron didn’t know who he was just yet, but if he were honest and knew any kind of wizarding history, Harry could honestly say he didn’t know who he was either.  It greatly surprised him then when Ron nearly dropped his smashed sandwich when Harry scratched his forehead and brushed his bangs aside.  Really?  He was Harry Potter and he was somebody special?  Really?  An evil wizard had died because of him?  Really?  Everybody on earth who was of any kind of wizarding lineage knew who he was?  Yes, it was all true, and now Harry knew about it and so did everybody else on the train.  People stopped by the compartment out in the corridor to gawk through the tiny window in the door before being pushed out of the way by somebody else coming to see the boy who lived.

Even learning that an evil wizard had killed his parents hadn’t been enough to kill the hope in his heart.  Hagrid had told him that small bit of information in Diagonalley a few weeks before.  If anything it fueled the hope that there was some possibility that he might find some other wizarding relatives in this new, strange world.  And if he couldn’t?  Then he would find himself another real family to have and be all his own.  It was just something that he knew in his heart, and he already felt he had a pretty good start with Ron at his side as they got off the train in the darkness and tried to make their way through the throng of excited students to Hagrid’s voice.  Ah Hagrid… another start to his new family… his new life.  Harry had been determined to leave all his pain and suffering behind him as he entered this strange new place.  Nothing could kill the hope in his heart and soul that told him he had a chance to be normal here.

His bangs were covering his scar again as he stood in the cramped little room with the other first years where Hagrid had left them.  Harry couldn’t say he wasn’t as nervous as the rest of them, but Ron drew some kind of strength seeing Harry’s hopeful face, even if he didn’t understand it.  If Harry had hope then there couldn’t be anything too horrible on the other side of that door… even if they did have to battle a mountain troll to see where they got sorted.

The door opened and a tall, lean witch stood there in its place.  She scanned the faces and like everybody else was drawn to Harry’s eyes.  Those were Lily’s eyes, there was no mistake, and like everybody else he’d met that day, her eyes flicked up to his forehead, even though his scar was hidden.  Harry gave her a sheepish grin, and she couldn’t help but return it.  With Lily’s eyes and James’ smile how could she not?

As with all new information Harry was told regarding the wizarding world, Harry listened intently as Professor McGonagall told them about the sorting and lead them off into the Great Hal.  Ron nudged Harry in the ribs and pointed to the old hat.

“I knew Fred and George were joking.  Mountain troll my arse.”  A bushy haired girl they’d met on the train earlier named Hermione Granger shushed him, and Ron rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the hat as it began to sing.

Harry bit his lip and tried not to look at the staff sitting at the long table a foot to his left.  His turn at the hat was coming up fast and he hoped he would be put in the right house.  He knew he’d rather not be in Slytherin because that blond haired boy… (what was his name again?) …had just been put there a minute before.  He very much liked the idea that his new house would be his family, and he was quite sure he did not want to be family with certain people like the snobby blond boy.

“Potter, Harry.”  His name was called and he didn’t notice the renewed interest in the sorting of the staff and other students as he stepped up to the chair and allowed the hat to be placed on his head.

A small voice sounded in his ear.  “What to do with you?  You’re a hopeful one I see, just like the others… but wait, there’s something different about your hope… a family?  If you want a family you’d do well in Slytherin you know… they look after their own with fierce loyalty.”

Harry frowned inwardly.  “Please no,” he said, trying to be polite about it.  “I don’t want to be in that kind of family.”  He suddenly recalled a show from the television at his aunt and uncle’s house… it was about the American mafia ‘looking after their own.’

“No?” said the hat.  “Perhaps the kind of family you seek resides in the noble house of GRYFFINDOR!”  The hat was shouting now so the whole hall would hear, and Harry removed the hat carefully, afraid that if he treated it too harshly it might change his mind.  He hurried off to his new table and sat down next to a mousy looking first year boy named Seamus.

When Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor Harry budged up excitedly and made room for his new friend on the crowded bench next to him.  Ron grinned wildly and waved to his brothers a little ways down the table.

“Mum will be so excited!” he said as the feast started.  “My whole family’s been in Gryffindor!  The hat told me… except for my great, great, great uncle Millard… he was in Hufflepuff!”

“The hat knew all that?” Harry asked, wondering that it hadn’t said anything about which house his parents, or other family had been in.  Did Harry have any other family?  He looked around the hall to see if there was anybody else that looked remotely like him.  He had already seen some students that had a resemblance to each other, even ones sitting at different tables.

“It remembers everyone it’s ever sorted,” a much older Gryffindor boy told him.  “It told me I’m the first of my family to be in Gryffindor in three generations… the rest of my family has traditionally been placed in Ravenclaw.”  Here he pointed to a shorter boy at the next table and said, “That’s my brother Derek.  He’s in third year.  Didn’t surprise my mum one bit when he got put there.  Not like me.  She said my great, great granddad was in Gryffindor too but he was a wild one.”

Ron grinned, liking the idea of being a “wild one” if he was put into Gryffindor.  He had already told Harry all about his twin brothers when they were on the train, that had once turned the Potion Master’s chair into un-stickable ooze just before he sat in it.  After being unable to get out of the chair for half an hour, he dismissed the whole class and had to cut his pants off and have new clothes brought to him before he could leave the room.

“Which one’s the professor that your brothers did that chair thing to?” Harry asked, thinking that it wasn’t a very nice thing at all to do to anyone.

Ron pointed at the staff table.  “That one there with long black hair.  Old Snape.  Fred reckons he must have been in Hogwarts just after mum and dad graduated.  You’ll want to steer clear of him.”  Ron returned to shoveling mashed potatoes and roast chicken into his mouth as if it were going out of style.  Harry’s gaze lingered on Snape just a moment too long however, and he caught a glare from the man that gave Harry chills.  He tore his gaze away and tried not to look back up at the staff table again.  It was probably a good thing that he didn’t, because Snape stared at him for the rest of the meal.

Overjoyed with his new living space later that night, Harry crawled into his bed and fell asleep quickly, feeling more safe than he ever had there with his new bed and warm blankets, and new best friend sleeping in the bed beside his.  His dreams were sweet and filled with hope of finding some long lost relative who would take him in, and save him from the Dursleys.

“Harry, wake up!”

Ron threw a sneaker at him and Harry sat up tiredly, confused for a moment by his surroundings.

“Where-”

“Transfiguration!” Ron called as he threw some books into his bag, and tried to find his wand.

“Huh?”

“We slept through breakfast!  We’re going to be late!”

Panicked, Harry leapt from bed and threw his new robes on, not caring that they were slightly wrinkled from being stored in his trunk.  It was only another minute before both boys were dashing down the stairs and through the halls on their way to their first class.

“We’re lost,” Ron said, despair in his voice when they turned a corner and hit another dead end.

A throat cleared from behind them and Harry and Ron turned to find their new Master of Potions standing with his arms crossed, looking very unhappy.

“A likely excuse,” he said slowly, glaring at Ron before turning his attention to Harry.  Harry apparently was worthy of a nasty sneer… much worse than the man’s glare.

“The fame gone to your head already Mr. Potter?”  His lip curled.  “I can assure you that such foolish thinking will not be tolerated here.  10 points from Gryffindor for being late Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Potter, you have detention with me tonight.”

Ron’s jaw dropped as he looked over at Harry.  Harry wasn’t sure if this was normal or not for this school, but he was used to detention at his old school.  Dudley was always getting him into trouble for something or other.

“Get to class.  Now!”  He barked when they were still standing there.  Harry and Ron hurried off.  By the time they found Transfiguration, McGonagall was standing there looking at her watch.

“It’s fifteen past.  Where on earth have you two been?” she asked incredulously.

“Getting detention,” Ron muttered under his breath as he stood there next to Harry, kicking his shoes against the stone floor.

“Already Mr. Weasley?  What on earth for?”  She gave Ron a stern look, hoping to God that he wasn’t going to be like Fred and George.

“It’s my fault Professor,” Harry said.  “I think I got off on the wrong foot with Professor Snape.  He was mad because we were late to class.”

“Oh for heavens sakes,” she said.  “Take your seats.”

Harry and Ron plopped down in the seats in front of the Granger girl and Seamus Finnegan.  “You didn’t lose points did you?” Granger asked.

Ron turned around and glared at her.  “He took 10.”

“Hmpf.”  She crossed her arms and whispered harshly, “I just earned 10 for knowing three answers!”  Ron stuck his tongue out at her and turned around quickly so that she couldn’t retaliate.

At the end of class Harry and Ron were asked to stay behind.

Professor McGonagall looked at the two boys sternly.  “You will not have detention tonight,” she told them.  “It was your first time being late and I can trust it won’t happen again?”

Ron nodded eagerly and Harry hoped they would memorize the way to their classes quickly.

“That is all the punishment you will receive then.  I cannot protect you from all detentions however, and I will not if you are in the wrong.  Am I understood?”

Both boys nodded and walked away, happy, but looking chastened.

“That was close,” Ron said. 

Harry nodded.  “She thought we both had detention though.”

Ron shrugged.  “Oh well.  I told you to watch it around Snape.  I heard his detentions are the worst.  Fred and George are always complaining about cleaning out old ingredient jars and scrubbing floors… once I heard Snape made them use toothbrushes.”

“For gluing him to the chair?”

“No,” Ron shook his head, “He never figured out who did that… they got lucky.  If he found out, I bet they’d be dead now.”

“Shhh little brother,” Fred held a finger up to his lips as he and George ran past on their way to class.

“Family secrets,” George shouted back at them before he disappeared around a corner.

Harry gave Ron a questioning look.  “Family secrets stay in the family,” Ron recited.  Fred and George made me swear never to tell enemies things about them.

“I’m an enemy?” Harry asked.

Ron shook his head.  “Nope, I just think they don’t want Snape to overhear… you know, on case he’s lurking.”

“Oh, right.”  Suddenly Harry wished he had a family to keep secrets with, and felt all the more determined to make one for himself.

The rest of the day was uneventful, aside from Neville Longbottom, another of Harry’s new friends, vanishing Professor Flitwick’s stool on accident during their first ever Charms lesson.  The tiny man had tumbled to the floor, but had awarded Neville two points anyway for doing such a hard charm, even if he hadn’t meant to.

By the next day Harry had forgotten all about his would-be detention with Snape, that is until Double Potions with the Slytherins.

Harry had just gotten his book and note paper out, and was just inking his quill when the door to the classroom flew open, and Snape stalked in.  He took one look at Harry and narrowed his eyes.

“Potter!”  Harry and Ron jumped, and the blond boy, Draco, sniggered that class hadn’t even started yet and Harry was already in trouble.

Harry sat up straight and tried to look obedient.

Snape seemed to be sizing him up from the front of the room.

In a surprisingly calm tone, the professor asked, “You think it unacceptable to come to class looking like that?”

Confused, Harry looked down at his robes, and then at Ron’s, and saw no difference.  “Sir?” he asked.

“Yes or no Potter, you don’t even need to use that small mind of yours for this one.”

Harry tried not to frown.  He had no idea what the man was talking about.  If he said yes, then he might think he was talking back, but if he said no he would be agreeing to something he didn’t understand.

“Still waiting Potter,” Snape said, sounding annoyed.  There were more sniggers from the Slytherin side of the room.

“Um… no?”  He was hoping he had guessed right.

“So you know you did wrong and did it anyway?  Hm… sounds like someone thinks he can get away with anything.  You’d better schedule a detention into your busy schedule then for tonight Mr. Potter.  Seven sharp.”  Snape turned sharply to face the board and begin the day’s lesson.

“I can’t believe it,” Ron whispered.  “There’s nothing wrong with the way you look.”

“And that would be ten points from Gryffindor Mr. Potter, for encouraging students to talk in my class.”

Hermione nudged Ron hard in the back, sitting behind him again, and Ron closed his mouth, glaring hard at Snape’s back.

Ron complained all day about Snape’s unfair treatment of Harry, but it didn’t change the fact that Harry had somehow done something wrong, and still had detention with the man at seven sharp.

After dinner as Harry headed for the dungeons, Ron promised to wait up for him in the common room, and Harry waved goodbye.

He wasn’t exactly sure where Snape’s office was, but thought it had to be near the Potion’s classroom somewhere.  He wanted to make sure to have time enough to find it in case he got lost.

At ten til’ seven he found the office and knocked gently.  There was no answer and after a few moments he knocked again.

Deciding maybe that he was too early and the professor would show up at seven, Harry leaned against the wall opposite the door, and entertained his mind with wondering what his imaginary distant relatives might look like.  He didn’t even know what his parents looked like, so he imagined all of his family having dark black hair like his own, and dark green eyes.

After a long while he looked at his watch and saw that it was already seven twenty.  Had the professor forgotten?  It suddenly occurred to him that Professor Snape might have been waiting at the classroom, and so he hurried off to check.  Sure enough, he was sitting at the desk at the front of the room, tapping his fingers on the top.

“Well your majesty,” Snape said with mock fealty.  “Does it please you to make a fashionably late entrance?”

“I’m sorry sir,” Harry started, “I-”

Snape held up a hand and cut him off.  “You shall serve lunch tomorrow cleaning the desks in here since you were late.  I do not accept excuses… from anyone.”  He said the last word in a deadly tone, and Harry wasn’t sure why.  He hadn’t asked for any exceptions to be made for him.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said.  Snape ignored him.  He waved his wand and a mop and bucket filled with water appeared in front of Harry.

“Scrub the floor,” he said.  “I would leave you alone because I don’t have time to baby sit you, but I can’t trust the likes of your majesty to do his work if left alone.”

Harry bit his lip.  This was not turning out at all like he had hoped it would.  So far he felt like he had not left Privet Drive at all, except for the absence of Dudley trying to get him in trouble, although it turned out that Harry wasn’t needing the help, but was getting in trouble all on his own.

“NOW!” Snape spat because Harry was taking too long.

Harry jumped and grabbed the mop, accidentally sloshing some water on the floor.  He hurried to clean it up and got to work immediately.  Snape watched the ease with which the boy cleaned.  Apparently this wasn’t a hard enough task, because he didn’t look like he was really being punished.

The room was large, and it took Harry half an hour to finish it.  He again kept his mind busy with possibilities of spying somebody who looked like him on holiday somewhere out in the Muggle world.  Snape continued to watch him as he finished up, lip curling.

“I’m all done sir,” Harry said, standing up straight.

“It has become apparent that you do not know how to properly clean a floor Potter.  You will do it again.”  Harry surveyed the floor to see if he’d missed a spot, but couldn’t see any place that was dry.  Suddenly a rag appeared on the floor in front of his feet, and Snape said, “On your knees.”

Harry put the mop away obediently, and got on his hands and knees to begin scrubbing.  Aunt Petunia always made him scrub like this… he had never been allowed a mop before this night, and had been so pleased at how fast it went with the long handle.  Carefully he scrubbed out every crack and worked at every stain on the stone floor.  This time it was an hour before he was finished, and his knees and back ached.

“I’m all done sir,” he said again, sitting up and wiping his forehead.

Snape stood from where he had been sitting with his feet on the desk ignoring Harry.  After looking over the floor lazily, he seemed satisfied that Harry had done a good enough job this time.

“You are done for the night Potter.”

Harry sighed in relief and stood up, putting the rag over the edge of the mop bucket.  He was almost to the door when Snape stopped him however, and said, “Potter!”  He turned to face his teacher.

“Do not think that you will get away with crying foul to your head of house or another professor.  If I give you detention, you will have detention, do I make myself clear?”

That’s what this was all about?  Because McGonagall had told him he didn’t have to go?  “Yes sir,” he said.  He hadn’t even asked to have his sentence commuted, she had just done it for him.

“Then get out.”

Harry hurried out without waiting around to be yelled at some more.

It was almost nine when he climbed through the portrait hole and saw Ron crumpling up a messed up homework assignment and tossing it in the fire.

“How was it?” Ron asked when Harry sat down next to him.

“My knees and back are killing me,” Harry said.  “I had to scrub the whole class floor.”

“That bad?”  Harry nodded.

“He thought I’d asked McGonagall to get me out of detention, so he gave me another one to show me I wouldn’t get away with it.”

“Ugh,” Ron made a face and slapped his hand on the wooden table.  “He makes me so angry.”

Harry shrugged.  “I don’t know what I did to get on his bad side.  Maybe he’ll just forget about it tomorrow and let me start over?”

Ron shook his head, amazed at the hope in his friends voice that things could be so simple.  “Yeah, maybe,” he said, not wanting to disappoint him.

Harry went to bed that night confident that things would be better the rest of the week, but slept fitfully anyway.  He had dreams that Snape stood over him telling him how untrustworthy he was, while Slytherins stood around him and laughed.

"Slow down Harry," Ron's older brother George told him the next morning as he shoveled eggs into his mouth.

"Sorry," he said, trying to swallow as he spoke. "I'm so hungry. I was hungry last night too because of all the scrubbing I did."

Fred and George both winced. "Dungeon floors?" Fred asked.

Harry nodded. "Twice."

"Ooh, harsh," said George, and his twin nodded.

"What'd you do?" Fred and George chimed together, thinking it must have been fantastic to warrant scrubbing the floor twice.

Harry shrugged, and Ron said, "We don't know."

Fred stuck his tongue out and said, "Not to worry Harry, George and I already have two detentions with McGonagall tonight for flooding the boys toilets."

Ron scrunched up his nose. "What'd you do that for?"

They grinned and said, "That new little snot Malfoy was in there."

"Excellent," said Ron with a wide grin. "He laughed the whole time Snape got on to Harry yesterday."

"What can we say, said Fred, "We have an intuition for these things."

Harry tried repeatedly to stretch his back during the remainder of breakfast and all through his morning classes. Somehow it had stiffened and gotten worse overnight, and it was making him very uncomfortable. It reminded him of the time Uncle Vernon had taken away his cot from under the stairs and told him he had to sleep on the floor for a week. He'd even taken away his thin blanket and pillow, so Harry had nothing to comfort him at all. His back had hurt for a long time after that as well.

Harry spent lunch scrubbing dungeon classroom tables as Professor Snape had ordered, and while it was better than scrubbing floors on his knees, bending over the desks was still hurting his back. He dared not sit down to clean the desks because Snape was watching him from the desk as he graded papers. At least the detention was only half an hour long before Harry was allowed to rush to the Great Hall to scarf down a sandwich before his next class.

At dinner Harry thought to ask Ron if he'd ever heard of any other Potter's in the wizarding world, but Ron hadn't. He promised to write his parents and ask if they had, because his father worked for the Ministry of Magic. So after dinner they headed for the Owlery to find Hedwig so that Ron could send the letter he'd scrawled quickly at Gryffindor table. It wasn't long before the boys were lost again however and found themselves turned around and unsure of what floor they were even on.

"Maybe we should back track to that one eyed statue," Ron suggested, standing on his toes to try and see out the only window nearby to see if he could get his bearings from the scenery outside.

"I can't remember how far back it was," Harry said. Somehow they had found a part of the upper castle with narrow corridors and few windows, and it made Harry feel cramped and closed in.

"Well, we can't go wrong if we just keep going down stairs whenever we hit them... I mean, we'd end up back at the ground floor eventually, right?"

Harry shrugged. "And then we could ask a Prefect how to get there," he agreed.

"Sounds good, let's go."

They continued on in the direction they were headed and eventually came to some stairs, but they only lead up. They went up the small flight of stairs, down two more corridors, made another left and two rights, and somehow ended up in the Owlery, even though they'd been trying to get back to the ground floor.

"How'd we end up here?" Harry asked, scanning the tower for Hedwig. He saw her and held out his arm, and she swooped down to him, nipping him affectionately on the hand.

"I don't know, but there has got be a shorter way."

Harry nodded as Ron tied his letter to Hedwig and told her to go to the "Burrow," whatever that was. "We'll find a shorter way on the way down," he told his new friend as Hedwig flew off out an open window.

Even though they had left right after dinner, it was well past their eight o'clock curfew when they had managed to find their way down to a part of the castle they recognized. Just a few more corridors and they would be at Gryffindor tower. Ron was just commenting on how lucky they were not to get caught when they heard an angry shout.

"Potter!" Ron groaned and Harry's eyes widened. It was Snape. Harry turned and Snape strode over to them. "Breaking more rules are we? How hard is it to be in before curfew?"

Harry bit his lip, unsure whether or not it was one of those trick questions you weren't supposed to answer because the adult asking already knew before they asked.

"Well?"

Harry shrugged. "Not hard sir?" he asked.

Snape crossed his arms. "So again, you know you are doing wrong, but you do it anyway. What will it take to get it through your thick little skull that you are not king of the world and must follow the same rules as everybody else?"

Harry tried to look him in the eye because he knew it was respectful, but years of being taught to look at the floor when you were spoken to by an angry adult, or else be hit, demanded that his eyes be drawn quickly to his shoes.

"Oh, I see," said Snape, rolling his eyes. "The little king can't even do me the respect of looking at me when I talk to him."

Ron wanted to help, but he couldn't do anything but just stand there with his mouth hanging open, horrified. Even if he could bring himself to speak, he couldn't think of anything to say to make the situation any better.

"Speak Potter," Snape ordered him. "Or has the ability to do that escaped you as well as your potion making skills?"

"I'm sorry sir," Harry said immediately, falling back on another one of his habits, well learned at home. He didn't know what else to say besides.

"Not good enough Potter. It is becoming apparent to me that it takes an extra long time to teach you even the simplest things. Since you insist on staying out after curfew I will put you to work. Come with me."

Harry moved off after him, still staring at the floor for sudden fear of being hit, although he had never been hit by a teacher before, the fear was just there from the way he'd been scolded for doing nothing. Ron started to follow as well, thinking the punishment also applied to him, but Snape said over his shoulder, "Not you Weasley. It's not your fault your dimwitted friend has persuaded you to break the rules. Five points from Gryffindor. Get back to your common room." And then they were gone around a corner and Ron was left standing there, mouth still hanging open.

He had to nearly run to keep up with Snape, but Harry did his best, his short legs taking two steps for every one of Snape's. Before long they were descending into the dungeon, and had gone right back to Harry's least favorite classroom. He couldn't possibly see what else would need to be cleaned in here, but before he could ask, Snape had waved his wand, and the bucket and rag had appeared again. "Get to work Potter. The floor had better shine or you'll be doing it again until morning."

Harry fell to his knees. His back already hurt and he desperately just wanted to go to bed. He hadn't even had time to do his homework yet, and he knew he'd be up late finishing it after his detention.

He tried to scrub fast and hard, but it still took him 45 minutes to finish the whole room.

"I don't think its shining Potter," Snape said before Harry could even inform him that he was finished.

Harry sat up, rubbing his lower back. It hurt so much he almost couldn't stand it. The pain was even radiating down into his thighs now. "Does it ever shine sir?" Harry asked seriously, wondering if it were even possible.

"Potter, if you were not so insolent, then you would not be here, would you? Just for that snarky little comment you can do it again."

Oh how badly Harry wanted to groan, but he was so afraid he might get in trouble for it that he bit his lip hard instead until it hurt and he was sure it might bleed.

"I did not tell you to take a break Potter, I said to scrub." His voice was harsh but calm. There was a resolve there that told Harry the man could stand there for days watching him clean.

Harry got the rag wet again and started over. His arms began shaking from holding up his weight for so long and he felt weak. He tried to occupy his mind with his pretend family, but he couldn't recall any of the pretend faces he'd made up for each of them. It was well after ten when he was told he could go, and Harry staggered out of the dungeon classroom, knees aching as badly as his back.

Ron and the twins were waiting for him this time when he got back. "He's evil," Ron said, disgusted when he saw the state Harry was in, barely able to walk.

"Go to bed Harry," Fred instructed. Harry wanted to obey Ron's older brother but knew he still had work to do.

"I can't. I have to do my Potion's essay or I'll get in trouble tomorrow."

Ron pulled a crumpled roll of parchment out of his back jeans pocket. "Here, you can copy mine and change the wording a little."

"Thanks," Harry said, considering the offer, but ultimately deciding that if Snape caught him cheating there would be hell to pay.

Ron tried to stay up with him as Harry read through his Potion's book and tried to summarize the chapter, but eventually gave up and went to bed around midnight. It was 12:30 when Harry was finally able to make it to his four-poster and collapse on it, fully clothed. There was some relief for his back, but not much, and as he lay there the pain began to creep further down into his legs, making him want to jerk them. After a few minutes he was asleep, but his discomfort followed him into his dreams where he still sat in the common room trying to finish piles of homework before some impending deadline.

Harry couldn't stop himself from yawning through all his classes the next day. Snape glared at him as he handed in his homework, which it turns out was half an inch too short, and Snape took points for it, before informing him that another dungeon classroom awaited him if he decided to act too bigheaded and famous any time in the near future. Harry, who hadn't even realized he was famous until just a few days ago didn't think anything of it, because how could he be acting like that anyway? His mind was confused and he couldn't think straight because he was so tired and because the constant aching of his back and knees were sapping his energy.

"Want to take a break?" Ron asked after Potions.

Harry nodded. "When? We don't have time for breaks."

"We can go see Hagrid during lunch," Ron suggested, remembering that Harry had told him that Hagrid had been his first wizarding friend.

Harry brightened visibly at this and smiled weakly. Maybe Hagrid would know what to do about Snape.

At lunch Ron and Harry hurried down the front lawn to the hut on the edge of the forest where Hagrid lived. He opened the door before they even got there, because he had seen them coming.

Harry immediately fell in love with Hagrid's cabin. It was secluded and to Harry was the perfect picture of tranquility... a place away from his castle worries and away from Snape. This was the one place here where he couldn't get into any trouble.

He let Ron explain how Snape had it out for him, and watched tiredly as Hagrid dug through an old trunk, half the size of Harry's bed. Finally he came out with a dusty photo album.

"'Ere Harry, know it ain't much bu' its all wha' I have left fer yeh."

On the front was a picture of a man and woman with a little baby. There was something familiar about them though... the man had jet-black hair... Harry's black hair, and the woman had deep emerald eyes... his eyes.

"Are these... are these my-"

Hagrid nodded. "Tha's you an' yer parents Harry," he told him.

Harry bit his lip apprehensively. He had never seen his parents before. He had never seen himself as a baby either. For all he knew these could have been pictures clipped from a magazine because they were so foreign and perfect looking to him.

"They woulda' wanted yeh teh have it," Hagrid told him, pointing at the book as Harry opened it and found a picture of his father playing with him on the floor. He ran his fingers gently over the picture. His father wore glasses too.

"I'm sorry James an' Lily aren' here to help yeh now, but... well, I don' know wha' ter say. They'd jus' wan' yeh ter try yer hardest is all. Jus' do yer best an yeh'll do ‘em proud Harry."

Harry looked up briefly and nodded. He would try hard and try to make them proud, but could they even see him now? Were they looking down on him from somewhere and shaking their heads because he had gotten into so much trouble already? He closed the book, as if doing so would stop them from seeing him.

"Thanks Hagrid," Harry said.

They only had a few minutes to get back up to the castle, so Harry and Ron hurried off, the photo album clutched tightly in Harry's arms, his new treasure.

Desperate for sleep and comfort for his aching body that evening, Harry skipped dinner altogether and stayed in his room, not wanting to have any more run-ins with Snape and serve another detention... he just couldn't do that many nights in a row.

He lay on his bed looking through the album, longing to hear his parent's voice and know who they were. After seeing his mother's hair he now imagined some of his family with bright orange hair and remembered Ron and his brothers. Were they related? The names on the album said Potter and Evans... he'd have to ask Ron to ask his parents if they knew any Evans' too.

Harry closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, but all he could think about was James and Lily dead. Why had he survived and they hadn't? What good was it him living when he had just been made to live with the Dursleys all his life and then come here to continue to be tortured. Surely things would have been better if their roles had been switched? But then there was that selfish little piece of Harry deep down inside that nagged at him that he wanted to be alive, and it made him feel all the worse, knowing that if he could switch places with his dead parents... he wasn't sure if he would or not.

Angry with himself, Harry closed the book again, ashamed and not wanting his parents to see his selfishness. And then Snape's words came to mind again, ‘if you hadn't been so insolent you wouldn't be here now...' if he hadn't been so insolent... Did Snape know something he didn't? Was it Harry's fault that his parents had died and he had lived?
His questions followed him into a fitful sleep where he barely rested, and couldn't remember his nightmares in the morning.

 “Potter!”

Harry closed his eyes and waited for what he knew was sure to come as the Potion Master approached him from behind.  He’d followed all the instructions for his potion to the T and he couldn’t see how he had possibly done anything wrong.  But he was sure Snape would find something to berate him for, and he was right.

“What kind of dunderhead move was that?  Are you to blow up half the castle?  Adding in the Bezoar before the Lacewig wings could have caused an explosive reaction in the potion.  I’ve half a mind to chuck you out of the class for such idiocy.”

“But sir,” Hermione was raising her hand now.  Ron tried to pull her arm down but she glared at him and wrenched it free of his grasp.  “Sir, he didn’t, I saw him…”

Snape turned on her.  “Ten points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn Granger, and you can just serve detention tonight with your head of house for calling me a liar.  I saw him add the Bezoar first.”

Hermione’s hand dropped and she looked as if she might cry over her first ever detention.

Snape ignored her and turned on Harry again.  He said loudly enough for the whole class to hear, “Let Potter’s detention tonight serve you all as a reminder that foolish carelessness will not be tolerated in this class.”  He sneered at Harry and moved back to the front of the room.

Harry let out the breath he’d been holding.  “Fred offered to stick him to his chair again,” Ron muttered quietly to Harry as he glared at Snape’s back.

Harry only shook his head.  “He’d accuse me of doing it.”

“Well we have to do something!  He’s killing our chance at the house cup!”

“And my back.”  Harry winced at the thought of more long hours scrubbing floors by hand.

“I hate you,” Hermione suddenly said, not even looking at them.

“What?  Why us?  Hate him, he’s the one who gave you detention!” Ron said indignantly.

“No, Harry’s the one who keeps getting in trouble and losing us points,” she corrected him.

“Hey, you saw how unfair he was.  It’s not like Harry’s actually doing anything wrong.  Look at how he took points away from you for being right!”

“Weasley!  Granger!”  They sat at attention as Snape barked out their names.  “If Potter keeps encouraging you to talk all through class I’ll give him another detention and take more points away.  I do not tolerate such insolence in my class!”

Ron scrunched his nose up.  “Stupid prat,” he said as quietly as he could under his breath.  Unfortunately Snape heard the mutter, although he didn’t hear exactly what Ron had said.

“Detention Potter,” Snape said.  “Because you are having a bad influence on your peers.”

Harry stood up suddenly and kicked his cauldron hard, hurting his foot, and stormed out of the room.  If he didn’t leave just then he was in danger of shouting at the evil man.  He’d already gotten his essay back that morning covered in red ink with comments like, ‘Yet another mistake,’ and, ‘did you actually read the text, or are you just trying to annoy me with your stupid mistakes?’

He only made it a little way down the hall when somebody grabbed his arm and forced him to turn and face him.  Harry’s heart sank.  It was Snape.

“I did not give you permission to storm off like a little brat Potter!” he spat at him angrily, albeit quietly so as not to draw attention from anyone nearby.

“I- I’m sorry sir,” Harry stumbled with the words, not sorry at all, but knowing he’d better say it or else he could end up in even more trouble.  In the back of his mind his parents waved their fingers at him for being such a naughty boy.

“You are a foolish, insolent, nasty little brat,” Snape continued to spew out at him.  “If it were up to me you would be expelled.  It is beyond me how you can get away with such behavior in other classes.  Let me assure you that I will be watching you like a hawk, and you will serve as many detentions as it takes to stomp it out of you.”  He still had a tight grip on his arm and all Harry could do was look at the floor and mutter apologies in vain again.

“You will have detention tonight at seven, and another one tomorrow night at seven, and for the rest of the week for your little stunt running out of class.  I will not have you being a bad influence on your peers, do I make myself clear?”

Harry nodded, eyes still glued to the floor.  “Yes sir, ‘m sorry sir.”

Snape let go of his arm and ordered him back into the classroom.

Harry walked off, not wanting to face his peers and friends again after storming out like that.

He sat through the rest of the class in silence, nervous that he might continue to get in trouble for doing nothing wrong at all.  Ron nudged him under the table to tell him whenever Snape was walking by, and he straightened up whenever he did, slumping down on his stool again when he had gone.

By lunch the message had spread to the other first years not to sit by Harry because not only Snape, but apparently other teachers had it out for him too, and anybody associated with him would lose points and get detention.

Of course Harry had yet to get in trouble in any of his other classes, but that didn’t stop the students from spreading rumors, and he and Ron found themselves sitting at desks by themselves without other students even sitting behind them or at desks next to them.  Even at meals Ron and Harry had a small portion of the table reserved just for them.  Fred and George were the only other students who didn’t seem to mind sitting by them, because they were always in trouble anyway, but they had friends of their own in their own year and wanted to sit by them.

“What’s it like having a family?” Harry asked Ron dully that night before his new detention with Snape.

Ron shrugged.  “I dunno, you seen my brothers.  What good are they?  They just sit down there with everybody else.  You had a family though… I mean, where you were before Hogwarts?  You weren’t in an orphanage or anything…”

Harry set his fork down.  He wasn’t very hungry.  Living in an orphanage would have been better than being stuck with the Dursleys… even now living in an orphanage would have been better than breaking his back working under Snape.

“Do you think all those things he said about me are true?” Harry asked.

“Who?  Snape?  Nah, he’s just got a bug under his skin… a really bad one.  I dunno what his problem with you is.  Even Fred and George said he wasn’t that harsh on other students.”

Harry tried to believe Ron but had a hard time.  Snape’s words just kept playing in his head that he was a stupid, nasty little, insolent brat.  They continued to play through his head as he dragged his feet on his way down to the dungeons at seven.  Snape wasn’t in his office or their regular classroom, and Harry finally found him at five to seven in a slightly larger classroom further down the hall.  A bucket and toothbrush were waiting for him on the floor.  His heart sank even further.  It would take him forever to clean the floor with that.

“It has become apparent that your lack of attention to detail will one day get us all killed Potter.  You will clean every crevice of this floor with this toothbrush until I am satisfied that you are willing to stop being a lazy student and put forth effort into your work.”

Harry didn’t wait to be told to get going, instead he just dropped to his knees and took up the brush, wishing that the floor would clean itself.  He had just touched the brush to the floor when he heard a whoosh, and suddenly the floor was not only clean, but sparkling.  He sat up straight, surprised.

“What have you done?” Snape spat.  He hauled Harry up by his collar.  “Think you can get away with not doing a proper detention?  We’ll see about that,” and then he was dragging him out of the room and down the hallway to another classroom, toothbrush still in Harry’s hand.  Snape threw him down onto the floor and Harry’s knees smacked the stone hard.

“Give me your wand,” Snape ordered, holding out his hand.  Harry pulled the wand out of his back pocket and handed it to the man, who snatched it away.

“Let’s see you clean the floor the proper way now.”

Again Harry touched the brush to the floor, but this time there was no miraculous cleaning done on his behalf.  He didn’t know how the other floor had gotten clean, it just had.  He had never even touched his wand.  Although now that he thought about it he dearly wished he did know a spell to clean floors.  It would help him enormously when he returned to the Dursleys.  The night before Harry was supposed to depart for Hogwarts Uncle Vernon had made him scrub every wooden and tile floor in the house as payment for his long stay there.

As he scrubbed the dungeon Harry remembered Dudley taunting him that last night until he had been sent to bed.  Harry of course had not been given such reprieve and had been told to remain scrubbing the floors well into the wee hours of the morning.  When he had finally crawled into his tiny cupboard, his hopeful, excited mind had not let him get any sleep at all.  As Harry scrubbed at one particularly nasty stain on the dungeon floor, he tried to remember the hope that had kept him awake in his cupboard.  He remembered his excitement at the prospect of going to a school away from Dudley for a year, and the wonderful thoughts of being away from the chores, his cupboard, and his uncle’s fist.  He let the wonderful hope of that night wash over him once again as he realized that he was indeed away from that horrible life.  He had been gloriously bruise free for three weeks now, and had eaten three meals a day ever since he’d gotten to the wonderful castle.  As he moved on to the next stained spot Harry let the feeling of his first full stomach in years fill him again as he thought about the feast that had been laid out before him, and then the treat of getting full meals the next day as well without having to steal from the fridge or trash can.  Yes, he was definitely being treated like a royal prince here to be fed and have such a nice warm bed in such a wonderful room.  It was as if all his dreams of a fairytale ending had come true, and now he was living life in a storybook.

Suddenly Harry was again able to imagine his make believe long lost family.  It didn’t matter that his knees and back ached, or that he had been scrubbing for an hour and a half now, because somehow this was just a step on a long path that would end with him being rescued by some relative who had been searching for him since he had been left with the Dursleys.

Harry didn’t realize it, but Snape was growing angry again as he watched him begin to grin as he scrubbed the floor.  What on earth did the boy find pleasant about this?  Was he just trying to show him up by showing him he wasn’t bothered by the work?  What a cheeky little brat!

“Get out!”

Harry’s head snapped up at the shout to see Snape looking livid and pointing at the door.

“Sir?”

“OUT!”

Harry didn’t need telling a third time.  Smile gone now he jumped up and headed for the door.  Suddenly remembering about his wand, he turned and asked, “Professor you have my-” Before he could finish though, Snape was throwing his wand at him and stomping towards him.  Harry scrambled for his wand and snatched it up off the floor, but before he could head for the door again, Snape had him by the back of his robes and was tossing him out into the hallway.

The door slammed as Harry’s head smacked the wall opposite, and Snape had disappeared.  What had happened?  Harry was confused.  Wasn’t he cleaning the floor good enough?  His head throbbed and he finally realized that it was because his professor had picked him up and thrown him into the wall, hard.  That had not happened to Harry in a long time, and Harry had not thought the thin Potion’s Master strong enough to throw him about as Uncle Vernon sometimes did.  Did this mean that teachers here were allowed to hurt students?  But then again, that was only normal wasn’t it?  Harry had always been treated like this and had come to expect that he deserved it, and that perhaps other adults treated children like this too.  It was his fault really… if he had been thrown than he must have done something to deserve it.

"What happened last night?" Ron had a worried look on his face, but Harry had a hard time seeing it because he was trying to fight the nauseousness the spinning was putting upon him.

"I dunno. Where were you? I looked for you but you weren't here when I got back."

"Hiding from Snape," Ron said, crossing his arms. "We nearly got caught last night in the dungeons?"

"Huh?" Harry was only more confused.

"When you first went to have detention with him Fred and George and I snuck down there and George did a cleaning spell on the floor for you from under the door. We didn't expect Snape to drag you out of there though. He nearly bowled us over when he threw the door open. We were lucky to find a hiding spot."

"Oh, that's what happened," Harry said, feeling as if it should all be clear to him, but still unable to grasp it.

"What happened after that?" Ron asked curiously, wondering how much trouble Harry had been in for the floor suddenly being clean. "You look a little pale... did he curse you?"

Harry shook his head, remembering being chucked into the corridor and smacking his head against the stone wall. He didn't want to tell Ron about that, because it would only serve to prove that Harry really was a bad person, and he feared losing his only friend.

"He threw me out... I don't know why. I was just cleaning and then he shouted at me to get out and I left."

"Wonder what that was about," Ron said thoughtfully. "Whatever you did it must have been brilliant, and I'm sure my brothers would go wild to find a way to get out of detention quickly.

Biting his lip and trying to get the room to stop spinning as he sat up slowly, Harry said, "No, don't tell them anything about it. I don't even know what I did. I still have detention tonight though and for the rest of the week."

Ron stuck his tongue out in disgust. "There's got to be something we can do about this... maybe we can ask McGonagall to get you out of it?"

"No!" Ron was surprised by how adamant Harry was. "He'll know I asked to get out and he'll just be harder on me. I dunno, maybe I deserve all of this."

"Don't be nutters Harry," Ron said. "He's just a slimy git. You haven't done anything wrong at all yet this year. When Fred and George get detention it's because they pulled a prank or were out of the tower at midnight or something... you haven't done any of that."

Harry held his head in his hand as it gave another nasty throb. "Well I must have done something." In his mind he knew he was right. Snape was a professor at a respected school... they wouldn't hire a crazy person and he had to be a rational man to get the position. The truth was that Harry was just a bad person and Snape had been the only one to pick up on it. Harry didn't deserve to be here.

At breakfast he pushed his scramble around his plate, not feeling hungry. Trying to cheer him up Ron said, "I wrote a letter to my mum again asking about any wizards named Evans. I haven't sent it yet but I was going to after dinner tonight."

Harry shrugged. "Don't bother." What use was it trying to find somebody he was related to when they wouldn't want him anyway? He deserved to be at the Dursleys as much as he hated it there. Uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia also knew that Harry was a bad person and so had punished him for it all these years. He deserved whatever he got.

Ron frowned but didn't say anything else, seeing his friend deep in thought.

A group of Slytherins laughed as they walked by and Draco called over to them, "You're being inducted into Slytherin as an honorary member tonight Potter. Even we couldn't make Gryffindor lose so many points. You'll be in the negatives soon."

Harry didn't look up, but Ron sneered. "Stupid little prat," he said under his breath.

As classes went on throughout the day Harry was glad he hadn't eaten anything for breakfast because his stomach felt like rebelling. He was sure he would throw up before the day was out, and he wasn't sure if it was because he was getting sick or if it was because he was sick to finally come to the realization that he was an awful person not worthy to go to school there. Being as horrible as he was he was lucky to have Ron as a friend at all.

"Harry, maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing," Ron suggested for a third time during Transfiguration. "You don't look so good. You're all pale..."

Harry shook his head, wishing that he hadn't as it throbbed even worse when he did.

"Well you look like you're going to barf... you'll really be in for it if you do it in Potion's..."

"Don't say barf Ron," Harry cautioned him, not even wanting to think about it.

Sure enough, as soon as Transfiguration ended Harry was running down the hall to the nearest boy's bathroom. He barely made it into a stall before what little contents he had in his stomach were coming up. Ron stood outside the stall grimacing at the noises his friend was making inside.

"Seriously mate, Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey can put you right in about a second."

Harry emerged from the stall, shaking his head again and wiping his mouth. "No, we can't be late for Potions... he'll add another detention. I can't do anymore detentions Ron. I just can't."

"I don't blame you," he said, holding the door open for his sick friend as they exited the bathroom.

They made it to class just in time, and Ron hoped for Harry's sake that he was done throwing up for the time being. Even Hermione seemed to be worried about Harry's color as they brewed their potions. Harry tried to follow the directions but his head hurt too bad to concentrate properly. He was grateful that Hermione had chosen to sit next to him and Ron today because she had corrected him twice already before he added a wrong ingredient to his cauldron. It was on the third time that Snape marched over and pointed to another table. "Move miss Granger," he ordered angrily. "If Potter is unable to brew a simple cold draught then he is not fit to be here in the first place."

Hermione huffed and moved her supplies to the next table, giving a worried glance back at Harry. Snape was standing there with his arms crossed looking down his nose at Harry as he tried hurriedly to add chopped onions to the simmering brew.

"You did not hand in your homework today Potter. That will be five points from Gryffindor and another detention." He stalked away to give praise to somebody on the other side of the room, and Harry felt like he wanted to cry. How was he going to keep up with his work if he kept having detentions? He didn't think he would be able to handle it tonight at all with his aching head and nausea. What if he threw up on the floor while he was cleaning? He'd really be in for it then.

The rest of the day was a blur and Harry didn't remember much of it except for Ron telling him repeatedly to go see Madam Pomfrey.

"No Ron, I can't," he said yet again as he made his way towards the dungeons after dinner. He hadn't eaten all day, thinking it might help his stomach calm down, but it had only worsened the nausea.

"Well, good luck then. I'll wait up for you in the common room. See if you can't get out of detention early again."

Harry nodded and made for the dungeons. He had trouble navigating the stairs and almost fell twice, barely catching himself. Snape was in his office with the door open.

"I didn't invite you to sit Potter," Snape said just as Harry began to take a seat. Harry stood straight again, wondering if he would fall over because the room was spinning again.

"Sorry sir," he said quietly, looking at his shoes. The soles were almost worn through and there was actually a hole in the top of the left one, making it possible to see his sock. They had been hand-me-downs from some neighbor a couple of years ago. Still Harry was thankful for them however, because if the neighbor hadn't given them to him he would have been stuck wearing Dudley's old oversized shoes.

"Since cleaning floors doesn't seem to be working as a punishment Potter, you'll be cleaning out old potion jars instead. I have a number of jars ready that contained pickled rat brains waiting in the store room."

He pointed out the door and to a door directly across the hall. Harry headed for the door and wondered if he'd find cleaning supplies inside. Maybe if he could figure out how to be a good person then his family might want him someday," he thought as he opened the door across the hall and stepped into the large closet. The jars waiting to be cleaned were sitting out in the middle of the floor, along with a single rag and a small bucket of water.

Immediately he sat down with his back to the door and began cleaning the jars. They smelled awful and he bit his lip hard trying to force the urge to throw up away from himself. Harry wasn't aware of the sweat beaded on his forehead until it began dripping down into his eyes. That was funny, he wasn't working very hard and he didn't feel hot... in fact he felt chilly and wished he had his jacket.

"Potter!" Harry jumped. Apparently he had sat there for a very long time as he thought about how he didn't feel hot at all because now Snape was shouting at him about being a lazy, worthless student again. He picked up another jar and began wiping it out before setting it with the other clean jars.

An hour passed and finally Harry was finished with the disgusting task. He stood up and Snape came over from the office, seeing that he was done.

"Honestly Potter, I don't know how you do it."

Harry's ears perked. Really? Had he done a good enough job? Snape was really giving him a compliment?

"How can you be so lazy and continue to live with yourself? How do you manage to stay alive even Potter? Will you just stop feeding yourself one day too because it's too much work?"

Harry's heart plummeted again. No, not a compliment, just more proof that Harry didn't deserve to be alive. His parents, who looked so loving and perfect in the photo album deserved to be there alive more than he did, and in his heart he knew that they were looking down at him from Heaven disappointed.

"If you honestly think these jars are clean then you can go and wallow in your laziness. In fact, I insist on it Potter. I can't stand to have you in my sight any longer. Get out."

Head low and eyes on the floor Harry left the storeroom. Even trying his hardest wasn't good enough. The jars had looked clean to him, but he was so corrupted he couldn't even tell what clean was anymore. Had he ever been able to? Would he ever be able to know what it was like to be a good, decent person instead of being insolent and lazy? Draco's words came back to him from that morning at breakfast and suddenly Harry couldn't bear to show up in Gryffindor common room. He didn't deserve to be there if he was going to lose them so many points, and the other Gryffindor's now saw him for the bad person he was and didn't want them there anyway.

In a darkened dead end dungeon hallway Harry leaned against a cold wall and sank to the floor intending to sleep there for the night until he could figure out what to do. Maybe the Headmaster would release him and allow him to return to the Dursley's where he couldn't do any more damage and where he couldn't embarrass himself or his parents any more.

Severus Snape sat with his head in his hand as he graded papers. He was finding it hard to concentrate because he couldn't get that wretched Potter brat out of his mind. The stupid little whelp was just like his father, lazy and worthless. When would he learn some work ethic? He'd probably never had to work a day in his life until he got to Hogwarts. The Muggles were like that, letting their children get away with whatever they wanted, and Petunia Dursley was as Muggle as they came.

He looked at his worn watch, thinking that he ought to get a new one... he didn't know why he was so stingy when it came to spending money on himself... God knew he had enough of it after working all these years and never having anybody but himself to spend it on.

Severus sighed as the watch showed him midnight. He detested staying up so late to grade papers, and having Potter there for detention so many nights each week hadn't helped get his papers done. If only the boy would just shape up and stop being such a little prat like his father then he might be able to get some of his grading finished by a decent hour each night.

Deciding to call it a night, Severus turned down the lights and left his office, intending to go to bed but finding that his back was stiff and that he needed to stretch it out before nodding off to sleep, lest it be worse in the morning.

He walked casually down the darkened dungeon corridors, ears perked for any signs of his Slytherins out of bed when they shouldn't be. He didn't hear anything unusual until he rounded a corner in a far part of the dungeons and heard something akin to a whimper. That was certainly unusual. Generally even the Slytherins stayed away from this part of the dungeons because the Bloody Baron lived down here, and they weren't fond of their mascot in the least.

Severus stood and listened for another sound, and after a moment heard the distant whimper again. What on earth was that? Curious and cautious he moved forward down the corridor and down another one after that. Finally he rounded a corner and came upon a small form huddled in the dark on the floor against a wall, crying quietly and hugging its knees. Was it a house elf? The form certain was small enough, although he had never actually seen a house elf cry.

Cautiously he inched forward and reached out to touch the arm of the unknown form in the dark. When his fingers reached the form's shoulder, it jumped and shouted and moved back quickly. "No!"

Severus stood up straight, recognizing the frightened voice. "Potter?" His voice was unintentionally soft, but he had been so surprised to find him there alone in the dark crying.

Harry continued to scoot back until he met the end of the corridor, and hugged his knees again. Snape pulled out his wand and lit the tip to verify that it was indeed Harry Potter sobbing on his dungeon floor.

Perhaps for the first time since they had met he took in the sight of the boy. He didn't look good at all. He had bags under his eyes, his face was pale, and sweat beaded his forehead. He was obviously delirious because he tried to fight Snape as he came closer even though he was nowhere in reach of him.

"No, don't, get away, I'll be good I promise uncle."

"Uncle? I think not."

Harry squinted in the light, trying to focus his eyes, but he only became more confused.

"Please, I'll be good, I swear. Don't hit me again."

Severus frowned, hoping to God the boy hadn't been beaten by one of his Slytherins. "Potter, you're at school. Who has done this to you?" As much as he despised the boy it was his duty as a member of the Hogwart's staff to ensure the safety and well being of all of his students.

Harry shook his head. It figured that the boy would be difficult about it. Severus took another good look at the boy, not seeing any bruises. "Where are you hurt?"

Harry's bottom lip trembled. He was so exhausted and confused that it was easy to be afraid. "I, I'm not, I promise. P, please just leave me alone. I'll be good from now on." He hugged his knees even tighter, having no more room to back away from the man who had given him the injury.

Severus sighed. "I can tell that you're lying. Where are you hurt?"

Harry was sure it was a trick question... the kind that Uncle Vernon always asked just to give him good reason to hurt Harry more when he got the answer wrong. Deciding that if he took too long to answer he might get hit anyway, Harry said timidly, "My head."

"Who has done this?"

Harry shook his head vehemently.

"Why did you not go to the Hospital Wing?" Another shake of the head.

"Potter," he was testing his patience and it was getting on his nerves. He saw Harry's lip tremble again however, and his voice softened again. He finally knelt down to get closer to the boy's level.

"I cannot help if you will not let me." Harry looked away. Obviously the boy was ashamed for some reason that was beyond him. "Who did this?" he asked again, more adamantly.

"Please, please don't make me say it."

Snape's temple was throbbing from the rounds he was having to go with the boy to get simple answers out of him, and it took every ounce of his will not to simply haul Potter to his feet and drag him off to the Hospital wing. "Who was it?" Damned but the boy had better answer quickly because his patience was running out.

Harry mustered what little will he had left as his head continued to spin and looked Snape in the eyes. "You."

Snape took half a step back. Him? How? When had he hurt the boy?

Harry found the expression on his Professor's face curious. He was obviously taken aback. Didn't he remember throwing him across the hall and into the wall?

"You- you threw me into the wall sir," Harry said, voice barely a whisper, although Severus could still hear the small voice shaking.

"I didn't realize... I didn't realize you were hurt. I would have- I didn't know..." he was having trouble finding the right words, which was rare. He had intended to be hard on the brat but never to hurt him. "Is that why you didn't go to see Madam Pomfrey?" Did Harry think that if he got help and told that he would hurt him again? Did he think he had done it on purpose?"

Harry shook his head.

"Why then? You're very sick... you've obviously got a concussion..." Suddenly Harry buried his face in his knees again and sobbed once, his whole body shaking, so Severus stopped talking. Harry mumbled something into his robes but Severus wasn't able to make it out.

"What?"

Harry looked up. "Because I deserved it."

Severus frowned. "Nobody deserves to be hurt. I did not intend to throw you into the wall." Harry shook his head.

"I always deserve it. I'm a rotten, filthy person. I can't ever be good and it would be better off it I just weren't here at all."

He always deserved it? How many times had he been hit or thrown? "Come here." Snape stood up and lifted Harry up from under the armpit. Harry was weak on his feet but managed to stay standing once he was up. Quietly Severus led him up out of the dungeons and to the Hospital Wing. He knew Pomfrey would have a fit when she saw him, but Harry needed a healer, and he wouldn't hid his mistake even if he could.

Harry's words were the worst of all for Severus to remember... ‘I always deserve it'. He thought he knew what those words meant... they meant that Harry had been hit or thrown around before. From his own unfortunate experience he knew that children generally did nothing to deserve such treatment, but were often left believing that they were bad and must have done something to deserve it. Damn you Severus Snape, he thought viciously, had you not been so quick to see James you might have seen how small and sickly the boy looked when he started school... you might have seen those raggedy holey shoes and clothes he wears... you might have seen yourself.

He put a hand over his eyes as he thought back over the last three weeks. He had been marginally unfair, or perhaps even grossly unfair to the boy. He had served a lot of detentions and had done his best to complete them without complaining. By Snape's count Harry had 14 get out of jail free cards to use up before Severus would ever assign him detention again.

It had been two days since he had taken Harry to the hospital wing for the concussion, and he was still up there. Of course a concussion was something easily healable, but Pomfrey was probably keeping him there coddling him, and well he deserved, Snape scolded himself for thinking that Harry didn't deserve it.

The sound of roaring flames and a strict scolding tone interrupted his thoughts. "Severus Snape! You would do well to haul your sorry carcass up here this instant!" He didn't even look at the fireplace as the mediwitch's head disappeared. Slowly he dragged himself from the bed and headed for the door. At least Dumbledore hadn't scolded him yet, probably because it was the weekend and he wanted Severus to think over his grave mistake, and also because Pomfrey was doing a wonderful job of scolding him already.

In the Hospital Wing Severus spied Harry lying on his side in a bed in the far end of the ward facing away from him. He barely had time to glimpse him before Pomfrey was standing there with her hands on her hips.

"He won't speak to anyone," she told him quietly so as not to disturb Harry.

"Is that so?" he crossed his arms, wanting her to scold him already and get it over with so he could go back to his private quarters and continue to think over things.

"Yes that is so you foolish man." She waved her finger at him. "And if you had half a heart you'd go and talk to him!"

Severus sighed. "And what do you propose that I say? I have already apologized to him. I hardly think he wishes to speak to me."

"You are responsible for his depression Severus, and that means you're responsible for helping him out of it. I can only do so much for students when they come in... there are some hurts I cannot heal."

"I am hardly the person to help-" Her glare was enough to cut him off, and she walked into her office leaving him to take up his charge and ‘cure' him.

It was pure foolishness is what it was, he thought to himself. How she thought he could help was beyond him. He was not good at coddling, and he had serious reservations about his ability to help someone whom he had hurt.

He spied Pomfrey standing in her office door with her arms crossed glaring him down, and was suddenly motivated to move. That woman, he thought, was the biggest pain in his backside. She had been so since he himself had been a student there and had come in for whatever injuries he had incurred as a student.

As he approached the bed he thought Harry to be asleep because he lay so still, but once in view of his face he saw that his eyes were open and staring into nothingness.

Feeling awkward, Severus wasn't sure if he should remain standing, or sit down, or even what to say to the boy at all. Another apology came to mind, but he knew he couldn't do it justice, and instead a question popped out of his mouth as he saw Harry's stack of ragged clothes folded neatly on his nightstand with his holey shoes sitting neatly on top.

"Why do you wear such clothes?"

Harry's eyes flicked up to Severus, and then to the pile of too big clothes, and then back to their previous position, but other than that there was no movement. After a pregnant pause Harry said, "It's all that I have."

Severus frowned. "Your guardians do not provide you with proper clothing when your old clothes wear through?"

Harry shrugged.

"That is not an answer."

"You can just tell Madam Pomfrey that I wont talk to you either if you want," Harry suddenly said, putting his arm up over his face to cover his eyes. "Then you don't have to talk to me just because she said so."

Severus crossed his arms. "I do not take orders from Madam Pomfrey." Harry's arm shifted slightly so he could see Snape with one eye.

"I heard her shouting at you in the fireplace."

Rolling his eyes Severus said, "You did not answer my question."

Harry covered his eyes with his arm again, finding it soothing to have the light blocked out of his vision. "A neighbor gave me the shoes, and my aunt makes me wear Dudley's old things when he gets too big for them."

"And it has always been this way?"

Harry shrugged. "The neighbor gave me a brand new shirt once, but Dudley ripped it before I got to wear it."

"Hm..." There was another long pause and Harry was so silent that Snape thought he might have fallen asleep. Harry was in fact very tempted to pretend to be asleep, because he felt awkward having Snape there trying to comfort him, but at the same time he would rather have Snape for company than Madam Pomfrey trying to deliver pop psychology to him. Couldn't they just understand that he just wanted some time alone? It was better to spend his weekend in bed alone than to spend it in Gryffindor where all of his housemates hated him... except Ron, but Ron was better off without him anyway.

Finally Harry heard Snape walk away, and relaxed a little. It had been long enough that he must have thought he was asleep. Harry kept his arm over his eyes and allowed himself to drift into a fitful doze. When he awoke it was nearly four hours later, and he removed his arm to find his old clothes gone, and a new stack of clothes in their place.

Harry sat up quickly to examine the new clothes. They looked smaller than his old ones, and they were indeed new. Where had they come from? Had Madam Pomfrey put them there? There was a wonderful red shirt and a brand new pair of dark blue jeans... and there was even a pair of brand new white sneakers! Wow! His heart was doing summersaults... these were the first brand new clothes he could ever remember being given to him, aside from his brand new school robes that he got to wear all the time to cover up his nasty old clothes.

"Feeling better?" He startled at Madam Pomfrey's surprised words.

"Huh?" He turned back to the pile of clothes, holding the soft t-shirt in his hands. "Where did these come from?"

She frowned. "I don't know. Weren't those the ones you came in with?" Harry shook his head.

"Can I try them on?"

Happy that Harry was talking and sitting up, she was inclined to agree to just about anything at this point. She nodded and conjured the privacy screens to his bedside while he changed. Inside the shoes he had even found a new pair of socks. They were so soft and warm on his feet, and all of the clothes fit perfectly.

"Do you think I can leave?" Harry asked once she had removed the privacy screens.

She looked at him carefully, trying to assess his condition. "Really Mr. Potter? All it takes to get you out of bed is a new pair of clothes?"

He shrugged. "I've never had new clothes before!" He was definitely excited. He didn't care where they had come from, he only cared that they were his, and he dearly hoped that they had not been delivered to him by mistake.

"Hm... you were free to leave two days ago when your concussion was healed. I see no reason why you can't leave now. I don't expect to hear about you sulking around the castle though, understood?"

Harry nodded eagerly and hurried out of the room. He had never been proud to be out and about before in the rags he had been forced to wear, but now he felt like a new person as he walked through the halls with the bright Saturday sun shining in through the corridor windows.

He still didn't feel spectacular about the kind of person he was, and while Snape was being a little nicer he still didn't want to run into him and earn another detention, but for the time being he was able to allow a small bit of happiness into his mood.

Ron found him wandering the halls a short while later and was so happy to see that he was ok he gave him a hug. "We were so worried about you! You were so pale and sweaty and sick and then you didn't show back up in the common room... we thought Snape did you in for good!"

"We?" Harry asked as they walked down an empty corridor.

"Me, Fred, George, and Hermione."

"I thought Hermione hated us."

"I dunno," Ron said, "she's a girl... who knows what they're thinking. She was worried because you looked so sick. She took notes for you Thursday and Friday since you missed classes and you should see how great they are! Seriously, she has four pages of notes from History of Magic class... I can never get down more than one."

Harry laughed for the first time in long while. "Well, I guess we'll do good on the next test then."

Ron nodded enthusiastically. They had done pretty bad on their last test for Professor Binns, mainly because his class was so boring that they had a hard time paying attention much past five minutes after the start of each lesson.

"Potter." Ron and Harry froze, recognizing Snape's voice from behind, although it was not sharp and angry like it usually was.

Harry closed his eyes and bit his lip hard. Feeling bold for some reason in defense of his friend Ron turned around, screwed up his courage, and said, "Haven't you done enough already?"

Severus raised his eyebrows at the boldness of the youngest Weasley son. "Perhaps you would like to take his place in detention for the next week for that comment Mr. Weasley?" The question certainly had a choice for repentance in there.

Ron narrowed his eyes and said, "Better me than him."

Snape crossed his arms. "Ten points from Gryffindor for being rude Mr. Weasley. I had no intention of giving Potter a detention, I merely wished to speak to him... Alone."

"Oh," Ron looked at the ground quickly, muttered an apology and said something about unfairness and having to find Hermione for some notes. He gave Harry a sympathetic look and hurried off.

Harry's heart was beating fast and he didn't turn around to face his Professor.

"I assume you are feeling better Potter, or that it was all a ruse to begin with and you just wished to garner sympathy from the staff by laying around moping for two days?"

Suddenly his breathing became shallow and he felt panicky... here came those trick questions again. What was he supposed to do? His every muscle tightened up and he tried to take slow deep breaths. Severus noticed the visible change in Harry as he stood there and tightened up. Not wanting to be the cause of a panic attack right there in the middle of the corridor Severus moved around to face Harry.

"You are not in trouble Mr. Potter, calm down."

Harry heard the words and tried, but it wasn't happening. His muscles remained tense and he was fighting to breath. He felt like he wanted to rip his hair out.

Careful to keep his distance, Severus said in an even tone, "Deep breaths Potter... I know I am hardly the one to help you through a panic attack seeing as how I am obviously the cause of it, but look me in the eyes anyway. You are not in trouble, and I am not going to hurt you. Ever."

Harry closed his eyes, wishing for that calming darkness again, and wishing that he hadn't left the safety and solitude of the Hospital Wing. He was so accustomed to seeing Snape and equating him with hurt and trouble that he couldn't force his muscles to relax... he couldn't force the air into his lungs if he tried.

"Listen to my voice... concentrate on the calmness of my voice," Severus said, afraid that if the boy didn't start breathing regularly soon that he would end up in Madam Pomfrey's care again. "Take slow, deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Pretend I am not here."

Forcing himself to listen Harry concentrated on Snape's voice and the darkness, and found his muscles calming and relaxing slightly. Finding relief in the air returning to his lungs, Harry opened his eyes again and let his gaze fall to the floor, ashamed that he had needed help to get through that, especially help from Snape.

"In here Potter," Severus said, motioning to an empty classroom a few feet down the hall. He pushed the door open and lead the way in, allowing Potter to follow at a distance that felt safe for him.

Severus leaned casually on the desk in the front of the room, and Harry walked in and stood there still feeling awkward. He had to fight the sudden urge to bite his nails, which he had never done before.

"I must apologize to you once again for my behavior Mr. Potter. I in no way intended to hurt you. I was very wrong to pick you up and throw you, and by all rights I should no longer be working here, because it is unacceptable for any staff member to hurt any student ever, do I make myself clear?" It came out as a command, although unintentionally, but Harry nodded anyway, still looking at the floor.

"I... am not perfect Potter. You look so very much like your father..." he was trying to find just the right words, and was feeling awkward in doing it. He was not accustomed to sharing his personal feelings with anybody, especially not with students, but he knew this was a special case because of what he had done. "I saw you at the Sorting and I thought immediately that you were just like him... needless to say, we did not get along well during our own school days."

Harry looked up at this. Snape went to school with his father, and thought that he was just like him?

"I-" Harry looked down again, "I never even met him. I didn't know I looked like him until... until I got here." He looked up and into his Potion Master's eyes. "I have no idea what he's like."

His immediate urge was to tell the boy just how cruel his father was, but somehow that didn't seem appropriate just at this particular moment. "Given that you did not grow up with your parents, I should have known better than to assume you were exactly like them. It is my fault that you have suffered in the last three weeks. I do not intend to keep up a crusade against a dead man's son."

Harry bit his lip. Was that what this was? It really wasn't Harry's fault? But some things had to be... what about all those times Uncle Vernon locked him away in his cupboard or threw him into a wall or worse?

"Do not think for one moment that anything you have suffered thus far is your fault Potter," Snape told him, seeing the cogs in the boy's mind turning things over. "No child deserves to be treated as you were. Every child deserves to be cared for."

Suddenly Harry turned away so that his back was to his Professor. He didn't want him to see his tears if they started spilling down his cheeks. There had to be something wrong with him if every child deserved to be cared for, but he wasn't being taken care of like Dudley, or like Ron, or like any other child. His breathing was shallow again and he tried to fight off the impending panicky feeling that was trying to overwhelm him. If he just wasn't such a bad person all the time then he could have had a normal life?

"Potter?"

Harry wiped his eyes on his arm. "'m sorry sir... but I don't deserve that."

"What on earth would make you say such a thing?" Snape was standing now, wondering how Harry would react if he moved closer.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "Because I never had that. And Uncle always said I didn't deserve the generosity they gave me, and that I had to pay for everything they gave me."

"Potter... pay how?"

Harry shuddered, remembering the beatings and the chores that lasted until three am as punishment for being so bad. "I- they- I dunno. I'm not used to being treated so good like here. I feel like I'm a prince," Harry said, trying to explain about living in this fairytale. Snape stiffened at the mention of Harry being a prince, but allowed his muscles to loosen as Harry continued. "They give you lots of food here and a bed and warm soft blankets, and somebody gave me new clothes even and-" suddenly it occurred to Harry that Snape already knew that he wore raggedy old clothes, and that shortly after finding that out new clothes had been given to him.

Harry turned, looking at Snape, surprised to find him so close that he had to look up to meet his eyes. "Somebody gave me new clothes sir."

Severus nodded. "I know."

"Why? Why would somebody do that? Nobody wants me to have new clothes... ever."

"Because you are not a bad child, and you deserve to be taken care of."

Harry bit his lip and looked down at the floor again. No, it wasn't true. This was all his fault... it had to be.

"No sir," Harry said, getting emotional again and hating the feeling of not being able to control his feelings. "I'm bad and I can't help it. And I just want to be good so that someday somebody will want me." Suddenly he was running to the door and throwing it open, and hurtling down the hallway as fast as he could. He didn't know why, but he knew he had to run far and fast. Would anybody care at all if he just ran off into the forbidden forest and built a hut like Hagrid's and lived the rest of his days alone? Maybe Ron, but that was it.

Harry was all the way to the Owlery before he ran out of breath, and he slumped down against a wall under a tall open window. He hoped Snape wouldn't follow him... but no, he wouldn't, Harry thought, because nobody cared that much about him. Confused, Harry was somehow comforted to know that things were as they always were with nobody caring about him, and at the same time he felt a strong need and desire to just have his parents or somebody that did care there to comfort him. Why couldn't he just have a family all his own?

As he stewed in his annoyance the door behind him opened and Dumbledore appeared, a pleasant smile on his face. "Oh hello Severus," the old man said. "I have just come from my weekly game with young Mr. McAffery. He almost beat me, but not quite. He didn't see my knight backing up my queen when he swooped in for the kill."

Severus rolled his eyes. "I have important business to discuss with you Headmaster," Severus said, trying to quiet the biting remarks that longed so dearly to escape him.

Dumbledore sat down in his chair and interlaced his fingers in front of him on the desk. "May I assume this has something to do with Mr. Potter?"

"Yes," Severus said through gritted teeth. Of course it had to do with Potter, what else?

"I did see him running up to the Owlery about an hour ago... he is quite fast you know. Perhaps he will do well on a Quidditch team later on."

Snape uncrossed his arms, wishing that he hadn't because now he had nothing to tap his fingers on. "I tried to apologize to him again, but he ran off in tears. He believes he is not worthy of my apology or of being given the things he deserves."

"Hm..." As Dumbledore thought, Severus had high expectations. The old man always seemed to come up with some ingenious solution to his problems, even if the solution was sometimes a little odd. He hoped now that his wizened mentor would have some deep insight to the situation that would help him right his wrong.

"Well?" Severus asked after long moments.

Dumbledore chuckled internally, knowing that Severus expected to be handed the answer. "I am afraid that I do not always have all the answers dear boy, and I would expect you to know that by now."

"Possibly," Severus reflected, still wanting to know what he thought about the situation.

"However, if you only wish my input, I would be happy to give it for Harry's sake. It has been my experience that children who have had a life anything akin to Harry's do not accept change well, even if the change is positive. He has obviously been through a lot, here and at home."

Snape nodded. "I gathered," he said. "How do I fix it?"

Dumbledore chuckled aloud now. "Some problems cannot always be ‘fixed' as you put it. Tell me, do you care enough to help him make this transition from negative to positive?"

Severus growled faintly. "Of course I do, I am not heartless as my students believe." Snape had long since thrown up a façade to protect himself and instill respect of him in his students. Rarely was anybody allowed to see past it. Allowing students to think him a heartless monster allowed him to give them a proper scare when it came time to getting them to obey.

"Then might I suggest that the way to help is to reinvent normal?"

Snape crossed his arms again. Just like him to speak in riddles. How do you reinvent normal? He was almost asking him to change the makeup of the universe so that up was down and gravity no longer worked.

"I can see the doubt on your face already Severus so let me clarify. This may not be a task you wish to undertake. It is not something everybody is fit for. It will take monumental amounts of effort."

"Are you suggesting I can't do it?"

Dumbledore smiled. Of course he wasn't, but it did help his cause if Severus thought he was. "If you start this, you cannot stop before the task is completed, or else you will do more harm to the boy than you would do good."

"I am up to anything you give me," Severus told him, lifting his head. He had always prided himself on being able to complete even the hardest challenges.

"Good. Then you must do as I have said, and reinvent Harry's definition of normal. He is used to the world treating him cruelly. He is used to being mistreated and malnourished, and having no one to look after him aside from himself. This has since been reinforced since he has come here. He has come to expect this of himself and those around him. If you wish him to believe he is worthy of being treated well, then you must make it normal for him to be treated well."

"And how do I do that?" He was liking this conversation less and less, because he knew it had to be done, but wished he had not compounded the problem and therefore been responsible for undoing it all.

"That is entirely up to you. But I would say that whoever takes on this task would have to get rather close to him, which is why I suggested that it is not a suitable position for just anybody..."

Severus stood up. "I am not just anybody," he said. He was tired of the suggestion that he wasn't up to it.

Dumbledore smiled and leaned back in his comfortable chair. "I have no doubt that you are not," he told him. "But do you?"

* * *

How Harry had managed to calm himself down enough to return to Gryffindor tower, he didn't know, but somehow he had, and had returned to find Ron and Hermione both waiting for him.

"There you are," said the bush haired girl, who had hardly spoken more than a few sentences to him since they'd first met." She took in the tired look in his eyes.

"Here I am," he agreed, and sat down in one of the only empty chairs in the common room at a study table.

"I've taken notes for you in every class you've missed. There are three homework assignments due by Monday. I can help if you want."

Harry nodded. "That would be great." He saw Ron's grin as he stuck his thumb in the air behind her.

Hermione hurried off to her dorm to get her notes and books and Ron said, "She already looked over my Potions and Charms homework and corrected it all for me! I bet I'll get an O this time around!" Harry tried to return the smile, but it was a weak one.

Once Hermione was back, Harry spent the rest of the evening, and most of Sunday copying her notes and finishing up his essays. Just as Ron had said, Hermione went over the work and corrected it, giving it back to Harry when she was done so he could re-copy it with the corrections.

When he and Ron were alone after dinner Sunday night, Ron asked, "Where'd you get the new clothes?" Harry had liked the clothes so much he had worn them two days in a row.

Harry pretended to be busy looking through his Defense book. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh," Ron said letting the subject drop.

They had Potions first thing Monday morning, but Harry was determined to keep his nose in his book and finish his potion without any mistakes, and without getting in trouble.

His essay was on Snape's desk before the man came in, and he refused to look up at him after he had. He continued to take cues from Ron of when to sit up straight and look extra obedient, and Hermione did her best to help Harry when he forgot an ingredient or was about to do something wrong. Harry was not the only one surprised to find Snape ignoring him throughout the class. The Slytherins had come to expect a good show during Potions, and the Gryffindors had come to expect a major loss in points by the end of class. Harry was very anxious by the end of class, wondering when he would be getting in trouble and for what. He couldn't shake the anxious feeling as they walked out the door and made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"That was lucky," Ron said with a big smile on his face. "Maybe he listened to me in the corridor the other day."

Hermione scoffed. "I hardly think he's afraid of one first year."

Ron rolled his eyes and Harry looked over his shoulder as they walked, expecting to see the man storming after them to give Harry some kind of punishment. Snape was nowhere in sight however, and Harry continued on, anxious as ever.

The rest of the week continued much in the same way, with Harry looking over his shoulder constantly, uptight and anxious that something bad was going to happen. When nothing had happened by Saturday night, Harry thought he was at the breaking point. He wanted to believe that the man was no longer after him so badly, but at the same time was afraid to believe it was true, because if he did and it wasn't true, he would be in for a lot of disappointment.

"What's wrong Harry?" Ron asked Sunday morning as they lay on Ron's bed and played a game of Wizard's chess. Harry had hardly been paying attention to the game and had let Ron wipe half his pieces off the board without even taking on of his own.

"Snape's been being awful nice lately."

Ron scoffed. "No he hasn't!"

"He hasn't given me even one detention or said one mean thing to me."

"So!" Ron was incredulous. "That's not being nice, that's being normal!"

Harry gave him a doubtful look.

"C'mon Harry, cheer up. We get to learn to fly tomorrow!"

Harry did smile at this. He'd been looking at old magazines of Quidditch players in the common room, and had listened to Fred and George's stories of being on Gryffindor Quidditch team. They told him that he wouldn't be allowed to try out until his second year, but that he would have plenty of time to practice until then.

With something to look forward to the next day, Harry's mood brightened considerably. He had high hopes of the upcoming flying lesson and couldn't wait to find out what it was like for himself.

Monday he waited excitedly on the front lawn with the other first years next to a broom on the grass. Madam Hooch had already told them not to go anywhere while she took poor Neville up to the Hospital wing because he had broken his wrist.

As the breeze blew through Harry's wild bangs he listened to some of the others chatter about Quidditch and other school work, but to his right he heard Malfoy laughing, and turned to see him pick up a clear orb off the grass.

"It's Longbottom's Remembral," he said with glee, climbing onto his broom.

"Hey, that's not yours!" Dean Thomas shouted at him, but Draco only smiled and lifted off with his broom, soaring high into the air.

"Think I'll just stick this where he can't find it, the great lump," he laughed. And then it happened. Before Harry knew what he was doing, he was on his broom and soaring straight at the blond boy.

"Think you'll get me do you Potter?" He said. "What's the matter? Looking for more detentions? Come on then!" He tore off toward the castle high in the air, and Harry flew recklessly after him, flattening himself to the old broom handle to go faster. They were almost to the castle when Draco threw the ball straight into the air and took off in the other direction. Harry dove for the ball and barely missed smacking straight into the side of the castle. Somehow, he had the ball in his hand, and was flying back to the rest of the class, Draco sneering at him for catching it.

"Think you're really something don't you Potter," Draco spat.

"Back off Malfoy," Ron said, stepping in between them.

"Think you're fit to fight me Muggle lover?"

Harry watched as Ron began to turn red and was just getting ready to dive for Malfoy before a crisp voice crossed the cool morning air.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Malfoy! You will come here this instant!"

Harry and Draco stood at attention when they heard McGonagall call their names, and then went obediently to her, leaving their brooms where they lay.

She turned on Draco first. "Mr. Malfoy, did Madam Hooch not say to keep your feet planted firmly on the ground while she was away?"

Draco's mouth was moving but nothing was coming out. There was no lie he could make up with so many of his peers standing there to tell the truth.

"That's what I thought. And taking something that is not yours is also something not tolerated at this school. I'm afraid I will be taking 10 points from Slytherin, and you will be serving detention with me tonight right after dinner." Draco hung his head for a moment, trying to look chastened lest he be in further trouble, but looked back up expectantly when she said Harry's name.

"As for you Mr. Potter, even though what you did was in the name of doing good for another, I'm afraid I cannot condone rule breaking. Five points from Gryffindor, and please come with me."

Draco grinned widely at the thought that Harry was in so much trouble he actually had to leave the lesson to get punished. This also seemed to be Harry's train of thought as he looked disheartened all the way into the castle. McGonagall didn't lead him to her office however. Before Harry knew it he was being taken to the hall outside the Defense room and was being introduced to the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Mr. Wood," McGonagall said curtly. "I believe I've found you a new Seeker. I've never seen a student so young fly so fast! And he caught this in the air to boot!" She held out the tiny remembrall.

He raised his eyebrows and then looked at Harry. As if reading his mind McGonagall said, "I know he's had a bit of trouble the last few weeks but that's all past now and it has been straightened up with Professor Snape."

Wood nodded. "Good, because if I train him and he gets banned from Quidditch for even one game, we're in trouble."

"There will be no banning from Quidditch... at least not of Mr. Potter. I'll see to it."

The tall boy grinned widely. "All right then, looks like we'd better cancel tryouts, but I want to see him fly first."

Arrangements were made, and after dinner that night Wood was allowed to take Harry out to the Quidditch Pitch. He showed Harry the balls involved in the game, and let Harry take off on a borrowed broom to get the Snitch in the waning light. Even in the semidarkness Harry was able to catch the tiny golden ball, and Wood whooped in delight down on the ground.

"You got yourself on the team Potter, just don't let us down by getting in trouble." Harry nodded, and Wood continued, "Just keep your head down and don't get noticed... that's usually what works for the rest of us."

Harry was so excited to tell Ron and Hermione about getting a spot on the team that he ran all the way back up to the castle. He had almost made it to Gryffindor common room when a dark shadow stepped out in front of him from behind a suit of armor.

"Where do you think you're going?" Draco sneered. Two more shadows came from down the hallway, and Harry was acutely aware of their sizes compared to his. Crabbe and Goyle stood just behind Draco, cracking their knuckles.

"Back to my common room," Harry said, reaching back and feeling his wand in his back jeans pocket, but remembering that he really didn't know any defensive spells that would help him out if he got into a fight. Size wasn't going to help him either, because he was easily the smallest one in their year. Even Draco was half a head taller than he was.

"Think that was cute what you did earlier? Nobody does that to me and gets away with it."

"You deserved it Malfoy," Harry said. "I got points taken away too."

Draco shook his head. "You're disgusting Potter..." he took a step forward and Crabbe and Goyle followed suit, but before they could get any further a throat cleared from behind them. Harry looked up and saw Snape approaching from down the dark hallway. Immediately Wood's words about keeping his head down and staying unnoticeable came to mind, and inside he tried to squash his fears of getting in trouble and getting kicked off the team.

"Mr. Malfoy," Draco turned and stood up straight, eyes wide, but Harry didn't notice because he was too busy looking at the floor and slowly backing away from the situation, trying to look as small and unnoticeable as possible.

"Yes sir?" Draco's voice shook a little bit.

"Might I suggest returning to Slytherin common room? It is nearly curfew, and I would hate to see you lose any points for being late."

Draco nodded as if this were a brilliant idea. "Yes sir, thank you sir," he said, pretending to be grateful for the advice. He turned back around and sneered at Harry as he stalked past him, Crabbe and Goyle following.

Now that the others were gone Harry kept his ears perked for what his punishment would be now that they were alone in a deserted corridor.

"Mr. Potter, I suggest you do the same." Snape's voice was calm and collected, and while Harry tried to detect the threat in it, he found none.

He dared a glance up at the tall man, and found no trace of anger there.

"Yes sir," he said quietly, putting his head back down and trying to walk past him towards Gryffindor tower.

"And Potter."

Harry stopped, just a few feet past him, but said nothing. After a few moments, Severus said, "Congratulations on making Gryffindor team. That is not a likely feat for a first year. Do be careful won't you."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes sir," and then kept going. Somehow keeping his head down and trying to be invisible had worked, and he had escaped without another detention of scrubbing floors. It was with a smile on his face that he made his way into Gryffindor tower to tell Ron about escaping detention and making the team.

The high feeling that Harry had of being on top of the world lasted for a few days, and he tried not to let anxiety squash it, but eventually he was once again feeling overwhelmed by the feeling that something bad would happen if Snape caught him doing even the slightest thing wrong. Another week passed however without incident. Again Harry wondered if it was safe to begin feeling at ease about being there, and again he dismissed the notion, afraid to find out how very wrong he had been in thinking he was being good.

One windy Friday afternoon Snape handed back an essay that had been graded at the end of class. Fearing nasty comments Harry put it in his bag without looking at it. He hadn't gotten nasty comments on his work from the man for weeks now, but still, he knew it was coming eventually. It was Hermione who eventually asked to see Harry's returned work for the week and noticed the red ink across the top of Harry's Potion's essay.

"Harry! Harry look! You did a really good job on this essay! He gave you an O!" Her excitement was enough to draw Harry's interest. He wasn't sure which essay she was referring to, but he knew it wasn't Potions. She handed him the essay and he read the neat script across the top: Another well written essay Mr. Potter. It is well researched and it is clear you put a lot of time into it.

Harry frowned as he scanned down the essay, trying to see which class it was for.

"He must have written this comment to another student but on my essay," Harry concluded allowed.

Hermione shook her head as Ron looked over her shoulder. "No, see, it's got your name on it."

"He's off his rocker," Ron said, shaking his head. "He's finally lost it."

"Ronald," Hermione scolded. "Harry did a good job."

Scratching the back of his head Harry said quietly, "Yeah, I guess so," but inwardly he still doubted the comment had truly been meant for him. He half expected that it was trick to lure him into a false sense of security. Inside Harry wasn't sure what to make of his life anymore... he couldn't be sure of anything. Three weeks ago he was lying in the Hospital Wing with a concussion, but in the past few weeks he had been given a new pair of clothes, made the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and had not had one single detention, or one single point taken away from Professor Snape. Yes, something was definitely wrong here.

As Harry lay in his four-poster later that night in the dark, listening to Ron's snores, he wondered if this were all really a dream. He didn't really deserve all of these good things. He didn't deserve food, or magic, or compliments on his work, but maybe someday all of these things would count towards his family wanting him, even if they were undeserved. This hope that these things might count for something lulled Harry into a gentle sleep, where he again began to dream of red and black haired relatives with names like Billius and Jaden... people he didn't know, but wished for desperately.

Another month had passed since Harry's life had taken a turn for the better. He hadn't gotten any more detentions, his grades had improved, and Gryffindor had even won its first match against Slytherin. With the lack of Harry losing so many house points, people had started to talk to him again and sit by him in class and during meals. He had finally allowed himself to calm down a little, although he still felt a little awkward and uptight around the Potion's Master. All in all he was feeling pretty good about things.

Snow drifted gently over the grounds as the term went on, and Harry was finally ready to believe that maybe there would be no detentions in his future until the day he found himself cornered by a group of fifth year Slytherins on the third floor.

"What's the matter Potter? Scared of a little duel?"

Harry frowned as he continued to back up down the dimly lit corridor chest tight at the prospect of facing so many guys with wands. "I'm not afraid of you," he lied, holding his wand tightly enough that his knuckles were turning white. In all truth he knew he really had no training in dueling, and only knew a handful of jinxes the twins had taught him.

"Oh no little potty?" the skinny, mean looking leader of the group said, a twisted smile on his face. "What about detention with old Snape? Afraid of that? Don't think we lured you here for nothing you little wretch," he sneered. "Snape ought to be here any minute, and he's going to catch you in the forbidden corridor."

Harry bit his lip and looked around wildly, suddenly realizing where he was. The Headmaster had told the entire school at the start of term that this particular corridor was off limits, and now here he was backed into a corner with Snape on his way.

"That's right Potter... don't know what you did to get in his good graces, but you're going to be serving detention with him some more... maybe even be getting expelled." The group laughed loudly, but then quieted as quickly as they had started as they heard footsteps approaching, and they hurried off down a small side corridor. Harry dared not follow for fear of what they might do to him.

Panicky Harry backed himself all the way against a wall and tried to look as small and unnoticeable as possible, wishing he were altogether invisible, and no sooner had he done so then Professor Snape had walked around the corner, looking for the source of laughter.

"Potter?"

Harry closed his eyes tightly, wishing he were anywhere else and feeling panicky all over again. He hadn't had a panic attack for some time now and wished he had some kind of control over himself and his own body so that this kind of thing didn't happen.

Snape approached and Harry knew he was just a foot or so off now but he couldn't answer or even open his eyes. Harry sank down to the floor and put his head in his hands.

"This corridor is off limits," Severus said cautiously, not wanting to startle the boy who was obviously in the middle of another one of his attacks. Obviously there would need to be punishment for his rule breaking, but he was unsure how to go about it without undoing all of his hard work over the last month and a half to get the boy feeling comfortable and safe in his surroundings again.

"They, they..." he was looking for a way to explain himself, but he knew it was fruitless because it would only seem like he was making up an excuse to get himself out of trouble.

"They what?" He fought the urge to cross his arms, because he knew if the boy opened his eyes he would only look more menacing.

Harry shook his head, and Snape sighed. Why was talking to the boy like pulling teeth?

"Do not start this again Potter. If I ask you something, it would be better to answer right away instead of making me waste my time asking you repeatedly. You will tell me eventually anyway." There, that didn't sound too menacing, did it?

Biting his lip again Harry opened his eyes, but kept them glued to the Professor's shoes on the floor in front of him. "They ran off when they heard you."

"Who?"

"The boys who brought me up here... they said I'd be in trouble."

Severus sighed again and could no longer resist the urge to cross his arms. "You are in trouble. What boys? What house are they in?"

Harry frowned. There was no way the Professor would believe him if he said the fifth years had been in Slytherin... he would only get himself into trouble telling him the truth. On the other hand, he didn't want to get innocent students in another house into trouble by lying.

"And the answer is?" He could feel himself getting impatient with the boy... he took so long to answer everything.

"Slytherin." Harry noticed the defeated tone in his own voice. Surely he would be hauled away for ‘lying' after this, but he was already in trouble, so it couldn't be too much worse.

"Stand up Potter," Severus said. Harry stood up, eyes still on the floor. "I do not know why you are here in this corridor, but the fact remains that you are, for whatever reason, and the Headmaster has given orders that whosoever is caught here will get one detention. You will report to your head of house as soon as possible and explain yourself."

Harry waited silently to hear the rest of his punishment, but it didn't come. Wondering if it was safe to look up, or if the full force of the Professor's wrath was still to come, Harry snuck a peek at the man. His arms were crossed, but he himself did not appear angry.

"S, sir?"

"What?"

"I... I mean, is that all sir?"

"For now. Return to your common room and do not come back to this floor." Severus stepped aside and waited for Harry to pass, just to be sure that he was indeed leaving the area.

Wondering if maybe it was a trick to get Harry to turn his back so that he could get a good kick in the backside, as uncle Vernon or Dudley sometimes did, Harry hurried by and had to resist the urge to hold his behind for protection as he did so.

He was nearly to Gryffindor common room when he ran across Professor McGonagall in the hallway and told her he was supposed to come talk to her as soon as possible.

"What is it Mr. Potter?" she asked there in the hallway, not wanting to walk all the way back to her office.

"Professor Snape said I was to come to you immediately and explain myself to you."

"Explain about what?"

"Why I was in the forbidden corridor on third floor. He said I was to have detention but he never said it was supposed to be with him or when it was."

It was McGonagall's turn to cross her arms now. "Really Mr. Potter? What on earth were you doing there? Have you no sense of self-preservation? Was the Headmaster's warning about a gruesome death not enough to deter you?"

Harry looked up into her eyes with such sorrow and sincerity that she was taken aback. "I didn't mean to go there Professor. A group of Slytherins chased me and then said I was gonna be in trouble because I was gonna get caught there. Then when they heard Professor Snape coming they ran off."

She studied him searching for the truth, and decided that he wasn't lying. "And Professor Snape told you to come to me with this?" Harry nodded. "Oh, well, that is a change then isn't it?"

Harry was confused, but didn't ask for her to clarify what exactly she was on about. "Mr. Potter, for whatever reason, you were there, and I'm afraid you will serve detention for it. If you were able to give me the names of the ones who chased you they too would be in trouble, but as it stands now you will serve detention with me tonight at 7pm for one hour. Is that understood?" Harry nodded.

"Good then. Bring your homework and plenty of parchment."

When Harry got back to the common room and told Ron about what had happened, his friend swore loudly to a glare from Hermione, but agreed that at least it was better to have the detention with McGonagall and not Snape.

Harry reported to McGonagall's office at 7 sharp, homework in his backpack, and took a seat in the small student desk sitting in front of her own desk. This was the first time he had been in this office, and unlike Snape's office, it was well lit, large, and had a window that looked out over the grounds. He couldn't be sure because it was dark, but he thought he saw the Quidditch pitch off in the distance.

"You're handwriting is hardly presentable Mr. Potter," McGonagall said after he had taken a seat. "Copy as much of your homework as you can onto new parchment. If you get done with one assignment you will start on another."

Harry looked surprised. "You mean, I'm not going to scrub floors or cauldrons?"

"Detention is not so much to be used for punishing as it is to be used for teaching Mr. Potter. Scrubbing cauldrons and floors will not help me read your homework the next time you turn it in. Get to work. You may leave at eight o'clock." She went back to the book she had been reading, and not wanting to push his amazing luck, Harry set out to rewriting all of the assignments he had with him. Luckily he had completed three of them already so he had something to copy. At the end of an hour he was still wondering at his wonderful luck. He wished he'd get detention with McGonagall more often when he got into trouble rather than with Professor Snape, although, he was also still amazed that Snape had let him have detention with McGonagall at all.

After he showed his rewritten assignments to his Head of House he was free to leave, and he had the rest of the night to himself. Ron was also amazed and happy that Harry had returned so early, and that they had time to play a round of Wizarding chess before bed.

"Why do you reckon he let you do detention with her?" Ron asked as he and Harry packed the game back into the box after a couple of hours.

Harry shrugged. "No idea. I thought I was dead when he caught me up there. He didn't even yell at me. Can you believe that?"

"No," Ron shook his head. "Not possible. I wonder if somebody transfigured themselves to look like him and they let you off easy."

Harry laughed. "Who would do that? If he was somebody else he wouldn't have given me detention at all."

Shrugging Ron pushed the box under his bed. "Don't know Harry, maybe you're luck is changing is all... maybe the Headmaster came down hard on Snape for being so mean to you and told him to knock it off or else."

"Or else what?"

"I dunno... Snape's dark though, I know that for sure. My brothers told me he used to be in league with You Know Who. Maybe Dumbledore threatened to kick him out on his arse if he didn't start being nice to you."

Ron climbed into bed and Harry sat on the edge of his own pondering this. Was Snape really only being nice because he had to be? He didn't know, but he much preferred being treated like a normal student, no matter the reason.

"Ugh! Run!" Ron, Harry, and Hermione shielded their heads as best they could as Peeves threw globs of something rancid at them from the ceiling, cackling with glee. Hermione screamed as a large glob hit her in the head, and Harry dove out of the way as another came sailing his way.

"C'mon, this way!" Ron was shouting, tugging at Hermione who was now in tears to pull her down a different corridor. Harry tried to follow but was stopped abruptly by half a dozen blobs being thrown in his path, so he took off in the opposite direction.

Panting Harry rounded a corner and almost ran straight through Nearly Headless Nick.

"Hurry, in here," Nick whispered, holding a tapestry aside to reveal a hidden passageway so that Harry could escape the meddlesome poltergeist.

"Thanks," Harry said as Nick let the tapestry fall flat against the wall again just in time as Harry heard Peeves cackle again closer by.

"Haven't seen any little firsties running loose have you?" he asked joyfully.

"I certainly have not," Nick said in a haughty tone.

"Awww, you ghosts are never any fun... except for target practice!" Peeves shouted. Harry heard several splats and was sure that Peeves had thrown whatever it was through the Gryffindor ghost.

Not wanting to wait for Peeves to find him, he hurried off through the cramped, low, dark corridor. He was almost to the end when he heard Draco's voice coming from the other side of a blue tapestry. He didn't want to emerge just then only to be picked on some more. Instead he looked around, hoping for another exit. He spied an arch shaped door a little ways back down the hall and headed for it, hoping it wasn't locked. Luckily it wasn't, and he pushed the heavy door open, falling into a tiny, cramped room.

"Lumos," he whispered, still fearful that Peeves might find him. His wand tip lit up and revealed the room to be empty. There was not even a chair. Thinking that perhaps the room might have held a very tiny bed at one time, Harry wondered what its purpose was. The corridor outside was certainly tiny enough that he didn't think adults would ever use it, because anybody taller than him would have had to crouch to fit inside.

Harry sat down on the floor cross-legged, willing to wait it out and hope that one of the two corridors on either side of the hidden one would be empty in a short while so that he could escape and find Ron and Hermione. He hoped they were all right and that Hermione wouldn't cry for too long. He hated to see his friend upset.

As Harry sat there wondering when it would be safe to emerge from his new hiding place, he reflected on how Hermione and some of the other Gryffindors in his year had now become his friends. Even a few students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were talking to him now that he wasn't in trouble all the time.

Harry looked at his watch. It had been ten minutes since he'd found the room, and he thought it was time to check the entrances. He didn't want to chance the entrance he'd come in through in case Peeves was still lurking looking for him, so he tried the blue tapestry he'd heard Draco near, and was pleased to find the corridor beyond void of anybody except a suit of armor bearing the title: "Guardian of the Meek."

"Hm," Harry said as he read the title, wondering what it meant, but making a note of how the suit of armor looked in case he had to find the hidden place again to hide in.

The suite of armor rattled a little, and Harry took a step back, startled. "Er... thanks?" he asked. He wasn't sure but he thought he saw the helmet give a slight nod, and he hurried off to find his friends.

Ron was in the common room in a new pair of clothes and he looked relieved to see Harry.

"Did he hit you?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, I found a good place to hide. What about you?"

"He got me in the chest and hit Hermione square in the back of the head... she's showering now... I think it was rancid yak butter or something.... Ugh. Disgusting!"

Harry nodded in agreement. "Wonder where he got it."

"I bet he made it himself and let it go bad just to have something to throw at us... I bet he's got a stash of disgusting things someplace to use on us just to make us miserable." Harry screwed up his nose in disgust at the thought, wondering just what else Peeves might have in store for them throughout the year. He'd already drenched Neville and Parvati on the fifth floor with water balloons suspected of being filled with pee the week before, and had even gotten Draco and his crowd with some kind of dung near the beginning of the year.

Hermione appeared a little while later, eyes red and hair wet.

"Get it all out?" Ron asked. She nodded and gave a sniff.

"I don't know why they let such a disgusting monster roam the school."

"At least he gets the Slytherins too," Harry said. Ron sniggered. Hermione however was not laughing in the least and said something about taking a nap before starting in on her homework.

Ron stuck his tongue out at the thought of doing homework on a Saturday afternoon however and suggested a game of exploding snap to Harry, who nodded enthusiastically. It was nice to be all caught up on homework and have time to play games on the weekend. Dean and Seamus joined in the game after a while and soon the four boys were laughing with every small explosion, especially the one that caught Seamus' hair on fire.

When Hermione reappeared later, Ron and Harry agreed to get in some study time before dinner, although reluctantly, and put the game away.

At dinner Ron said something to Hermione that she didn't like and Hermione stormed out of the Great Hall, Ron chasing after her trying to apologize, leaving Harry by himself at the table.

When he was full, Harry skipped desert and left the table, thinking of finding his friends in the common room. The castle was quiet and empty as he ascended towards Gryffindor tower, because most people were still down at dinner. Harry was just wondering if his friends had worked out their disagreement when he heard something that sounded like a shoe scuffle behind him, and he turned expecting to see Ron or Hermione. Instead he found no one.

Huh, that was odd, he thought. He was in a straight empty corridor with no doors or corners, so there was no place anybody could hide... there weren't even any tapestries to hide secret places. Thinking he was imagining it, Harry moved off again to find his friends, and no sooner had he done this than he heard the noise again behind him.

This time he turned and pulled his wand out, wondering if perhaps Peeves was lurking, ready to throw more yak butter at him. He didn't see the poltergeist however, or even one of the school ghosts.

"Is anybody there?" Harry asked, wondering again if his mind was playing tricks on him.

He was just about to turn away and start moving again when suddenly he was flying through the air and landing on his back hard on the stone floor.

Dazed he looked around for what had hit him. It was as if something large had tackled him, but there was nothing in sight. He realized he must have dropped his wand somewhere and spotted it rolling across the floor a few feet away. He moved to grab it, wondering if there was any spell he knew that could help, when suddenly he was being kicked by his invisible attacker.

"Hey!" Harry shouted, "Ouch! Stop! Wait!" He was scrambling, trying to get up, but something kept pushing him back down, and kicking him hard, first in the leg, then the side, then a good solid stomp on the stomach that knocked the wind out of him so that he couldn't shout anymore. Just when Harry thought it was hopeless and that he might die there from being beaten, he heard a shout ring out across the hall and footsteps running towards him.

The beating stopped and Harry lay there dazed, stomach, and side aching horribly. Suddenly Snape was standing over him looking confused and worried.

"Potter, Potter look at me."

Harry was gasping for breath, grasping desperately at his stomach. "Help," was all he managed to get out. He was confused and was unsure if his invisible attacker would come back or not. Was it a ghost? Could ghosts turn completely invisible? He didn't know but he was grateful that somebody had showed up to help, even if it was Snape.

"Stay behind me Potter," Snape breathed to him quietly, standing up and turning his back on Harry so that he could scan the hall for any sign of whoever or whatever was hurting him.

"Accio cloak," Snape said, but nothing happened. Severus narrowed his eyes and ran a few other spells checking for any cloaking charms. When he was satisfied that they were alone, he returned his attention to the student lying on the floor.

"What happened?"

Harry shook his head. "I, I don't know. I was going back to Gryffindor and, and then I was on the floor and somebody was kicking me, but I couldn't see anybody." Snape growled faintly at the look of confusion on Harry's face, but Harry didn't hear it.

"Do you know who would want to do this?"

Harry bit his lip and looked away. Didn't everybody want to do this to Harry? Wasn't that normal? This was not the worst beating he had received, not by a long shot.

Seeing the unsurprised look on Harry's face Severus cursed himself, realizing that Harry believed he deserved it.

"Listen to me Potter, whoever did this is going to be caught. There is no reason for anybody to treat you this way."

Harry shrugged, but didn't say anything. Not that he liked being tackled and kicked half to death, but it wasn't that big a deal was it? Yes, it was scary that his attacker was invisible, but seeing Uncle Vernon kick him into unconsciousness in person wasn't any better.

After checking one more time for anybody invisible that might still be near by, Snape insisted on escorting Harry to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey promptly healed Harry's new large bruises and gave him a thorough checking over to make sure he hadn't broken anything. The Headmaster was also called from dinner, and Harry was forced to retell his story to him. Harry didn't notice it, but Severus kept giving Dumbledore looks that clearly said, ‘See? He believes this is not a big deal.'

After the Headmaster promised that Harry would be kept safe, Severus saw Harry back to his common room and told him to stay put. Ron and Hermione were not there, and Harry feared for their safety. It was not long however before students began filing into the common room, complaining about having to leave dinner early.

"What's going on?" a sixth year asked, seeing that Harry was already in the common room. "They came and told everybody to get back to their common rooms and stay there."

Harry shrugged, and ran to Ron as he saw him and Hermione enter behind a group of third years.

"I was worried about you," Harry said, pulling them into a private corner of the common room. "Somebody invisible got me on second floor and then I couldn't find you when I got back here."

Ron frowned. "What do you mean somebody invisible got you?"

For a third time in the last hour Harry explained about the attack to horrified looks from his friends.

"That's horrible Harry! Are you alright?"

Harry nodded. "Snape rescued me and forced me into the Hospital wing... I only had bruises but I'm ok now. I guess they're searching for whoever... or whatever it was. How can somebody just go all invisible like that?"

Hermione looked thoughtful. "They can't by themselves. They have to have an invisibility cloak and they are really rare."

"Cool," Ron said at the thought of owning one.

"Ronald, this is serious," Hermione said, "Somebody's out to get Harry."

"Maybe not," Harry said hopefully, "maybe they're out to get whoever was out from dinner?"

"Doubtful," she said. "I can't see somebody going to the trouble of finding an invisibility cloak just to attack any regular student. I think they were waiting for you."

Harry sighed and bit his lip lightly. "You're not helping Hermione," Ron told her with a frown.

Hermione returned the look with a "Hmpf," and went up to her dorm.

"Girls," Ron said, shaking his head. Harry shrugged and he and Ron went up to their dorm as well to get away from the noisy crowd in the common room.

Harry was summoned by Professor McGonagall the next day, and was taken to her office where he was told that they had found nobody with an invisibility cloak. All students and staff had been accounted for and several protection wards had been checked around the school to make sure that no intruders had gotten in.

"You would be well advised to travel in groups with friends or staff Mr. Potter," she told him. "We don't know if this was an isolated incident solely revolving around you, or if there is a menace out there aiming for any student."

"Yes maam," he told her.

"I would not take this lightly Mr. Potter," she said, remembering her conversation with Severus earlier in the day about how Harry seemed to take being hurt as if nothing was out of the ordinary, although he hadn't told her why Harry was like that.

"Yes maam," he said again before returning to his common room.

For the next week Harry did as he was told, and the rest of the students seemed to want to travel in packs as well, but there were no more attacks. Harry had nearly forgotten about it by the next Friday, except that Ron and Hermione seemed keen on not leaving him alone... ever. Harry had to fight Ron off just to get some time alone in the bathroom.

"Really Ron, I'll be fine," Harry said. "I'll meet you back in the common room in a minute, just give me a minute." Ron looked dubious, but agreed to let Harry use the toilet without him waiting outside the stall.

"Ok, well, if you need any help..."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't need you to wipe, thanks," he said jokingly as Ron pulled a face and left the bathroom to go back to Gryffindor tower.

After he finished up he left the bathroom and reveled a little bit in the freedom he felt at being alone. He'd only taken a few steps however when he'd been knocked flat on the floor. This time he didn't wait to be kicked and rolled away quickly, scrambling to his feet. He heard footsteps coming down the hall and suddenly Ron appeared, looking out of breath.

"Are you ok? I heard a noise!"

Harry looked around wildly, and waited to be knocked flat again, but nothing happened. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's nothing," he said, wondering if maybe he had just tripped and gotten confused or something. It didn't stop him from jumping lightly whenever he heard a noise after that however.

Another few days passed without incident, and the students seemed to be tiring of traveling in groups. Even Ron and Hermione had decided to give Harry some of his space and privacy back, for which Harry was grateful, although he was a little nervous about it.

He tried to stick to the common room as much as possible, but soon boredom got to him, and he decided that he needed a trip to the Owlery to see Hedwig.

Once in the Owlery with his pet Harry forgot all about being cautious about his attacker. Hedwig nipped him affectionately and he sat for half an hour petting her snow white feathers absentmindedly. Finally he looked at his watch and decided that he'd better head out if he wanted to be back before curfew, and said goodbye to his winged friend.

Happy, Harry made his way back towards the common room, not fearing an attack until he found himself once again splayed out on his back on the cold stone floor in a darkened corridor. This time he had not time at all to roll away before he was being kicked and punched. He flailed his arms wildly but couldn't defend himself properly if he couldn't see where to block. After a few good kicks in the stomach he couldn't breath at all, and was gasping desperately for even a wisp of air. He felt a fist land solidly with his face and tasted blood. Unlike the previous two attacks, Harry heard no footsteps coming to his aide, and he began to feel desperate. Who was this doing this to him and why?

"You there! Stop this instant!" Harry glimpsed something white and shimmering swoop by overhead and heard an icy strangled scream as Nearly Headless Nick flew through the invisible person on top of Harry. Harry rolled away immediately once the weight of the other person was off of him, and began to crawl, coughing and sputtering for air to any safe place he could find.

"Go Harry! Now!" Nick shouted after him as Harry tried to get up but couldn't, crawling instead down the hallway as Nick swooped back and forth behind him through whoever was there, giving them a horrible freezing pins and needles sensation.

Somehow Harry managed to crawl far enough down the corridor to meet another hall and crawl around the corner. A few feet down this hall and he heard a rattling. He looked up and saw the suit of armor guarding his secret place, and got to his knees, lifting the tapestry and falling inside the hallway. Feeling somewhat safe here but not quite he army crawled as best he could to the doorway and fell into the tiny dark room, closing the door behind him. He was still panting and gasping for breath. His head was spinning in the dark and Harry leaned up against a wall for support so that he didn't completely collapse to the ground. He dare not light his wand for fear it would somehow give his location away.

Sleep was tugging at him, and he tried to fight it, but soon found himself drifting in and out of consciousness. He lost count of how many times he had fallen asleep and woken when he heard the door creak open and heard Nick's voice filter in through the darkness.

"I showed him this hiding place a few weeks ago Professor, he might be in here..."

"Potter?" Harry moaned at the sound of Snape's voice, thankful that it was him that had found him and not the invisible evil that was plaguing him.

"Lumos," Snape was crouching in the doorway. He stepped inside and down into the room, and Harry was surprised and confused that Snape was suddenly kneeling by him.

"We have to get him to the Hospital Wing," Severus said over his shoulder to the Gryffindor ghost. "You said you can see the invisible man?"

"Yes indeed. I cannot tell who it is but I can see a shimmer where the cloak makes him invisible. That is how I was able to stop him."

"You keep watch then. I can't get him out of here if we're being attacked."

"Of course," the ghost said and floated out the doorway and to the end of the corridor to stand guard.

"Harry." Harry tried to focus on the gentle voice... somebody was talking to him. He squinted in the dim light at the face and was unsure of what was going on. His stomach was turning and he felt the familiar urge to vomit.

"Gonna be sick," he said, trying to cover his mouth but failing as he spewed all over the place.

"Ugh," he groaned, feeling embarrassed that he had just thrown up on whoever was there to rescue him.

He heard a familiar voice utter some kind of spell and felt the barf vanish off of his clothes and out of his mouth.

"Come, it will be a tight fit, but I believe I can carry you out of here."

Suddenly Harry was being lifted by strong arms and he grasped for something to hold on to. He found a neck and held tight, burying his face into the robes of his rescuer.

It was indeed a tight fit as Severus crouched very low while carrying Harry out of the four foot tall tunnel and out into the open. Nick floated along before them keeping an eye out in every direction for anybody who might be invisible.

"M, m, my, wh, what h, has, happ, happened?"

Severus carried Harry past the stuttering Quirill, who looked worried.

"There has been another attack. If you were doing your job properly this wouldn't have happened," Severus said annoyed. He hurried past the worthless Defense professor and left him standing there in the darkened corridor as he carried his charge past hurriedly.

When Harry next awoke he was being laid gently on a soft bed in the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey was fussing over him. He was unconscious before he could hear what all the fuss was about however.

"He's got three broken ribs and internal bleeding," she said hurriedly as she set to work, Nick still standing guard and Snape standing with his arms crossed watching her work. "Another concussion and a fractured femur... large contusions over his back, jaw and stomach." She looked sickened as she spoke, hating to see anybody injured so by a violent act.

"Will he be ok?" Nick asked.

"Thanks to you two he will. I'll keep him for a few days if you'll stand guard," she told the ghost, who stuck his chin up proudly and nodded. "Anything for a student my dear lady."

Harry woke again briefly when Snape and Pomfrey rolled him onto his side so she could work on his back to heal the contusions and stop some of the internal bleeding. "Thank goodness you found him Severus... I don't know how much longer he would have lasted without healing..." So it was professor Snape who had found him? Harry drifted off again.

Sun streamed into the ward and Harry groaned as he shielded his eyes from the unwelcome intrusion. "Mmmm," he mumbled incoherently, wondering how it had become day so quickly.

"He's awake," Harry heard a man say, and then Madam Pomfrey was there fussing over him, making him swallow something nasty tasting and making him sit up.

Harry tried to avert his eyes so that he wasn't looking at Professor Snape. Now that he was awake he remembered throwing up all over him in the dark hidden room, and thought he might die of embarrassment.

"You've been sleeping for near three days Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said. "You gave us quite a scare. Nasty business it is healing injuries the likes of which you had."

"Oh... thanks," Harry mumbled as she handed him a cup of water to get the taste of the potion out of his mouth. He used drinking it as an excuse not to look at his professor.

Once Pomfrey had left and Harry's water had gone he had nowhere to look except down at his lap.

"That's twice Potter... twice that you would have been dead if somebody hadn't come along. Why were you out alone?"

Harry bit his lip. "M'sorry."

Severus sighed. "The ghosts have been searching the school since the attack and have found nothing. Student dorms and staff offices have been checked, and no cloak has been found. Someone is out to get you, and you are running around unguarded without any thought to self preservation."

Harry continued to look at his blankets covering his lap. "M'sorry."

"Really, because one would think you don't even want to live running around after hours alone."

Harry put his head in his hands and held tight. He knew he was stupid, he knew he was bad and couldn't do things right, and he knew by all rights he deserved to be beaten by whoever it was, but he could only say sorry so many times. What else was he supposed to say except, ‘sorry for barfing all over you professor,' though he couldn't bring himself to even bring that up.

Severus' voice softened a little at seeing the emotional state Harry was in. "Somebody is out to get you, and you have to be careful. There may come a time when somebody will not always be there to save you, and you must either save yourself or keep yourself from needing saving in the first place."

Harry nodded, but as he thought about it he realized that the Potion's Master had been the one around to save him the last half dozen times... he had saved him from Draco, another group of Slytherins, his invisible attacker during the first attack, and a number of other times over the last few weeks whenever somebody thought it was funny to corner him.

"You're always there," Harry suddenly said, looking up and startling the man by looking into his eyes.

Severus hadn't meant to see into the boy's mind, but the boy had looked up at him so quickly it had startled him, and then before he knew it he was feeling guilt and confusion and embarrassment, and something else confusing altogether... gratitude?

Quickly he backed away and out of the boy's mind. Harry didn't seem to realize what had happened, but looked down nonetheless.

"Thank you," Harry said quietly to his blankets.

Severus scratched the back of his neck. "You are welcome. See that you do not put yourself in danger again or I will punish you."

Harry nodded and said quietly, "Yes sir." Inside he was so confused. Not two months ago he was here in this very bed recovering from being thrown headfirst into a wall by this man, and now he was sitting there thanking him for saving him several times over. What was wrong here? He definitely deserved to be punished... he deserved everything he got, but he was afraid for it too. He was afraid to be attacked wherever he went, and the only person who made him feel remotely safe was the man sitting in a chair beside his bed telling him that he would punish him.

"I have classes to prepare for," Snape suddenly said, and stood up.

"No," Harry reached out for Snape's wrist to stop him but missed, suddenly feeling awkward that he had shouted out. Severus seemed as surprised by the move as he did, looking down at Harry's hand.

"What?"

"Er... I'm sorry... never mind." God, the confusion was eating him alive inside! Why had he done that? Stupid, stupid!

"I will check back later," Severus said slowly, and then walked off, confusion beginning to eat at him as well.

When he was gone Madam Pomfrey came over again with another potion. "He hasn't left for two days you know... been standing guard over you while you slept." When Harry had taken the potion she left him to his thoughts again, and Harry almost wished she hadn't told him that, because it just complicated the feelings inside him that he didn't know how to express. He'd never had anybody look out for him, ever. Nobody had ever watched over him while he was sick or hurting, nobody had ever tried to save him, and nobody had ever cared enough to punish him to teach him a lesson so that he could be safe... punishments had always been for hurting before, but somehow when Snape said he would punish him if it happened again, Harry knew it was for his own well-being.

Harry lay back on his pillow and wished he could fall asleep to get away from his feelings, but no such reprieve came.

When the attacker finally made his way to the side of the bed where the raven haired boy slept, he withdrew a long, sharp dagger and raised it high in the air, ready to strike. Suddenly Harry's eyes snapped open and looked up into the face of his attacker... into the face of Severus Snape. Harry tried to scream, but was unable. He tried to move, to thrash about, but his body refused. And then Snape was bringing the knife down towards him and stabbing him in the gut over and over again, while Harry watched on, horrified.

Suddenly Harry woke with a start, screaming at the top of his lungs and fighting somebody off.

"Potter, it was only a dream, Potter!"

Harry opened his eyes and screamed again when he saw Snape standing over him, shaking his shoulder's lightly, even though he had no knife and sunlight streamed into the Hospital Wing. Harry thrashed, trying to get away, but Snape held fast.

"Potter, calm yourself or I will charm you still!"

It took a few more moments of struggling for Harry to realize that it had only been a dream, albeit a very realistic and frightening one, before he calmed a little and stopped trying to rip himself free of Snape's grasp. Embarrassed, and still a little weary of the man who had tried to murder him in his sleep... well, sort of, he refused to look up at him.

Severus crossed his arms. "Care to tell me what it was about?"

"No," came Harry's dull answer as he stared at his blankets.

"Hm... I came back to check on you, as promised. You were screaming in your sleep."

"Oh." Harry didn't want to be rude, but he suddenly didn't think he could be around Snape just then, or maybe ever again. How he had gone from feeling marginally safe around the man last night to feeling like he might be murdered by him just now, he wasn't sure, and he hated the confusion that never seemed to leave him now. It was almost as if his life was a roller coaster and he was a most unwilling passenger.

"Where's Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked.

"With Professor Dumbledore, undoubtedly throwing a fit."

"Why?"

"Potter, if you plan on continuing to talk to me, at least give me the decency of looking at me when you speak."

Harry bit his lip. He didn't think he could do that right now, and besides that, he had an odd feeling that the man next to him could read his mind sometimes, and he definitely didn't want that just now when he still had the image of being murdered by him fresh in his mind's eye.

"Hmpf." Severus walked away to the other end of the ward when Harry refused to answer, but he did not leave altogether. Harry felt a little better with the distance put between them but still felt like he wanted somebody else there with him to help if Snape suddenly decided to hex him or pull a knife.

It wasn't long however before an upset Pomfrey entered with Professor Dumbledore, and they approached Harry's bed.

"Harry my boy, how are you?"

Harry shrugged as he looked up, careful not to make eye contact with Snape, who had moved closer again with the Headmaster. "Ok I guess. Did you catch the attacker?" He tried to hush the voice in his head that shouted, ‘He's right behind you!'

"Alas, we have not. We do have some good news however. We have come up with a plan to protect you. We only need your consent to put it into place."

"What is it?" Perhaps they were entertaining ideas that it would just be easier to send Harry home. He certainly wouldn't consent to that, even if somebody was out for his blood.

"It is a bit tricky I'm afraid, but it would require the blood of a relative-"

"Oh." Harry cut him off and looked down at his blankets again.

"Potter, at least let him finish," Snape suddenly said, annoyed that the boy had interrupted the Headmaster.

"We are well aware that your other relatives will not consent to giving even a drop of blood for the spell, so we have devised a new way to get it."

"You're going to steal it?" Harry asked, looking up again.

The Headmaster smiled at the incredulous look on Harry's face.

"No Harry. The easiest way to go about this will be to get a new relative." At Harry's confused, and amusingly hopeful look, he continued. "You see Harry, there is a spell, albeit a complicated one, but one that will bind you to another person. You would essentially become blood relatives."

"Really?" Harry asked, even more hopeful.

"Yes. It is called blood adoption. For all intents and purposes, it would be as if you were the born child of this person. Of course you would have to consent. And once the spell has been preformed, we would then take blood from your new parent and add it to the potion which would be combined with a spell. The spell would alert your parent to any immediate danger you were in before it happened. It is ancient magic, and it has taken much research to find."

"So... I have to be adopted? But who would do that?" Ron's mom and dad, Ron's mom and dad, Harry said to himself over and over, hoping that it would come true. True, he had never met them, with the exception of the brief moment at the train station, but Ron and his brothers were already the closest thing he had to family.

"There are many who would wish to adopt you, but only one who is capable of protecting you both here, and wherever else you may go. The spell would have to be preformed twice, or even three times a year to be most effective, but it would ensure that you have an advantage in any battles... or attacks, that you may find yourself a part of.

"And... who would that be? What if they don't want to adopt me?"

Here Snape fidgeted and Madam Pomfrey turned away. The Headmaster looked Harry directly in the eyes however, and said, "Professor Snape."

Harry paled visibly and felt shivers going up and down his back. "Professor who?"

"Snape Harry. Professor Snape is a skilled occlumens and is skilled in the arts of defense and dueling. He would be the preferred choice. Since he is already at Hogwarts and can also protect you elsewhere."

"But-" Harry looked back and forth from Snape to Dumbledore, and to Madam Pomfrey's back, and then back again. Were they joking him?

"It is of course your choice Harry, but I would suggest that you do not make a decision lightly. Either way the choice will have consequences. If you do decide to do this, you would be bonded permanently to Professor Snape as his blood son, and eventually the bond will begin to have other effects on the two of you such as a sense of familial relation and duty. However, if you decide not to do this, your life will be continually in danger of attack, and you may one day find yourself in need of help, and none will come. If the attacks continue, we may well have to send you home for the remainder of-"

"No! I mean... no sir. I'm not going back there."

"I am sorry it has come to this Harry, but it is imperative that you be kept safe."

And there it was again, somebody caring for him when they shouldn't. He didn't deserve this attention or to be kept safe, and now here they were asking him to get a new parent... SNAPE... to be bonded to him forever, to come running whenever he was in any danger!? This was crazy! And yet, his stomach did a little somersault when he thought about having a parent. He had been hoping for some long lost distant relative with red or black hair that had always wanted him all along, but the more time that passed the less likely that seemed to be the case. And here was a man willing... or was he unwilling? To take on the roll of Harry's father.

"Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course. But until you have made your decision one way or the other, we feel it best that you stay in the Hospital wing. At least here we can watch closely and prevent attack. We have put safety wards on the doors and windows to prevent any invisible force or being from entering."

"Ok... thanks." He felt cold and was sure he must still be pale from the looks he was getting.

The three adults moved to leave but Harry cleared his throat. "Can I... can I talk to Professor Snape... alone?" He was still nervous about being alone with his dream attacker.

Dumbledore raised his brows to Snape, and when Snape gave a single nod, the Headmaster and nurse left. Snape moved back to Harry's bedside.

"I still stand by what I said earlier Potter," Snape said. "I will not continue to talk to you unless you look at me."

Harry looked up briefly, and then back down again, hoping that would be good enough. "Sir... I..." Now that he had him there alone, he wasn't sure what to say. "Why?"

"I would have thought the Headmaster had made that abundantly clear."

"No, I mean why you? I thought... well, you don't like me. Why would you want to adopt me?"

Snape sighed and crossed his arms again. "You are annoying, yes, but you do not deserve to be hurt and attacked, and to live in fear constantly."

"But, still, why would you agree to something like this? He's not making you is he?"

Severus narrowed his eyes, but Harry didn't see because he wasn't looking up at him. What was the boy really wondering about all of this?

"Nobody forces me to do anything. I am not a puppet Potter. If you wish to be safe and remain here at school, you will accept the offer and forgo anymore questions. Any answers I have do not matter. All that matters is your safety."

Biting his lip, Harry nodded, wishing he could get a straight answer. He didn't want to force the man to be his father. What kind of father would he be if he did? The Uncle Vernon kind. The kind that makes you scrub floors or shovel snow until four am, and beats you senseless because you're a burden on him. The kind that makes you pay for everything that you've been so ‘generously' given.

"Oh... ok."

"Ok what Potter... ok you understand, or ok you'll do it?"

"Both I guess," Harry said, thinking that even Snape beating him would be better than going back to the Dursley's and being ridiculed and mocked and beaten by three people.

A vein throbbed in Severus' cheek. He had half hoped that the brat would turn the offer down, but he hadn't, and now the decision was made. There was no going back. Damn you Severus Snape, now look what you've gotten yourself into... adopting the infernal child of James bloody Potter.

Harry watched as Snape nodded and left the Hospital Wing. It wasn't long before he came back with Dumbledore.

"Ready Harry?"

Harry nodded, thinking in reality that he wasn't ready at all, and never would be for something like this. Dumbledore smiled though, and set to work.

Harry didn't recognize any of the words in Latin that Dumbledore said, and it was almost a full forty minutes before he was done with the spell. And then Snape was pulling out a jar of some kind of potion, and pricking his finger and letting a drop of his own blood fall into it. Then Dumbledore set to work again with another lengthy spell as Snape dipped his finger into the liquid and smeared a small amount onto the center of Harry's forehead, and then onto his own.

"It is done," Dumbledore said.

Harry looked between the two of them. He didn't feel any different.

And then Snape took out a large knife and Harry startled, ready to throw himself off the bed and out of the ward altogether. Snape did not fail to notice. Instead of trying to kill him however, he simply handed the knife to Harry, who took it confusedly.

"What am-"

"Hush." Harry closed his mouth and watched as Snape closed his eyes.

"Do you feel anything?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"A vague sense of danger." He reached out for the knife and Harry handed it back to him. "It has gone now."

"Interesting," Dumbledore said. "I imagine the greater the danger the greater the urge for you to find him will be."

"Indeed."

"So... so, can I go back to my common room now?"

Dumbledore looked down at him. "Yes Harry. But do not tell anybody about what we have done except Mr. Weasley or Miss Granger. We do not wish anybody to pass on the information to your attacker, who may then try to use it against us."

Harry nodded, and feeling awkward, got out of bed, and hurried from the room, leaving the two professors, one of them his new blood father, standing there staring.

Infernal, inconsiderate, good for nothing child! Severus stormed down the dark corridor back to the Dungeons, ranting angrily to himself. For the third time in as many days he had gone running to find Harry and found him perfectly safe playing a stupid game or doing something else mundane. Apparently the spell was very sensitive, and Severus had not learned to differentiate between true danger and the danger of playing a game of exploding snap. He hadn't even said a word to the boy this time, and had left him there alone in the Gryffindor common room to explain to his peers why the Potion's Master kept barging in on their private activities. Aside from these unexpected jaunts through the castle to find the boy, the two of them had not spoken since the adoption ceremony had been preformed.

Unfortunately, until Harry was in any real danger (potentially during his next Quidditch match) there really would be no way for Snape to tell what danger was real, and what danger was contrived, and so he would have to keep responding to each little pang or tingle of danger he felt. He had not been amused when the Headmaster had suggested he had a "Danger Sense," similar to the Muggle's Spiderman who had a "Spidey sense."

Severus finally made his office in the Dungeons and sat down to grade the remaining stack of papers. Harry's was on top. Cursing himself as he was forced to mark the paper with tons of red ink, he remembered that he was now the boy's father and it was now his duty to ensure that the boy's grades remained high. He'd been meaning to speak to the boy about several things of this nature but had not yet found the time to do it. He had just finished grading Harry's paper and had moved on to Granger's paper when his ‘danger sense' began to tingle again, and he grumbled as he stood up to rush back to Potter's aid. "He'd better be falling off the North Tower," Severus muttered to himself as he jogged out the door again.

* * *

"Ow, wait, I don't understand," Harry said as he was dragged unceremoniously out of the portrait hole that lead to Gryffindor and into the corridor. Severus let go of his ‘son's' sleeve and allowed him to regain his balance.

"You will follow me," Severus said testily, in no mood to explain. They set off. Apparently playing tag had lead Harry to run up the stairs to his dorm room, and this in turn had sent of a signal, albeit a very gentle one, to Severus that Harry was in some sort of danger.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked. Severus shot him a glare and Harry shrank back at it, not wanting to be in any more trouble than he was already obviously in. He hoped he wasn't on his way to detention.

Back in his office, Snape pointed at a visitor's chair and said, "Sit." Harry did as he was told, and without another word Severus sat down behind his desk to finish grading his papers. After a half hour of Harry's fidgeting because he wasn't sure why he was there Severus set the last graded paper down on his desk and looked up at Harry, who was looking at the floor.

"What are you thinking?"

Harry startled and looked up. He shrugged his shoulders.

"You are not in trouble. I had you come down here because I could not keep running up to check on you when I have papers to grade. Not only was it becoming annoying, but I had work to do that would not get done otherwise."

"Oh," Harry said quietly. He hadn't meant to be an annoyance. Silently he wished to himself again that the man had not taken on this time. He said it himself, Harry was bothersome. Harry didn't want to be bound to somebody who didn't want him around.

"Can I go back to my common room now?"

Severus sat back and crossed his arms. Harry could see that he was thinking about something, and didn't like the idea of that at all. What was there to think about?

"Not tonight."

"What? Why?" Harry sat forward a little.

"I have not had a decent night's sleep in two nights. I require sleep in order to function properly in the morning. If you get yourself into some kind of danger in the middle of the night, I do not wish to run all the way up through the castle to get to you again."

"But, couldn't you just ignore it if it happened?"

Severus sighed and shook his head. Stupid boy, he thought to himself silently. "Why did we do this Potter? Why did we perform two long, complicated spells? To alert somebody to any danger you may be in so that you are not murdered. So no, I cannot simply ignore it. Until I can get a better grasp on what a feeling of real danger is, you will do as I say in regards to what you do, and do not engage in, is that clear?

Harry nodded, looking down again. Where was he supposed to stay then? Was he going to be told to sleep in the chair, or the hallway? It wouldn't be the first time he had to sleep on the floor or someplace uncomfortable, but he had already grown so used to sleeping in a warm bed in a safe place...

As if reading Harry's mind, Snape suddenly said, "You will stay in the guest room in my quarters. You will not touch anything outside of the guest room or bathroom, and you will not leave without my permission, which will be in the morning when you are to go to classes, is that understood?

Harry nodded and only stood when his professor... father? Stood and moved for the door. It turned out that Snape's quarters were just down the hall and beyond a heavy dark wooden door. Inside was a plain, but warm homey feeling room. There was a small kitchen beyond the living room, and a hallway that lead to two bedrooms and a small bathroom with a large shower.

"This one is where you will sleep," Snape said, opening a door on the right side of the hallway. It was small, but there was a soft brown rug covering the wooden floor under the bed, and the bed looked soft and inviting with it's soft brown covers. Severus waved his wand and a pair of pajamas appeared folded on the bed.

"Who's are those?" Harry asked, wondering who's clothes he was borrowing. They looked to be his size, and were red and silver.

"Yours."

Harry looked up at Snape; his arms were crossed and he had an unreadable expression glued on his face.

"I don't have pajama's like that sir," Harry said, thinking the man was mistaken.

"You do now. I will see you in the morning. Remember the rules." With that he stepped out and closed the door.

Harry stood there for a minute and took in the rest of the room. It had a very warm, cozy feeling to it, just as the rest of the apartment did. Secretly he liked it very much, but could not imagine the man whom it belonged to having such a warm personality that he belonged in such a place.

Thinking that he had nothing else to do, Harry changed into his new pajama's and reveled in the fact that they were soft and fuzzy, and fit just right. Slipping under the covers of the bed, he noticed that they too were very soft. He couldn't help but snuggle down underneath them. It wasn't long before Harry had fallen asleep, lights still on in the room. And it also wasn't long before Severus Snape was woken from a deep sleep to a blood curdling scream and a sharp tingling and horror that took hold of his entire body.

Severus raced the few steps down the hallway to Harry's room and threw the door open, expecting to see somebody standing there murdering him. Instead he found Harry in the throws of terror, screaming in his sleep, much as he had done in the Hospital Wing a few days before.

Surprised that a dream could send such a message of danger to his entire body, Severus moved forward and shook Harry, trying to rouse him from his nightmare.

"Nooo!" Harry wailed piteously, like a wounded animal, throwing his arms over his face to protect himself as Severus shook him.

"Harry, wake up," Severus tried again, shaking him harder. Harry took a wild swing with his left fist and narrowly missed Snape's jaw as the man jumped back.

"Wake up Harry, wake up," he moved back to his previous position and continued to shake the boy. Finally Harry opened his eyes and Severus, staring into them, caught one brief flash of terror as the last image of a tall man with long black hair beat Harry senseless in his dream. Shocked, Severus let go of Harry's arms when he realized that the boy was shaking.

"Harry, it's all right," he said quietly, trying to sooth the boy.

Harry shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Yes it is, listen to me, it was only a dream. No one is going to hurt you."

Harry tried to turn away from the man standing there before him as he gave a sob. He didn't want to be seen like this... didn't want to be embarrassed.

With a heavy sigh, Severus crossed his arms and said, "Would you like to talk about it?"

Harry shook his head.

"If you are going to be having these dreams and waking me from my sleep every night then you will have to stay here every night." This got Harry's attention, and his gaze snapped over to him as he shook his head in a silent ‘no.'

"Yes you will. You will do as I say because I am the one who took on this task. You are bonded to me, not the other way around."

Harry bit his lip and turned away again. He wanted to shout that the man never should have taken on the task in the first place, because he never wanted Harry in the first place, and nobody ever did. Perhaps even his father and mother had not wanted him... no, but the pictures said otherwise he reminded himself.

"I'm tired," Harry suddenly said, wanting to be alone, or at least back in his own bed in his own dorm with his friends.

"And you are not the only one." Severus paused and then moved for the door, flipping the light off. "Go back to sleep. We will speak of this in the morning."

Once he was gone and the door was closed, Harry turned back to his back and lay with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. He was wide awake now, and even if he wasn't, was determined not to go back to sleep. He couldn't keep waking the man up and making him angry... if he did then he'd never get to go back to Gryffindor. And so it was that he stayed up for the rest of the night, trying to occupy his mind with reasons that things like this always happened to him, and nobody else. Why was he sent to live with the Durlsey's? Why was he forced to be bonded to Snape? Why were people always wanting to hurt or kill him? And each time he came back to the same conclusion... because he deserved it. He was bad, and there was no helping him now.

When Harry refused to speak in the morning, Snape sent him off with a command that he was to return to his office by curfew that night, and he was to gather any homework he wanted to work on from Gryffindor tower. It was Saturday and Harry took the opportunity to sleep in his own bed, thinking that if he had a nightmare now and Snape had to come find him, then so be it. He didn't have any nightmares though, and woke up feeling achy and tired around noon. Ron was there reading on his own bed and looked up when Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Where were you last night? Did you get detention?"

"Snape's guest room," Harry said plainly. He had already told Ron and Hermione about his woeful decision to remain at the castle but to become Snape's responsibility.

"What? Why?"

"He didn't want to be bothered to have to keep running up here every time I played exploding snap or ran up the stairs I guess."

"Can't he tell between that and somebody kicking you to death?"

Harry shrugged. "He said he might be able to later on, but not yet. I have to go back tonight."

"Ugh... disgusting. What's it like? You know, where he lives?"

"I think he likes the color brown. The couches and chairs are brown, there was a brown rug on the guest room floor, and the blanket on the guest bed was brown."

"I thought it would all be green and silver," Ron said, "You know, because he's head of Slytherin."

Harry shot him a look. "You think McGonagall's quarters are all red and gold?"

"Maybe, but she's not as gung ho about being a Gryffindor as Snape is about being a Slytherin."

"Well, the only green thing I saw there was the green hand towel in the bathroom."

Ron asked him a few more questions about it, but then tired of the conversation and moved onto the topic of Quidditch. Harry's next game was against Hufflepuff in a week. Harry was glad that his friend had changed topics, and was glad that he hadn't been forced to explain that he had woken Snape up in the middle of the night because he was screaming bloody murder. Nobody could know as Harry did just how awkward it was to dream about being killed or beaten by somebody, and then wake up to have that same somebody trying to comfort you. It was just too strange.

Harry spent the rest of his day reading or looking at the photo album of his parents. What would they say if they knew he had a new ‘parent' now? And hadn't Snape told him that he and his father had not gotten along well? Then James Potter would probably be disappointed in him for choosing Snape as a new father... although he didn't really choose, and Snape wasn't really his father.

He took another nap before dinner to make sure he was well rested for the night, and then at seven fifty five he headed down to Snape's office. He was only there for a few minutes before Snape lead him to his quarters again and Harry went to his room.

This time he was armed with a Quidditch magazine from Ron and a soccer magazine from Dean, and an old novel with a picture of a boy named Oliver on the front from Hermione. Harry loved to read, and had not been allowed to do so at the Dursley's. Dudley had promptly ripped up his first library book and Harry had never again been allowed by the school librarian to check out any more books. Unfortunately for Harry he had finished both magazines and the book from Hermione by midnight, and was getting bored. Even with his naps earlier in the day, he could start to feel his eyes getting heavy, and soon he was asleep, and back at the Dursley's, trying to endure a storm of fists from Uncle Vernon. And just before he was woken, his dream changed and it was Snape attacking him, punching him in the ribs and telling him what an awful person he was, and how he didn't deserve to live.

Harry sat up and pushed Snape away when he was woken, and wrapped his arms around himself.

"It was only a dream," Snape reminded him. Harry already knew, but he didn't want to talk about it, and therefore didn't say anything, prompting Snape to leave, which he did after a minute.

This continued for the next three nights, where Snape was woken violently by horrible feelings that Harry was in danger, some times accompanied by a scream or shout, and where Harry sat up and refused to talk about it. Finally, on the seventh night that Harry stayed in his guardian's quarters, and that Harry had a nightmare, Severus knew that something had to change. He could not let his charge continue to be beaten or hurt in his sleep every night. It was beginning to eat at him as much as it seemed to eat at Harry.

He flipped on the light in Harry's room. "Harry, Harry wake up," he sat on the edge of Harry's bed and shook him, rubbing the sleep out of his own eyes. It took a moment, as it always did, but eventually Harry opened his eyes. Before Snape knew what was happening Harry was sitting up and flying into his arms, sobbing hard. Whether this dream had been particularly horrible, or it had all finally gotten to Harry, Snape didn't know, but the boy was clinging to him for dear life, sobbing into his night shirt.

"It's just a dream," Severus told him, as he did every night. But this time instead of remaining silent, Harry shook his head.

"No it's not." He kept crying.

"It was Harry, it was only a dream."

"No..." Through his tears Harry said almost too quietly for Severus to hear, "Nobody wants me."

"What? What makes you think that?"

"It's true," Harry said, continuing to cling to his guardian, and while he felt like a baby for it, he didn't care at the moment, because for just a few minutes, he had been allowed to feel as if somebody cared enough about him to hold him tight, even though Harry was the only one doing that.

"Harry, what about your friends, and-"

"My family doesn't want me, and it's because I don't deserve it."

"That's not true. They are unfit to-"

Harry cut him off again. "You don't want me."

His statement hung there in the air, and Severus wasn't sure what to say. It was true in a way. He had not wanted to take on this task of looking after the boy, and had only done so out of guilt for having partially caused the boy's problems. When he didn't answer, it only seemed to confirm what Harry had said, and Harry pulled himself away from Snape, who hadn't been hugging him back in the first place, so it wasn't a struggle.

"Can I just go back to my common room?"

"It's late. That would not be wise to travel through the castle by yourself."

"Please." There was a pleading in his voice that Snape found himself suddenly unable to deny, and he nodded.

"I will escort you then."

He went and changed into his day robes and when he returned, Harry had changed into his day clothes as well, and then they were on their way. He left him at the entrance to Gryffindor tower, and then waited until he had gone inside before he made his way back down to the dungeons, Harry's words and his own lack of a response eating at him all the way. ‘Nobody wants me,' Harry's scared voice rang in his ears. ‘You don't want me.' And then Harry's questions from the Hospital Wing clicked into his head... Harry didn't want him to take on such a responsibility without wanting it, because Harry was tired of being taken care of by people who never wanted him in the first place.

"Oomf," Harry was knocked forward again as something hit his back this time. It hit him hard enough that he was sure it would leave a bruise. He turned to glare again, but found Draco and his friends pretending as if they hadn't done anything. Harry wasn't fooled by the innocent look however, because he saw the smirk flash across the blond's face. What was it that they were throwing at him anyway? He looked around on the floor and saw nothing.

Harry had just gone back to taking notes yet again when he heard Snape shout, "Mr. Malfoy! If you throw one more lump of lacewing dung you will earn yourself a second detention!" Everyone's head snapped up and to Draco, who was caught red handed with a ball of translucent lacewing fly dung in his hand, dripping on the floor.

"Sir, I wasn't throwing-"

"Do not lie to me Malfoy," Snape snapped, suddenly stalking over to Draco and giving him a good glaring that had earlier only been reserved for Harry himself. "Mr. Potter's back is the proof. Lacewing dung is expensive, and you will repay me for the wasted material with detention at seven pm sharp!"

Draco set the manure back in the bucket that sat beside his and Crabbe's desk, and hung his head. "Yes sir," he said. Without a look to Harry or anybody else, Snape strode back up to the front of the room, and Ron sniggered. Now knowing what was smeared on his head and back however, Harry didn't feel like laughing. He was both amazed and grateful however that Snape had stood up for him, although to anybody else it wouldn't have seemed like it.

At the end of class Snape made a minute motion with his hand that Harry caught that indicated that he should stay back. Ron and Hermione tried to hang back as well, and for once were allowed to.

"Come here Potter," Severus said when everybody else but the three Gryffindor's had left.

Harry walked to the front of the room, and Snape waved his wand at Harry's back and said a cleaning spell.

"Most of it is gone, but I suggest you shower at lunch, or else your hair will begin to turn unpleasant shades of orange and pink."

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

"Go to class."

They left, and Ron and Hermione gave Harry an odd look. "That was awful nice of him," Ron pointed out.

Harry shrugged.

"Well, he is you know what to him now," Hermione pointed out. Ron stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"Yeah, but I bet Harry wishes he weren't."

"He is being nicer now," Harry repeated. "Better nicer than meaner."

"You've got a point."

Harry did as he was told and skipped lunch to shower, but as soon as he stepped back out of Gryffindor tower, Draco stepped out from around a corner.

"You got me in trouble today Potter," he spat. "Don't know how, but you did. You're such a pansy getting professors to do the dirty work for you."

Harry clenched his fist. "You're the pansy, throwing manure at the back of people's heads. You'd have a cow if I did that to you."

"That's because you are dung Potter," Draco spat again. "You're so used to living with those dirty Muggles that I thought you missed home, so I was bringing a bit of it back to you."

"What do you want Malfoy," Harry asked through gritted teeth. If there was no point to this then he was going to go to the Great Hall and snag a sandwich before Charms, but if there was, he wanted to get it over with.

"I want you to pay for being such a little pratt," Draco said. "If you were man enough you'd duel me."

"When?"

"Tonight during dinner, when all the Professor's are occupied. The empty room next to the Charm's room. Be there or I'll take it as admission of being a filthy coward."

Draco stalked off before Harry could say anything else, and Harry let his fists unclench. He had a good number of hexes and charms under his belt, and he would have to ask the twins to show him some more if he got a chance before dinner.

In Charms Harry wrote a note to Ron explaining what had happened, and Ron wrote down instructions to the big tongue jinx and the Petrificus Totalus charm so that Harry would have a couple more spells to use on Draco.

"I reckon you'd best not go at all," Ron said after classes had ended. "Dad says Draco's father was a Death Eater. I bet he taught Draco all kinds of dirty curses and hexes."

"Well I can't back out now," Harry said. "I'll just have to fight quick and run before I get caught by my... I mean by Snape. He can sense when I'm in danger."

"Well, the Charm's corridor is on the third floor... I reckon that gives you ten minutes of dueling time if he's coming from the Great Hall. Maybe twelve if he's got to come up all the way from the Dungeons."

"Hm... how many hexes can I get of in that time?"

"Ten, fifteen a piece. I don't know. I saw my brothers duel in secret at home, but I was never allowed before because I didn't have a wand."

"Well, don't tell Hermione, or she'll have a fit."

"Definitely. Are you sure you don't want me to come?"

"He just said the two of us. If he's not there right away I'll come straight back here. And if I'm not back in fifteen minutes after I leave the Great Hall then you'll know I got caught one way or the other and will probably be doing detention in the Dungeons."

"That sucks. You just got out of staying down there all night. You only had a couple nights back in the tower with us."

"Oh well, I'm used to it by now."

Ron nodded.

And so it was that at the start of dinner Harry looked for Snape, and not seeing him made a lame excuse to Hermione and hurried out of the Great Hall. Draco was in the room in the Charm's corridor just as promised.

"Well, well Potter, you were man enough to show up after all. I'm impressed. I figured you'd be hiding under your bed by now."

"I don't hide," Harry said, thinking that that wasn't exactly true, because he had found hiding a useful tactic at the Dursley's and in other times of trouble.

Draco scoffed. Whatever Potter, let's do this.

Harry nodded and pulled out his wand, but before he could get a spell off Draco was aiming some kind of green curse at him that slithered out of the tip of his wand before shooting at Harry super fast. Harry dove to the floor and aimed off a jelly legs jinx before rolling away, and shooting off the big tongue jinx that Ron had showed him earlier. Harry was amazed at how fast Draco's tongue swelled up. It swelled so much that he couldn't talk in order to throw any more spells at him. Harry stood up triumphantly and put his hands on his hips.

"Guess that means I won," he said a little cockily.

"Guess that means you have detention," came a raspy voice from behind him. Draco's eyes got wide and Harry spun to find Filch and his cat standing there in the doorway looking triumphant himself at having caught students breaking rules. "No dueling boys, that means detention. Harry lowered his wand and Draco poked at his tongue, wondering how to make it go back to normal.

Filch didn't even have time to drag them out of the room before Snape was running down the hall and coming to an abrupt halt behind Filch.

"What's going on here?" he asked Filch, and then looked past him to Harry and Draco's large tongue.

"Oh for pity sakes," he said and uttered the counter jinx, making Draco's tongue shrink back to it's original size.

"Harry cursed me!" Draco said immediately.

"Did not!" Harry shouted, "He challenged me to a duel!"

"Did not!" Draco shouted, trying to be louder than Harry. "He wanted to get back at me for-"

"You liar-"

"throwing dung and-"

"He said I was a coward if I-"

"ENOUGH!"

Both boys quieted immediately at the angry Potion Master's shout.

"Detention for the both of you! I will leave it to Filch to decide your fate. Now get to dinner... NOW!"

Harry and Draco scurried from the room and since Harry was the last one out Snape gave him a solid smack on the hind end that made Harry jump and grab his back side with an indignant look at his guardian as he ran off. He hadn't been spanked in a long time... in fact Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had long since abandoned it for harsher punishments.

Back in the Great Hall Harry sulked until Ron and Hermione made him tell them what had happened. Ron looked sad and Hermione looked aghast.

"You could have been killed!" she scolded him. "And you probably lost us a bunch of points!"

Harry shook his head. "No points, just detention with Filch."

"Ugh," Ron said. "Snape is fond of cleaning floors, but Fred and George said Filch will make you clean toilets and other nasty stuff."

Harry shrugged. "We'll see." Detention with Filch wouldn't be the worst of it he was sure. Snape probably had more walloping in store for him as soon as he had him alone, and Harry didn't look forward to that in the least. He had at least had the sense enough to leave the swat on the butt out to his friends. It was too embarrassing to be spanked at eleven years old.

It wasn't until lunch time the next day that McGonagall came down to the end of Gryffindor table where Harry and Ron sat and gave him a stern look. "Your detention will be served tonight with Filch and Mr. Malfoy in the Forbidden Forest. You are to appear in the Entrance Hall at eleven sharp. I suggest you bring your wand and warm clothing Mr. Potter," she said sternly. "It's a dangerous, cold place." Harry nodded and she walked off.

"Awesome!" Ron said with glee. Harry gave him a dubious look.

"You get to go into the Forbidden Forest Harry! Fred and George have been trying to sneak in there for three years!"

"Well it's probably forbidden for a reason," Harry said, wondering what kind of monsters could be in there... lions and bears maybe, and hopefully nothing worse.

"I heard there are flying donkeys in there that eat animals as big as a Llama," Ron said knowledgeably.

"Where'd you hear that?" Dean piped in.

"My brothers." Dean scoffed and tuned back out of the conversation.

Whatever there was in there, Harry thought to himself, he hoped it didn't eat eleven-year-old boys that went to magic school.

Dressed in his warmest cloak and the new jeans and shirt Snape had given him ages ago, Harry waited quietly in the Entrance hall at ten fifty five that evening. Draco showed up as pale as ever a few minutes later and glared at Harry.

"I hate you," he said.

"Join the club," Harry told him.

Draco rolled his eyes right as Filch came in from outside. "Get out here, he scowled."

Harry and Draco moved forward and out into the chilly night air. McGonagall was right, it was very cold here at night, especially when it was almost time for it to start snowing.

"You'll be going into the forest with Hagrid," filch said as they walked away from the castle and down across the dewy lawns. "Something's been eating unicorns... and there's one hurt right now. Hagrid needs help finding it."

Draco shot Harry a scared look at the mention of unicorns getting eaten, and filch continued, "Two second year Hufflepuffs are already down at Hagrid's waiting for you. Little brats chased Mrs. Norris up into the forbidden corridor..." Filch trailed off and Harry once again wondered what was so bad about that particular corridor.

It was only a minute more before Hagrid's hut came into view, and Harry waved to Hagrid, who was standing next to two shivering, scared looking Hufflepuffs, one girl, and one boy.

"'ere they are Hagrid... don't lose them in there." He grinned and Draco looked disgusted at the man's mouth which was missing half it's teeth.

"Don' you worry Argus. I'll have ‘em back safe to the castle before too long. There's a trail of blood and it's not too far off, only problem is it splits in two directions, and I need help following them.

Filch chuckled, "Happy hunting then," and then he was off on his way back up to the warm, safe castle, where Harry very much wished he were going right now.

Hagrid handed Draco and the Hufflepuff girl a lantern.
"All righ' then, Hufflepuff's wit' me, an' Harry an' Draco, you can follow the other trail.

"Well I get Fang then," Draco said, spotting the enormous boar hound.

"Fine then, but jus' so yeh know, he's a bloody coward," Hagrid said, and he set off.

They followed Hagrid as a group into the forest, and walked for ten minutes before they found the trail of blood. They followed the trail deeper into the forest for another five minutes, and then it split in two, just as Hagrid had said.

"You two take the trail to the left," Hagrid said to Harry and Draco. Iffin yeh get inter trouble shoot up red sparks with yer wands like this," here he motioned to the Hufflepuff girl named Ginger and she shot up some sparks with her wand by pointing it straight in the air like she was stabbing at something. Brilliant red sparks flew out the tip and up right above the treeline.

"See, can't miss that," Hagrid said. "Off yeh go. Do the same thing if yeh find the unicorn. Don't touch the blood."

Harry nodded, and set off. Draco had apparently been standing there waiting for Hagrid to leave, and suddenly had to run to catch up to Harry, because he didn't want to be left alone.

"This sucks," Draco said.

Harry shrugged. "Better than scrubbing floors."

"You would know, wouldn't you Potter," Draco scoffed.

"Shut up already or I'll leave you alone."

"As if," Draco said.

They had been walking for a few minutes now and suddenly the trail of blood had stopped being a trail and had started being a pool.

"Wait," Harry said, and he pointed to the silvery substance that was on the forest floor.

"That's worth twenty five Galleons an ounce," Draco said knowledgably.

"Hagrid said not to touch it," Harry reminded him.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Did I look like I was going to?"

There was a crack of a breaking branch somewhere from ahead of them and Harry and Draco quieted, suddenly alert for anything that might be coming to eat them.

"What was that?" Draco whispered frantically.

"I don't know," Harry said. "Be quiet."

"I heard there are flying donkeys in here that-"

"Shh," Harry chastised Draco with a stern look. He squinted in the darkness, and his eyes latched onto something that seemed to be slithering... no, floating on the ground towards them. Draco saw it too, and suddenly a scream was issuing from his lips and he was running in the other direction, Fang quick on his heals.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Harry could hear his voice receding into the forest, and he wondered if he'd find his way back to Hagrid, or only get lost deeper in the dark woods.

His head snapped back to the slithering figure, knowing now that his position had been given away for sure by Draco's terrified screams. Sure enough, the hooded figure looked up, and Harry saw red eyes watching him carefully as it stooped down to drink from the puddle of unicorn blood on the ground.

Harry backed up a few steps and fell over backwards as he tripped over a log. Wand in his hand, it shot up red sparks as he fell, and he and the figure looked up at the sky to see the bright display of light for a moment, and then before Harry knew it, the figure was coming after him. Harry leapt up and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, although without the screaming that Draco had thought necessary.

Branches whipped and tore at Harry's face and clothes as he ran, not caring in which direction he went, only that it was away from the figure. ‘It eats little boys, it eats little boys,' he kept thinking to himself frantically as he leapt over fallen logs, and at one point, a carcass of some large animal. And just when he thought he couldn't run anymore, he leapt over a log and found himself falling, falling, falling, and then he landed with a sickening crunch at the bottom of a pit.

Dazed Harry opened his eyes and looked up, hoping his pursuer wouldn't find him if he just kept quiet enough. Would that thing be crazed enough to follow him into the twenty foot deep pit? Could it even get back out if it did? Well, he had seen it floating...

From above him he heard branches cracking, and he held his breath, willing himself not to make a sound. Long moments passed in which he could tell the thing was looking for him, and he tried to remember Oliver's words once again about being small and unnoticeable as he cowered under a large tree root that stuck out of the dirt above him. After a few more moments however, the thing seemed to be moving off, but Harry dared not use his wand to send up red sparks, or else he'd give his position away to the thing that eats unicorns, and perhaps eleven year old boys too.

Harry waited for a long time and began to shiver in the darkness as he cowered at the bottom of the hole. He didn't seem to be hurt, miraculously, although he did ache from the fall. Disappointed that he had gotten himself into this mess, and also that he had ruined his new clothes and best cloak, Harry leaned his head back against the wall of dirt and mud and wondered if anybody would bother looking this far out into the forest. As if in answer to his question, he heard someone... or something? thundering through the underbrush towards him, and then there was a pale face with long black hair peering over the edge of the massive pit.

"Harry?"

Harry crawled out from under the tree root.

"Be careful! There's something up there that eats unicorns! It was chasing me!"

As if suddenly aware for the first time that he had run straight into the Forbidden Forest, Snape looked around himself in the darkness, and then back down to Harry.

"Just, hold on, I'll conjure a rope and pull you out."

"Ok!"

He heard the man muttering something in latin, and then a long, strong rope was thrown down to him.

"Tie it around yourself and I'll pull you out."

"K!" Harry did as he was told and then shouted up, "Ready!"

He tried to help as much as he could on the way out by pulling himself up on rocks and tree roots, but the walls of the pit were mostly mud and there wasn't much to hold on to. When he finally reached the edge, he allowed Snape to reach forward and pull him onto solid ground.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Harry nodded in the pale moonlight. "Draco ran off screaming... I don't know if he's ok or not."

Snape rolled his eyes. "Yes. I passed him running out as I was on my way in."

"What about Hagrid and the others?"

"I do not know. Presumably they are fine as well."

Wands out, Harry and Snape began their long journey back out of the forest and to school grounds. It was a full half hour until they made their way out. Hagrid and the others were on the edge of the forest, Hagrid looking nervous and wringing his hands together.

"Harry!" he shouted, running up and giving Harry a hug.

"What happened to yeh?"

"I fell into a pit running away from that thing. What was it? It was hovering and slithering and it had a body like a human... it was drinking the blood Hagrid, right off the ground."

Hagrid shook his head. "I don' rightly know. We found the unicorn and it had been torn to shreds and sucked dry... there was no blood left in it at all." As if severely disturbed by this statement, the two Hufflepuffs shuddered and huddled together.

"That is enough for tonight," Snape said. "Everyone needs to get back to the castle. And I'm sure the Headmaster will want an immediate report Hagrid," Snape told him.

Hagrid nodded. "Yes Professor. I was going to go up there as soon as yeh'd found Harry. Draco said you went running in and I figured it had to be for him."

At this Draco gave an odd look to Snape, who ignored it and began his journey back up to the castle. Harry and the others followed, with Hagrid and Fang bringing up the rear.

Draco went back to the Dungeons as soon as he got inside the castle, and the Hufflepuffs hurried off to their house. After Hagrid had left for the Headmaster's office, Snape lead Harry down to his private quarters.

"You should shower before bed," Snape told Harry once they were safely inside.

"Ron and Hermione will be worried if I don't go back."

Snape nodded. "That's fine, but shower here first. Are you sure you are not injured?"

Harry nodded. "Fine. Thanks... for saving me again."

"From the moment you were given the detention I felt a foreboding sense of danger building. When I suddenly felt as if you were going to die I left the castle and ran all the way until I found you. I am amazed that you are not hurt from falling into a twenty foot pit."

Harry shrugged. "I'm good at not getting hurt in accidents. Stuff like that happened all the time at home. I fell off the roof one year shoveling snow off the roof and didn't even get bruised."

"Hm... it appears accidental magic has served you well then."

"Sometimes," Harry said, before looking down at his torn clothes.

"I messed up my good clothes," Harry said, suddenly sad again that he no longer had anything nice to wear. They were all torn up and dirty, and in some cases had blood stains from where the branches had torn at his skin.

"Clothes can be replaced," Severus said. "The important thing is that you are not injured."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I guess so." He went to take a shower, and when he was done he put his torn clothes and ripped cloak back on, and headed back for Gryffindor tower with Snape as an escort.

Ron and Hermione were still waiting up for him, worried sick as predicted. Before Harry was allowed to go to sleep, he was forced to tell them every detail, and they were shocked and amazed by his story.

"It's a really good thing Professor Snape came to save you," Hermione said at the end of the story.

Harry nodded, knowing she was right, and he was grateful yet again for the rescue. "Yeah, I guess it was."

"All because of a stupid duel," Hermione huffed in annoyance at dinner.

"Hey, dueling is not stupid. What are you going to do when you're cornered by a dark wizard or Death Eater and you don't know how to protect yourself?"

"Knowing how to duel, and sneaking out during dinner to do it against school rules are two different things," Hermione said before slamming her book closed and moving down the table to sit by some of the other first year Gryffindor girls. They giggled, and Hermione looked even crosser.

"Girls," Ron said, and Harry nodded.

A few days passed without incident and things seemed to be going well when Hermione sat down next to Harry and Ron in the common room.

"There's something you ought to know, but only if you promise not to go getting more detentions and losing us more points."

"No promises Hermione," Ron said.

Harry shrugged and said, "Tell us first, then we'll decide."

She gave them a cross look and then said, "There's a ceberus in the forbidden corridor."

"A what?" Ron asked.

Hermione crossed her arms. "A three headed dog Ron." He laughed and she gave him a glare that quieted him immediately.

"Seriously?"

"Would I lie about something like this? Would I lie at all?"

"Well you are a girl."

"Glad you noticed."

After watching the exchange for a few moments, Harry finally asked, "How do you know Hermione?" Surely after getting on their case so often about breaking rules she wouldn't have broken any herself?

"When Harry told me about Filch getting upset because his cat had been chased up to the forbidden corridor-"

"What? When did he say that?" Ron interrupted her.

With a huge sigh and roll of her eyes, Hermione said, "Honestly, don't you listen? He told us that the night of his last detention and near death! Now let me finish Ronald."

He quieted and let her continue. "When Harry told me that I wondered what would upset him about that and I thought that cats are scared of dogs. And then I wondered why a dog would be so dangerous, and I went and did some research in the Library, where I read about Ceberus dogs, which have three heads and are very territorial and protective. So then I went up to the forbidden corridor and-"

"You what!?"

Harry shoved Ron hard to get him to be quiet and stop interrupting because he wanted to hear the rest of the story. Ron closed his mouth yet again and Hermione kept going, ignoring the outburst.

"and I looked through the key hole of different doors, and finally I looked through the key hole of the door on the end of the corridor and there was a ceberus inside sleeping on top of a trap door. It's guarding something, and it's dangerous, and that's why they don't want us up there."

"Why did you go to all the trouble?" Ron asked, wondering if he was finally allowed to speak.

"It's always best to do research first to know what you're looking for."

"Yeah, but I mean, the cat could have been scared of water or piranha or Fred and George duplicates... you could have been wrong in your research. Wouldn't it have been easier to just go look through the key holes in the first place?"

"Well-"

Harry sniggered. Ron was right. She had done things the hard way. "I think we're rubbing off on her," Harry said. "She never would have broken rules before, and now she went up to the forbidden corridor."

"Shh, don't spread it around," Hermione said. "Obviously we're not to know what's up there."

"Hagrid loves animals," Harry said, "I bet he knows where the thing came from."

"And what it's guarding," Hermione said.

"Well I'm not going out on the grounds to find out what he knows," Ron suddenly said. "Hagrid's hut is right on the edge of the forest. You heard Harry when he said there was a man eating monster out there."

"It ate a unicorn Ronald, not a person."

"But it would have if it caught Harry!"

Harry nodded in agreement. He just knew it deep down that he would have been killed if he hadn't gotten away.

"Well what do you propose we do then?" Hermione asked in a huff, crossing her arms.

Ron thought on it for a minute, and said, "Turn it over to the master manipulators, that's what." And then he got up and crossed the room to his twin brothers. Harry looked on curiously, and Hermione looked on in horror as Ron told them about the ceberus and about needing their help to find out what Hagrid knew. He came back a minute later and said, "They're on it. They'll find out."

"You weren't supposed to tell anyone!" Hermione said, clearly upset.

"Loosen up Hermione," Ron said. "Can't do everything yourself! They'll figure it out and then tell us. Just sit back and relax."

She stood up suddenly and said, "Just see if I ever tell you anything again," and disappeared into the girl's dormitory.

With a twisted grin, Ron said, "Want to go look at it?"

"Think we should?"

Ron nodded. "Just follow the twins out. They'll look out for us," he said.

And sure enough Harry followed Ron's gaze to the twins who were slipping out of the portrait hole unnoticed by any of the other students.

"C'mon," Ron said, pulling Harry along with him.

It wasn't quite an hour until curfew, and Harry knew that so long as they didn't get caught in the forbidden corridor or eaten by the three-headed dog, they'd be ok. They followed the twins at a distance until suddenly they lost sight of them.

"Where'd they go?" Ron asked.

And then a hand appeared from behind a yellow tapestry and pulled Ron inside a secret passageway. Harry pulled the tapestry back and found the twins and Ron inside another one of those small cramped tunnels, Ron being pinned down by his brothers.

"And what do you think you're doing following us around little brother?" George asked.

"Umgoo foomuju mooloo."

"What's that?" Fred asked with a grin.

"Maybe take your hand off his mouth," Harry suggested, and Fred pulled his hand away with an evil grin.

"Oh, that was it," he said. Ron glared at him.

"We wanted to look at the beast too."

"Well ask next time instead of trailing us."

"You would have said no!" Ron said indignantly.

"Maybe, but we all wouldn't have gotten caught because you don't know how to sneak around like we do!"

Ron looked chastised and angry at the same time.

"Well we're here now."

Fred and George gave each other an annoyed look and then to Harry. "Well, since it's Harry," Fred said with a smile.

"I guess we could make an exception just the once," finished George with a grin. He let Ron up and Ron gave his brothers a glare.

"Can't make an exception for your own blood?"

"Nope," they chorused together.

"Besides, mum has told Percy to keep an eye on you so that you stay safe and out of trouble. I bet he's out looking for you right now."

"Great," Ron said, blowing air out of his mouth and up towards his bangs.

"Well, come on then, haven't got all night," George said, and lead the way down the secret corridor. It twisted back on itself several times and at one point they took a small flight of stairs down a level, and then suddenly they popped out into a larger, better known corridor... the forbidden corridor.

"Oh," said Harry in realization. "I bet this is where those Slytherins ran off to when they heard Snape coming that night I got detention for being up here."

"Probably," Fred said. "Come on." Together they snuck to the end of the corridor and took turns peeking into the locked room through the keyhole.

"Wicked, she was right," Ron said with a grin. "Maybe we could set that thing on Snape." Of course Harry knew that Ron was only joking, but suddenly he was uncomfortable with the joke for some reason. Nobody noticed Harry fidgeting however because the next second a high mewling was sounding down the hall. The boys turned quickly to find Mrs. Norris standing there staring at them.

"Filch's cat!" Fred said in a hushed voice. "Scatter!"

Fred and George took off down yet another secret passageway, and Ron and Harry tried to do the same, but footsteps were coming their way now along with a dim light from around the corner, and Filch's voice. "What is it Mrs. Norris? Student's out of bed?"

Ron looked panicked and dove into the hidden corridor his brothers had escaped into, and Harry followed just in time to miss the caretaker coming around the corner looking eager. Unfortunately for Harry Ron was nowhere to be found, and neither were the twins. He followed the corridor down a flight of stairs, and then the corridor split into three even smaller ones. He was surprised the twins could fit at all because they were third years and were considerably bigger than he and Ron were. Thinking that the one to the right would probably lead back in the general direction of Gryffindor, he set off and decided that if he didn't see Ron on the way there, he'd find him in the common room.

Harry was right. This path dumped him out on the fourth floor near McGonagall's office, and he knew it was only a short jaunt to Gryffindor. Unfortunately for Harry, he had just stepped into the path of a cloaked maniac who was out for blood, and Harry soon went sprawling, glasses cracking as they hit the hard stone floor.

"Aah!" Harry couldn't help but scream as he was startled by the attack. He had grown complacent believing that he was in no danger because Snape was always lurking just around a corner. Suddenly there was something glinting in the pale light and Harry himself paled as he saw a sharp twisted dagger slicing through the air towards him. He rolled out of the way just in time, but only received a good kick for his trouble, and then the dagger was coming at him again, this time narrowly missing his chest, and slicing open the sleeve of his uniform shirt.

"Crap!" Harry yelled as he scrambled for the entrance of the secret passageway again but was stopped by an invisible hand pulling him backwards and throwing his light frame back down to the floor.

Remembering his wand Harry felt frantically for it as he dodged another attempt on his life with the knife, and found it in his jean pocket. He pulled it out and used a levitation charm on the knife, which promptly flew into the air just in time for Snape to come running down the hall. He saw Harry on the floor bleeding and the knife in the air, and pulled out his own wand, casting some kind of charm called, "Expelliarmus!"

They heard a thud, but other than that, nothing happened. Severus was panting, and he tried hard to calm his breath so that he could listen for any sound of movement.

"Revelio!" he shouted, but again nothing happened, and it was the same with, "Accio cloak!"

"Damn," he muttered. Deciding that the best course of action was to get Harry away from the situation, he stooped down and pulled Harry up to a standing position. Unable to help himself Harry wrapped his arms around his guardian angel's midsection and refused to let go.

"You have to get out of here Potter," Severus told him, both surprised and annoyed at the grip with which the boy held on.

"No," Harry said adamantly. "Not without you."

And there was that surprise again, Severus thought. Was the boy that afraid to travel alone? Obviously not, or he wouldn't be out here wandering the halls alone. Then what was it? Was he actually concerned for his guardian's life?

"Fine Potter, we will go together," he said, gripping Harry's shoulder tightly to try and pry him off of him.

Snape moved Harry down the hall to an empty room and then closed and locked the door behind them.

"Are you hurt?"

Harry looked at his body and then noticed his shoulder was bleeding a little. "It's just a cut, I don't think it's deep," he said.

Severus pulled the torn shirt back and observed the wound for himself, and then did a simple healing spell that mended the cut and left only the little bit of blood behind as a reminder that it had been there.

"There goes another shirt," Harry said. Severus rolled his eyes and did a mending spell on the shirt as well, which looked better than new when it was finished.

"Thanks!" Harry said brightly. His bright look disappeared when he saw his guardian's stern gaze directed his way however.

"What were you doing out alone?"

"Well-"

"And don't even consider lying to me Potter. I can tell."

Harry bit his lip. "I don't lie." Well, that wasn't exactly true, it really depended on how much pain and deprivation he was in for at the hands of his relatives, but he wasn't expecting that here just at the moment.

"Speak then," Snape said shortly.

"I got separated from Ron. We took a short cut and we were running from Filch and he got ahead of me. I don't know where he's at."

"And you were running from the caretaker why?"

"We were looking through the key hole at the Cerberus."

Obviously Snape had been expecting something, but judging by the look on his face, that wasn't it.

"The what?"

"The big three headed dog guarding the trap door."

"How do you know about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy? That thing has a name like Fluffy? Who would name it that?"

"Hagrid. Now answer my question."

Harry began to recount the tale of how he'd told Hermione what the Hufflepuff's were in trouble for, and how she had deduced the cat was afraid of a dog, and then how she went and looked up magical dogs and read about the Ceberus. Although Harry conveniently left out the part about her going and looking through the keyhole herself.

"So then me and Ron thought we'd have a look and-"

"And you just thought you'd put your lives at risk and break a school rule in the process? Do you really enjoy detentions or are you just doing this to get on my nerves?"

Harry looked down at his shoes. Neither one of those choices fit the bill. Truth be told he hadn't thought about the danger involved in things because of his invisible attacker, and he hadn't thought about breaking the rules either... or at the very least, he hadn't thought about punishment for breaking the rules.

"Look at me."

Harry looked up into the man's eyes but didn't say anything, waiting for his punishment. This was the time when he was expecting that he should have lied to get out of a beating. The truth always served to hurt him in the end.

Snape took a step forward and suddenly Harry was falling backwards over a chair trying to get away from him. He couldn't help it, it was just a habit of trying to escape from all kinds of pain and abuse. Snape stopped immediately and seemed to rethink his single step forward.

Harry was panting laying on the floor on the other side of the student chair looking panicked and ready to flee for his life again.

Calmly, Severus asked, "What did you think I was about to do?"

Harry shook his head but didn't say anything, not trusting himself to say the right thing.

"Speak."

Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "Hit me."

"What since I have been your guardian would make you think that aside from the swat you got for dueling Mr. Malfoy?"

Another shake of the head. "I... just... it's... you were ok?" He hung his head in shame now, realizing that this was not uncle Vernon he was dealing with.

Wondering if it was ok to move forward without alarming the boy too much, Snape took a few steps and moved the chair out of the way so that he could get to Harry. He kneeled down and said, "Look at me Harry." When Harry didn't look up he pulled his chin up so that their eyes met. "I will not hurt you. I am not those miserable Muggle's you lived with."

Harry looked away again. "I-," God but he wanted to believe it, to believe the torture was over, but he couldn't. His aunt and uncle had lied to him too many times... told him if he just stayed out of trouble then he wouldn't get hit... told him that if he finished his chores he could eat. But no, he reminded himself again, this isn't them. He wasn't there anymore and hopefully never would be again.

"Harry?"

Startled by the use of his first name, as it was so seldom used by this man, he looked up.

"I am not them," Snape reiterated. Harry nodded.

"Ok."

Severus pulled him to his feet and said, "You have been scared and punished enough for one night. I will take you back to your dormitory, where you are to stay unless escorted by at least one other friend, preferably an older one, am I understood?"

Harry nodded, but then a question popped into his head, and he said, "But what if I need you?"

"The spell alerts me to danger-"

"No, I mean... never mind."

In what other way could the boy mean that he ‘needed him?'

"We will discuss this in the morning. Come, I wish to make sure that Mr. Weasley is safely back in Gryffindor tower."

* * *

Harry woke up sweating in the darkness. Where was he? What was going on? He looked around and recognized his four-poster with the red hangings closed as he took in a deep breath of cool night air. Confused as to why, he suddenly wished he were down in the dungeons in the bed in Snape's guest room. He couldn't wait to get out of there when he had been forced to stay there for a week, and now all he wanted was to be back down there again? What was wrong with him? He didn't know, but he did know that he wanted to be hugged, or held, or something. The nightmares were the same each time... somebody attacking him from behind with a knife, and him moving too slow to do anything about it. This time the attacker had actually stabbed him straight through the heart, and he had writhed in agony on the floor of the Great Hall for what seemed like hours before he woke up.

Suddenly not wanting to be in his bed anymore Harry slipped on his slippers and went down to the common room. It was midnight and there was nobody around, which was surprising since this was Saturday night. But wait, everybody was pooped from the Quidditch game earlier in the day, and the Gryffindors were all depressed about losing to Hufflepuff. Harry's mind just hadn't been on the game, and his heart hadn't been in it either. They were only four minutes into the match when the fifth year Hufflepuff Seeker Daisy Abbot caught the Snitch and ended it. ‘Oh well,' Harry thought despondently, losing one game is nothing in the grand scheme of things. He was sure that it was easy to catch a flying Snitch when nobody was out for your life. Up in the air Harry kept looking at the crowd and wondering which one of them was planning his death. He kept expecting a dagger to fly through the air at him and take him off his broom. Of course it didn't happen, but that didn't keep Harry from dreaming about it that way either.

Harry watched the low flames in the fireplace for a short while before the entrance to the common room opened and Harry turned to see who was coming in so late, thinking that perhaps it was Fred and George. Instead of orange hair however, he found black, and the face of his guardian.

"Harry?" He spotted the tiny boy immediately sitting on the long red couch.

"Sir?"

"Did you have another nightmare?"

Harry nodded, feeling foolish for it now that his guardian had been woken and had come all the way up from the dungeons to check on him.

Snape rubbed an eye and walked over to Harry. "Do you want to talk about it?" This was the first time he'd asked since the last night Harry had stayed in his dungeon quarters near a month ago.

"No."

"Fine." Snape turned to leave, not wanting to push the issue, when Harry's hand shot out and grabbed the Professor's wrist. Severus stopped and turned, surprised by the firm grip Harry had on him.

"Can I come?" Harry wished he didn't always have to feel so foolish, but he did, and he could feel his cheeks turning red.

"You have no need to ask," Severus said, and Harry let go of his wrist as he stood up and came over to the man. They left Gryffindor together, and were quiet all the way down to the dungeons.

Severus deposited Harry into the guest room, and Harry gave him a quiet, "Thanks sir," before he shut the door.

Outside Severus marveled at how hard he had to work to not reply, "You're welcome son." He could barely manage to call him Harry... how had he managed to want to call him son? When had he begun to think of him like that?

Thinking that perhaps it was lack of sleep, extra stress, and perhaps a befuddling charm, Severus went back to his own bed and turned out the lights that he had waved up half an hour ago when he'd woken. ‘That boy will be the death of me,' he thought to himself as he drifted back to sleep.

Back in the guest room Harry drifted off peacefully, finally feeling safe enough to sleep. But feeling safe sleeping didn't stop his nightmares from waking him screaming again.

* * *

"Dad!"

Severus sat straight up in bed. What? Did somebody say something?

"Dad!" There it was again, and there was no mistaking that it was Harry's panicked voice from the next room, although it was strange to hear him say the ‘D' word, as he'd never said it before.

Severus found Harry crying in his bed and shivering violently. He swooped in and sat on the edge of the boy's bed and wrapped him up in a hug. It must have been a particularly awful dream for the boy to be shivering so bad, and Severus wished he would just talk about it and get it off his chest. But Severus had noticed when he'd actually stopped to look at the boy a while back, that Harry Potter was one of those children who held everything in until it tore them up so bad that they were bursting with agony, and there was no forcing those kinds of people to talk until they were good and ready. He knew this well because he himself was the very same kind of person. While it was frustrating dealing with somebody of this nature, he couldn't say he didn't understand.

"It's ok, it was just a dream," he said. He couldn't help but get a feeling of dejavu as he remembered saying this the last time Harry had stayed there.

"I hate sleeping," Harry said in a muffled voice.

"Understandable when one continually wakes up in the throws of terror."

"When will it stop?"

Severus sighed. Never, is what his mind told him. He himself still woke up from nasty nightmares of being beaten by his father or grandfather, and from being tortured by the dark lord. The dreams would never stop, but he couldn't bring himself to tell his unhappy charge that.

"Perhaps when the attacks stop," he told him. "We are a step closer to finding the attacker."

Harry sat up and pulled away from his guardian. "You are?"

"He, or she, left a knife at the scene of the last assault. The Headmaster and I have been running detection spells on it to figure out who it belongs to. We would not even have the knife if you had not levitated it from the attacker's grasp.

"That's not the only knife," Harry said, suddenly remembering his dreams.

Snape raised a brow, and Harry continued. "Every night I dream about him getting me with a different knife than the one he used last time. It's long and thin and straight, and has two blue jewels in the handle."

"Hm... you seem certain the attacker is male."

Harry bit his lip. "I don't know why, but I know it is."

Severus was unsure if Harry believed this because he had been given some indication that the attacker was male, or because it was always a man who tormented him, at home, or at school.

He cleared his throat, "I have a way to know for sure, and perhaps end the attacks."

"Then do it!"

"I will not do so until you know the ramifications of the magic involved."

"So... tell me." Harry wondered if it would involve another long, drawn out blood spell. Even if it did he had to admit that so far the ancient magiks the Headmaster had found had only done him good.

"It requires that I look through your mind so that I can ascertain that the assailant is indeed male, and perhaps glean more information about him."

"Look through my mind?"

"As the Headmaster mentioned before the adoption, I am a skilled occlumens. I can see into people's minds if I so choose."

Harry frowned. "That explains some things."

"Such as?"

"The feeling that you're reading my mind."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Had you asked, you would have known that I have never used occlumency on you against your will, at least never intentionally. It is considered rude to do so."

"Oh... does it hurt?"

"Only if you resist."

"But you'll see... everything in my mind, won't you?"

"Not necessarily. I can only view what you are thinking about and currently feeling. Therefore, I should only see what you allow me to see. If you think about each attack, or each nightmare involving attacks, then I will see only those memories. A skilled occlumens can search through other memories, but I will not do so in this case."

There were too many memories Harry didn't want anybody to see ever. He just couldn't handle somebody watching him get beaten or starved, or held under the water in the bathtub, or any of the other horrible things he'd been through. Telling somebody it had happened was one thing, but letting them watch a video of it was another.

"Promise?"

"Yes."

Harry nodded. "Ok. What do I have to do?"

"Think about the attacks one by one. Try to remember every detail, and look into my eyes. Do not fight when you feel me in your mind."

Taking a deep breath Harry nodded and began to think about what the knife looked like from his dreams before he looked into Snape's black eyes. He remembered clearly the way it glinted in the light as it came slicing down through the air and stabbed him in the heart repeatedly, and then he was suddenly gasping and laying on the floor holding his heart.

"Harry, open your eyes." Snape was there beside him.

"How'd I get down here?"

"You fell. Apparently the memory was too much for you."

"It, it wasn't," he tried to lie feebly. "Keep going."

"Fine." Snape helped him up and instructed him to sit in the center of the bed rather than on the edge where he might fall and crack his skull open on the floor.

"Think about a different dream or attack."

Harry did so and began thinking about the most recent nightmare, the one he had woken from a short while ago. He was flying around the pitch in the game against Hufflepuff and he saw the glint of something shiny in the staff stands. He flew closer to see what it was and suddenly Snape was throwing a dagger at him and hitting him square in the chest, and then he was falling from the sky like a sack of bricks and landing with a crunch on the cold ground. He opened his eyes, unaware that he had closed them again, but was thankfully still sitting on the bed.

He looked into Snape's eyes and noticed how sad they looked, although the rest of his face did not portray the feeling. "It is not me," he told Harry.

Nodding, Harry said, "I know it, but I still dreamed it. That was the same dagger I keep seeing over and over again."

"How many more dreams are like this, where I am the one killing you?"

Harry bit his lip. "I don't know, a few maybe."

"Tell me about them."

"I said I didn't want to talk about them."

Severus crossed his arms. "You would rather show them to me one by one?"

"No," Harry said in a low voice, realizing that it was better to just describe them.

"Then continue."

"In one I'm eating in the Great Hall and I look up at the staff table and there's this knife flying at me from your direction, and in another I'm with Hagrid and I'm getting something out of a secret vault, and then there's the same dagger coming out of the darkness at me, and the last one is from the forest. That thing is chasing me through the darkness and when I look back I can see the dagger glinting from underneath its cloak."

"Hm..."

"Hm what?"

"I believe your mind is revealing facts about your attacker to you through your dreams. So far you have told me that you saw him at the Quidditch match in the stands, that he sits in the Great Hall at meal times, apparently somewhere by me, that he has something to do with the Sorcerer's stone, and that it is the same being that attacked you in the Forbidden Forest."

"And he likes the color blue," Harry added.

"And you know this how?"

"The knife has two blue rubies in the handle, like blue snake eyes."

Severus sighed. "That is a good observation." He paused, and then said, "Perhaps that is enough for the night. It is late and you should try to get some sleep."

Harry nodded as Snape got up off the bed. "Ok." He was open to suggestions at this point, because his guardian had just let something important slip, and he wanted the man not to think he had noticed or was at all curious about it. As Snape flipped the light off and closed Harry's bedroom door, Harry wondered what the sorcerer's stone was, and why it was so important. He remembered Hagrid taking a small package from a top secret vault in Gringotts and knew it must be here now. Wouldn't Hermione just be thrilled that he had learned what Fluffy was guarding? Where else would they put something top secret in Hogwarts that they wanted to protect? Under an enormous three headed dog with lots of teeth and claws seemed reasonable.

He put his hands behind his head and thought about it some more, before drifting into another fitful doze.

"How do you know?" Ron asked as he and Hermione stepped away from the window near the top of Gryffindor tower and looked at Harry standing a little ways down the staircase.

"My da- I mean, Snape told me... on accident," he added at Hermione's shocked look. "I let him think I hadn't noticed when he let it slip. Come on." He motioned for them to follow him and they went to the empty first year boys dormitory. Dean and Seamus were outside making tunnels in the snow, and Neville was trying to catch up on homework down in the common room.

"Well, are you going to tell us?" Hermione asked a little too excitedly as she sat down on Harry's bed.

"It's a sorcerer's stone, whatever that is."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh Harry, I thought you were being serious."

"I am!" he said earnestly. "I was telling him about my dreams about my attacker because we were trying to figure out more facts about him, and he said my mind was telling me little things about him through my dreams. So I told him a bunch of dreams, and one of them was when I was with Hagrid and Hagrid was taking something tiny and top secret from a vault in Gringotts. And then he said my attacker has something to do with the sorcerer's stone. So then I thought, that since Hagrid was bringing this thing, whatever it is to Hogwarts for safekeeping, then Fluffy must be guarding it under that trapdoor, because what else would that thing be protecting?"

"This is big Harry," Ron said. "My brother Bill told me about a sorcerer's stone once. "It can make the elixir of life and can give you long life and lots of gold."

"Wait a minute," Hermione said, holding up her hand. "That's right, it can make you live forever, just like unicorn blood."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Unicorn blood Harry. If you drink it you can't die, but you have to keep drinking it, and every time you drink it you lose a little part of your soul. But when you drink the elixir from the stone you just get life without losing your soul. Don't you see? There was that break in at Gringotts where somebody tried to take whatever was in that vault that Hagrid emptied, and then something shows up drinking unicorn blood.... They're going to go after the stone Harry. It's here at Hogwarts and they're going to take it."

"And they want to kill me," Harry added, realization dawning on him. Whoever drank the blood and chased him through the forest was the same one attacking him in the castle. Hermione nodded solemnly and Ron shook his head.

"Nah Harry, it couldn't be."

"But it is. My d- I mean, Snape said the attacker wanted the stone. If they get it they'll be trying to kill me forever."

"Not good mate," Ron shook his head.

"We have to tell the Headmaster, or McGongall," Hermione said.

"I don't think we have to," said Harry. "I mean, Professor Snape made the connection, I'm sure he'll tell them."

"But what if he doesn't? He's Snape! Think about it Harry, what does he care?" Ron said.

Harry was biting his lip now and clenching his fists. What did Ron mean he didn't care? Snape cared enough to protect him! He would have to protect the stone too! He wasn't evil after all!

"Stop talking bad about him Ron," Harry said plainly.

Surprised, Ron looked up at his friend. "What? You hate him Harry, don't forget that. Remember all he did to you?"

"I remember all he's done for me now."

"Only because Dumbledore made him."

"Ron-" Hermione tried to stop him, seeing that he was upsetting Harry, but Ron ignored her.

"He didn't make him do anything!" Harry said, almost shouting now.

Ron looked stunned. "Harry, what's the big deal?" The air was thick and quiet hung between them and Harry could tell that Ron didn't understand. As much as Harry wanted him to know everything, he couldn't, and would never be able to, not like Snape understood.

"Just stop acting like he's the worst thing in the world Ron," Harry said, and turned and left.

Ron held up his hands to Hermione, as if to ask, ‘what did I do?' but she rolled her eyes.

"Boys are so stupid sometimes," she said, and Ron scoffed.

"Oh yeah? Then you tell me what I did wrong!"

"You just told Harry that his father only adopted him because he had to do it, not because he wanted to do it. That's like telling Harry all over again that nobody wants him, and they only take care of him because they have to."

"But that's what happened Hermione. I know he doesn't want to believe it, but that's the way it worked out. Snape hates him, Snape hated his dad, and Snape hates everything Gryffindor. What would possess him to adopt one unless he was forced to?" Ron lowered his voice and came closer to Hermione so that nobody would hear, even though there was nobody around. "My dad told me Snape used to be in line with you-know-who. Said he was his right hand man at one point. Just think what that means Hermione. You-know-who hated Harry enough to kill him, and here's his death eater right there with legal control over Harry. Don't tell me you don't think there might be something going on there. Snape's always there when there's an attack."

"But that's because of the Agrius charm-"

"Even before that Hermione."

Hermione sighed. "Ron, you know what Harry said about his relatives. We don't know how bad they treated him, but they did. Don't you think he would be a good judge of character? If he's sticking up for Professor Snape, then he must be nicer then Harry's other family. That's worth something. To Harry it's probably worth a lot. Maybe we just don't understand because we always had parents that were good to us."

Ron slouched a little. "I just don't want anything to happen... you know. Look how many times he's been attacked already."

"I know, but for now maybe we should just go along with him on this one. He knows what his situation is better than we do."

"And I know Harry better than you do. He doesn't tell people things, or else he wouldn't have walked around for three days with a concussion."

"Just watch things Ron, and don't interfere for a little while."

"Fine, but if that greasy git does something to him..." he cursed, and Hermione shot him a dirty look.

Outside Harry slouched against the door as their conversation ended. Snape had been a death eater? Then maybe Ron had hit the issue right on the nose, and Snape had only taken him on because he had to, or because he wanted to find a way to repay Harry in the end for getting rid of Voldemort. He blew air up at his bangs and hurried down the stairs and out of the tower.

* * *

It continued to snow for three days, each day dumping at least three feet on the ground. Mid-way through the second day Hagrid moved into the castle with Fang to a guest room by the kitchens, and Herbology and care of magical creatures classes had been canceled. Nobody had seen much of Harry except in classes, and he wasn't talking to Ron or Hermione. He had made it a point to stay out of danger so that he wouldn't have to see his death eater guardian. In fact, he had made it a point to be as small, and invisible as possible, hiding in hidden corridors, or in the back corners of the library. He even slept in the secret room that Snape had once found him in after an attack, and because Ron and Hermione assumed he was sleeping in the Dungeons, nobody came looking for him.

Harry heard snippets of conversations in the halls between classes, and it seemed like Christmas was going to be cancelled this year.

"I heard Professor Flitwick talking to Professor Sinistra," an older Ravenclaw was telling his friends in the hall as Harry passed. "Seems like there's so much snow that nobody will be able to get down to the train to go home Friday."

"I heard it's only snowing here. My family only lives a few towns away and its dry as can be there."

"I heard-"

"I heard-"

Everybody was talking about it, but Harry didn't care. If nobody got to go home for Christmas, then he wouldn't be there alone in the castle with Snape and his attacker... or were they one in the same? Harry was tired, and he couldn't tell anymore. It was like old times sleeping in a cramped little room with no light and no bed. He had stuffed a blanket in his bag on the second night, but it made little difference in way of comfort.

Finally on Thursday afternoon, word came in Transfiguration class that they would be opening up the floo network in the Great Hall and sending students and their belongings home one at a time starting that evening, because it would take two or three days to empty the castle that way.

"Well, at least that takes care of the seven hour train ride," Ron said happily to Dean after class.

"My mum doesn't have a floo fireplace, I guess I'll have to floo to the train station like some of the others and get picked up there."

Ron shrugged. "That's still better than the long train ride."

Harry tuned out of the conversation and headed to the kitchens to find something to eat. He didn't feel much like sitting in the Great Hall and listening to talk of everybody going home to loving non-death eater family for the holidays... family who wanted them. The kitchen elves were more than happy to give Harry a sandwich and some juice, which he took with him to his dark hideaway. Somehow a dark, cramped, cold space made him feel at ease. Nothing could get him in his cupboard at home, because nobody was small enough to climb inside and get in but him. Sometimes he had avoided beatings this way, by climbing all the way into the back, where not even Dudley could fit inside to get him. This new room wasn't as small, but still gave him the same sense of security. Maybe he could just hide here for the next two weeks, and since he'd be in no danger, then Snape wouldn't be able to find him. Not the ideal Christmas, but the safe one, Harry decided.

He left the room after eating and went back to his dormitory to gather a pillow and some books, as well as the self charging flashlight Ron had given him at the beginning of the term. On his way out he heard Fred reading off the list of names in the common room of who would be going home when. First years were scheduled to go home first, but since Ron had three older brothers there, he would go home with them on Saturday evening.

"I'm going home tonight," Hermione told him when she bumped into him just outside the secret tunnel, which lead to his room.

"I know," Harry said. "Have fun."

"I will." She gave him a hug and said, "And don't worry about Ron. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

Harry shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Just have a good Christmas. I'll see you when you get back." He tried to give her a smile, but it wasn't very convincing, and she nodded and hurried off to pack her things. Harry snuck into his secret room and settled in for the long haul.

* * *

Severus Snape was in a panic. It wasn't often, if ever, that anyone could say that about him, but the older students who were still in the castle definitely classified him as such when they saw him racing down the hallways, hair a little disheveled as he looked around every corner and behind every suit of armor for whatever it was that he had lost.

"Wonder what that's about," a seventh year Slytherin commented. His friends shrugged, and they quickly forgot about it. Things weren't as simple for the Potion's Master however.

How could he have lost his ward? Yes, the castle was big, but still! Had he gone home through the floo? Had he been attacked and the magic bond between them failed? Was he laying dead somewhere, or dying? The fact that he might be hiding had not yet crossed his mind as he searched every part of the castle in a rush to find him before the last of the students that were going home for Christmas departed.

The remaining Gryffindors were startled and surprised when their Potion's Master burst into their common room Saturday afternoon. Severus spotted Ron in a corner by himself and went straight over to him.

"Where is he?" He asked in a low tone, still aware that nobody else was supposed to know that he cared about Harry Potter at all.

"What?" Ron looked up, confused.

"Harry, where is he?"

"What do you mean? He's with you! He has been for the last five days!"

Severus paled. "You haven't seen him for five days and you didn't tell anybody!?"

"No, I mean, I've seen him around, but he hasn't been sleeping here. We thought he was with you. He's mad and he hasn't been talking..."

"Where would he go?"

"I don't know-" Ron trailed off, unable to finish because Snape was already walking away and back out the portrait hole.

Fred shot Ron a questioning look from by the fire, but Ron only shrugged, and pondered that the man who had just accosted him had so much worry etched on his face. Only somebody who cared about Harry would wear that look around and come busting into Gryffindor common room...

Severus continued to search for another half an hour before he remembered where he had once found Harry hiding from his invisible attacker.

Harry was so startled when the door to his dark room burst open that he knocked his flashlight over and dove to the other corner of the small cramped space, shielding himself from the impending murderous rampage sure to happen to him. Severus too was startled by the commotion in the small space and waited a moment before he lit his wand and stepped down into the room.

"No!" Harry shouted, flailing his arms around in the darkness, not realizing it was only his guardian.

"Harry, it's only me, it's only me." Severus said, panic rising up in him thinking that perhaps Harry had been attacked again and was hurt.

Harry stopped flailing and stared into the semi lit room and tried not to look into his guardian's eyes.

"Are you hurt?" Snape asked.

"No," came Harry's low reply.

"What are you doing in here?"

Harry didn't answer. How did he tell his guardian without getting himself killed that he was hiding because he didn't want his death eater father to find him and turn him into potion's ingredients.

"Harry?"

"What!" Harry half spat, being panicked, stressed, and a little frightened at the situation. Snape could kill him here and now and nobody would ever find him. Ron had been right.

"I asked you a question," Severus said levelly, still unsure of what was going on with his fragile charge.

"I can't answer."

"Why?"

"Because I can't ok, can't you just leave me alone?"

"No. Your friend said you haven't been sleeping in Gryffindor all week. I've been turning the castle upside down worried sick looking for you because I thought something had happened to you or that you'd gone home through the floo. And now I've found you and I think I deserve an answer."

"Why do you care?" Harry suddenly sat up straighter and pointed at him with indignation. "You don't care about me! You don't want me anyway! Unless you just want to kill me because I got rid of your master!"

Well, that certainly wasn't what he was expecting from the boy. Some kind of admission of guilt for doing something wrong maybe, or something else, what he didn't know, but not this.

"I have already told you, I am not a puppet. Nobody forces me to do anything. You are under the misguided impression that I only protect you because I have to. Or you are under the impression that I have intent to harm you after all the times I have saved you from certain death. You cannot believe both things, so make up your mind so I can deal with whatever you choose."

He had said this all in a very calm, matter of fact voice, and it unsettled Harry. Either everything he had believed in was false, and his guardian really did want him, which was scary in itself because nobody had ever wanted him, and he didn't know what that meant, or he was being lied to again.

"Well?" He had his arms crossed.

"I don't know."

"Then tell me what has brought on these assumptions of yours?"

Harry bit his lip. "You were a death eater."

"And?"

"And Voldemort's right hand man?"

Severus sighed. "I was a spy for Albus Dumbledore until the Dark Lord's demise. You can ask him any time you like. That is why I am not in Azkaban, the wizarding prison," he added at Harry's confused look. "If I were really in line with him I would be under lock and key along with the other loyal followers there. And I think I have proven to you not only that I am not interested in hurting you, but that I am consistently there to protect you from whatever harm may befall you. As to the assumption that I don't care about you, I can only tell you to ask half the school who has seen me running around like a chicken with my head cut off searching for you. If I only did this because I was being forced to, then I can guarantee I would not put in half the effort I have to make you feel comfortable around me.

Harry felt drained suddenly and emotionally exhausted from these revelations. He didn't know if he wanted to cry or jump for joy, or explode with it all.

"Dad?"

There was silence for a few moments as Severus thought on that term, and then accepted it. "Yes?"

Something caught in Harry's chest and made him feel like he couldn't breathe. "Can we go home now?"

"Yes." Severus helped him up and waved his wand at Harry's small stack of books, pillow, and blanket, which shrank and zoomed into his pant pocket. He helped his weak charge out of the cramped room and down the cramped corridor, and then down to the dungeons. Severus deposited his son on the couch before he went to the boy's room and unshrank his belongings and placed them on his bed.

Harry rubbed his eye as he considered that this was the first time he'd been allowed in the living room. Before now he'd been told to stick to his room and the bathroom and to touch nothing else. It was nice to finally be allowed to think of someplace other than a cupboard as home. The couch certainly was more comfortable than the stone floor. Harry closed his eyes, and by the time his father returned, he was already asleep.

Severus covered him with a blanket from the hall closet and crossed his arms. Dealing with an eleven year old boy was very taxing indeed, and he wondered now that the Headmaster had believed him up to it. He wondered that any parent could ever be up to it. Perhaps it would only get easier from here, he tried to tell himself, knowing it was probably a fantasy that would prove untrue.

Suddenly a light came on in the hallway to his right and startled him, and he realized where he was, and remembered with some amount of embarrassment what had happened the night before. He also realized how lucky he was that somebody cared enough to go looking for him when he couldn't be found. Once Harry had gotten detention in Primary school because of Dudley and when he hadn't appeared with Dudley after school was out, Aunt Petunia hadn't even asked and had drove off without him. Once Harry's half hour detention was over he was left to walk home, and it was dark by the time he had made it.

"You are up early," Severus observed when he walked out of the hallway and spotted Harry standing there in the dark.

"Sorry," Harry said, thinking perhaps that he was in trouble for it. Even after nearly four months at Hogwarts he was still used to getting up at the crack of dawn to cook breakfast for the Dursley's.

"Do not be. Come to the kitchen and help me with breakfast." Harry hurried to fall into step behind him, thinking that ‘help me with breakfast' meant ‘make breakfast now or else,' as it did at 4 Privet Drive.

Severus paused for a moment as Harry hurried on ahead of him once they entered the kitchen and began pulling pots and pans out and setting them on the stove.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked in a calm, curious tone.

"Cooking breakfast?" Harry asked, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing now that he had started.

"Don't be ridiculous," Severus scoffed. "I have yet to meet an eleven year old boy who can make himself breakfast."

Harry bit his lip. "I can," he insisted.

Crossing his arms, Severus leaned back against the kitchen counter and said, "By all means then. Let us hope it does not turn out like last Friday's pepper up potion." Harry frowned, remembering the mess that had been made of his potion when Draco had tossed some unknown ingredient into it, but set to work anyway.

It took a few moments to get familiarized with the new kitchen, but Harry was soon scrambling eggs and bacon he had found in the refrigerator, making toast, and squeezing oranges into two glass for fresh orange juice. Severus was amazed.

"And where did you learn to cook?"

"The Dursley's," Harry said as he dumped half the pan of eggs onto one plate, and then the other.

"How often did you cook there?"

"Breakfast and dinner everyday," Harry told him as he held out a plate to his father.

"Hm... you will not cook here again," Snape told him.

Harry's jaw dropped a little. "You don't like it? I can make something else!" he insisted.

"It is not that I do not like it. It is that parents cook for their children, not the other way around. I doubt Molly Weasley makes her children cook for her."

He beckoned for Harry to follow him to the small wooden table in the small dining room, and he did.

"Why didn't the house elves cook today?" Harry asked, suddenly wondering why there was food in the fridge at all when there were hundreds of house elves who cooked three meals a day.

"Sometimes I do not wish to eat in the Great Hall. This morning for instance, I wished to have breakfast with my son. Instead of making the house elves prepare a separate meal for me and bring it down to the dungeons, I find it more polite to cook the meal myself."

Harry was listening intently. Had Snape just called him his son? Did that mean that he really thought of him like that? Harry hadn't been able to help letting the ‘D' word slip out now and again, but Snape was better in control of his words than Harry was. He doubted very much a man like that would let any words ‘slip' out of his mouth... no, every word was always intentional with him.

After a few moments of silence as they ate, Severus said, "This is exceptional. What did you put in the eggs?"

"That cheese that I found in the fridge with the spices in it, and diced tomatoes."

"Hm... I had not considered putting Pepperjack cheese in eggs. It is good, thank you."

Harry beamed. The Dursley's had never complimented Harry on anything, no matter how hard he had tried to make good food.

"Thanks," Harry said, a little red.

When they were finished eating, Severus had the dishes clean with a swish of his wand, and with another move they were all back in the cupboards stacked neatly.

"What are your plans for the day?" Snape was suddenly asking Harry, who was staring in awe at the ease with which his father had cleaned everything.

"My, my plans?" Harry hadn't really thought about it. He had no homework and his friends were all gone. There wasn't even another Gryffindor in the castle as far as he knew, and most of the rest of the school had gone home as well.

"You are not confined to these quarters, but do not leave the Castle. I would appreciate it if you returned to the Great Hall or here for mealtimes, and were back here by seven in the evening."

Harry nodded, that didn't sound too bad, although he still had no idea what he was going to do for the holiday.

"I, I don't really know what to do."

Severus tried hard to hold in the biting remark that begged to escape him. Wonderful, he thought to himself, I now have to entertain an eleven year old for the next two weeks. Instead of saying this however, what came out was, "What traditions does your family normally follow at this time of year?"

"Um... I, I don't really know. They never let me have any part of Christmas. Dudley and Aunt Petunia decorate a tree, and Dudley gets to open something on Christmas eve because he's too impatient to wait. And Aunt Petunia makes me make a big feast on Christmas day for when Aunt Marge comes over." Here he pulled a face at the thought of Aunt Marge, and Severus nodded.

"Do you want me to get a tree?"

Harry's face lit up for a brief moment, but he schooled it back to normal and looked at the floor. "No, you don't have to do that."

"I know what I don't have to do. I asked you if you wanted a tree to decorate."

Harry peeked up at his guardian. "I don't want you to go to the trouble of-" but suddenly he was cut off as Severus waved his wand and a tree as tall as he was appeared in the corner of the living room. Harry's face lit up again and he reveled in the sight and smell of the first tree that was all his to decorate. He had watched from the hallway or kitchen every Christmas for ten years as his family had done up the tree, wishing he could be a part of it, and now his wish was finally coming true.

He almost didn't notice when Severus waved his wand again and an assortment of ornaments and other decorations appeared at the foot of the tree waiting to be hung up.

Harry moved forward eagerly and fell to his knees to look at all of the wonderful ornaments. There were even red and gold ones with the Gryffindor lion on them.

"Are there any lights?" Harry asked.

Severus moved forward and said a simple charm as he touched his wand to a spot high on the tree. Suddenly a little glowing bug had appeared there. Harry pulled out his wand and tried the charm lower down, and was pleased when another little glow bug appeared. Severus spent the next ten minutes showing Harry how to make different colored glow bugs, and placing lights at the top of the tree where Harry couldn't reach. After that he sat back and watched as Harry took great pleasure in hanging ornaments wherever he pleased, although the majority of them were red and gold. He also hung silver tinsel all over the place, and it was at least an hour before he was done.

"What do you think?" Harry asked, grinning as he stepped back to admire the tree.

"Are you finished with it?"

Harry nodded, and Severus moved forward with his wand out and waved it around the tree as he said another spell. "It is a colorful addition to the living room," he said.

"What's that spell you did?"

"It will keep the glow bugs on the tree and away from the rest of the room." Suddenly Harry noticed that the glowing lights they had placed were no stationary. They wandered around the tree wherever they pleased, occasionally stopping next to another bug."

"Can we put some in my room?"

Severus held out his hand and motioned towards the hallway, and Harry hurried off. Dudley had always been given a string of lights around the ceiling in his room when Christmas time came, and Harry always pretended that some loving parent had put them around the inside of his cupboard for him as he drifted off to sleep Christmas eve.

At noon Harry and Severus went to the Great Hall for lunch where the remaining staff and students were all seated around Ravenclaw table instead of their own tables. Most of the staff was still there with the exception of Quirill, but there were only three other students aside from Harry: A seventh year Hufflepuff, and two fifth year Ravenclaws. Because everybody was at the same table, it didn't look too suspicious when Harry and Snape sat down next to each other.

McGonagall wondered at Harry's grin, knowing that he was now the ward of Severus Snape, dourest professor Hogwarts had seen in her time.

"You seem very happy Harry," she said.

"I got to decorate my room with glow bugs," he told her. "And a tree with all kinds of Gryffindor ornaments!"

She raised her eyebrows and gave a glance at Severus who was purposefully ignoring her. The Headmaster smiled at Harry however and said, "What a wonderful way to start Christmas vacation." Harry nodded.

After lunch Harry went to the library to find a book on decorating that Severus had mentioned, and McGonagall pulled the Potion's Master aside in the empty Entrance Hall.

"You let him decorate a tree?"

"He insisted," the Potion's Master lied, knowing he had to keep up appearances.

"I see, and he insisted about his room as well?"

Rolling his eyes Severus said, "He is my charge and if I choose to have a holiday without him moping around all day then it's my prerogative. If it saves me the headache I see no harm."

McGonagall let a small smile form on her face. "If I didn't know better Severus Snape, I'd say you're going soft. You should adopt some Hufflepuff's too and maybe you'll be tolerable one day." With this she strode off and up the stairs before he could say anything else.

"Infernal woman," he muttered, and continued on to the solitude of the Dungeons.

* * *

Harry crossed idea after idea off of his parchment, feeling utterly hopeless when it came to knowing what to give his father for Christmas. Snape had already given him the most wonderful gift of decorating a tree and his room, and now Harry had nothing to put under the tree for him. He had some money left from what he had pulled out of Gringotts at the beginning of the year, but had no way of getting out of the castle and to Diagonalley to spend it. He had already asked Severus to take him, and had been told that it was too dangerous, because they still didn't know who was attacking him, and couldn't be seen together until then.

There were only a couple of days left until Christmas eve now and Harry was getting desperate. What did you give an adult? He had never given an adult anything before except homework...

McGonagall noticed that Harry seemed a little depressed as she passed him in a corridor after breakfast one day and pulled him into her office.

"Is anything the matter?" she asked, wondering perhaps if Severus were being mean to him again.

Harry shrugged. "He already gave me something for Christmas, and now I don't have anything to give him. I don't know what to get for him even if I could get out of the castle to buy something."

"What did you give your other relatives for Christmases before?"

Harry bit his lip. "Nothing." I've never given anything to anybody for Christmas before. Well, that wasn't exactly true. When he was three he had drawn a picture of himself holding hands with aunt Petunia in front of the Christmas tree and tried to give it to her on Christmas day, but she only laughed and tore it to shreds before throwing it in the fire and sending him to his room for ridiculous scribbles.

"He said you could cook. Perhaps making him something tasty? She rummaged around in her desk for a moment and pulled out a small card with tiny writing on it. "This is a recipe for homemade cookies my mother used to make every Christmas. They are fairly easy if you want to try."

Harry grinned and took the card. "That's a great idea! Thanks!" He hurried off to try the new recipe, thinking that he would have to make it in the kitchens below the Great Hall so that his father wouldn't ask him what he was making and why.

The house elves weren't too keen on letting Harry cook in their kitchens once they were down there however, no matter how many times Harry told them he had a recipe to follow.

"Can I just have ingredients then?" Harry asked.

The head house elf, a fat little one named Pandor, nodded and said, "Let me see the recipe card."

Harry handed it over and watched as the elves hurried around the kitchen gathering the ten or so ingredients he would need and putting them in a box. When they were done Harry thanked them and hurried back to their quarters in the Dungeons.

"What is that?" Snape asked curiously when he entered.

"Um... I can't tell you. And I have to use the kitchen, but you can't look. I promise not to make a mess though."

Severus eyed him, wondering what he was up to, but then waved him off. "If you do make a mess, you will be cleaning it by hand."

"Ok," Harry said, and hurried off.

* * *

With a plate of delicious cookies made and wrapped with a freshness charm on them, Harry was happy as Christmas Eve rolled around. He sat by the fire in the living room reading a second year defense book his father had leant him, as Severus came out of the hallway with a small wrapped gift in red and gold wrapping paper.

Harry looked up as Severus handed him the gift. "For me?" He was surprised, not expecting any more gifts.

"You said it was tradition to open one on Christmas Eve."

Harry grinned and tore into his second ever Christmas present, and found a new pair of brown hiking boots.

"Wow," Harry said. He had never had hiking boots before. "Thanks, they're great!"

"You are welcome." Severus was not accustomed to giving gifts to anybody, except during the staff party where they were supposed to give ‘silly' gifts to whomever's name they drew from Dumbledore's hat. He could not deny the sudden satisfaction he was getting from seeing Harry smile however, and did not want to wait until the morning to receive the same satisfaction when he gave the boy his other gifts.

They spent the rest of the evening playing Chess, before Harry went to bed with a full stomach of a Christmas feast, which Severus had prepared for them.

In the morning Harry was surprised to find ten more presents under the tree and they all had his name on them.

"Wow," Harry said as Severus walked into the living room with a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch.

"Your friends sent presents by owl and I kept them in the closet until this morning."

Harry grinned and opened up his present from Hermione, which was a broom care kit. Ron's present turned out to be an enormous box of chocolates with a note saying he was sorry and that he reckoned that Snape must really care about him to keep saving his life. There were also presents from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Fred and George, which turned out to be a red sweater with the letter H on it, some home made sweets, and a fake wand that turned into a rubber duck when you picked it up.

Harry then opened up a box that contained four new shirts all his size from Severus and another two boxes with four new pairs of jeans and a new pair of khaki pants.

"You seem to go through clothes rather quickly," Severus observed.

"Thanks," Harry grinned. Suddenly he remembered the cookies and ran into his room to grab them.

As he was walking back out of the hall with the plate of cookies Severus said, "Ah, more of the house elves Christmas cookies."

"What?" Harry was confused, and Severus reached to the side table beside the couch and lifted up a plate of the same cookies Harry had baked.

"They sent them down this morning, as well as to all the other staff."

Harry's face fell and he accidentally dropped the plate, letting the cookies scatter and roll away on the stone floor.

"Harry?" Severus stood up, wondering what was wrong.

"They, they stole it! They stole the recipe! And now I don't have anything to give you!" He turned and ran back to his room, flinging himself down on his bed. Why had he let them see the recipe card? How could they just steal his recipe knowing he was going to make some?

It was only a moment before Severus was knocking on his door and coming inside. Harry wasn't crying, but he wasn't happy either.

"Would you care to explain what you said a moment ago? I heard a hurried jumble of words."

Harry sat up and threw a hand up in the air helplessly. "I didn't have anything to get you so Professor McGonagall gave me a recipe for cookies. The house elves wouldn't let me make them in the kitchens but they asked for the recipe card and told me they would give me the ingredients for them. I made them and I was going to give them to you for Christmas but then those stupid elves went and stole the recipe and gave them to everybody! Now my cookies are all over the floor!"

Severus listened quietly until Harry was finished, and then left the room for a moment, confusing Harry. Harry followed him out and watched amazed as Severus picked up every last cookie that Harry had dropped, and put it back on the plate. He turned around and said, "Thank you for the cookies Harry." Here he took a bite out of the cookie on top of the pile, and said, "They are better than the ones the house elves made."

"Eew," Harry stuck his tongue out and laughed, wondering that the man in front of him was eating cookies off the floor for his benefit. Was this what it was like to have parents?

Harry went to Severus and wrapped his arms around his midsection in a tight hug.

"That is the best Christmas present of all," Severus said, once again getting that deep feeling of satisfaction as his son held him tight.

Harry laughed again. "Good. Just don't eat the floor cookies anymore."

Severus chuckled and said, "If you insist."

* * *

The feast in the Great Hall that night was grand, and included many more plates of the cookies the house elves had made. Harry didn't seem to mind anymore however, and seemed to be having a good time. He was sitting next to the fifth year Ravenclaw boys who had stayed and talking about Quidditch and a variety of other things.

At the other end of the table Dumbledore whispered into Severus' ear, "I had planned on giving Harry James' old cloak... you know the one."

Severus pulled a face and said, "And to what reason do I owe the gratitude that you did not give it to him?"

"It has gone missing."

This got Severus' attention and he looked the Headmaster in the eye. "You did not misplace it?"

"Most definitely not. I had pulled it out and placed it in the bottom drawer of my desk when Harry's letter went out to him, because I had intended on giving it to him sooner, but had forgotten about it. Now it has gone missing."

"Are you suggesting that Harry's attacker is using James Potter's cloak against his son?"

"Not suggesting Severus, telling. I asked the portraits and they said that a masked man speaking with two different voices came into my office and took it at the beginning of the school year."

"And they didn't see fit to tell you until now?"

"A spell had been placed on them, and I had to counter it before they were able."

Severus sighed. "At least we now know what we are looking for exactly."

"Indeed."

They returned their attention to the feast as Professor Quirill asked the Seventh year Hufflepuff something that made him laugh.

While Harry was at said practices, trying to fly through impossibly soggy conditions, Ron and Hermione were spending hours in the library, much to Ron's consternation. It had become their routine to spend their free time there plotting and planning, and waiting for Harry to get done with practice so he could go over their plans as well. Christmas may have passed by in a pleasant array of colors, sweets, and presents, but the fact that they now knew what Fluffy was guarding was not forgotten.

It was on an particularly cold Saturday afternoon that Severus observed his newly adopted son trudging up through the castle towards the library in sopping wet clothes, hair and mud plastered to his face.

"Might I enquire as to why you feel the need to tramp mud all the way up through the castle and into the Library?"

Harry paused halfway up the steps to the library and turned to find his father. "I was going to meet Ron and Hermione there."

"And you could not wait until you showered and changed into dry clothing?"

He shrugged as he looked down and noticed that he was fairly muddy. He'd been hit by a Bludger and thrown off his broom and into the mud a few times. The rain made it hard to see what was coming at him. And truth be told, after hours out in the rain, he had gotten used to his clothes clinging to him and had been too eager to hear what Ron and Hermione had worked on today. So far they had worked out a fairly spectacular plan, and now it was just the execution they had to worry about.

"Change into dry clothes at the very least," Severus said, and then turned to go in the direction he had originally been heading.

Harry went back down the stairs and around to the other side of the castle where Gryffindor tower was, and hurried through a wonderfully warm shower and into some warm clothes before he ran out the portrait hole again and to the library. He found Ron and Hermione bent over a piece of parchment in the very back corner near the restricted section.

"Hey, any luck on what's under Fluffy?" Harry asked quietly, eyes casting about for anyone who may be eavesdropping.

Ron nodded and gave a grin. "I hid outside the staff lounge all morning until Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout came out and they were saying something about Devil's Snare, so I followed them.

"They didn't see?" Harry asked, and Ron shook his head. "Fred and George gave me this great spell to muffle the sound of my shoes, and I hid behind statues and banisters and the like."

"What else?"

"Well Professor McGonagall said something about a potion and Professor Sprout mentioned Quidditch, but I'm not sure either have to do with the stone."

Hermione held up her finger then and said, "I followed Professor Flitwick around all day and it's the strangest thing. He was collecting keys. I think that all of the professors must have contributed something to the protection of the stone." She and Ron glanced at each other then, and then to Harry.

"What?"

"Well, we thought you could ask... you know, your dad," Ron said suddenly. "You know, about the potion."

"How am I supposed to do that? He'll want to know why I asked and then he'll know what we're up to!"

Ron scoffed. "Right, like he'll suddenly figure out we've planned to steal it and then hide it someplace far away from Hogwarts."

"He does read minds," Harry said, and then sat back with his arms crossed. As it was he knew he was putting his new relationship with his father in jeopardy by becoming a thief and then running away from Hogwarts with said stolen item. He half hoped he could just pretend he'd had nothing to do with it at all after all was said and done. In his free time he thought about the excuses he'd tell his father just so that the man wouldn't throw him out or disown him. ‘Honestly,' he'd say, ‘I was attacked and I just woke up a few minutes ago out behind the green houses...' He didn't suppose he had a hope of it working, but he could pretend for the time being that it would. He knew as well as Ron and Hermione that the stone could not fall into the wrong hands or else Harry was done for.

"Will you at least try Harry?" Hermione was talking to him now, bringing him out of his daydream.

"Yes," Harry said, sounding defeated. It was his neck they were risking theirs for after all, he reminded himself. The least he could do was try to pry some information out of his father. My father, he thought then, as was his new habit. I finally have a father.

* * *

"HELP!"

Harry clawed at the stone floor, trying to keep himself from being dragged away towards the stairs he was sure his invisible attacker was prepared to throw him down. Whoever, or whatever it was had hold of him by the foot, and despite Harry's attempts to stay put, he was being dragged unceremoniously away.

"PLEASE!" He screamed, and then in his head he screamed for his father to find him in time.

When no one came, and Harry knew he was nearing the steps, he changed tactics.

"I hate you, you rotten piece of scum!" He shouted up at the invisible person. "You're a coward and worthless and good for nothing and-" he was given a good kick in the stomach to shut him up, but he wasn't stopping, because for the time being at least the person wasn't dragging him along anymore.

"What's the matter!?" He screamed at it. "Scared of an eleven year old boy so you've got to try to murder me? If you were a man you'd show your face and give me my wand back!"

There was silence and Harry's foot dropped to the floor before his wand clattered to the floor out of thin air and rolled towards him. Well, that was something at least, he thought, slight panic rising in him that he really didn't know many defensive or dueling spells at this point.

His fingers slid along the stone pavers until they found his wand, and the second he lifted it with a spell on his tongue, the wand was blasted out of his hand again. Harry scrambled for it, but again it was blasted from his hand before he could finish the words of a hex or jinx.

Harry's eerily silent attacker seemed to be tired of the games now, because he had suddenly given Harry another good kick and had seized his foot again and begun dragging him towards the stairs. Harry let out a shout of surprise, but before he could be dragged any further, his father appeared from around a corner, looking in a word, pissed.

"Accio cloak!" he shouted, before he jumped out of the way of a nasty red hex. A brief duel ensued in which Harry had time to scramble out of the way, but only just enough to avoid several hexes that had been intentionally aimed his way.

With a last curse by Severus, they heard an ‘oomf' and then there was silence. Harry got to his feet and limped quickly behind his father.

"Is he gone?"

"Shh!"

Severus ran several detection spells and tried to summon the cloak once more, but was unable, and resorted to using his foot to kick through the air where he thought he'd incapacitated the invisible menace. He found nothing.

"I will take you to the Hospital Wing Potter," he said then. "The castle's defenses are failing. For some reason none of the other staff were notified that an attack was in progress."

Harry did not fail to notice that his father was not making any sense, but didn't say anything until they were in the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey was tending to his sprained ankle and other bruises.

"What did you mean the castle's defenses?"

"I was unsure if the attacker was still within hearing range. It must appear odd to whomever it is that I am always the one to appear to rescue you."

"Oh."

This was the third attack in the last two days. Yesterday it had happened twice, once on his way to his first class (which he was late for), and once when he'd gotten out of study hall early and was on his way back to the common room. Perhaps the attacker was a student and had gone home for the holidays, he thought, because there had been no attempts on his life over the break. Contrary to Ron's belief that the attacker was a professor, Harry was sure now that it couldn't be.

"Are you all right?" Severus asked Harry quietly when Madam Pomfrey had finished, and Harry looked up.

"Yeah," he said quietly. Well, it was sort of true anyhow. He hated feeling like he was unsafe everywhere he went. He never knew when he would be punched from thin air or dragged off, and he worried about his friends getting hurt if the attacker got bold and decided to attack when he was with them.

"I will escort you back to your common room then, where you will stay," Severus added in a stern voice. "As of now you are no longer allowed to go anywhere by yourself. Is that clear?"

Harry nodded, but knew that wouldn't stop whoever was doing this to him.

* * *

Hermione was screaming and Ron was turning in circles shooting spells off in the darkness.

Harry, fears come true, stood in the middle of the hallway just wanting it to stop. Perhaps there was more than one, because it appeared that the attacker was able to pull Hermione's hair and curse Ron from another direction at the same time.

"Come and get me then!" Harry shouted, angry and uncertain at the same time. "No reason to attack them!" Hermione fell to the ground then and Ron was shouting something at Harry, but Harry had been thrown to the ground at that moment and was being dragged down the hallway by the collar. God he hated it here.

Perhaps it was all the screaming Hermione had done, and Ron's cursing, but Professor Snape was not the only one to show up this time. As he came running down the hallway from one direction, Professor Flitwick appeared from the other and they both began shouting off hexes at whatever had just let go of Harry. Well, that ruled out two Professors anyway, Harry thought as he lay on the floor covering his head for fear he'd be hit by stray spells. Ron and Hermione were doing the same, though Hermione was still crying where she lay beside Professor Flitwick.

In a few moments the spells stopped, and there was dust in the air from where stones had been hit and blasted apart. There was silence aside from Hermione until Professor Snape moved forward and lifted Harry up from under the armpit, and then Ron. Professor Flitwick was helping Hermione, and Harry clenched his fists. Would this never stop?

The three were lead to the Hospital Wing, and thankfully none of them had been injured, but Harry's question was answered as his father lead him out, wand out and at the ready. They were not ten steps down the hall when Harry was beamed in the head by something that he was sure was a Beater's bat. As he lay on the ground, vision blurry, he could see his father in a physical struggle with thin air, and squinted to take note that a black dusty boot was visible, moving all by itself.

"Run," his father managed to get out through gritted teeth, and Harry did as he was told, worry flooding him at that moment that his new father would not survive. As he ran past the Hospital Wing however, Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall ran in the other direction towards the scuffle, and he knew all would be well... for everyone except him that was.

Harry continued to run up through the castle until he found himself in an unfamiliar place. He pushed open an unlocked door and then warded it closed as best he knew how. Breathing hard, he found himself in a dim and dusty attic full of old furniture, and curiously, a tall mirror right in the middle of a space cleared of dust.

Allowing the enclosed, quiet space to calm him some, Harry took a few steps forward until he could see his own reflection in the mirror. He could see that his face was dirty and his new jeans were ripped at the knee, but as he looked closely he noticed that something was wrong with the mirror. His reflection was smiling back at him, when he wasn't smiling at all.

Frowning, Harry took another step closer, as he did he wondered if the mirror showed some sort of alternate reality, because it didn't reflect the dusty attic at all, but instead a house furnished in browns with lots of sunlight streaming in through the windows, and in the background, a tall figure in a black shirt and slacks sat on a couch reading a book before turning to smile at him.

Harry turned to see if his father really was behind him, but found himself alone in the attic. Strange, but he looked so happy in the reflection. He looked safe.

"What is it you see my boy?"

Harry spun again to find Dumbledore, wearing a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes, and Harry was sure he was in fact quite sad.

"I don't understand it," Harry said, turning back to the mirror. "It's me, but I'm somewhere else. And I'm smiling."

"Is it so impossible for you to be happy?"

With a frown Harry thought that he really didn't know. Every time it seemed he could have a chance at being happy, something else happened to show him just how wrong he really was.

"Sort of hard to be happy when there's someone lurking behind every corner waiting for me," Harry said, studying the image in the mirror again. "Why does this mirror show things that aren't true?"

"It shows nothing more or less than our own deepest desires."

"Strange place to put it," Harry said then, "In an attic where no one can use it."

"People have wasted away staring into it. Tonight it is being moved to a new location. It would be best if you did not dwell on trying to find it again."

Harry gave one last look into the mirror then, and noticed that there were now two images of his father. One sitting behind his imaginary self, and one standing directly behind him looking very worn. He turned then and saw that he was really there, and wrapped his arms tightly around his middle.

"Why does he want to kill me?" Harry asked in a muffled voice.

"I believe if he wanted to kill you, he would have already. At this point it is clear that his intention is more bent on terrorizing than actual harm."

"That doesn't make it any better," Harry said as his father ran his fingers through his hair, still holding him tight.

"I know," he said. "Let's go back to the dungeons. There are wards up that no one can pass aside from you and I and the Headmaster."

As Harry was lead away past the Headmaster, who still looked sad, he asked about Ron and Hermione and his father told him that the common rooms had all been warded as well, and Harry allowed himself to feel at peace momentarily, until they exited the attic and were once again open for any attack that might come out of thin air.

"It's been nice knowing you then," Harry said glumly on Saturday morning as they sat in their common room, confined as all the students were.

"Forget it," Ron said. "I'm not going just give up and let the attacker get you. Besides, Fred and George have been teaching us loads of spells."

"None that have helped so far," Harry grumbled.

"Well you know what this means," Hermione suddenly said from behind them. Harry and Ron looked up from where they'd been sharing a large window sill and looking out over the sunny castle grounds. They hadn't realized she'd walked up and had been listening.

"No," Ron said.

She lowered her voice. "We'll have to get the stone tonight."

"Tonight? Why?"

Crossing her arms, Hermione said, "Because we have to go while we're still allowed to be seen together. Harry and I can't very well do this on our own, and if your brothers are all watching you to be sure you stay away from Harry, then it won't happen."

Harry sighed. He was apprehensive about their plan to take the stone, especially considering that they didn't know who their enemy was.

"I think our plan isn't going to work," he finally said. He wished he could just be a kid and not be involved in all of this. What he wouldn't give to be playing exploding snap right now or out flying on the Quidditch Pitch instead of worrying about murder and theft of a valuable object. They still had no idea where they'd hide it, only that Harry would take it off the grounds somewhere. He'd been thinking of burying it, but with an invisible predator on the loose, there was no way he could be certain he wouldn't be followed and his enemy wouldn't just dig the stone up.

"Why is that?" Hermione asked. Ron had rolled his eyes but at least Hermione was paying attention and seemed interested. Harry knew how meticulous she had been in forming this plan.

"Every time I leave the common room without a teacher," Harry said, "he's waiting for me and I get attacked, and my dad comes running."

Ron rolled his eyes again at Harry's use of the name for Snape, but didn't say anything. He still wasn't all that pleased that Harry was taking on the adoption with such enthusiasm, though he couldn't deny that the man had saved him so often.

"We need an adult," Harry said. "And even that's no guarantee, because he attacks my dad when he's with me too."

"You need us."

Harry and Ron let their eyes flicker to the twins behind Hermione and she turned, looking irritated, perhaps because she hadn't thought to discuss this someplace more private.

Fred and George had their arms crossed, and Harry thought they ought to be looking smug as they usually did at having caught their brother at something, but they looked dead serious.

"You don't even know what we're doing," Ron said with a glare.

Fred leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "You're going to sneak past the Ceberus, try to get past all of the teacher's traps, and steal something." He stood up straight.

"But you can't get out without being attacked," George said. "And you won't make it without us."

"Harry has a point," Hermione said. "Even with staff he's getting attacked. We'll still get attacked with two third years."

"Two third years equals a sixth year," George said, "and besides, the staff don't have this." He motioned to Fred, who pulled out a long roll of parchment. He unrolled just the corner and Hermione's eyes grew wide before Fred rolled it up again.

"What?" Harry asked. Hermione had been in the way and he hadn't seen. It could have been their homework for all he knew.

"And it sees everybody?" she asked, confusing Harry and Ron more.

"Everybody. We reckon we know who's been attacking Harry but we're not certain yet."

She crossed her arms. "And you didn't go to Professor Snape?"

"Listen," Fred said. "He may be Harry's old man now but he still gives us plenty of detentions."

Harry raised his brows. He didn't think anybody but Ron and Hermione knew, but the twins were good at sneaking up on people and listening to their conversations, and they could have found out at any time.

"Right," said Harry. "Let's go someplace we can talk."

George motioned for them to follow. They went into the narrow cramped hall that lead to the entrance, where Fred and George stopped and unrolled the parchment, before leading them out of the common room and to an empty study room Harry hadn't known about. Looking at it now he thought he rather liked it as it was just like Gryffindor common room, only smaller, with worn soft red chairs, study tables, book shelves, and a fire place which was currently cold an empty.

"Only fourth years and up are allowed to use it," Fred said at Hermione's surprised look. "There's another one next door for seventh years."

"Now what do you have," Ron demanded, and Fred unrolled the long parchment on a study table to reveal an intricate map with moving dots. It was a map of the castle, detailing every secret passageway, every hidden room.

"Well that explains how you knew about the stone," Ron said. He pointed at the room where fluffy was, and saw a large dot labeled ‘Fluffy' in tiny print. Under that they could see a dotted line indicating a passageway, and many corridors beyond.

"We've seen staff going in and out of this room all year. We followed once and heard Hagrid playing a flute of some sort. We figure it likes music."

"And we saw Snape going in with a potion. We figure we know what it is too, because Percy told us what Snape made them brew in class that day and he said he never thought they'd be allowed to brew something so dangerous."

They were quiet for long moments, before Harry finally asked, "So you're going to help us then?"

"Cut us in for half of whatever you're stealing," George said.

"We can't, it's the Sorcerer's Stone," said Hermione. "We're trying to hide it from whoever is trying to kill Harry. We know he'll try to go after it."

"Fame and glory then," George said.

"And that would be Professor Quirril," Fred announced, drawing a gasp from Hermione, who had been so certain it was a seventh year student.

"A professor?" she almost wailed.

"Yes and keep it down," Fred said. "Every time we've been watching the map when Harry's been attacked, Quirril has been right there. We thought at first he was there helping Harry fight the attacker, but then we saw him scuffling with Snape the other night and Harry running away. It has to be him."

"He's an oddball anyhow," George said.

"A tea leaf short of a tea bag," chimed Fred.

"A crisp short of a snack," laughed George.

Harry had a feeling it would have continued on in this manner for hours if Hermione hadn't held her hand up to quiet them.

"When are we going to do this?" she asked.

George scanned the map and pointed. "There's Quirril now. Looks like he's dealing with something in the Great Hall."

"We should go now," said George, using his finger to trace a path to the forbidden corridor with his finger, going through several hidden passageways. "Looks like there's no staff about and Mrs. Norris is in the dungeons."

Harry swallowed. He wasn't sure if he was ready for this right now, and suddenly wished he could go ask his father to go with them.

"Let's go," he finally said, and Fred and George rolled up the map and pulled out their wands as they hurried out.

They went through four or five hidden passages that Harry tried to remember in case he'd need them later, and popped out across the hall from Fluffy's door, from behind a Ravenclaw tapestry.

"Alohamora," Hermione said, pointing her wand at the lock, and they heard it click open. They hurried inside, but Harry and Ron froze at the sight of the size of Fluffy. He, or she, was enormous and towered over them, even laying down. Slobber leaked out of Fluffy's mouth and pooled on the floor. Harry wondered for a moment where Fluffy went to the bathroom at, but was pulled back to the present by the door closing behind them.

"Someone's got to sing," Fred said. "After I wake it up."

Ron shook his head vehemently but Fred punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Sing Ron," he said, and then he aimed his wand at fluffy and lifted the beasts paw and let it fall to the floor to startle him. It worked, and Fluffy opened his eyes, only to start growling when it saw the intruders.

Ron looked around to find that his friends had all moved back against the wall, leaving him there in the middle of the floor alone. He looked back up to Fluffy and in a squeaky, terrified voice sang, "I'm a little tea pot, short and stout, here is my handle here is my spout, when you tip me over pour me out, I'm a little teapot short and stout." Fluffy went back to sleep and George motioned for Ron to keep singing as he and Fred went to move the dog's heavy paw from over the trap door in the floor. Hermione joined Ron and they sang together until the twins were done and had the door opened. They motioned for Harry to come to them, and Ron and Hermione stopped singing.

"Nothing for it but to jump," George said, and he jumped in. Fred motioned for the others to go, and George was followed in by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, before Fred jumped in too, pulling the door shut with a bang as he fell.

When they landed, Harry was glad to find that it was a soft landing on top of something that seemed like a large plant. He looked over to find his friends sinking, and Ron panicking.

"Stop freaking out Ron," Fred advised as he fell through the plant and disappeared completely.

"It's eaten George!" Ron shouted, but George, who was still tangled in the plant shouted, "No it hasn't you Ninny! It ate Fred!" Then he laughed as he fell through too. Harry noticed that Hermione was relaxing and also falling through so he did the same, and seemed to melt through the plant until he fell out underneath it with a thud on hard ground.

"It's Devil's Snare," Hermione said knowledgeably. "He's not supposed to panic. We learned about this on the first day of classes."

"Ron, calm down!" George yelled up.

"The plant is talking!" Ron shouted.

"He's still panicking," Harry said. "We have to do something."

Hermione muttered something to herself and then used her wand to shoot a bright light up at the plant. Suddenly Ron fell through.

"I didn't panic," he said, standing up and brushing off his pants. "I didn't," he insisted to his brothers. Fred rolled his eyes and George looked around in the darkened room.

"This way maybe," he said.

Harry was secretly very glad that Fred and George had come. They were older students and knew more spells, and he didn't mind letting them take the lead as they made their way past several obstacles. Harry got to play his part when he had to capture a flying key, and Hermione helped them get through the poisonous potion choices. Ron and the twins fought over chess moves, but in the end they made it through the giant chess board as well, thankfully all in one piece. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they came to a large room with the same mirror Harry had seen in the attic the week before.

"I know what this is," he said. "It shows you what you want to see."

He stepped up in front of it and while he saw the reflection of his friends behind him, he also saw a strange lump in his pocket. He reached into his pocket and was surprised to find the stone.

"Look!" he said, turning and holding the shiny black stone up.

"That's it Harry!" Hermione said excitedly. "But how did you get it?"

"I looked into the mirror and it was just in my pocket."

Fred crossed his arms. "It was in your pocket the whole time?"

Hermione shushed him and nudged George. They were only joking but now that they had the stone (and really it was rather too easy if three first years and two third years had done it) they had to figure out where to go with it.

"What now?" Harry asked.

"Where had you planned on hiding it?" George asked.

"I thought of burying it somewhere," Harry said.

"It would have been safer here," Fred pointed out, and Harry thought it was true.

"You have the map," Ron pointed at the roll of parchment still sticking out of the back of Fred's belt. "Isn't there someplace safe on there we can hide it?"

Fred pulled it out and spread it on the floor where they got to their knees to look at it.

"There are all sorts of places in the castle nobody ever looks," George said.

"Yeah but they could call it to them," Fred said sitting up.

Hermione sighed. "We should destroy it."

"It's not ours. We'll get in trouble. It's only about the most valuable stone in the world."

"Ron's got a point. It makes gold... it's priceless," George said, and Ron crossed his arms smugly.

"So... we just put it back?" Harry asked, confused. Everyone looked at him.

"It's too easy for Quirril to get it." They nodded in agreement with Fred.

"We have to take it away from here then." Harry felt sad. He had already agreed to take it off school property in the early stages of their planning if it came to it, though he didn't know to where.

"Ideas?" Fred opened it up for suggestions, but even Hermione seemed stumped.

"We already know Quirril goes into the Forbidden Forest after unicorns," Harry said, "and if he can float he must be powerful. And the papers said someone broke into the vault at Gringotts looking for it, so he got past all the goblins."

"And Dragons," George said. "Dad says there are dragons down there."

Finally something occurred to Harry. Quirril had been looking for the sorcerer's stone. What if the stone didn't look so obvious?

"Let's disguise it." They turned to Harry.

"Quirril won't be looking for a dirt clod, or a river stone, or anything like that. There was some mud back with the Devil's Snare thing, wasn't there? We can put it anywhere on the grounds if it just looks like a clump of dirt... or it could sit under a bed or in a trunk. No one would know."

"He could still summon it to him and it would go flying right into his hand."

"We could use a sticking charm," Hermione finally said. "Summoning charms won't bring things that are stuck or tied down, and even if they could they can't go through closed doors. Harry if you put it in your trunk and keep the trunk locked, it will never get out. You could take it home with you in a few weeks and dump it anywhere."

Harry was thinking it over, rolling the plan over and over in his mind, at the same time as he rolled the stone over and over in his hand. "Let's do it."

It took several sticking charms from the twins to get the mud to stick to the shiny surface, and they took dried twigs and a dead leaf from the Devil's Snare and embedded it in the dirt to make it look like a real dirt clod. After fifteen minutes, their work was done, and they were facing the prospect of using the brooms to fly back to the trap door and singing to get out past Fluffy. The twins went first, using their map to be sure the way was clear, the dirt covered stone in Fred's pocket so that if they got separated and Harry got caught, the stone wouldn't be within Quirril's grasp.

Slowly and carefully they made their way via secret passage down to the entrance to Gryffindor common room, and back inside.

"Harry," Neville said, hurrying over. "Professor Snape is looking for you. I think you might be in trouble. He came in three times trying to find you." Neville bit his lip. "He didn't look very happy."

"The spell," Harry said, hitting his head. "He must have sensed I was in danger," he whispered to the twins and Ron and Hermione.

"Here," Fred passed the dirt off to Harry and nodded for him to hurry and get it hidden and Harry and Ron tried to look casual as they went up to the first year boys dormitory. Luckily it was empty. Harry put it in the bottom of his trunk right next to his old muddy pair of holey sneakers, and did the sticking spell Hermione had shown them several times to be sure it was securely in place and wouldn't come out if the lid was opened.

"What do you think?" he asked Ron when he was done. Ron stared down into the trunk.

"Looks like you're a pig," he said. It was true, there was a lot of dried dirt clumps in the bottom of the trunk. "What if ol' Snape makes you clean it out?"

"He won't," Harry said, "at least not until summer."

Harry locked his trunk lid and used the sticking charm to stick his trunk to the floor, just in case, he told himself, and then went downstairs. It would be dinner soon and he supposed he'd have to come up with an explanation for his father about the ‘danger' he'd been in. He hated risking another detention, but the only thing he could come up with was dueling with Ron, and Ron had agreed to take the detention if it came down to it.

At dinner a teacher escorted Gryffindor house to the Great Hall, where Snape marched up to Harry and made no effort to hide his anger as he grabbed the back of Harry's robes and practically dragged him out into the Entrance Hall.

"Where were you? I was worried sick," he demanded. Harry felt guilty and he supposed he looked a little guilty as well.

"I was dueling," he said. "With Ron," he added at his father's angry look. "We wanted to practice since we're getting attacked so much."

"So you thought it would be a good idea to go out of the common room alone to do this with said attacker on the loose?"

Harry leaned in, looked around, and then whispered, "We know who it is."

Severus stood up to his fullest height and crossed his arms. "Pray tell."

"Quirril," Harry whispered.

"And you know this how?"

"Well-"

Severus was still standing there staring down at him with his arms crossed.

"I can't say exactly, but I know it's him."

"Why not?"

Fidgeting Harry said, "You just have to trust me. It's him, and he's probably going to go after the stone too, so maybe you could help get him canned?"

Severus snorted then, and Harry raised his brows. "You think getting him thrown out will stop it?"

Harry nodded and Severus shook his head. The mind of an eleven year old, he thought, sighing internally. He gave Harry a close looking over, and when he was sure that he really was fine, reprimanded him again for dueling and sent him into the Great Hall to eat dinner. Yes, this child would be the death of him.