Out in the study, Draco got bored with his reading and dropped onto the sofa, staring at the desk where Harry was working on an essay. “Are those rags the only clothes that you have? They look like that whale of a cousin of yours could have worn them.”

Harry sighed deeply, but didn’t turn to look at the other boy. “They belonged to my cousin. I get his old clothes when he outgrows them or doesn’t want them anymore.”

“Haven’t you ever had new clothes?” he asked, propping his head up on his hands. “Mother and Father let me buy anything I want. Not just clothes.”

“Only when I bought my school uniforms last year,” Harry whispered, keeping his head down. The hand holding his quill began to shake.

“Why? I saw that house; surely they can afford new clothes for you.”

Harry stood swiftly, tossing his quill onto the desk and knocking the jar of ink over onto his essay. “You saw what they did to me! I wasn’t worthy of new clothes! I wasn’t worthy of eating anything but their leftovers, if they managed to leave something! The only time I got any toys was when my cousin broke his. I did chores around the house from sunrise to sundown while Dudley sat and watched the telly. I got beat for things that I didn’t do! That room you found me in has only been my room since I got my Hogwarts letter. Before that I slept in that cupboard under the stairs where Uncle Vernon locked my trunk,” he yelled, before running out of the study and up the stairs, slamming the door to his room.

Severus had set an alarm to let him know when either of the boys left the study and he had just finished bottling a simple potion that was needed for the infirmary at Hogwarts when it went off. Wiping his hands on a towel, he moved to the door in time to hear Harry slam the door upstairs. He went to the study. “What happened, Draco?” he asked his godson.

Draco shrugged. “All I did was ask him about his clothes.”

“Have you finished your Charms assignments yet?” he asked. Knowing Draco there was more to the story than that, but he would need to talk to Harry to get the truth. He gave the boy a stern look when he shook his head. “Sit down and finish it.”

He turned and went up the stairs to Harry’s room, knocking on the door. When he didn’t get an answer, he let himself into the room. Harry was busy throwing his things into his trunk. “What are you doing, Harry?” he asked, putting his hands on the boy’s shoulders.

Harry pulled away from him and kept gathering his meager belongings. “I'm leaving."

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here.”

“What happened?” When the boy ignored him, he grabbed him by the shoulders once more and sat him down in the chair in the corner, standing in front of him so that he couldn’t get up. He had been expecting some sort of blow up, but he had assumed that it would be Draco throwing the tantrum and not Harry. “Talk to me, Harry. Don’t leave without giving me a chance…”

“I hate him,” Harry spat, crossing his arms.

He crouched down in front of the boy. “Who?”

“Malfoy,” he muttered.

“I can’t fix this if you don’t tell me what happened…”

Harry glared up at the man. “Stop pretending to like me and go ahead and yell. I know you want to. Just get on with it so that I can finish packing my stuff and get out of here.”

“I’m not going to yell,” the man sighed.

“Yes you will. You always yell at me and side with him,” he snapped.

“Harry…” Severus said, reaching out to rest his hands on the boy’s arms, stopping when Harry flinched. “Harry.” The boy just pulled his legs up into the chair and hugged his knees, his eyes glassy. “Look at me…Harry…” Sighing, he stood. He had been expecting this sooner or later. “Come here, little one,” he said in his softest tone as he gently lifted the boy into his arms. He felt Harry stiffen in his arms and sat down in the chair, settling the boy on his lap.

Oh, Lily…what have I done? How do I fix this? He brought one hand up to rest on the back of Harry’s neck and began to gently massage the boy’s tight muscles. “Come on, Harry. Relax. I’m not going to hurt you or yell at you. That’s it,” he said as Harry finally began to relax in his arms. “I’m sorry you thought that I wouldn’t side with you, Harry. I know you think that I always favor my Snakes, but it’s not really true. In public I appear to favor them, but if you were to ask them you’ll find that once I have them alone in my office, I do take points and assign detentions. And believe me, my detentions are never easy, especially not for my house. However, they learn which behaviors that I do not find acceptable and rarely are those behaviors repeated…though some do take longer to learn those lessons than others. And they all know that if they get into trouble with another professor, I consider it an embarrassment and they are also in trouble with me. You will find that I am much harder on my house than any other Head, but my students know that they can come to me for anything. I think you ran into this problem with your own head of house?” Harry nodded. As Severus had been talking, the boy had curled up against his chest, one small hand lightly gripping the man’s robes. “Much of how I treated you last year was an act, Harry. You look very much like your father and some times you remind me of him as well. Your father and I did not get along at school and I admit that sometimes instead of seeing you in front of me I saw your father. And for that I must apologize. It was very wrong of me, Harry. As you found out this past year, there are many people who want to see you dead. People who would see it as a betrayal if I were to publicly protect you and would try to kill me. If you had been sorted into my house it would have been different. In fact, I was hoping that you would be sorted into my house.”

“You were?” Harry asked softly, looking up at the man.

“Yes, I was. It would have been much easier for me to protect you. I wouldn’t have to pretend to hate you while secretly protecting you.”

“The Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin.”

He looked down at Harry. “It did? What made it change its mind?”

“Hagrid told me that Voldemort killed my parents and that he was a Slytherin. Then I met Malfoy and we didn’t really hit it off and I didn’t want to be in his house. So I asked the Hat not to put me in Slytherin.”

He rubbed the boy’s back. “That’s the first I’ve heard of the Sorting Hat allowing anyone to influence where they are sorted.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” he asked.

Severus smiled down at the boy. “I just think that you were to first to try it. Now…would you like to tell me what happened downstairs?”

Harry sighed. “Malfoy…Draco started saying things about my clothes and how his parents always let him get whatever he wanted and I just lost it, sir,” he said, before relating the whole conversation to the man. He was unconsciously playing with the edge of the man’s robes. No one had ever held him like this before and just talked to him. It felt…nice.

“I will have a talk with Draco,” Severus replied with a sigh. “I will send for some catalogues from some of the stores at Diagon Alley and we will owl order you some clothes of your own. How does that sound?”

“But won’t that cost a lot of money, sir?” he asked, looking up at him.

He shook his head. “Don't worry, Harry.  I can afford it.”

“I have money in my vault.  I can buy my own clothes. What about Draco, sir?  Should I split the money in the vault with him?”

“Right now Draco has more than enough clothing and the Malfoy’s will continue to provide him with clothing and anything else he desires until the truth become known.  However, if you would like, I will help you keep track of how much you spend so that when the time comes, you can give Draco half of what was in the vault when your parents died.” He would get stuck with a boy with a sense of fairness. Maybe it was a good thing that he hadn’t been sorted into Slytherin.

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome. Now…why don’t you hand me my wand instead of playing with my robes,” he said with a smile. Harry blushed, but reached into the pocket near his hand and gave the man his wand. “Have you ever seen a wizard do magic without a wand?”

Harry shook his head. “I didn’t know we could.”

“We can. But it takes a powerful witch or wizard to do it. When you are older I will try to teach you a few spells that you can do wandless.” He was rewarded with a grin and he set his wand on the table beside them. “Wizards can also do spells without speaking, but that’s not something you’ll learn until sixth year. Now, watch this.” With a wave of his hand, Harry’s clothes shrunk to fit him perfectly and then with another gesture the stains that had been in them when he got them from Dudley disappeared and the clothes looked brand new.

“Brilliant!” Harry exclaimed, wrapping his arms around the man’s neck. “Thank you, sir!”

“You’re welcome. I will continue to transfigure your clothes until we can get you some of your own. Do you still want to leave, Harry?”

Harry settled back into the man’s arms again. He really did like it here. It was a lot better than the Dursleys, even if he did have to put up with Draco Malfoy. “I’d like to stay, sir. If you’ll let me.”

“Of course, I’ll let you stay. Why don’t you stay up here and unpack again while I go have a talk with Draco?”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said, getting up and moving back over to his trunk.

Severus ruffled his hair before going downstairs to have a talk with his godson. That boy had been more trouble than usual the last few days. “Draco…come with me please,” he said, opening the door to the small hallway that led to his bedroom and lab.

Draco looked up from where he was reading and paled slightly when he saw his godfather opening the door to his rooms. This couldn’t be good. He got up and moved over to the man, looking up at him.

“Did you just ask Harry about his clothes?” Severus asked the boy, giving him a stern look.

The boy looked down. He hated when his godfather gave him that look. “I may have teased him a little.”

Severus crossed his arms. “So you picked a fight with Harry after I told you not to and then you lied to me about it. Does that sound about right?”

Draco slowly nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Severus sighed and took a deep breath to calm himself. “Why do you do this to me, Draco? I was planning to take you and Harry somewhere this afternoon so that you could go flying, but we’ll just have to stay here because right now I’m not so sure about leaving you alone in my house. If you can’t obey my little rules, how can I trust you to obey the big ones?”

“No! Uncle Sev! Please…take us flying! I’ll do anything!” He threw himself at the man, wrapping his arms around his waist. He wanted to go flying more than anything. When he was at Malfoy Manor he went flying every day, but he hadn’t been flying once since he had been here and he missed it. “I’ll even…I’ll even let you w-wallop me!”

He kept his arms crossed as he looked down at the boy attached to his waist. “And what if I was planning to wallop you anyway?”

Draco looked up at his godfather. “But you don’t wallop for lying. You wash my mouth out for that.”

“So I do,” he said, taking Draco’s arm and leading him down the hall.

When Harry came downstairs a few minutes later he found them both in the kitchen preparing lunch. He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the plates to set the table. It had become habit that whoever was not helping Severus cook would set the table as well as wash the dishes after the meal. He noticed that Draco’s eyes were red and puffy and that he kept making faces, like he had eaten a nasty Every Flavor Bean. Harry walked over to Severus. “Uncle Sev?”

“Yes, Harry?” he answered, his heart soaring. It was the first time Harry had used the name even though he had been told several days before that he could.

“Is Draco alright?” Harry asked softly, looking over his shoulder at the other boy, concern in his eyes.

Severus looked over at Draco as well. “You should go ask him, Harry.”

Harry nodded and moved over to his brother. “What’s wrong?”

“I just…” Draco sighed deeply, glancing over at his godfather before answering. “I got it trouble for teasing you and lying to Uncle Sev.”

“What did he do?” Harry asked, still a little worried about what his new guardian would do if he got into trouble.

Draco sighed again. “He washed my mouth out with soap and gave me a couple smacks cause I fought him.”

“Did it hurt really bad?”

“Not too bad,” Draco told him. “But the soap was really nasty…don’t ever let him hear you swear and don’t lie to him.”

“Oh…I won’t!”

Severus chuckled and called the two boys to come eat. After they had all sat down, he snapped his fingers and two small boxes appeared beside the plates of the two boys. “Harry, I realized this morning that I had missed your birthday.”

“It’s alright, Uncle Sev,” Harry told him. “It’s not that important.”

“Yes, it is. I have already told Draco that I would have a present for him later, that I needed a little more time to find exactly what I was looking for. I will have one for you too, in the next day or so.”

“But sir…”

Draco interrupted him. “Don’t argue with him, Harry. He always gives great presents!”

“Just open those boxes, scamps,” Severus told them.

The boys grabbed the boxes and tore them open. Each box held a golden snitch with their names engraved into them. “Oh, wow!” Draco exclaimed. “It’s a practice snitch! Thanks, Uncle Sev!” He got up and hurried around the table to give his godfather a hug.

“I thought you might like to practice this afternoon,” Severus told him. Even though Lucius had bought Draco a spot on the team, the boy didn’t know it yet.

“We’re still going flying?” he asked.

When Severus nodded, Harry jumped up and threw his arms around the man’s neck. “Thank you, sir!”

“You are both welcome,” he told them. “We’ll go as soon as you finish eating.”

After lunch, Severus apparated the three of them to a quiet meadow, far from prying muggle eyes. “You two listen carefully. No stunts. Stay within this clearing and don’t go higher than the trees.”

“Yes, sir,” they both said, mounting their brooms, grinning.

“Behave,” he told them, watching them fly for a few minutes before walking into the trees to look for potions ingredients. He had often brought Draco here to let the boy fly, while he worked on filling his stores at school.

They flew around the clearing for a few minutes before Draco pulled his practice snitch from his pocket. “Are you going to try out for your House team?” Harry asked his brother.

“Yeah,” Draco answered. “But in Slytherin you have to be fifth year to be on the team. They might make me the reserve seeker, but they won’t let me play until then.”

“Come on, we can practice together,” he said, taking the snitch from his brother and tossing it into the air.

They played well together for a couple hours, chasing the snitch and Draco even taught his brother some moves that he had seen in professional Quidditch games that Lucius had taken him to. When Severus returned to the clearing, the two boys were flying at breakneck speeds about four feet off the ground, Draco flying slightly higher than Harry. Draco fell from his broom, taking Harry with him and they both rolled to a stop a few feet from where they had fallen. Severus dropped the ingredients that he had gathered and raced toward them. When he was halfway across the clearing, both boys stood up laughing.

Those little idiots! He fumed. I ought to wring their little necks! Severus stormed toward them, roughly grabbing their arms and without any warning, apparating them back to the upstairs hallway of his house. “Get in your rooms,” he said, giving them each a firm swat. “You’ve both lost your brooms for a week!”

Harry headed the few feet to his room with a surprised yelp, but Draco turned to look at his godfather. “A week?! Uncle Sev, that’s not fair!”

Severus grabbed the boy by the arm and gave him another swat. “I will not count this time. If you do not obey me, I will spank you,” he told the boy sternly. Draco looked like he was going to protest again, but he turned and walked into his room, his head down. Severus went back to the meadow to get the boys’ brooms and the plants he had gathered. He put their brooms in the closet in his hallway and went into his lab to work while he calmed down.

Upstairs, Harry lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t believe he had let Draco talk him into trying those stunts, especially after Uncle Sev had told them not to. His broom had been locked away all summer and the first day that he had gotten it back, he lost it again. Only this time it was different. This time he had lost his broom because of something he had done wrong. ‘That’s the last time I listen to you, Draco,’ he thought.

Across the hall, Draco had been moping the loss of his broom as well. He sat up suddenly when he heard Harry’s voice in his head. What in the hell was that? Could they hear each other’s thoughts? He smirked. This could be a good thing! Especially when Uncle Sev sent the two of them to their rooms. Draco closed his eyes. ‘You could have told me no.’

Harry fell off his bed when he heard Draco’s comment, looking toward the door only to find it still closed.

Draco snorted when he heard the thud. ‘Did you fall off your bed?’

‘No.’ Harry lied, picking himself up off the floor and rubbing his elbow.

‘We are so not telling Uncle Sev about this,’ Draco told him.

‘Why not?’

‘Are you crazy? Now we can talk about things without him finding out…like during potions class.’

Harry curled up in the arm chair in the corner. Maybe with Draco’s help he could do better during class. ‘We could help each other during all our classes together…’

‘I didn’t say anything about helping…this is better than trying to pass notes.’

Harry couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. ‘Do you think he went back and got our brooms?’

‘Yeah,’ Draco told him. ‘And I know where he put them too.’

‘You do? Where? Will he really keep them a whole week?’

Draco put his hands under his head. ‘He put them in the same place he also puts my broom when he takes it from me…in the closet next to his room. And yes, he will keep them all week. Uncle Sev always keeps his word.’

‘Great,’ Harry sighed.

‘Don’t worry, little brother.’

‘Who said I was the younger one? I could be the older one!’

‘You’re the shorter one,’ Draco teased. ‘Uncle Sev has to go to Hogwarts in a couple days for a staff meeting. He can’t very well show up there with the two of us, so he’ll leave us here. We can sneak out and go flying then. He’ll never know, Harry.’

‘I’ll think about it.’