Harry woke up to a smell of toast, bacon, eggs and coffee.

He stretched on the sofa and his bare feet appeared out from under the blanket. He looked around and remembered that he was in Snape’s rooms. And he remembered also why. He closed his eyes again. Could he pretend to be asleep until spring?

“Mr. Potter…” Oh! No. Snape was there. How long should Harry close his eyes before Snape would go away?

“I know you are awake. Get washed and come and help me set the table. Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Mmmmm. Just a little bit more… please…” Harry had never done that before. At his relatives’ it was stand up or else. After those words left his mouth his brain jolted him up. He almost fell off the sofa. “Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir.”

“Take it easy child… you may go back to bed after breakfast. You’ll find some slippers beside your shoes. The floor is cold.”

“Yes, Sir.” Snape did not sound angry. Harry put on the slippers and stood up, on his way to the bathroom.

“How come you have my slippers, Sir?”

“They are not your slippers, Mr. Potter, they are only similar. I think they belong to Mr. Malfoy.”

“Did he sleep here also?” Harry felt jealous. He was not the only one allowed to sleep in Snape’s quarters!

“He has stayed here sometimes. He stayed three nights ago before he reached his parents at the Continent. He must have forgotten to pack them, he will be back at the beginning of the term, so you may use them today.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Snape wondered why the boy sounded so dejected.

Harry entered the bathroom. He used the lavatory and washed his hands and was drying them when he heard Snape’s voice, “Wash your face… use soap!” Harry knew that Snape had eyes behind his head, but this was too much! He did not answer. He just placed the towel on its place and left the bathroom…

Snape looked at him and said. “My collection of dirty cauldrons won’t get too sticky this winter…” Harry turned around, returned to the bathroom and washed his face. He went out with his face a little red because of the scrubbing, and his hair wet… “Have you seen my glasses?”

“On the coffee table in the living room.” Harry went there and saw his cloak… he would only place it in his pocket and… “Leave that cloak where it is, Mr. Potter, we still need to talk about your latest escapade.”

“Yes, Sir.” Harry walked to the kitchen.

“You will find plates in that cupboard…” Snape signaled the one on his left, “and cutlery in that drawer. Be quick about it. The food is ready.”

Harry placed the plates on the table and reached for the glasses that were on the counter. He sat across from Snape at the table. Harry placed toast, eggs and bacon on his plate. Snape poured him some juice.

“Did you sleep well, Mr. Potter? How is your head?” ‘Apart from being empty?’ Snape kept that to himself.

“I slept fine, Sir. The headache disappeared almost immediately, after I drank what you gave me. Would you show us how to make it?”

“It’s on the OWL syllabus, Mr. Potter, you will learn to brew it in your fourth year.” Harry placed an egg on his toast and covered it with another one. “It would be nice if you gave me a bunch of those vials, just in case I have a headache. Can you do that, Sir?”

Snape almost choked with his coffee. “Certainly not, Mr. Potter. Potions, like Muggle medicines, should only be taken if prescribed by a knowing wizard, what cured your ache yesterday, could cause you damage, if you do not take it in the correct doses. If you feel sick or in pain, you should go to Madam Pomfrey, immediately. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir… but may I come here also, instead?” Those aggravating green eyes, thought Snape. Why would anyone prefer to come to his dungeons for relief instead of going to the cuddly Madam Pomfrey? Were he and Potter really bonding? “The Hospital wing is closer to your tower child, so it would be the logical place to go if you need it, but if you think that you are closer to the dungeons… you are welcome to come here.”

Harry smiled. “Thank you, Sir.” Snape liked to see the child smile. This was not good at all. But he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to stop it now. He was more afraid to think that it would stop somehow. Harry took the big sandwich and it was hard for him to bite it. Snape knew that he should scold him for his eating habits but he had to scold him for something bigger…

“How did you know about the explosives and when they would blow up, Mr. Potter?” Snape had pondered about it for part of the night. He knew that sometimes wizard kids had the ability of premonition, it was a rare quality, and Snape was sure that it could not be acquired or taught, had the child dreamed about them?

Harry looked at his professor. What could he tell him? He knew he was busted, he had been caught out of bed after curfew, after wandering the halls, and he had used the cloak. Snape believed that he had not placed the explosives, but that was only a small part. Would Snape buy it, if Harry said that he had ‘dreamed’ about it? He could not tell on the twins…

“I… heard about it, Sir. Some one was saying that…” How was he going to explain that they were supposed to be fireworks, but would end up as an explosion? How was he supposed to know that…?

Snape had to keep calm and be patient if he was going to get to the bottom of this. “You heard about it?” Harry nodded keeping his eyes on his plate.

“Where?” This was a trick question, if Harry said that he had heard about it in his common room or in the Great Hall, he would have to tell him who had said it. He couldn’t pretend that he did not know who it was… “In the corridors… it was like an echo?” Harry was sure that Hermione had said that sometimes if you were on the right place in the corridors you could hear people talking, that were very far away.

Snape knew that it was a lie. He looked at Harry with his piercing eyes. That meant that Harry knew very well who the guilty party was… or were… he had not been party of the prank, of that was Snape sure, but… he was involved… because he was friends with them… or with their brother… Snape did not need to think too hard, to realize that the perpetrators were the Weasley twins. Even if they were only in third year they knew a lot about potions and charms and the prank had their signature. Somehow they had realized, that the fireworks were not going to work as they planned… and had enrolled Harry to help them… and the stupid boy, thought that he could do it alone. If his cohorts had been in school, he would have taken them with him, but as he was not used to asking for help… he had tried to do it alone. In the middle of the night, when he already knew that someone was after him. Snape would have to watch Quirrell closer. There was something very strange with that man! But first things first. He had to deal with the kid sitting across the table.

He gave him his sternest glare.” I told you that I don’t like to be lied to Mr. Potter.” Harry felt like crashing his head against the table. He knew that Snape could read his mind! He was a fool trying to lie to the man. He placed the sandwich on the plate and sat with his hands and eyes on his lap.

“Keep eating.” Harry looked up; he was not expecting this instruction.

“Finish your meal, Mr. Potter, place the plates in the sink and get dressed. Wait for me in the living room.” Snape stood up. “I’ll be right back.” Harry followed him with his eyes. Snape entered his study and closed the door. He tried to take a couple of bites of his sandwich but it all tasted like sawdust. He knew he was in a lot of trouble.

Snape took some floo powder from its place near the fireplace and called the Weasley house. He had done it several times since the twins had started at Hogwarts. The familiar sight of their kitchen appeared in front of his eyes. Molly Weasley was preparing breakfast.

“Good morning, Mrs. Weasley.”

“Professor Snape! Good morning to you. Won’t you come through for breakfast? It is almost ready.”

“Thank you, Ma’am but I need to talk with your husband and your sons.”

“Arthur is in the shed, I’ll call him, which of my kids would you require?”

“Not Ronald or Percy.”

“I guessed so. Just hold on a second.”

Arthur Weasley entered the kitchen and sat by the fireplace.

“What trouble are my children into now?”

“I am not sure that they are in trouble Arthur, but I am sure they must know about some that has arisen and would be able to enlighten me.”

The twins arrived moments later. Molly was holding them by their ears.

“Mom… this is a mistake!” said one of them. “We are innocent!” said the other.

“We’ll see about that. Now stand here and answer Professor Snape’s questions!”

“Yes, Mom,” they said in chorus. “Hello, Professor Snape. What can we do for you on this early morning?”

Snape saw the boys flinch as their mother smacked their legs.

“Stop the cheek Fred, George!”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, I am only curious, do you know about some ‘explosive artifacts’ that were placed on one of the windows at Hogwarts?”

“Explosives?” Arthur stood from his chair, the big Christmas blow up still fresh on his mind.

“Was something blown at school?” Molly was pale; her family couldn’t afford to pay for damages to the castle.

“No, Ma’am, there was not an explosion, the contraption was disabled before it blew up.”

“Is Harry all right?” George let slip from his mouth.

Snape raised his eyebrow. His suspicions were correct.

“Mr. Potter is all right. I want to understand what was his involvement in this…?”

The twins were used to being caught. It was good for their reputation. People ware able to congratulate them that way. They always took it in stride.

“We created the round fireworks and thought that it would be a treat for the people that stayed at Hogwarts….”

“It would be a great show of fireworks…”

“We tried to do it here for Christmas…”

“But… Mom is still angry and making us clean the pieces…”

“We used the double of the number of balls in school…”

“We were sure that the wall would crumble…”

“Harry was the only one we could tell…”

Molly smacked them twice. “You send an 11 year old to disarm your prank!”

“Wait Mom! It was really simple…”

“He only had to cut some cables…”

“He had to take down a portrait that was half his size, twice his weight!” intervened Snape.

“Is Harry alright?”

“Yes, he is. I found him and I cut the cable. There. Was. Enough. Powder. In. Those. Balls. To. Demolish. The. Tower!”

“But…”

“But…”

“Just shut up, boys,” said their father. Snape realized that he had practice with that many kids.

“We never intended Harry to be in danger… He did not know about it, we ask for his help after Christmas…”

“We knew that if it blew someone would figure that we had placed it…”

“We did not want to be expelled…”

“I am sure that Harry just wanted to help…”

“Do not worry about him, Ma’am… he is alright.”

“Does the Headmaster know about this?”

“I will tell him. I will also inform him that the perpetrators would write a five-foot essay about the ‘Explosive balls’, their ingredients, their properties and what went wrong. I want it on my desk first thing in the morning, next Monday.”

“But today is Thursday?” Molly’s hand answered for her. “You will start right now!”

“Professor as we are going to do it together… would it be all right if we only delivered one essay?”

Snape admired their bravery in the face of danger.

“One set would be acceptable, I will also find 1000 lines of ‘I should not play with fire or endanger people with my pranks’ two sets of that.”

The twins flinched. “Yes, Sir.”

“You will also have detention with me for five days, one during the next Hogsmeade visit.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Well, I think that is enough. Arthur, Molly sorry for the intrusion. Have a nice day.”

“Thank you Severus and Happy New Year.”

Snape was able to see the twins leaving the kitchen. Molly was applying her hand to their rear ends. Well, that settled it for the real culprits. Now he had to torment Potter a little.

Snape went to the living room and found Harry sitting at the sofa he had slept on. He saw that the cloak was still over the table, although it looked crumpled. So…the boy had not resisted the temptation of holding it. He looked at the cloak and then at the child, Harry looked guilty.

“Well, Mr. Potter. Are you ready to tell me the truth?”

“Sir… I… I know it was wrong but I had to stop the explosion.”

“I agree that the explosion had to be stopped, Mr. Potter. I do not agree that you were the only one who could do it. You should have gone to your Head of House or come to me. You had a school full of teachers… It was not your place to do it.”

“I learned about it and… I thought that… It seemed easy…Adults ask too many questions, Sir. They… they said that they would be expelled…”

“You could have been harmed if those things had exploded!” Or Quirrell would have harmed me, completed Harry’s mind.

“I was going to be careful, I am sorry… I... it was the last night.”

“Mr. Potter… If you ever find out about any other dangerous thing, I want you to come and tell me. I will help and I won’t ask too many questions.”

“Do you promise?” Snape turned his eyes.

“Yes, I do.”

“You already know who did it, don’t you?”

“I have just talked with George and Fred Weasley…”

“I just tried to help.”

“You did get it disarmed.”

“They won’t be expelled, will they?”

“No they won’t.”

“So, I won’t be expelled either…?”

“No, Mr. Potter. You will stand with your nose in the corner for the next 20 minutes, so you will think twice before lying to me. And I will set you some lines to write for me. I will require them for next Monday. You may start working on them this weekend.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Go stand in the corner. I will tell you when you can get out of it.”

“Yes, Sir… Sir?”

“Yes, Mr. Potter?”

“Are you going to keep my cloak, Sir?”

Snape saw the child bracing himself for the blow. Snape knew that he should say yes. This was a good moment to nip in the bud the night walking! But he had nothing to give the child that belonged to his father and he was not going to part with Lily’s portrait…

“You may keep the cloak for now, Mr. Potter. But DO NOT use it to sneak around in the night. It’s safe to use it inside your Common room or around during daylight.”

“No, Sir. Yes, Sir” Harry smiled and turned to the corner.

Snape looked at him. Harry tried to stand still but after a while he started moving from one foot to the other.

"Stand still, boy. Stop fidgeting."

“Yes, Sir.”

After the twenty minutes Harry was allowed to go back to the living room. He knew that he still had a spanking pending.

Snape made him stand in front of him. Harry was tired. He wished he could sit down for a while.

“Have you something to tell me?”

“I am sorry that I lied about how I learned about the explosives… I won’t do it again.”

“You better not, Mr. Potter. It’s better to work with the truth.” Now thought Harry, it’s time for the spanking…he kept watching his feet…

Snape cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Potter, your behavior was not acceptable or appropriate. You disregarded the school rules and your safety. You are no longer alone, or asked to solve all the problems that present to you. You have a lot of people able to help you. And I want you to think about that as you write your lines.”

Harry nodded. Not daring to look away from Snape.

“I promised you a spanking last night, and I should give it to you, because of the danger you placed yourself by thinking that you could handle the explosives alone, and by wandering around the castle at night” Harry’s hands went to cover his back. “But today is the last day of the year and I believe that what you do or how you feel on this day would be the way you will feel during the next year. I do not want you to be sore or in pain for next year”, ‘you’ve had more that enough of that,’ thought Snape. “So… I am not going to spank you. But I will spank you twice if you try to solve a problem alone again. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir. I won’t… thank you…” Harry felt as all the muscles in his body relaxed. Snape noticed and decided to keep the child busy.

“It’s early. Go get your assignments and let me look at them. The New Year Feast will start at 10, it would be smart of you to take a nap, that way you will enjoy the feast.”

“Yes, Sir… Professor…?” Harry was standing at the door and turned around to ask Snape.

“Yes, child?”

“May I sleep here this night also? I would bring my pajamas and…”

“Why would you like to do that, Mr. Potter?”

“Because… because of what you said before … I feel safe here and… I would like to feel like that all next year.”