The Curse of Carter Carnival by watercrystals
Summary: After a chance encounter, Harry and Severus discover a carnival that promises to make all of their dreams come true.
Categories: Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Hedwig, Original Character, Remus
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Family, General, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Supernatural
Media Type: None
Tags: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Kidnapped, Runaway
Takes Place: 2nd summer
Warnings: Neglect, Romance/Het, Violence
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 7 Completed: No Word count: 45742 Read: 15832 Published: 28 Feb 2012 Updated: 08 Aug 2012
Story Notes:

As it would be quite confusing to myself and my readers to try and describe where everything is in the carnival, I strongly recommend the use of this map whenever a place is mentioned: [upload error - will be fixed soon]

1. Adventuring to Unknown Destinations by watercrystals

2. The First Night by watercrystals

3. Way of a Carny by watercrystals

4. History and Lies by watercrystals

5. Looking Closer by watercrystals

6. Befriending Chaos by watercrystals

7. End of the Seventh Month by watercrystals

Adventuring to Unknown Destinations by watercrystals
Author's Notes:
Thanks to Ash, for convincing me to upload this and also for helping me out of a scene or so that was giving me grief. :)

They had left him there, alone, in King's Cross station.

Harry was seated on his overturned trunk as he glanced at his watch and noticed the time. It was well into the afternoon and still his relatives had not shown up. He had been afraid that this would happen, ever since he boarded the Hogwarts Express that morning upon the conclusion of his first year at Hogwarts.

Harry had been sitting there for hours now and was getting worried because surely they hadn't simply forgotten him?

With a sigh, Harry stood to his feet and looked at his watch one last time. He reached for his heavy trunk and proceeded to drag it, and Hedwig's cage, towards one of the platforms nearby where he had been sitting, staring longingly towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

He didn't know how to get to Privet Drive from where he was, though Harry had considered catching a bus outside, even if he didn't have any muggle money to spend. With so few options that seemed passable, Harry began to pace on the spot and let his trunk rest up against a non-magical wall.

He looked towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten again, if only in attempt to ease his boredom, though for a second he had half-hoped for someone he knew to emerge and help him.

The longer he waited for his relatives, the more helpless harry felt towards the situation. Until the misery turned into anger and he aimed a kick at the side of his trunk, as a way of venting his frustrations. Harry blushed when he caught the disproving glare of a nearby station worker, and moved to sit in the seat next to where his trunk and cage were.

He didn't know what to do now.

Harry hated the idea of going back to Privet Drive, yet he had nowhere else to go. He had no family. Even with two friends, Harry still lacked any clue as to who he would find them or get there. He glanced at Hedwig and considered sending a letter to someone but shoved the idea aside.A reply could take a long time and it was just as bad as sitting around as he waited for his relatives, who Harry really didn't think where going to show up.

As a train arrived at the station on the platform just behind Harry's seat, he turned quickly towards it and pondered for a few seconds. Standing abruptly, Harry grabbed his trunk and cage, dragging them along behind him and towards that platform where muggles where leaving the train.

He bit his lip and fidgeted on the spot, not thinking about anything other than the fact that he could not afford a ticket.

With a burst of reckless motion, the moment when steam began to issue from the soon-to-depart train, Harry lunged forward and tugged at his belongings until he had crossed the threshold and stepped inside the train.

Struggling not to bump into anyone, Harry pulled his trunk and tried not to drop the cage containing his disgruntled owl, as he sought out a seat. Most were filled already with business people, yet he spotted one by a window and sat down with a sight of relief escaping his lips.

Harry could not believe what he had just done, yet it was too late now because the train had just left the station.

As Harry stared out the window, his mind occupied with thoughts of the Hogwarts Express, he didn't care much for where the train was going.

He felt that for as long as he sat there, Harry was fine and not at all abandoned. He was on some sort of adventure and the train would lead him to safety. Sighing, Harry let his mind wander as the scenery outside changed from buildings and busy lives, to landscape and calm nature.

He must have sat there for an hour or two and passed through numerous stations, before Harry finally glanced up and spotted a police officer further along the train. His heart felt weighted in his chest as fear gripped him, because the law enforcer was checking the tickets of all passengers.

And Harry didn't have one.

Once again snatching at his trunk and cage, just as the train departed another station, Harry turned and headed in the opposite direction of the police officer, who spotted him yet had no reason to chase after the boy.

Stepping inside another carriage further along the moving train, Harry's gaze darted around the room even when he had no idea what or who he was searching for. He glimpsed a figure near the end of the train, who was clothed entirely in black, and for a moment Harry could only stare at the man with shock and horror as he was unable to believe who he was seeing.

And there was no mistaking such a person.

'May I see your ticket, ma'am?'

The voice of the officer reached Harry where he stood, several seats away, and jerked him from his stunned state.

Without thinking, which was an action that had landed him on the train to begin with, Harry marched forward with his heavy belongings and sat beside Severus Snape.

The man was reading a newspaper and did not appear to notice him at all.

Harry felt unable to speak as his fears caused terrible scenarios to swim though his mind, such as being kicked out of the moving train in the middle of nowhere, or locked up in a dark and gloomy jail cell. How long would it take someone to realise that no one cared about him?

'Where's your ticket?'

The officer stood over Harry with a suspicious expression marking his features, which was no doubt brought on by the terror-struck look on Harry's pale, wide-eyed face.

'Er...' Harry gulped nervously and looked away.

He prepared to admit that he didn't have a ticket, since he had non to show the man and it wasn't like he could avoid the subject matter for long.

'The boy is with me.' Snape spoke without looking away from the newspaper. He reached into his pocket and extracted two tickets that were shown to the officer.

'Very well, sir.' The officer nodded and moved along to the next isle of passengers.

Slowly, with shallow breaths, Harry glanced sideways at Snape and could not believe that the man was still reading as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

Harry wondered what Snape was even doing on this train and why he seemed content to ignore his hated student who sat beside him. Had Snape somehow known that this would happen? It seemed that way, sine he had two tickets with him and was on the same train as Harry. Or maybe the man had discreetly used some sort of magic?

'Thank you, sir.' Harry gasped out and felt that his gratitude had to be expressed.

Once again, Snape did not even twitch to indicate that he had heard Harry at all, which confused the boy further. He was almost tempted to double-check that the man was indeed Snape, who was seated at his side.


The train pulled into a station barely twenty minutes later.

Snape folded his newspaper once and rose to his feet. Harry, not wanting to be separated from the holder of his ticket and the only familiar person he had with him, jumped up from his seat and dragged his things after the man.

At that moment, he did not care that this was his hated professor...all that mattered was not losing the only sense of direction Harry had then.

Stepping onto the platform, Harry looked around but had no clue where they were or how long he had been on the train for. He felt cold, not because it was now late afternoon, but as a result of his fearful realisation towards how long he truly was.

He had hoped for an adventure, yet this was certainly not the safety Harry had pictured.

'Keep up, Potter!' Snape's voice called from nearby and Harry rushed to rejoin him.

He had no reason to believe he could trust the man and yet the only other person Harry could possibly rely on was one of the random strangers on the station surrounding them.

The unlikely pair left the building on foot.

Harry was too focused on keeping up with Snape's long strides while dragging his trunk and cage along, that he simply forgot to look for a sign of indicated of where he was.

They walked for a short while; with each corner, Harry's arms began to ache further and he almost wished he was seated back on that train with an endless destination.

'Sit.' Snape pointed to a chair just outside a small bakery.

Harry, not needing to be told twice, sank gratefully into the seat and exhaled with relief. He checked that Hedwig was okay and pushed a few owl treats through the bars of her cage as an apology for the bumpy ride she endured as he'd walked and constantly adjusted his grip.

Harry looked up at Snape, but the man had vanished inside the store. He returned a moment later and placed a plate in front of Harry, along with a bottle of water. The plate contained a large slice of chocolate cake that made the boy's mouth water.

The man moved to sit across from Harry, without speaking a word, and returned to reading his paper while Harry thankfully consumed his brief meal.

-- 

Snape stood again the moment Harry had finished.

He started walking again, with an acute sense of direction, in which easily fooled Harry into think that Snape knew exactly where they were. The boy followed without question, though his pace gradually began to slow with his burdening weight.

'Release your owl.' Snape had stopped beside a metal fence and glanced around the street with caution, seemingly determined to avoid looking at Harry.

'Why?' Harry asked.

This time Snape did look at him, with a piercing glare, which caused Harry to nearly drop his cage in reaction. Kneeling towards it, he opened the door to the cage and watched as Hedwig flew off into the late afternoon sky.

Harry stood and glanced towards his professor, who was busy watching the street carefully before Snape tapped his hand against the cage, then trunk, which each shrunk at the contact.

Harry hardly noticed the small tip of a dark wand that stuck out from inside the man's sleeve.

'Thanks, sir.' Harry exhaled with relief.

He pocketed his miniature items and felt instantly calmer already. He peered towards his right and over the fence, to notice a wild park of overgrown grass and dying trees. Looking back at Snape, he winced when the man advanced towards him with the usual loathsome glare that had been absent up until now.

'Well, Mr Potter?' Snape growled. 'Do you care to explain yourself?'

'What?' Harry was startled and confused, which only appeared to anger the man further.

'Were the previous events during the past term not dangerous enough for your satisfaction?' Snape continued.

Harry turned and stepped away from him, until his back touched the cool metal fence behind him.

'Did you think that others would simply chase after their precious golden boy if you were to board a random train, without a ticket? Where did you intend to go? Can you even comprehend the risk you...' Snape paused and his expression became puzzled as his interest slowly rose right over the boy and towards the park behind Harry.

The Gryffindor had seen it too.

He had been staring fearfully, yet with his usual defiance, into Snape's dark gaze when suddenly those obsidian eyes lit up, not with emotion, but in reflection to something brightly coloured behind Harry. Turning quickly, Harry gasped aloud when the park he'd seen earlier was no longer so.

Instead, there was a stunning carnival that looked to be a perfect picture in contrast with the darkening sky.

'Wow.'

Harry could only stare, the previous moment forgotten, as he stared around in awe of the coloured lights, grand rides, laughing people and beautifully crafted signs that directed guests to attractions, food stands and performances. He'd never seen anything this amazing before, magic included, as Harry had always dreamed of going to such a place ever since he had been very little, even if he was never allowed.

Not caring how the carnival had suddenly appeared, Harry decided to take a risky chance and bolted away from Snape as fast as he could.

'Come back here, Potter!'

Harry heard the man call out to him, yet he rushed forward and ducked streamers from a tall woman or avoided members of the increasing crowd. He tried to absorb all that he was seeing, though it only amounted to blurs and flashes as Harry ran by them.

He halted across from a delicious-smelling hotdog stand to observe a tall building with a large, smiling clown on the top.

The large sign read: “The House of Mirrors”.

It was so colourful and as delightful as everything else, yet Harry felt drawn to it in a strange away. It reminded him of the time he had first held his wand while standing in Ollivander's store one year ago.

Remembering Snape, Harry turned to continue his hasty escape, but he had been too quick and bumped straight into the back of a man.

'Oh, sorry!' Harry blushed.

The man turned around and frowned down at Harry, until he seemed surprised and instantly he became quite friendly.

He had short, spiked brown hair and deep olive eyes. The man was taller than average and dressed in striped black pants, a red shirt that was only just visible under his buttoned-up dark blue tailcoat, and a pair of shiny black shoes.

The man said nothing and glanced towards Snape, who had just emerged from the crowd and marched up to Harry, gripping the boy's shoulder with painful tightness.

'What are you playing at, boy?' Snape snarled and otherwise ignored the other man, who watched the pair during a moment of personal amusement, before he finally spoke.

'Is this your son?' The man asked in a smooth tone that had a sense of importance to it.

Both wizards looked at him and neither answered; Harry made gagging motions while Snape was torn between shouting or strangling.

'No.' Snape answered in a low voice.

'What do you think of my carnival?' The man asked. 'Oh, pardon me...I'm Carter. Owner and King of Carter Carnival. So tell me...what do you think?' He questioned with child-like anticipation.

'Oh, er...' Harry looked around at the areas he could see, which was vastly limited when Snape stood over him and kept a grip on him. 'It's amazing, really, from what I have seen. Which is not much, since I sort of...ran away.' Harry glanced nervously at Snape.

'I do pardon our intrusion.' Snape stated to Carter with false politeness. 'We shall be leaving now.'

'Leaving?' Carter repeated. 'You can't leave my carnival. Not yet.' He smiled. 'At least have a proper look around first. I'll even give you a tour. All free of charge.'

'We must decline your offer-' Snape never got to finish his sentence as he reached out and snatched at the squirming Harry, who had made for an escape.

He placed his hands on both of the boy's shoulders, which also effectively silenced the Gryffindor who clearly wanted to look around.

'We are on a rather tight schedule and are required elsewhere.'

'That's a shame.' Carter said in a quiet tone. 'I do wish you would see my carnival. I must insist.'

'Please!' Harry turned the best he could, with his limited movement, to stare up at Snape. 'I've never been to a carnival before and this one looks really cool. If you let me have a look, I promise I'll go with you. I won't run away again, sir...please?'

'Five minutes.' Snap allowed, though he had no idea why other than in effort to silence the other two on either side of him.

'Brilliant!' Carter clapped his hands.

He turned to lead them around the carnival and pointed out rides while waving to people he knew.

Snape, though he watched Harry like a hungry hawk, remained a little to the back of the group where he discreetly hid his interest. He had no intention of admitting that he had once shared the same desire as Harry...because he too had never been to a carnival before, until now.

'And this is Mina.'

Carter introduced the pair to a lady in a blue performance gown. She had wavy, light brown hair and blue eyes, which was certain to capture any man's attention as those features only added to her natural beauty.

'Hello.' Mina smiled warmly at Harry. She didn't appear to notice Snape because he kept his distance from the small group. 'And what's your name, young man?'

'Hi. I'm Harry Po-'

'Ah, ah!' Carter jumped in and alarmed the visiting pair. 'We don't use surnames here.' He explained while Mina looked sympathetic. 'Everyone who is a part of our family starts afresh here. We each have two names: our first real name, and our carny name. Mina is actually Lady Swan right now.'

'It's lovely to meet you, Harry.' Mina nodded with honesty.

'You too.' Harry replied. 'Why are you named after a swan?' He couldn't help but ask, and failed to notice the way Snape rolled his eyes at the notion.

'Come here and I'll show you.' Mina indicated to where she was standing beside the entrance to a violet and blue striped tent.

He stepped closer and watched as she lifted a white feather from a nearby table, and instructed for him to hold out his hands. Harry placed his hands side-by-side and stared at the white swan feather there, wondering what she was going to do to it.

'Clap your hands together and keep them there.' Mina smiled.

While she spoke, Carter glanced at Snape as the man moved a little closer so that he could see what was going on and make sure the boy wasn't going to be harmed.

'Like this?' Harry closed his hands together and frowned.

He wasn't sure if this was supposed to be a magic trick or something like that, but after a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Discouraged and thinking he did something wrong, Harry sighed as he opened his hands. A gasp escaped him as a white butterfly flew away and the feather was gone.

'How did you do that?' Harry asked.

Snape, however, was instantly suspicious.

'Can you make anything you wanted from a swan feather?' Harry asked with delight.

'No, not anything...but I'm still learning.' Mina winked at him.

'Wow. I wish I could do something like that.' Harry commented as he thought upon the existence of magic. He doubted he'd be good at transfiguring a feather into a butterfly as gracefully as Mina somehow had.

'Come along, now. Much to see!' Carter moved their tour onward and soon they had reached full circle.

Standing near the bright and happy clown's head that decorated the hall of mirrors, Harry lowered his gaze with disappointment. He had hoped that the carnival was much bigger than it seemed and he hadn't gotten as to the Ferris Wheel as he had wanted to. He'd always wanted to ride one, yet being so near it was the next best thing and Harry had missed out.

'Did you say everyone that works here is your family?' Harry asked questions in effort to delay their departure.

'Not everyone is so by blood.' Carter replied with a friendly expression lined with sympathy. 'But anyone who is a part of his carnival becomes family. Some of them never leave.'

'I wish I could stay here.' Harry sighed.

He wanted to be a part of a family and living at a carnival looked like so much fun. He wondered what it would be like, to be surrounded by the wonder all the time. Hogwarts and magic was amazing, but it came with darkness and scary stuff too. He had so much to remember for his classes and everyone stared at him because of how famous he was.

'We shall be going now.' Snape gripped the boy's shoulder again and led Harry towards the exit.

'You can.'

Carter's voice caused them to pause.

'Stay here, I mean. It's not by accident that you can see this carnival.'

'What do you mean?' Harry looked at the crowd around them. 'They can see it.'

'They are Muggles.' Carter stood right in front of the pair.

'You...you can do magic?' Harry gasped while Snape remained confused and distrusting.

'Of course.' Carter nodded. 'All of us here have learned to use magic without wands or words, to give Muggles a joy beyond their beliefs. We are very careful, yet bring delight to all who step enter within here. Witches and wizards cannot see this place, because they will know the truth and the Ministry would find us, putting our home out of business.' Carter explained.

'Only those who are lost, have been abandoned or cannot find a place to truly belong, shall see our carnival if they have magical blood. I knew, from the moment I saw each of you, that you will find a home here.'

'That is absurd.' Snape scowled. 'Living in a carnival?' He scoffed. 'What sort of life is that? It lacks purpose and-'

'Duty?' Carter interrupted. 'Our life is not easily understood by outsiders. As a family, we look after each other and not one of us feels alone or unloved. You will be accepted regardless of your past and mistakes. It's a fresh start. A new life filled with possibilities and warmth.' He smiled fondly as he spoke.

'There are no expectations of you, only seven simply rules to be followed. No more pain or suffering, no loneliness and duties forced upon you to be carried out. Two months.' Carter held up two fingers. 'Only two months here and I promise the choice is yours to stay or leave. Give it a try for two months and it shall be granted.

'What shall be granted?' Harry asked.

'See for yourself.' Carter pointed towards the sign high above the entrance/exit.

It read: Carter's Carnival: Where Dreams Come True.

'We need a manager.' Carter glanced to Snape. 'Someone to supervise and instruct the newer family members on non-veral and wandless magic. Something tells me you'd be great for that. And there's always room for a new performer.'

'Oh, I don't think I'd be very good at that.' Harry said when Carter looked at him.

He glanced at Snape and was shocked to realise that the man was actually listening...did that mean Snape might let him stay?

'But I...I'll give it a go.'

'That's the spirit!' Carter grinned. 'You have a talent inside you - we all do. And the carnival will help you find it.'

'You mentioned seven rules?' Snape asked slowly. 'And what might they detail?'

'If you join us for two whole months...' Carter narrowed his eyes. 'I will answer your questions.'

'Yes!' Harry said instantly.

'No.' Snape frowned. 'This is an atrocious notion. A complete waste of time! Come, Potter...we are leaving. Now!'

'I want to stay!' Harry whined. 'Can't we stay? Just for two months? It's the holidays, sir.' He pleaded, completely forgetting his earlier promise to go willingly with the man.

'Maybe it'll be fun?'

'Absolutely not.' Snape snarled and gripped the boy's arm, intent on dragging him out of the carnival if he had to, but Harry's struggle made it difficult.

He hadn't even been looking for the brat! He let the boy think otherwise, but it was sheer luck the pair had ended up on the same train simply because Snape had a habit of riding a train every once and again to clear his mind. It was something Lily had adored and he had been sucked into the habitual routine as well.

'Come on, sir...this could be a great adventure!' Harry insisted.

Snape paused and looked over at the boy, his mind drifting from the scene as he recalled Lily saying the same thing to him when he'd been too afraid to climb a particularly massive tree in a field not far from her house. Her delight and eagerness was reflected in her son's eyes now and for a moment Snape forgot who he was talking.

Yet only for a moment.

Nearby, Carter watched the pair argue with a smug expression on his face. He glanced around to see several of his carnival family members watching the pair with curiosity.

They could feel it too.

They always knew when newcomers had arrived, because the carnival told them and it was yet to be wrong. And so he waited patiently, knowing what the result was going to be even before it happened.

'One week!' Snape finally conceded.

'I apologise.' Carter stated. 'But it's two months only. I assure you, sir...it's not all work. You can still engage in your usual hobbies and sources of entertainment. We only ask that you do so here. We will accommodate to any of your needs or requests.' He added.

'Two months. The time will fly and before you know it, you'll be agreeing to stay with us for longer.'

'I doubt it.' Snape ground out yet there was a long pause that followed. 'Fine.'

'Yes!' Harry whooped. 'I can stay! I can stay! Wait...why are you staying, sir?'

'Did you expect me to leave you here, Potter?' Snape snarled. 'And allow you to run around wild, sugar-high and without any level of common sense? No. Someone ought to keep you in line.' He explained, though it was really more of an excuse, in his own mind.

'Assuming, of course, that your relatives have little objection to this arrangement.'

'They don't.' Harry looked at the grassy ground beneath his feet. 'They left me at the station, sir. I waited and...they never showed up. Uncle Vernon said he wouldn't. I guess I thought he was joking.'

'Their loss and our gain, I say.' Carter stepped forward and offered two pieces of black strings to the boys. Each had a silver coin-shaped amulet attached to it, with a crescent moon on one side and a star on the other. 'Since you are not branded as ours, I must insist that you wear these during your stay.'

'Why?' Snape asked.

Harry just grabbed his own and slipped it around his neck.

'A mere precaution.' Carter answered.

'What do you mean when you said you're branded? Harry wondered.

Snape glanced at him and detected no harm to the boy and therefore held his own amulet but did not wear it until he was satisfied that he detected no magic laced within it.

Carter glanced at Harry and lifted the sleeve covering his left arm, which caused Snape to flinch and worry. Yet the sleeve was raised no higher than a few inches, only enough to reveal the man's wrist, where a tattoo was clearly printed there in blackened ink.

It was of a crescent moon in the shape of a letter “C”, which faced a star.

'The mark of a Carter Carny.' He explained. 'Now, the seven rules? They're simple.' Carter nodded and dropped his sleeve.

'Do not use surnames. Ever. When out here we use our Carny names. When back there...' He indicated towards a shadowed part of the carnival towards the far back right.

'We use our first names. Second rule: never use your wands or speak incantations out here. We cannot reveal what we really are, not to the muggles and not to anyone outside our family.' Carter shared at each of them while they listened.

'We also do not fight amongst family. You never have to share your past if you don't want to.' Carter continued. 'Never. One can ask or offer their own details, but never is it mandatory to tell if you don't feel comfortable with it. Everyone will respect that. You are here as a family member, yes...but ultimately we all must protect and serve the carnival at all costs.'

'Yes, sir.' Harry nodded and hoped he could remember the rules, even if there were only seven.

'Do not leave.' Carter spoke in a serious as deeper shadows appeared in his expression and the friendliness was gone. 'Never. At two months, if you wish to, you may leave. Until then, you cannot. If you need anything, Maude can get it for you.'

'Who's Maude?' Harry felt worried about that rule because it made the carnival sound a little more like a prison.

'He is the only one of us who can leave.' Carter said. 'I'll introduce you later. Which brings us to our last and possibly most important rule, because Maude is responsible for it.' He glanced over their shoulders as he spoke.

'Never, under any circumstance, should you enter the Hall of Mirrors.'

Harry looked over at the clown-decorated building and wondered why such a colourful and inviting place was so forbidden. He stared as the clown turned blacker and its face no longer smiled as sharp fangs and soulless eyes disfigured it. He blinked and the smiling, colourful clown appeared unchanged.

Harry shuddered and forced his gaze away from the place, thinking this rule would not be hard to keep, surely.

'Stay out of the Hall of Mirrors.' Carter repeated. 'You will not like what you may find. Now come along...it's time to meet your new family.'

Harry followed Carter and Snape - who looked to be pondering a way to escape. Harry paused and glanced back at the Hall of Mirrors, shivering as he remembered the way it had mutated into something nasty with the blink of an eye.

Looking over, he saw a man standing just inside the main door, partially concealed by the shadows, and a sense of coldness washed over him.

He must be Maude.

Harry thought he looked as evil as the place had seemed seconds ago. Harry knew he never wanted to go near that building again. He no longer wanted to stay at the carnival for the entire summer.

He actually began to long for the normalcy and safety of his cupboard under the stairs.

To be continued...
End Notes:
I know this is a very different sort of story than you may be used to on here, however could you please review and share your thoughts?
The First Night by watercrystals
Author's Notes:
Because of the "no surnames" rule at the carnival, you may notice that starting from one point in the chapter Snape will only be referred to as "Severus" from there onwards, regardless of whose point of view it may be. This is intentional.

Thanks so much to Ash for beta'ing this chapter for me. She will be doing so for the upcoming chapters too.

By now it was entirely dark outside, as Severus and Harry followed Carter towards the far right, back section of the carnival.

There were only a few lights that lined the dirt path towards the isolated area, so it was getting darker with each step the group took. Though, they didn't get very far when the road turned left towards where Lady Swan and her violet tent were, when they reached the Smashers ride, which Harry noticed involved car-like things that seemed to be designed only to crash into each other.

At the corner, which is where they now stood, Carter paused as though he could hear something, but there was no sound other than the wind and general goings-on of the carnival.

Carter moved to the side of the Smashers arena and placed his palm on the outer wall decorated with red and black. Harry took the chance to look around and spotted a covered cage he hadn't noticed before, across from the corner of the Smashers and Lady Swan, with only a dirt road between them.

Just as he was wondering what could be inside, Severus reached down and yanked the boy away, thinking he was about to run over and investigate.

'Is there a problem?' Severus asked Carter.

'No.' Carter replied.

A teenage boy, looking to be about seventeen, came down the road with his hands in the pockets of his patched tan pants. He wore a tattered light blue shirt and had short, fuzzy dark blonde hair. His grey eyes spotted where they were standing and he paused to look around, ceasing his whistling at once.

'What's going on, King?' The teenager asked. 'Something amiss? Ain't those Dwellers, is it?'

'No, Gravity.' Carter answered as he removed his palm from the wall. 'Do you feel that?' He asked Severus, who looked suspiciously at him before approaching the side of the Smashers as well.

Severus, wanting to get this over with, placed his hand cautiously against the side, mirroring what Carter had done. Harry was confused as to what they seemed to think was going on and why everyone kept touching the wall of a ride.

Was the Smashers broken? Didn't Carter say something about it all being magic?

'I don't get it.' Harry commented with a shrug.

He stepped towards the wall when Snape had moved away. The man looked further annoyed and impatient, though Harry hardly noticed because his professor always looked like that.

'What could-' Harry gasped as he had just placed his own palm against the wall when instantly there was near-silence. The rides in the entire carnival came to a stop and the lights flickered and went out from the sideshows and attractions, leaving the dim ones marking the pathways with glowing light.

Only the lights on the Ferris Wheel remained on, which Harry didn't understand.

The guests had almost entirely vacated the carnival when Harry was pulled away from the wall by Snape. He turned his hand over and looked at it, but Harry couldn't see why everything stopped when he'd touched the wall. He looked up at Snape, who was staring across the path at a small group of Carnies that had started to head for the tiny road leading to their destination.

'Wh-what happened?' Harry winced. 'I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break it, I swear.'

'You didn't break anything, child.' Lady Swan joined them with a smile on her face. 'Not at all.'

'But...then why did it all stop?'

'It's time to close.' Carter grunted and looked away, not as pleased as the other Carnies towards what had happened. 'Come on! To the main tent, you lot!' He barked to the others, who hurried along the thin path.

Severus and Harry moved to keep up with the crowd. The boy noticed how every one of the Carnies wore something blue and he guessed that must be their uniform.

-- 

After several minutes of walking, they went up a slight slope of a hill and from there Harry and Severus finally noticed a huge, deep brown tent. There was a large flap permanently folded back to allow entrance, which turned out to be of similar size to the doors of the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

'Wow.' Harry said as he passed through the hole and looked around.

It was even bigger inside.

It had a kitchen on the left, the massive space in the middle was filled with eight scattered wooden tables with wooden benches, similar to the ones at Hogwarts, though each looked to seat about ten people; five on each side. To the right was a lounging area with several blue sofas and the walls were lined with books, which Harry noticed had caught Snape's attention. At the far back and across from the “door” was a portion of photographs towards the left end and the right had a door that was actually a bright blue curtain decorated with animated golden stars.

'Where does that go?' Harry asked Carter as he pointed to the curtain.

'The Medical Wing.' Carter answered and seemed calmer than he had before when Harry's palm had caused a reaction in the carnival itself. 'For the ill or injured.'

'Oh.' Harry nodded.

He hoped he never had to go there.

With a sigh, he looked around again and saw that most of the Carnies had not gone near the kitchen or the lounge and were simply seated at the tables. Harry noticed that they went straight to a certain table, as though they had been assigned there. While he stood next to the doorway with Snape at his side and Carter standing just in front of them, Harry realised they were waiting for everyone to be seated.

Once the Carnies had done so, they turned to stare at the newcomers. This made both Severus and Harry very nervous and self-conscious. Especially Harry, who was still dressed in his over-large clothes that had once been Dudley's. At least Snape got to be seen in his black attire, minus the cloak which usually gave him the “dungeon bat” appearance.

Once each table had at least six people seated there, Carter cleared his throat and stepped forward. Harry glanced upwards and instead of floating candles, he saw that the light seemed to illuminate from the material of the tent's ceiling itself. Looking down, he'd have sworn it was lit by electricity because the light gave that clear and bright impression.

'By now I am sure each of you can guess why you have been called off duty early.' Carter began. 'The carnival has recognised two new Carnies today.' He stepped aside and revealed the pair.

Awkwardly standing there, Harry waved shyly while Severus merely nodded, as the crowd of Carnies clapped and cheered.

'Boys, remember the rules of no surnames.' Carter turned to them and lowered his voice so it was a private conversation between himself and the new pair. 'Please step forward, state your first name and that's all you will ever have to tell, unless you'd rather share more.'

Glaring at Carter when the man turned his back to them again, Severus gave Harry a shove to make the boy go first.

'No-' Harry wanted to protest and felt his cheeks heating from the embarrassment as he was unable to stare at all those around them and simple focused on the material flooring of the tent.

'Er, I'm Harry.' He gulped and quickly glanced up. 'Nice to meet you, I think.' Harry added, though it likely came out as a muttered mumble.

He was surprised when the clapping continued and everyone seemed pleased just to hear his name. Some even called out “Hello, Harry!” or similar greetings. Feeling accepted and a little more confident, Harry smiled back and stepped sideways to let Snape speak.

'Severus.' Was all the man said and ignored any applauding sent his way.

He narrowed his eyes at Harry and the boy gasped, having realised what his professor no doubt had as well. If no surnames could be used, than “Snape” and “Potter” were no longer permitted either. He had to call his hated professor by his first name! Harry shuddered, though a smirk played across his lips when he knew that Sna-Severus, had to call him “Harry” now.

'Alright, quiet down you wild lot.' Carter joked, which several seemed to find hilarious, and indicated to the very center table in which had the least filled seats.

Severus nudged Harry again, who shot a glare over his shoulder as he moved to obey. Harry felt anxious again as he passed by the other Carnies, some who were much bigger and meaner-looking than even Snape was.

He finally reached the middle table and a shy smile formed on his face.

'Hello.' Harry said when he saw Lady Swan seated on the left side.

She was alone at the furtherest end, which left two seats to her right available. Harry took the one directly beside her. Across from him was the teenager he'd seen before, yet on either side the seats were empty.

Severus paused and considered sitting on one side of the teenager or beside Harry...neither option was to his comfort.

'Sit with me, sir.' Harry offered as he would rather be surrounded at the table by those he thought to be familiar.

Accepting, Severus gave him a raised-eyebrow expression of reluctance and then slowly sat on the wooden bench on Harry's right. Though, the boy did not miss the amount of space the man tried to place between them.

'Hello, Harry.' Mina, aka Lady Swan, replied. 'Don't be nervous. I know it's all very new and confusing right now, but you'll fit in with us in no time.' She offered him a reassuring smile, which calmed his nerves only a little.

Facing near the doorway again, Harry and Severus watched along with the others as Carter announced that the “newcomers” would be staying for two months before they may make their decision to stay. Harry wondered if this was the normal amount of time, because otherwise there seemed little point in making sure everyone knew that.

Carter stepped away from the door and headed towards the kitchen. He conversed with someone, though Harry could not see a single person there, before pots and pans sprang to life and started cooking. Harry, too amazed and shocked to ask questions, watched as all around the tent, plates appeared on the tables which soon filled with food. Everyone had something different and Harry wondered how it all worked.

Looking down expectantly, Harry was saddened to see he had nothing on his shiny, white plate. His clear goblet was empty also. Glancing to his right, he saw how Snape had the same outcome he did.

'It's okay.' Mina placed a hand on his shoulder. 'You only need to go to the kitchen and order what you would like to eat. We all do this when we come in so the house-elves know that to cook.

'Of course.' Severus said quietly at the mentioning of the creatures, yet Harry paid him no attention.

'Oh, so I...just walk over there?' Harry looked towards the busy kitchen and felt that he'd rather sink from sight and go hungry.

'Would you like me to come with you?' Mina offered with a sympathetic expression.

'The boy can manage on his own.' Severus interrupted as he stood from his seat. 'Come along, Po-Harry. Stop dawdling.'

Harry looked over at Snape with a started expression when the man spoke his first name and told him to move. As his mouth opening to share his protests against the request, Harry yelped instead when Severus grabbed the back of his shirt and hoisted him into standing position.

He felt everyone staring at them and ducked his head, feeling humiliated and uncomfortable about the entire ordeal.

'What is yous wanting for dinner, sirs?' A pinkish house-elf appeared when they reached the kitchen counter which acted as a low wall separated the main part of the tent from the actual kitchen itself.

Because Harry was too busy staring wide-eyed at the creature, Severus ordered his dinner first, which consisted of roast lamb with gravy and steamed vegetables. He also requested a light wine to drink, which is when Harry finally got the courage to look up and made his own order, though he paused and tried to work out what he wanted.

The Dursleys hardly gave him the choice of eating at all, let along offering him anything he wanted. At Hogwarts, Harry just ate whatever was closest to him on the table.

'Er...I'll have chicken with mashed potato and carrots.' Harry said quickly when Severus nudged him again, which he thought was becoming very annoying. 'And...cherry juice.'

He fidgeted with eagerness at the idea of having his own personally picked meal, as well as trying cherry juice which was something he had heard older Hogwarts students say was delicious and yet he never noticed it at the table and wanted to try it.

'Right away, sirs!' The pinkish house-elf, whose name was typically “Pinki”, nodded. 'Yous is to return to your table and Pinki will serve the food, sirs.' She instructed.

'I can walk on my own!' Harry grumbled to Severus when the man reached to tug him along. Frowning at his irritating professor, yet glad that he wasn't the only one going through this new and scary change, Harry hurried back to his seat and sat down with an exhale of relief.

'See? It wasn't so bad.' Mina chuckled as she reached to sip from her own goblet, which looked to contain pumpkin juice, though Harry couldn't be sure.

The food appeared on his plate and his goblet filled with the deep red liquid, which was almost identical to Severus' wine. Reaching for his drink first, Harry took a sip and started choking. Feeling Severus whack him on the back, Harry grimaced and pushed his goblet away.

'Yuck.' He frowned at the drink.

'You requested it and therefore you shall consume it.' Severus growled at him.

Harry did not know it, but cherry juice had been one of Lily's favourite drinks whilst at Hogwarts and he had been so hopeful when the boy had ordered it.

Of course, the only thing James Potter liked about cherry juice was the way it spilled over Severus' head.

'But it's horrible.' Harry whined, yet was silenced by Severus' stern glare. Pouting, the boy picked up his silver fork and spoon as he tried not to drool over the scent and appearance of his meal.

'Do remember your manners.' Severus added before he sipped from his wine, looking sideways at the hungry boy.

Both were unaware of the way Mina and the teenager watched them with rapt amusement.

-- 

Halfway through the meal, Harry glanced up and looked around with interest.

He saw Carter at a table near the front, yet closer to the lounge area. He was laughing with the others at his table, which was one of the only to have every seat filled.

Swallowing, Harry glanced at his goblet but frowned, not wanting to touch it again even if he was getting thirsty. He looked at Mina and felt insecure of his manners when she appeared to be watching him.

'What?' He asked anxiously.

'Nothing.' Mina chuckled. 'How old are you, Harry?'

The boy peeked a glance at Severus' plate, as the man had finished eating a few minutes ago and was now looking around. He mirrored the man's knife and fork placement with his own, since Harry had swallowed the last of his food and tried not to think about his desire for a drink.

'Oh, I'm almost twelve.' Harry replied. 'How long have you been here, Lady Swan?'

'Mina, remember?' She said and glanced around for a moment. 'We use our real names here and our Carny ones out there.'

'Sorry, I forgot.' Harry ducked his head and blushed. He felt her hand on his chin as she lifted it to meet his eyes.

'It's okay, you're still learning.' Mina nodded. 'And to answer your question, Harry...I have been here for-' Mina halted and looked away, seeming confused for a moment. 'Uh, I'm not entirely sure. I don't remember.' She glanced at her empty plate and was lost in thought before she looked back at Harry. 'Since I was young.'

'How old are you n-ouch!' Harry winced in mid-question when he felt a painful pressure on his foot.

He glared at Severus, who was looking away while sipping his wine glass. Harry knew the professor appeared far too innocent. He didn't see what was so rude about asking her age...it wasn't nearly as invasive as crushing someone's foot!

'I'm in my early 30's, Harry.' Mina replied. 'Let's leave it at that.'

'Okay.' Harry nodded and wondered if he had been rude to ask, even as he remembered the rule about how no one had to answer if they didn't want to, yet they were permitted to ask questions.

'Sir?' Harry wondered as he glanced at Severus. 'How-'

'Do not even attempt to ask such a question.' Severus growled. 'I shall not be answering it.'

Harry was actually going to ask how his relatives would know he was there and if Severus didn't mind giving up his holiday, yet he crossed his arms and turned back to Mina, no longer wanting to associate with the grumpy professor.


Harry felt a new wave of nervousness wash over him when others in the tent started getting up and leaving. Some remained and ordered desserts, whereas most looked tired and eager to be in a quieter place.

'Wait, what do we do now?' Harry asked quickly as Mina rose from her seat and the teenager had already left.

'I'll take it from here, Mina.' Carter said as he stood near the table.

'Sure, King.' Mina looked away quickly and swallowed as she turned to Harry and smiled, though it did not reach her eyes this time.

Severus watched her carefully while Harry remained oblivious.

'I'll see you soon, Harry.'

'Bye, Mina.' Harry smiled and waved as she left, deciding he really liked her because she was nice and now familiar to him.

'Right this way, boys.' Carter indicated to the doorway.

'Where are we going now?' Harry asked as he walked ahead of Severus and followed after Carter.

'Your tent. Every Carny has one. Some share, as you two will be.' Carter explained and ignored the grunt of irritation from Severus. 'Mostly only blood relatives share, however it's a law that children must live with an adult. If they are orphans, than one of the same gender will be appointed to them.'

Carter led them to a seemingly random tent and Harry could not help but stare. It was hardly a foot higher than he was and did not look large enough to contain more than one person as long as that person was lying down.

'The carnival opens at eight.' Carter told them. 'Closes at eight, usually. Breakfast is at six-thirty and dinner at eight-thirty. You will each receive a guide for the first day, which you will meet tomorrow.' He recited in a bored tone.

'Rest well.' Carter added and turned to leave, heading back towards the carnival despite the fact that all of the other Carnies had headed to their tents.

'In.' Severus shoved Harry again, this time towards the entrance of their deep brown tent.

'Sir, I don't think...' Harry tried to explain about the lack of space and couldn't believe Severus hadn't noticed it.

He moved the flap aside and entered anyway, ducking his head so he didn't touch the ceiling. Only once he looked around did he notice how impossible such a thing actually was.

It was very simple, really, yet not what Harry had been expecting.

The walls were brown and the room plain, yet he saw a sofa in a nicely spaced living room, with two doors across from the entrance, and another further to the left.

'I love magic.' Harry smiled as he spoke in a soft, awe-inspired tone.

Severus brushed by Harry without a comment, though the boy caught the eye-rolling expression which clearly indicated what he thought of Harry's assumption that they would share a tiny Muggle tent.

The man headed for the second door of the pair and Harry took this as his cue to go to the one beside it. He opened the wooden door and was pleased with the single bed on the right with the headboard against the wall opposite where he stood. He also had a bedside table with a candle in a holder, a wardrobe across from the side of his bed, and a window with blue curtains.

Heading straight for the window, Harry pulled the blue material aside and smiled as he had a good enough view of the still-lit Ferris Wheel. The rest of the carnival was quite dark, though he thought he saw a few shadows moving down there so he quickly stepped away from the glass. Swallowing, yet not knowing if this was normal or not, Harry simply turned his attention to the bed. Sighing, he sat down and let the moment reach his awareness.

This was a new home, at least for the summer, and even with Severus likely on the other side of his wall...Harry didn't mind it.

'Brat!'

Harry's head jerked up as he looked to his door and spotted Severus crossing the living room. Wondering what was going on, he rose and peered through the doorway. He was amused, really, how Severus had found the loophole to not being able to call him “Potter”, as he'd said “brat” with just as much venom as the former.

'Yes, sir?' Harry asked.

He considered his own loophole to be not addressing the man at all, other than the usual “sir”, since the idea of calling his professor by his first name sent chills down his spine.

'Shower. Bed. Now.'

'You're not my father.' Harry frowned. 'And we're not at school.'

With a snarl, Severus advanced on the boy faster than Harry had to react. Grasping his shirt at the shoulder, he glared down at him and was satisfied when the defiant expression vanished.

'However, as it was so clearly stated, each child must reside in his or her tent with either an adult relative or guardian.' Severus sneered. 'Since I am blessed to bear no blood relation to you, Harry, therefore it would befall upon myself to be your guardian instead.'

He released the boy and pointed in the direction of the bathroom.

'Shower. Now.' He repeated.

'I'm going!' Harry said in frustration but looked around rather than obeyed. 'Wait, where's my stuff?' Panic filled him. 'M-my trunk and...and Hedwig's cage?'

'Your complete lack of thinking skills astounds even me, Mr-' Severus growled. 'Brat.' He finished and sighed. 'Your pockets.'

'My pockets?' Harry was baffled by that answer, even as he shoved his hands into his pockets and lifted out his miniature trunk and empty cage. 'Oh!' He remembered Severus shrinking them now, just before he had run off to have a look at the carnival.

It felt like so long ago that they'd shared a train ride together.

'What about your things, sir?' Harry turned his tiny trunk over in his hand. 'Er...'

With a blur of motion, Severus had whipped out his wand from his sleeve and tapped the trunk to re-size it before Harry had time to ask him how it was supposed to work. He did the same for the cage and ignored the boy's previous question.

Harry jumped away from the hand that reached for his back, no doubt to give him yet another annoying shove, and dragged his belongings into his room. Dumping them below the window, Harry dove through his trunk for his pyjamas. Clutching the blue and white striped material, he easily found everything else he needed before he was hurrying from the room and towards the bathroom for his shower.

Inside was a toilet, a shower/bath combination and a sink with a mirror. It was simple enough and Harry had little effort preparing for his shower as he simply closed the toilet and used it as a counter to put his clean clothes one so they didn't get wet. He spotted a basket in the corner presumably for dirty clothes. He removed his shirt and dumped it in there, staring as it vanished and he hoped the house-elves were involved.

Harry may hate anything from Dudley but those clothes were all he had. He glanced into the mirror and tried to flatten his hair by instinct, yet spotted the amulet around his neck and decided to take it off for his shower, so it didn't get wet. He gripped the black string and tried to lift it over his head, but it slipped from his hands as easy as soap on the bottom of a wet bathtub.

Frowning, Harry tried again but it was no use.

Huffing with annoyance, he no longer cared if it got wet and continued to prepare for his shower. Once undressed, he stepped inside and reached for the tap, only to miss the hot one in shock to the loud knocking at the door.

'AHH!' Harry shrieked as cold water poured over his head and down his back.

He jumped backwards and slipped on the floor as he had forgotten to put the blue bathmat down. He landed hard on his rear. It didn't hurt as much as it should with the tiles so he suspected magic was at work, yet it did not stop him from yelling out in pain.

'What the bloody hell are you doing?'

Harry paused, sore rear forgotten, as he turned to stare at the closed bathroom door. He had never heard Severus talk like that before. Not in the swearing sort of way. Surely the man had meant “What are you up to know, Potter?” or something like that?

'I was about to have a shower when you yelled at me!' Harry declared back as he stood and winced as he stared at the cold water still pouring away.

He had to go through it to get to the hot tap, so he inhaled once and dove into it, shuddering under the icy water as he blindly reached for the hot tap. Exhaling with relief when the water temperature changed, Harry waited for a response from Severus but he heard only the sound of running water and the other side of the door remained silent.

--

Once he was dried and dressed in his pyjamas, which fitted him much better than his other clothes as these ones had been given to him by Ron. His friend was taller than him, yet they fit comfortably enough.

Rubbing his hand over the mirror so he could see his reflection, Harry pressed his hair to his head again with little result, as always. Sighing, he removed his glasses and dried them, since he hadn't taken them off before the shower. He had been too distracted by his new surroundings and the fear that Severus would burst through the door while he was half-naked.

He did not deem a mere lock on a door to keep out his professor if the man became impatient enough.

Carefully stepping towards the door, Harry inched back and did not want to leave the safety of the room, despite the pain and cold it had caused him. He blamed all that on Severus, anyway.

'Are you quite finished, brat?'

'Er...no.' Harry replied.

Severus sounded really mad and Harry had no intention of crossing paths with the man. Maybe he could just huddle on the floor and wait until his professor went to bed? Surely it would be safe then? Of course, unless the man really was a vampire like Ron said and never had to sleep. A vampire didn't sound very safe either, so Harry did not want to risk it and pondered on positions he could sleep in on the bathroom floor.

'You are trying my patience!' Severus snapped from the other side of the door. He apparently had not moved an inch since he had brought about the cold water incident. Harry was not liking his chances at all.

At least the Dursleys just left him alone.

'If I leave the bathroom, will you promise not to touch me or yell?' Harry checked.

There was silence at first and Harry wasn't sure if he had spoken loudly enough. And when Severus spoke again, he was surprised to hear the softer and much more calm tone rely.

'Agreed.' Severus said. 'Now vacate the bathroom and go to bed.'

Harry gripped the doorknob carefully and yanked it open, prepared to make a run for it if he had to. Staring straight up at Severus' dark gaze, he winced and saw no obvious escape.

'You promised!' Harry accused, though Severus made no move to grab him and was yet to make a sound.

When the man stepped aside, with a suspicious expression on his face, Harry bolted to his bedroom and shut the door quickly. Exhaling with relief, he dove at his bed and squirmed beneath the covers.

Harry lay there, unmoving and gasping for breath, as he waited to find out why Severus had been so insistent on demanding him to hurry up with his shower and go to bed.

The silence was almost unnerving and soon he got bored.

Thinking he was safe for now, Harry released his death-grip on the hem of his white sheets and stared towards the window. He had left the curtain open and saw the sight of the twinkling stars in the sky to be rather soothing. He placed his glasses on the bedside table and sank back under his sheets, his emerald eyes closing slowly as the stars shifted from his view to his dreams.

Outside the room, Severus was able to have his own shower as that was all he had wanted to do.

Leaving the bathroom spotless and dry (especially after he hung up Harry's towel which the boy had left soaked, lying on the floor), Severus walked towards his door, but paused at the closed one of Harry's. He inched closer, pressing his ear to the wood to test for any sounds. Hearing none, Severus mutely turned the knob and peered into the room, making sure the boy had gone to bed as he had been told.

The child was fast asleep, typical.

Rolling his eyes, Severus shut the door and headed for his own room, which was set up identically to Harry's, though he spelled a few changes such as a larger bed and black curtains instead of blue. He preferred not to be kept awake by the glow of the moonlight as he tried to get some much-needed rest.

Lying on his back in his new, temporary bed, Severus stared upwards at the ceiling though his room was almost pitch black, letting in light only from the crack under his door and the small gaps of the curtains. As per his usual routine, Severus moved his wand and whispered the words, not wanting to wake the boy in the next room.

A silver doe shot from his wand and did a lap around the room before she vanish.

A pained smile on his face, Severus placed his wand securely under his pillow and closed his eyes. If he had realised it then, Severus would never have been able to sleep at all, yet this was the closest he had ever been to a Potter while letting his guard down just enough to rest his eyes and slumber.

-- 

While newcomers Harry and Severus fell asleep in their shared tent, over the slope and down towards the carnival, Carter walked along the roads and tapped his wand to several cages and pens. A horse, a zebra, an elephant and a tiger left their confines and began to wander around the carnival.

Carter looked towards the tents, which were mere tiny dots in the distance and frowned. He glanced at the tiger and turned to walk along the road leading back to the Carny area.

'Get to bed, girl!' Carter snapped at a child with straight black hair who couldn't be older than eleven.

She paused in her attempt to sneak into the main tent and glared at him.

'You're not the boss of me.'

'Ann, do as you're told or I will-'

'Okay!' Ann snapped in a tone more befitting a rebellious teenager. 'What are you doing, anyway?'

'That is none of your business.' Carter returned. 'Go to our tent and stay there.'

Poking her tongue at him, Ann turned and hurried off into the night.

Carter frowned in her general direction and looked around at the tents nearby. He seemed confused, yet did not move to investigate as he sighed and turned to enter the main tent, which should be vacant by now, given the time of night and the fact that everyone had gone to bed.

Down at the carnival, the tiger prowled towards the only real light source remaining in the entire space that was a part of the Carter Carnival. His golden eyes looked upwards at the Ferris Wheel, which previously had a lit-up sun design in the center. The orange light turned blue and the sun formed into a plain disc. Inside, in an unnatural ink darker than the night itself, the “Carter Mark” - of a crescent moon "C" and the star, formed onto the blue background.

While the Carnies slept peacefully in their tents on the low hill nearby, the carnival itself was never more awake. 

To be continued...
End Notes:
Yeah, I updated early because I am writing ahead with this fic and thought you could have the next chapter to read sooner rather than later :) Also, if you can think of a better name for this chapter, please feel free to suggest it.

Please take a moment to submit a review, no mater how brief, as I really appreciate it.
Way of a Carny by watercrystals
Author's Notes:
To avoid any confusion, please refer to this map throughout this chapter and those that follow: http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r275/Kryptoniterush/carny2.jpg Simply copy&paste the link to a new window and refer to it whenever a character moves around the carnival or takes in its appearance.

Harry blinked and slowly sat upright in his bed, looking sleepily over to his window to see the sunlight coming into his room.

It was morning, though it took him a moment to remember where he was.

Yawning, Harry kicked off his sheets and placed his glasses on his face. He headed to his trunk, since he hadn't unpacked it yet, and shuffled through it for some suitable clothes. He really should thank Ron for a few donations, as Harry dressed in a pair of faded blue pants and a dark grey t-shirt. Yawning again, this time into his hand, Harry walked to the window and peeled back the curtains further, smiling at the sight of the carnival over the sloped hill. He could see a few people wandering around, yet it still had to be early as the sunlight was minimal.

Harry opened the door to his new bedroom and cautiously stuck his head out to look around, wondering if Severus was awake.

Seeing the living room empty, though much more lived-in than before (as was evident by a few more items in place and the entire feel of it being less vacant), Harry quickly rushed to the bathroom and shut the door, gripping his toothbrush in one hand and a comb in the other.

He approached the mirror and spotted some toothpaste sitting there as though it was meant for him, yet it hadn't been there the night before. A pale green cup was placed nearby on the sink, containing another tube of toothpaste and a silver toothbrush.

Harry shuddered at the realisation of who they must belong to.

Exhaling, he brushed his teeth while attempting to comb his hair, staring into his own reflection, his mind occupied with nervousness and excitement for his first day of living at a carnival.

'Aspiring to make an admirable impression upon your new fans?' Severus mocked from the doorway.

Harry was startled and smeared toothpaste on his cheek. Quickly washing it off and rinsing his mouth, the boy turned to glare at his professor-turned-guardian. He bit his lip to prevent himself from saying anything and simply looked around for somewhere to leave his toothbrush, not wanting to place his so close to the silver one already there. He blinked with surprise when a faded red cup materialised and his yellow toothbrush hovered from his hand to rest inside the new object.

He glanced quickly at Severus and saw the man's wand being aimed at the cup.

'Oh. Thanks.' Harry muttered as he reached up to try and comb his hair again, which, as per usual, refused to obey and lie flat.

Hearing an irritated grunt that matched his own huff of defeat, Harry froze when he saw Severus stand behind him in the mirror.

'What-?'

'Remain still.' Severus snapped as he snatched the comb roughly from the boy's hands and placed a charm on it. Handing it back, the man waited to watch as Harry awkwardly re-combed his hair.

'Ah ha!' Harry grinned with success when his hair stopped sticking in every direction, instead becoming more wavy and smooth.

Glaring at his hair, Harry wasn't so sure that he liked it the way it was now. Placing the comb in the same cup as his toothbrush, Harry inched away from Severus and hurried from the bathroom. Severus rolled his eyes at the action and simply waved his wand to clear up any remaining mess, such as smudges on the mirror and spilled toothpaste in the sink.

Severus had been awake and ready to leave since the first signs of dawn, therefore he had no further use for the bathroom and stepped into the main room. He glanced over at Harry, who had lounged himself on the sofa, and looked anxiously bored.

'Can we go to breakfast soon?' Harry asked as Severus crossed the room to conjure a matching armchair, though he made no move to sit in it. The boy glanced at his watch again as he waited for a reply, seeing that it was just after six.

'As you may recall, breakfast does not commence until precisely six thirty, brat.' Severus replied as he flourished his wand and the walls turned a more silver than brown. 'We shall depart no sooner than it is required in which to arrive at the scheduled time.'

'But that's boring.' Harry complained. 'And I'm hungry now.'

'Which does not alter rules, in which are in place for a reason, brat.' Severus glared at the child. 'You are not the exception, despite what you may be led to believe.'

'Can I go outside then?' Harry perked upright in his seat.

'No.' Severus growled.

'But-' Harry crossed his arms and frowned. 'I am bored sitting here.'

'Regardless, you will have to wait.' Severus returned. 'I do believe such an instruction is within your capability?'

'Hardly.' Harry grumbled as he sank further against the blue sofa and watched his new, yet completely “unfair” guardian moving his wand around the room. 'What are you doing? I liked it the way it was. Now you've made it all...snake-like.' He disagreed with the extensive use of silver, greens and blues.

'I care nothing for your limited perceptional interest in my selective choice of decor.' Severus looked sharply at the boy. 'Now cease this annoyance. You are giving me a headache.'

'Let me go outside and then you won't have to put up with me.' Harry said cheekily.

'Go on.' Severus sighed.

'Really?' Harry sat up quickly and stared at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

'No.' Severus smirked and returned to his spell casting.

'Ugh!' Harry whined and pressed his back against the couch, folding his arms over his chest as he glared at the man he thought was being deliberately mean to him.

He remained there, unchanging, for another fifteen minutes before Severus finally turned towards him and nodded.

'It is time.' Severus said and walked to the door.

He pushed the flap open and had to lean out of the way to prevent the over-eager boy from running into him. He almost shouted for the child to slow down, yet found himself watching Harry disappear further up the hill towards the main tent. Severus figured that the boy could only get so far, so he merely continued his calm pace towards the same destination, still frowning about how dearly he would rather avoid the crowd within.

--

Harry burst into the main tent with a grin on his face, which vanished almost instantly as he hunched and felt insecure again.

There weren't many other Carnies there yet, however his quick entrance had caught their attention and made Harry feel shy all over again. Swallowing, and trying to be brave, he marched over to the counter of the kitchen. Ordering some eggs, Harry looked to his assigned table and wondered where the others were, such as Mina and the teenager, because the table was empty.

'Nice to see you here on time, Harry.' Carter spoke as he stood by the table, capturing the boy's instant attention. 'Always a good start. You'll adapt in no time.'

'Thanks.' Harry tried to smile, yet inside he realised that Severus sort of had a point about being on time.

Since there were only a few there already, Harry wondered if he'd have been the first one if Severus had let him leave when he'd wanted to. It could have caused him more embarrassment as he'd probably look silly showing up that early, so Harry was a little thankful for Severus and his intervention.

'Ah, morning greetings to you as well, Severus.' Carter nodded to the man.

Severus had just walked from the kitchen to the table and sat beside Harry, just as he had the previous night. He nodded once to Carter and became distracted by the lack of numbers in the tent at the moment.

'Where is everyone?' Harry asked what Severus had been thinking.

'Often, a Carny will run on a schedule of their own. Some, such as those who are in charge of the attractions, eat at different times than the rest of us. You'll find that there are almost a hundred of us and yet you'll likely only ever seen maybe...forty, at one time.' Carter answered.

'King!' Someone called near the lounge, looking irritated and stressed.

'Excuse me.' Carter sighed at the pair. 'I'll introduce you to your guide for the day once breakfast is over. Just you wait, you'll feel like one of us in no time!'

'Don't believe that.' Mina said as she walked past the boys and sat beside Harry, just as their plates of food appeared.

'I do not.' Severus returned. 'It is a ridiculous notion. We shall be residing and participating for two months, and two months only, then we shall be returning to our lives.'

Mina glanced at him with sympathy, which only confused and annoyed the man as he glanced away to eat his cereal.

Out of the corner of his eye, Severus realised the boy who had been so determined to start his breakfast wasn't moving at all, only staring down at his lap where his hands rested.

'What do you have to whine about now, Harry?' Severus put his spoon down with frustration, though he kept his tone even so not to alert others. 'You wished to eat, so eat!'

'I forgot to tell the elf what I wanted to drink.' Harry sulked. 'So I got that yucky cherry juice again.' He pointed to the “offensive” red liquid in his clear goblet.

'It was you who made the error, therefore it shall be you in which faces the consequences of your lapse of memory.' Severus stared and turned back to his meal. 'Eat your eggs, at least.' He added, thinking the boy was far too thin for his age.

Harry slowly grabbed his fork and nibbled his eggs in small quantities, not wanting to need a drink if he ate too fast. Sighing, he looked around at the others who sipped their goblets and chatted amongst each other as they enjoyed their meal. Feeling a nudge at his left elbow, Harry glanced at Mina to watch as she placed her own goblet in front of him.

'Have mine, Harry.' She smiled at him. 'You will remember next time.'

'What about you?' Harry asked without touching the tempting goblet containing what looked like pumpkin juice.

Mina touched his cheek with the back of her hand, thinking he was adorable and considerate even though he was clearly thirsty. Most other kids would just take the goblet because they needed it and the object was being offered, yet Harry did not move until he was sure that she wasn't giving up something for him.

'I can get another.' Mina said. 'Go ahead, child. Drink up.'

Harry, pausing for only a second longer, reached to grasp the goblet with both hands and drank the entire contents with a relieved smile. He gasped with delight to realise the liquid wasn't pumpkin juice at all, it was actually pineapple juice and he thought it tasted wonderful. Harry placed the goblet back on the table and turned to give the kind woman a wide smile of gratitude.

'Thank you, Mina.'

'It's nothing, Harry.' Mina said. 'Go on, eat up.'

Severus was listening to the entire exchange, a frown on his face even as he remained silent as he slowly ate his own meal. The boy had started on his eggs, shoving the food into his mouth as he had the previous night, and kept glancing fondly at Mina. Severus was used to being the firmer and far less popular adult to children, therefore he focused on the Carnies around them and proceeded to ignore the brat.

Mina looked up from her empty plate when the teenager from the previous night finally sat at the table, looking hungry and tired. He glanced at her and they shared an expression before he turned away and Mina's gaze trailed to watch Carter, who was conversing closely with the others at his table. He paused and stood from his seat, watching as the others turned to leave the tent before Carter approached Harry's table.

'Ready to get started?' Carter asked with a smile.

'Yeah!' Harry nodded eagerly.

Severus said nothing and wondered what was going on with Mina, who had frowned and left her seat without a word the moment she had seen that Carter was heading towards them. The teenager looked warily at Carter with a sideways glance as he quickly finished his porridge, to the point that he almost choked.

'Alright, let's get moving then.' Carter said and walked across the tent, heading outside and venturing along the thin dirt path leading to the carnival itself.

Harry and Severus followed him, not expecting that the teenager would hurry to keep up with them too.

'This is Ryan.' Carter introduced as he couldn't remember if he had done so yet. 'Otherwise known as Gravity. He'll be your guide today, Harry.'

'Oh.' Harry looked over at the teenager. 'Nice to meet you, Ryan.'

'Likewise, Harry.' Ryan nodded. 'Do you have your wand with you?'

'No.' Harry blushed. 'I didn't think I was supposed to. With the rule and all...'

'Hey, that's okay. It's preferable that way. Only a few of us actually keep our wands with us, since we can't even use them during the day at all.' Ryan explained and smirked at Severus as he looked the man up and down. 'You brought your wand though. I can tell.'

'I would consider it foolish otherwise.' Severus said bitterly.

'Yeah, I could tell that too.' Ryan said cheekily while Harry decided he liked the teenager already.

Passing the Smashers ride and Lady Swan's violet tent, Harry's breath caught in his throat when he realised where they were going. Looking up at the Ferris Wheel high above his head, always lit with coloured lights, he could not believe his luck.

'Do you work at the Ferris Wheel?' Harry asked Ryan.

'No, but my space is right next to it, see?' He pointed to the booth with a wooden bench behind it.

Over the booth, to shield the occupant and interested customers from the sunlight or rain, was a lime green awning. On the material was written in black lettering “Gravity”. Across from the booth was a huge, pale blue tent for performances, and on the corner further ahead was a ride that resembled a giant brown/silver spider with blinking red eyes. The riders looked to sit inside the tips of the legs, something which Harry knew Ron would never do, and honestly he wasn't thinking too highly of the ride either, which was labelled the “Spinning Spider”.

'Harry, what are the rules I told you last night?' Carter asked as he stood in front of Gravity's booth.

Severus was busy looking around to absorb the details and Ryan focused on the food carts next to the performance arena tent. A stocky Carny with a greying beard was preparing to set the food up in preparation for the carnival opening in just over an hour.

'Uh...' Harry thought about the rules, though it felt like so long ago that he had briefly heard them. 'No surnames.' He remembered that one easily. 'No wands. You don't have to share stuff, like how old you are or whatever...erm.' Harry looked to Severus for help but the man wasn't even looking in his direction.

'There's four more.' Carter held up three fingers for the ones Harry had correctly mentioned. 'Need help?'

'Sorry.' Harry looked down. 'I don't remember.'

'It's all part of the learning process.' Carter said. 'No need to be sorry, just remember. So...there's also: no fighting amongst family, which is the other Carnies...stay out of the Hall of Mirrors. Don't leave the carnival. And, of course...your duty here is solely to protect and serve the carnival.'

'Got it.' Harry nodded.

He planned to write the rules down on a piece of paper at the first chance he got, so he could carry it around in his pocket because he hated forgetting something important. Harry wanted to prove himself, just as the Sorting Hat always said, even when it had placed him into Gryffindor upon his insisting rather than Slytherin as it had intended.

'Just do as Gravity says and you'll be fine.' Carter nodded. 'Severus, your job as management is to keep an eye on the carnival. We have a few special methods for this, which Stealth will show you. Come on, right this way.' He gestured and took the corner to walk the long way around, passed the Spinning Spider and onwards, doing a loop to the Hall of Mirrors before changing direction to the black tent beside his own office.

Severus did not move. He looked over to Harry and fixed the boy with a stern, merciless glare.

'Do precisely as you are told. Do not exert your foolish determination to cause trouble. And do well to remember that rules are in place for a purpose, not as a challenging in which to break them.' Severus leaned closer to Harry, who frowned back at him as he stood his ground. 'I shall be watching, Harry.' He cautioned in a quiet tone, then pulled back and turned to walk with long strides after Carter.

Ryan whistled once Severus and Carter were entirely out of view. 'Ouch. Well, that's rough. Come on...let's have some fun, kid!' He smirked.

Harry turned to return the expression and walked around to the back of the booth. Ryan held open the flap so he and Harry could step inside. It had looked a bit cramped from the outside, yet the interiors were typically magical to allow much more freedom to move. Harry sat on the wooden seat behind the counter, which he had no trouble looking over, while Ryan seated himself to Harry's left.

'So...what do we do?' Harry asked. 'We still have an hour before the carnival opens, right?'

'Yeah, we do.' Ryan stretched. He pulled a round, blue ball from his pocket and placed it on the bench in front of Harry. It did not roll and remained exactly where it was.

'What is this?'

'A ball?' Harry pulled a face since he wasn't stupid; anyone could see that it was a ball.

'Is it?' Ryan tilted his head as though confused. 'Are you sure. Here, have a closer look.' He lifted his hand and the ball began to spin as it levitated towards Harry's astonished face. Halting, it looked like a ball of coloured modelling clay, which morphed into a cat figurine.

'Wow!' Harry stared at it. 'So that's why you're called “Gravity”, right?'

'Sure is.' Ryan chuckled and snatched the figurine from the air, which was a round ball once again by the time it was shoved inside his pocket. Brushing a hand through his shortened fuzzy dark hair, his grey gaze trailed to the food carts again before he turned and gave Harry his attention.

'You look older than eleven.'

'I'm nearly twelve.' Harry replied. 'How old are you?'

'Seventeen, almost eighteen.' Ryan said. 'I haven't been here as long as it looks like. I graduated Hogwarts a bit over a year ago, which feels like a lifetime away now. Did you go to Hogwarts? It would be the summer now, right?'

'Yeah. I just finished my first year.' Harry was becoming more interested in Ryan with each subject they conversed. 'I'm in Gryffindor. What house were you? Do you miss Hogwarts, now that you're here?'

'Ah, I'd have picked you for a Hufflepuff or Slytherin.' Ryan nodded. 'A Gryffindor, eh? That's cool. I was almost in Gryffindor, but that hat chose Hufflepuff instead.' He paused and looked away, thinking about whether he missed the magical school or not, yet seemed to have trouble recalling it.

'Oh, um...well...' Ryan stuttered. 'I had a crush on a girl in my year who wanted to be an Auror. She got really mad if we called her by her first name, since she didn't like it. Uh, she changed her hair a lot...' He hesitated. 'Well, so much happened so I guess I would miss it if I wasn't so focused on here. It may not seem like it now, but this place gets really busy!' He chuckled.

'What's an Auror?' Harry wondered.

He briefly remembered Mina seeming a bit lost when asked how long she had been at the carnival, and now Ryan wasn't sure if he missed a magical school he spent seven years attending. Maybe things did just get so busy at the carnival that time seems to lose meaning or they became too distracted to think about other stuff?

'A Dark Wizard catcher.' Ryan replied as he placed a deck of cards on the counter carelessly while searching his pockets for various items such as wooden cubes of varied colours, loose buttons and plain pencils.

'Wait. If you went to Hogwarts and just left a year or whatever ago, don't you recognise Professor Snape?' Harry realised. 'I was told he'd been after the Defence Against the Dark Arts job for years, so he'd have been there before I started, right?'

Ryan looked at him and then glanced at the road where Severus and Carter had left along many moments prior. He considered his own thoughts and nodded to Harry.

'Yeah, I remember him.' Ryan shrugged. 'I dunno, he seems different here. He didn't look like he recognised me though, did he?'

'Were you any good in Potions?'

'I...' Ryan paused again. 'Eh, let's not talk about school, okay? We have work to do here. Right, so can you juggle?'

'No.' Harry answered while making a mental note to ask Severus questions later. 'How do you make stuff float without your wand?'

'Practice.' Ryan frowned as he sorted through the objects in front of him, still dismissing the deck of cards, which Harry reached for curiously. 'It's hard, really hard. Because it has to be both wandless and non-verbal magic.'

'Oh.' Harry sighed. 'Can I borrow these?'

'Sure.' Ryan waved his hand. 'I'm terrible with cards anyway.'

'Thanks.' Harry opened the desk and slipped the deck of white/blue cards into his awaiting hand.

He used to have a handful of cards, though not a complete deck, in his cupboard until they'd become too bent to use. In boredom, Harry had spent hours teaching himself to shuffle them and was pleased to notice that he could still do so with his previous skill.

'It's my job today to teach you about what it's like to be a Carny while the carnival is open for business.' Ryan cleared his throat to get Harry's attention once he had shoved his pocket's contents under the counter, where Harry noticed a sort of shelf was positioned, loaded with colourful items like rubber rings and rainbow ribbons or cups.

'Okay.' Harry nodded to show he was listening as he placed the deck of cards back on the counter again.

'There's the obvious, such as getting up early and having breakfast on time.' Ryan continued. 'Then everyone has chores to do, depending on how much time they need to set up for opening. Some who have to prep the rides need plenty of time, whereas those like myself are usually helping out with the animals or cleaning. Youngsters or newcomers also use this time to practice their magic, since they can't have their own show until they can do it wandlessly and wordlessly.' He sighed.

'What will I do?'

'You, Harry, will basically help out anyone in your group, when needed. Your group consists of those at your table or someone you have befriended. So for now that means me, Lady Swan over there-'

He pointed to the violet tent diagonally left to the booth, though Mina wasn't anywhere in sight.

'- Severus, or Carter.'

'So I'll like, be cleaning and stuff?' Harry wondered. 'What animals are here? I haven't seen any.' He tried to look far left, past the Ferris Wheel to the covered cage across from Lady Swan and the corner of Smashers, but he couldn't see from where he sat.

'We have a few.' Ryan said. 'That there is Baxer.' He caught Harry trying to look. 'He's my job.'

'What is he?' Harry asked curiously as he fidgeted in his seat, still attempting to get a better look even if the cage remained covered.

'You'll see.' Ryan smirked and rose from his seat, gesturing Harry to follow. They walked to the covered cage and with a wave of Ryan's hand, the material slipped off to reveal a snarling, awoken tiger with orange and black stripes.

'Whoa!' Harry jumped back with surprise. 'THAT'S Baxer?'

'Sure is.' Ryan nodded as he smacked one of the bars to bring the tiger closer.

The golden eyes of the creature shifted from Ryan to Harry, who wasn't sure if he should back away or dare to move closer.

'C-can I...touch him?' Harry asked. 'I've never been near a tiger before.' He grinned.

'Probably best to leave him alone.' Ryan frowned seriously. 'You're not marked.'

Harry remembered the black tattoo Carter had shown him, which was said to be on the wrist of every Carny, consisting of a crescent moon “C” and a star.

Harry fled away from the cage when Baxer released a loud roar, which had him shaking as the boy tried to hide behind Ryan. The teenager didn't look too bothered as it was clearly normal to him. He led Harry back to the booth with the instruction of leaving the animals alone, though he was welcome to seek them out and have a look.

'How many are there?' Harry wondered.

'Five.' Ryan said. 'Now, listen up. Once the chores are done and preparations are made, the carnival rides and shows will come to life seconds before opening. Remember that our audience is Muggles, so we have to pretend that what we do is tricks and illusions. We also have to be careful with what we say and things like that. Were you raised by muggles or wizards?'

'Muggles.' Harry frowned. 'They didn't like me very much.'

'Mine either.' Ryan said. 'Well, I wasn't raised by them but I'm half and half, so...' He shrugged. 'Anyway, that's good. You would not believe how the difficulty of adjusting is for purebloods.'

'So when the carnival opens, you put on a show?' Harry guessed. 'Is that what you do all day?'

'Not really.' Ryan shrugged. 'We have our set times. Like, I entertain anyone who steps closer to see what my booth is about, otherwise I put on a show in the afternoon. That's part of having your own space, is that you have to put on some sort of show at least once a day. Not every Carny chooses that path. There's only a bunch of us that actually do have our own area of entertainment. Otherwise there's the real performers in the arena tent.' He pointed across from them. 'The rest help out with security, cleaning duties, assisting the others, tending to the animals or helping guests find their way.'

Harry didn't think he'd want to have his own booth, since it sounded like a lot of attention would be on him, which was a part of his life that he'd rather leave behind. Plus, what happened if he made a mistake? Harry was certain it was not a Carny path that Severus would choose either.

'What about the Hall of Mirrors?' Harry remembered.

'What about it?' Ryan avoided Harry's gaze after a moment of pause, looking very reluctant to speak of it.

'Well, why can't we go inside?' Harry didn't understand this important rule. 'Who runs it?'

'Maude, I mean...Dreamless, runs it.' Ryan said in a quiet tone. 'Don't ask about that, Harry. You'll just make Carter mad.'

'Carter isn't here.' Harry said stubbornly.

'He's the King. The leader...some say he knows everything the carnival does.' Ryan said quickly. 'Just...don't talk about the Hall of Mirrors, okay? You're better off not knowing.'

 


 

After Harry had mentioned the Hall of Mirrors and Ryan dismissed all conversation of it, the teenager became very quiet until the Ferris Wheel creaked once and the entire carnival seemed to come alive. Voices and footsteps were heard as children and adults began to fill the pathways and easily distracted Ryan from their previous discussions.

Harry watched Ryan levitate rings and balls for a few hours, though it was more boring than he had envisioned. Looking over at the violet tent that was Lady Swan's space, he caught a few glimpses of Mina in her sparkly blue gown, yet otherwise he shuffled the desk of cards Ryan had given him and waited for the time to pass.

'Go get us a burger each, would you? A can of soda too.' Ryan nudged Harry at midday, causing the boy to drop his cards from surprise, since the teenager had hardly uttered a word to him since the morning.

'Don't we have to pay for them?' Harry asked as he looked over to the food carts.

'No, we work here. We're part of the carnival so we eat for free. Ask Carter later if you don't believe me.' Ryan rolled his eyes. 'Go on, kid!' He rose his tone a little when Harry didn't move, clearly quite hungry and also bored with simply sitting in his booth all day.

Sighing, Harry got up from the wooden seat and wondered why his rear wasn't numb from sitting there for hours. He left the booth around the back and crossed the path to the food carts, avoiding a group of school students much younger than he was.

'Er, two hotdogs, please?' Harry requested to the stocky man. 'I'm part of the carnival, for two months.' He added since he had no money and didn't want to anger the man.

'I know.' He grunted through his greying beard. 'I'm Pete. You're Harry, right?'

'Yeah, that's me.' Harry calmed and offered the man a smile, who actually seemed more shy than mean-looking. Though he wasn't nearly as tall as Hagrid, it was who Harry was briefly reminded of.

A minute later he accepted the hotdogs (with the specifications of onion, sauce etc, which was confirmed as Ryan called across the road to Harry, informing him of what he wanted), and took them back to the booth before Harry went back for the sodas.

'Our cooks never let us eat stuff like this at breakfast or dinner.' Ryan said as he bit into his hotdog, clearly savouring the taste. 'They think it's too unhealthy to eat this stuff all the time, every day. They're probably right.'

It took Harry a brief moment to realise that “cooks” referred to the house-elves and nodded, because he thought so too. The hotdog was the best he'd ever tasted, yet Harry did not think he'd want to eat only that all the time. When he was finished eating, Harry sat back down and sighed, not looking forward to another seven or so hours of just sitting there.

'Yeah, the first day sucks.' Ryan looked at him with sympathy. 'Tell you what, why don't you go see if Lady Swan needs a hand with anything?'

'Are you sure?' Harry rose quickly from his seat, still holding his soda, which was nearly empty.

'Yeah, go ahead.' Ryan nodded. 'You've learned all I can teach you for now. Though, she won't like you taking a drink inside, so you might want to have a walk around first.' He winked.

'Thanks, Ry-I mean, Gravity!' Harry remembered in time as he gave Ryan the offered high-five and turned to hurry from the booth, relishing his freedom.

Taking the path that went by the Spinning Spider ride and the Performance Arena tent, Harry sipped his soda as he walked and smiled. This was what he wanted. To be free from expectations or pressure, to just wander around and do what he liked. Turning the corner, he shuddered at the blurring motion of the spider and made the decision never to go on it. He passed a black booth which had the Carny's name on the awning, just like Ryan's. This black one read “Stealth”, though it was vacant. Harry remembered Carter saying that this Carny would be guiding Severus today, so that must be why the booth was closed.

Beside the black booth was another set of food/drink carts, run by a tall woman with too many earrings and a silly pink feathered hat. The pen next to her carts caught Harry's attention as he quickened his pace to have a look. The fence went high above his head and the floor was covered with hay. Inside he saw an elephant, though it was sitting in a far back corner so his view wasn't very good, much to his disappointment.

Across from the pen was a ride that looked like a huge tube painted black with golden stars twinkling in the sunlight, though Harry suspected the sun had little to do with it. It was called the “Space Flier”, yet Harry wasn't sure what it involved exactly, so he continued onwards without further consideration.

Sipping his soda again, he saw the entrance to the carnival and a red/orange booth across from it, for “Wildfire”. Next to the elephant's pen was a group of games and such that Harry would loved to have a go at, yet was more interested in seeing what Wildfire could do. He was an Irish wizard, Harry realised when he heard the man's accent, and had short brown hair streaked with red. He had captured the rapt attention of the crowd who watched his hands burn brightly with harmless fire.

Harry stared and was just in awe of the Carny's show as the crowd was.

Nearly out of soda, Harry moved on, walking by another sideshow before he cringed at the sight of the Hall of Mirrors. Remembering how everyone at the carnival regarded the place, Harry avoided it and took a different road, which would loop around to meet at the Smashers so he didn't have to walk in front of the Hall of Mirrors.

More food carts passed him as well as sideshows and a Bouncy Castle ride that was clearly intended for the younger age levels of customers. Pausing at the rest area, which was a patch of healthy green grass, Harry dumped his empty soda can into the bin there and looked over at the two rectangle tents. As he stared at them, the larger one on his right was indicated to be “Management” and the tent on the left read “King's Office.'

Until then, Harry had wondered where Carter went during the day and what he did.

Up the road and across from an ice cream cart was a large paddock with two horses running around, though one was actually what looked to be a young Zebra with a lot of energy. Harry saw a woman in a cowgirl hat sitting on the top of the wooden fence on the opposite end, away from the crowd, as she watched the two creatures. He wondered who this was, yet turned and bumped into a girl hardly an inch taller than he was.

'Watch it!' She snapped rudely at him.

'Sorry!' Harry said quickly, staring at her black hair that didn't quite match her blue eyes.

It was all he saw, besides her pair of blue jeans and black long-sleeved shirt before the girl had hurried off towards the Smashers ride. She ignored those waiting in queue and simply climbed over the railing to seek out a vibrant red car-inspired carriage. She drove it around and smashed head-on or into the side of the others, which appeared to be the entire point of the ride. Harry thought she was weird, yet returned to his own observations, since he now stood at the corner.

He was surrounded by the beginning of the thin road that led to the private Carny area with the tents they lived in, nearby was the Smashers, and a large golden tent attached to the paddocks for Carnies “Rose & Grace”. He could see the Ferris Wheel and Baxer's cage from where he stood, yet he caught the sight of a tank habitat across from the Smashers.

Curious, he stepped closer and saw a pale yellow and white Python sleeping inside. Remembering the Boa Constrictor he set free before he'd realised it was through magic, Harry smiled and watched the slumbering snake for a moment longer. Turning, he checked his watch and was surprised, yet glad, to see that an entire hour had passed him by.

Harry was confident that he had seen the entire carnival now, as he made his way to Lady Swan's violet tent.

No one was at the entrance to the tent, so he slowly stepped inside and moved the flap aside so he could get a better view within. He halted to the spot a few feet inside and stared around with awe. He could not tell he was inside a tent because the walls were covered with glass. Behind the glass was crystal clear water with fish swimming around inside it. The floor was composed of removable smooth, green/brown marble tiles. At the middle of the tent was a counter and seat just like Ryan had.

Lady Swan was sitting there, staring at a single white swan feather that rested on the counter.

'Wow, this is amazing!' Harry couldn't stop himself as he approached her. He turned on the spot to admire the watered walls and the fish, not noticing the way he had startled Mina from her concentration on the feather.

'Harry?' Mina smiled and left her seat to greet him. 'Did Ryan send you over?'

'Yeah, he said I could help you if you need it.' Harry told her. 'His booth is boring.'

Chuckling at his pout, Mina nodded and gestured for him to sit on her seat while she reached to the counter for the feather. She leaned to tuck it behind his left ear and smiled, admiring the way he looked with it.

'The first day is never a favourite.' Mina said as she sat to his left. 'Did you get to have a walk around?' She wondered. 'I always felt much freer after a walk around the carnival.'

'Oh, I did.' Harry nodded. 'Ryan said you wouldn't like it if I brought my soda in here, so he said I could go for a walk until it was gone.'

'Ryan is correct.' Mina nodded as she lowered her tone to whisper. 'But I would have made an exception for you.'

'Really?' Harry smiled. 'Why?'

'Can I tell you a secret, Harry?' Mina pretended to be serious yet was pleased when he nodded eagerly in return. 'I think you and I are going to be good friends. I don't know why, but I think you're a very special little boy.'

'I'm not little.' Harry said and reached to press his hair over his lightning bolt scar. 'And I don't like being special.' He lowered his gaze, thinking she only liked him because he was the Boy-Who-Lived.

'Oh no, don't mistake what I meant.' Mina said quickly. 'I know who you are. You're not special to me because of that, Harry. No child, you're special because you have a kind heart and you still delight in the wonders of the world. Many of our kind have lost that as it become customary to see it every day.'

Knowing she was talking about magic, Harry nodded and calmed, feeling fond of her again when she liked him only for something that had nothing to do with his fame or background, just regarding himself.

'I think we're going to be good friends too.' Harry beamed at her.

--

The hours slipped by faster with Mina than they had with Ryan, who Harry did not see for the rest of the afternoon. She had no tasks for him to do for her, yet considered keeping her company as “helping”. Harry was more than happy to oblige as they talked away any time that Mina didn't spend entertaining customers with her wonderful tent decorations or magicking her swan feathers into white birds or butterflies.

As the afternoon neared an end and the sky outside began to darken, Harry and Mina stepped out of her tent to watch the carnival go dark as it closed. With the promise to visit her whenever he wanted or needed to, Harry crossed the path to join Ryan again. Baxer was sleeping in his cage as Ryan covered it with the material.

Harry stared longingly upwards at the Ferris Wheel while he waited for Ryan to call him.

Hurrying after the teenager, Harry wondered what Severus had done all day as he walked along the narrow path to the main tent. Feeling exhausted, though he felt he hadn't done very much, Harry was looking forward to his dinner and then going to shower before bed.

Leaving Ryan's side, Harry walked to the kitchen and requested pineapple juice rather than that horrible cheery stuff, yet didn't change his menu from chicken with mashed potato, and carrots, because he had quite enjoyed it the night before.

Sitting between Mina and Severus, Harry quickly ate his meal and waited for the man on his right (who looked to be in a very livid mood), to finish eating so they could return to their tent.

Pushing his plate away, Harry lay his head on the table and closed his eyes, facing Mina as he slowly felt sleep lulling his senses.

Severus glared down at the rudely sleeping child. He made a move to shove the brat awake, but a hand gripped his own before he had the chance. Looking at Mina, who now stood behind Harry, Severus snatched his hand away and got to his feet.

'Allow me.' Mina offered.

Severus said nothing, since she had already carefully lifted Harry into her arms. He followed after her, passing Carter's table as they went, and wondered why the “King” watched them with suspicious interest. Severus had not spent a lot of time with the man, yet from his observations so far...he did not like Carter at all.

'This is ours.' Severus indicated to the tent he unfortunately shared with the boy. Holding the flap open for Mina, he wondered why she didn't simply levitate the child.

Laying Harry in his bed, Mina waved her light hazel wand to remove his shoes and, in a single motion, replaced his attire with his folded, clean pyjamas that had been waiting for him at the end of the bed. Severus did not admit that he was not familiar with the spell, since most other witches or wizards he knew would have simply transfigured the clothes instead.

'He's a special boy, Severus.' Mina straightened and turned to face him, her blue eyes reminding him of sapphires as they met his obsidian gaze without judgement or reluctance, unlike so many.

'Take good care of him.'

To be continued...
History and Lies by watercrystals
Author's Notes:
Remember to refer to the map, when required.

Harry woke comfortably in his bed the following morning, with no recollection as to how he got there.

His bedroom door had been left open and he could see Severus standing near the door with a book he appeared to be reading. He was too far away for Harry to make out the cover, and as he propped himself up on his elbows, Severus looked at him yet did not utter a word as he snapped the book shut and walked to his own bedroom.

Harry had never really thought about it before, but Severus Snape was quite strange, really. Strange in the way he did things and strange in the manner he spoke. Yet even more strange with the way he treated Harry since they'd met hardly a day after the conclusion of school term, on the train going nowhere. That was the strangest part of all. Severus was no less grumpy nor demanding than Harry was reluctantly used to, yet the man wasn't as cruel or overly judgemental.

If anything, Harry would say that in comparison to how he was at Hogwarts, here at Carter Carnival, Severus was almost decent.

And the moment Harry thought those things, he expected Severus to burst into view and shout some nasty insult or similar if only to prove him wrong, yet mere uninterrupted silence followed.

Shaking his head at such silly notions, since he was clearly just tired from his long sleep, Harry slid off his bed and placed his glasses onto his face. They felt strange, which was something he'd never had occur to him ever since he'd first adjusted to wearing glasses, yet they were as weird as one carrying around an umbrella on a sunny day.

'We will be leaving in five minutes!' Severus called to the boy from an undetermined location of the tent, likely the man's own room.

Panicked, Harry quickly dressed and rushed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and use his new comb on his hair, which still worked to control it more decently than he had ever managed to achieve before. Satisfied, Harry put his shoes on and paused by the couch to wait for Severus.

The man appeared a few seconds later and the pair walked in silence to the main tent for breakfast.

-- 

Ryan was already there when Harry sat down.

Mina wasn't, which Harry wondered about because she had so far beaten him in his morning routines, such as breakfast and preparing for the day. As he ate his eggs, Harry looked over at a man who sat beside Ryan and across from Severus. Ryan ignored him, yet Severus seemed to know the other Carny, who had shadowed grey eyes and dark urban hair.

'You must be Harry.' He spoke to the boy after exchanging a brief greeting with Severus.

'Um, yes.' Harry said shyly. 'Who are you?'

'I'm Mac.' The Carny replied. 'Otherwise known as Stealth.'

Harry remembered Stealth's booth being closed the previous day when he'd had a walk around, and Carter had told Severus that Stealth was the one who would be guiding him for the first day, just as Ryan had for Harry.

'I saw your booth yesterday.' Harry said. 'It's nice to meet you.' He added, only to be polite as he still didn't know this Carny and his name was rather illusive, as it gave him few reasons to feel comfortable around the stranger.

'Don't let my Carny name fool you.' Mac said, as he sensed Harry's hesitation. 'If you have some free time, why don't you come by my booth and I'll show you what I can do?'

'Okay.' Harry nodded and glanced at Severus, wondering what he thought of the other man. As usual, he had no idea because his professor kept a blank, yet civil expression on his sallow face.

Still wondering where Mina was, Harry looked around the tent and spotted Pete, the stocky and greying man who managed to food carts across from the Ferris Wheel.

Sadness sank through Harry as he saw Pete glancing sideways at the others at his table, which he sat quite some distance from. They were conversing and laughing, yet he looked lonely and glanced away with shyness. Harry liked Pete, because he'd only looked a bit mean yet once he talked to him and asked for the hotdogs, the man was really nice.

Frowning, Harry acted without thinking and left his seat. Dodging Severus, Harry walked around his table and crossed the room to where Pete sat, nibbling on a piece of toast.

'Hello, Pete.' Harry gave the man the warmest and most friendly smile he could manage.

He paused and looked over his shoulder to see Ryan get up and leave, vacating the seat across from where Harry sat.

'Hello there, Harry. What are you doing over here?' Pete smiled back with surprise yet gratitude.

The others had his table continued to ignore him, which only made Harry further determined to include the man.

'I was wondering if you would like to sit with me.' Harry said bravely, though he felt anxious about the reply. 'You don't look very happy here and I'd like it if you sat with us. We only have a few people at our table.' Harry fidgeted.

Pete's expression softened further when he heard Harry's invitation, yet he glanced over towards where Severus was talking to Mac (even so, his obsidian gaze constantly lingered on Harry, wondering what the brat was up to), and appeared hesitant.

'They won't mind.' Harry guessed why Pete seemed unsure. 'Please?'

'Thank you, Harry.' Pete smiled fondly as he rose from his chair and grabbed his last piece of buttered toast to take with him as well as his goblet filled with milk.

'That's okay!' Harry grinned. 'Come on, over here.' He led the way to the table and sat down, pointing to the seat across from him. 'You can sit there. Mina sits next to me, but I don't know where she is.' He frowned and looked around again, starting to get a bit worried about her.

Pete said nothing as he sat in the seat Ryan had used earlier. He placed his toast on the plate that had just appeared in front of him, and set his goblet across from it. He was heartened by Harry's kindness, yet still shy and therefore only glanced once at Mac then Severus before he finished his toast.

Harry looked expectantly at the other two, but frowned when they seemed to ignore Pete as well. In a moment of irritated daring, he aimed a nudge with his foot towards Severus, who tensed instantly and glared down at the boy.

'This is Pete.' Harry told Severus. 'He manages the food carts near the Ferris Wheel. I met him yesterday and he makes the best hotdogs ever.'

Severus glanced at Harry's determined emerald gaze and shifted his attention to the man who had joined them. Noticing the reserved and shy posture of the stocky Carny, he sighed and nodded in greeting.

'It appears as though the boy has taken a great interest in gaining your friendship.' Severus commented. 'Severus.' He introduced himself and raised his hand across the table for the man to shake, ignoring the pleased giddiness the child beside him was displaying.

'Pleased to meet you, Severus.' The older man grunted and shook the offered hand. 'Harry's a good kid. I would be honoured to be his friend.'

'Really?' Harry asked. 'Thanks, Pete.'

'Pardon my lack of introductions.' Mac added when Harry set his firm gaze onto him. 'Pete and I are already acquainted.' He said. 'If you would excuse me, I have much to do before opening.' Mac rose from his seat and offered everyone a brief farewell before he turned and left the tent.

Silence fell over the table as Pete sipped his milk, Severus finished his cereal and Harry leaned on his knees to see higher over the heads of the others who were preparing to leave the tent.

Severus caught the boy's concern and knew who he was worried about, though honestly, he didn't comment because Severus was also curious regarding the whereabouts of Mina.

'I don't know what I'm supposed to do today.' Harry said as he was pulled back against his seat by Severus. 'Ryan already left and I think he said something about me helping with chores for others. I don't know.'

'It's your second day here, isn't it?' Pete replied.

'Yeah.' Harry nodded. 'What are you doing, sir?' He asked Severus.

'I remain solely responsible for the management of this carnival.' Severus frowned. 'My duties for each passing day scarcely differ from the last.'

'You could help me.' Pete offered. 'Breakfast is nearly over and no one has given you a task. This usually means you're free to wander and ask around to see if anyone needs assistance.'

'Can I?' Harry said eagerly. 'I like cooking. My aunt used to make me do it all the time. You don't have a stove, though.'

'It's easy enough to learn.' Pete stood. 'Would you like to join me?'

'Yes!' Harry jumped off his seat and turned to follow his new friend, yet paused and glanced over at Severus. 'If you see Mina, will you please tell her where I am?'

'I shall.' Severus nodded reluctantly, if only because he doubted he'd come across the woman at all, given his isolated tasks at a different section of the carnival.

He watched the boy hurry after Pete and sighed, rising from his own seat and glancing around for Carter. The man was nowhere in sight either, in fact...that entire table had remained empty for the duration of the morning meal. He may not have been a temporary resident for long, yet Severus was aware that something wasn't right, or at least that other incidences were taking place in which others knew so little of.


Harry's morning with Pete was much more entertaining than the previous one he had spent with Ryan.

He crossed the path at lunch time to give Ryan his meal and chatted with the teenager for a short while, before he went back to Pete. Harry had learned a lot in several hours, such as how to make a variety of food for the customers and Pete was right about it being easy enough to learn, with a little aide of magic.

By afternoon, clouds had covered the sun from view and cast a darkness about the carnival, though it never rained. The lights of the Ferris Wheel gripped Harry's gaze more than it had the entire morning.

From Ryan's booth, he had not been able to see the huge ride or even Baxer, as the tiger slept in his cage. From Pete's carts, Harry had a much more delightful view of both, which enabled him to extract a large amount of disinterest from the passing time.

Whenever Pete caught him eyeing the Ferris Wheel, Harry brushed it off, until the Carny could keep his silence no longer.

'You can have a closer look, if you want to.' Pete said. 'You're not bound here, Harry.'

'Who maintains the Ferris Wheel?' Harry wondered. 'Or any of the rides? I never see anyone there.'

'That's the big secret.' Pete lowered his tone as two girls passed by the cart. 'The carnival maintains itself.' He nodded. 'They say the Ferris Wheel was the first ride. The heart of this entire place.'

'Really?' Harry was captured by the tale. 'How long ago was that? Were you here?' He thought Pete seemed old enough, though he had no idea if the carnival was new or not.

'No, not me.' Pete chuckled. 'The Carter Carnival was first created by Carvae Carter, who built the Ferris Wheel entirely out of magic.' He recalled. 'That was a couple hundred years ago now. The Carnies were literally family back then - blood-related, I mean.'

'So, Carter...he has the same name? Wow, he must have like a great-great grandfather from then or something, right?' Harry assumed.

'No.' Pete looked away, hiding his frown of dislike. 'He renamed himself when he became King.'

'Why?' Harry frowned. 'Is he really a king?'

'The King or Queen is what we call our leader.' Pete sighed as he explained. 'I do not know what his name was before. I don't remember.'

'You don't remember?' Harry was confused. 'How long ago was it?'

Pete did not answer.

Instead he looked around between a gap hat led diagonally towards the back of a building. Harry shivered to realise that the shape at the top fitted the clown from the House of Mirrors. Pete said nothing, yet Harry was beginning to notice a pattern in which the Carnies seemed to forget certain details of their lives.

Why did Pete look towards the House of Mirrors when he hadn't answered Harry? Was that place to blame or...perhaps it's Carny was. Who exactly was Maude and why did everyone call him “Dreamless” as his Carny name?

'Go have a look at the Ferris Wheel.' Pete distracted him. 'And give poor Baxer this sausage.' He held out the raw piece of meat, which Harry reluctantly accepted and glanced towards the tiger.

The golden eyes fixated on Harry as though Baxer knew he was being spoken of with the promise of a treat.

Not wanting to hold the squishy piece of raw food for long, Harry cautiously approached the tiger's cage. He flinched when Baxer instantly stood and moved closer to the bars of the cage. Holding out the sausage with two fingers, Harry stretched his shaking arm towards the bars so it was just in reach of the creature much larger and dangerous than himself. Baxer paid him no attention as the tiger snatched the offered food and gulped it down whole.

When Baxer released a loud roar, Harry turned and fled from the cage with an undignified yelp, heading right over to the Ferris Wheel in one breath.

Ignoring the shared chuckles from Ryan and Pete, Harry stepped closer to the Ferris Wheel, which was motionless for the moment. Looking so high upwards he had to tilt his head back as far as his neck would allow, Harry imagined how wonderful it would be to ride it, which was surely more comfortable than being on a broomstick in mid-air during a game of Quidditch.

Pete had said it was the heart of the carnival and the very first ride, yet Harry thought it looked newer and much more cared for than the others rides, even if they were all in good condition and remained impressive. Except the House of Mirrors, of course, with its peeling paint and non-ride capabilities that made Harry wonder why it was left to visibly age, unless no one dared to go near it and Maude simply didn't care for its state.

Turning, Harry glanced over at the violet tent belonging to Lady Swan.

The tent wasn't closed, as he had expected, and therefore he hurried to its side and peeked within. Mina was seated in her usual gown and appeared to be writing on a piece of parchment with a large peacock quill.

Harry, remembering Pete just in time, hurried back to the food carts and requested permission to see if Mina was okay. Pete said it was fine and gave him a hearty wave as Harry rushed back to Lady Swan's tent.

In his hurry and worry, he tripped on the hem of his over-sized pants and slipped, sliding across the marble-tiled floor of the tent. Yelling out from surprise more than pain, Harry tried to stop himself but was unable to until he crashed hands-first against Mina's counter.

'Harry!' She jumped up and approached him as he sat there, feeling dizzy and confused. 'What are you doing?' Mina asked as she helped him to his feet.

'Are you okay?' Harry glanced her over, yet she seemed fine and as she always did. 'You weren't at breakfast and I was worried.'

'Oh, child.' Mina exhaled and pulled him into an embrace, which startled him and yet he did not pull away. 'Harry, I'm sorry I made you worry. I would have told you if I'd known it would cause you stress. I came here sooner because I wanted a moment to myself. I ate earlier than the rest, which is why you did not see me. Were you really worried about me all this time?'

'Yes.' Harry blushed as he stepped back. 'I'm sorry.'

'No, it's not your fault.' Mina smiled as she brushed some of his hair from his face. 'I'll remember next time.' She added, which was becoming a bit of an in-joke with them, since Harry was always forgetting rules and facts yet everyone continued to tell him that he was learning and would know better the next incident regarding such.

'Now, tell me what you have been doing today.' Mina said as she gently led Harry to her seat and sat beside him. 'It's your second day, so you've been helping others, yes?'

'I was helping Pete with the food carts.' Harry told her, feeling his worry and anxiety fade rather quickly as he smiled at her. 'And I fed Baxer a raw sausage just now, before I saw that you're here.' He wished he'd thought to check her tent earlier. 'And Pete told me a bit about the carnival, like how the Ferris Wheel is its heart and the first ride...is that true?'

'Yes.' Mina nodded. 'The Space Flier is the newest. Before there used to be a Merry-Go-Round which was considered the brain of the carnival. It was a place of peace and freedom, where Carnies and guests alike could ride or sit near and they'd always feel clear-minded and calm afterwards.'

'What happened?' Harry asked. 'Where did it go?'

'No one knows.' Mina glanced at her folded parchment, which looked like a letter yet she had no envelope or wax seal on the counter in front of them. 'It just...fell apart. Three days after Dreamless created his booth, which is the Hall of Mirrors. I was told the two attractions conflicted, and therefore the Merry-Go-Round collapsed from the strain of colliding magic. The Space Flier was added a year later.'

'You were here when it happened?' Harry wondered, since she knew so much about it.

'Yes.' Mina answered with a troubled expression as she glanced at the water-decorated walls, which were filled with swimming fish as usual.

'It happened the day Carter became King.'

'How does one become King?' Harry was thirsty for more information the Carnies seemed so willing to give.

'She chooses.' Mina looked towards the flap to her tent, in which a small part of the Ferris Wheel was seen. 'The carnival. It's so filled with magic that most consider it alive. Have you noticed the lights are always on?'

'Yes.' Harry nodded. 'Everything else goes off, but not the Ferris Wheel. I can see it from my bedroom.'

'You have a very good view.' Mina smiled. 'Enough of these stories. It is all history now, and from so long ago.' She brushed her hand over the back of his head. 'You're very kind to check up on me, Harry. You're a good boy. However, I believe if you are helping Pete then he likely needs it. He is a very gentle soul, yet so shy and many judge him too soon.'

'I know.' Harry said. 'He looks mean and a bit scary at first, like my friend Hagrid did. They're both much nicer if you just give them a chance.'

'Who is Hagrid?' Mina wondered.

'He works at Hogwarts. He's a half-giant.' Harry grinned at the memory. 'He told me I was a wiz-'

Mina covered his mouth quickly, yet carefully, with her hand as a father and young daughter stepped into the tent, looking around with awe.

'Sorry.' Harry realised. 'He told me what I am.' He rephrased and tried to remember they were surrounded by muggles. 'He bought me Hedwig and gave me my ticket. He's not very good at cooking, though.'

'Hagrid sounds very nice.' Mina said. 'Hedwig is your pet?'

'Yes, an owl. She...' Harry paused. 'I let her out of her cage before I came here!' He jumped up. 'But I haven't seen her. Can she find me? What...what if she can't?'

'Shhh, calm down.' Mina comforted him as he sank back onto the seat.

She pulled him onto her lap with ease and rubbed his back with her hand, watching their company in case she had to entertain them. They looked around and soon left again, without much interest in what she may have to show them.

'We can find your owl, don't worry.' Mina promised. 'I will inform the right people to look out for her, okay?'

'Thank you, Mina.' Harry leaned against her shoulder. 'I hope she's okay.'

'Hedwig will be fine.' Mina nodded and pressed her cheek to his forehead, hugging him protectively in a way a mother would their child. 'Now go along, you need to help Pete today. I will see you at dinner.'

'You will?' Harry turned to look at her hopefully. 'You promise?'

'My word is my promise.' Mina said as he climbed off her lap and stood beside her. 'And I never break my word. Go on, child.'

'Thanks, Mina.' Harry smiled as he gave her a wave and slowly left the tent.

He re-joined Pete, but was quiet as he thought about his owl and the things he had learned about the carnival in that one afternoon. Pete gave him his space for an hour, before the pair resumed their co-operation of maintaining the food cart to serve the busy crowd.

-- 

 

With a few hours until the carnival closed for the day, Harry was sitting at a table under a large red umbrella that was a few feet from where Pete was making some hamburgers for a group of Carnies who had come over for something to eat. Harry didn't know any of them so he wasn't as interested, as he shuffled his card deck in his hand and felt much more comfortable with sitting around for period of time without feeling dreadfully bored.

'There 'e is!' An Irish voice called out once he had received his hamburger from Pete. He had been talking to a blonde lady in typical cowgirl clothes (pair of blue jeans, plaid red shirt and a purple-blue wide-brim hat).

Harry looked over at them and recognised both. The Irish man had short brown hair streaked with red and wore a dark blue shirt with hardly any sleeves, with a pair of black pants. He was Wildfire, the Carny at the red/orange booth further towards the carnival entrance. Harry recalled pausing to see his show of flaming hands the previous day.

The lady he hadn't gotten a good look at yesterday, though she was notably the one who had been sitting on the fence of the paddock with the zebra and horse. She looked nice, yet not as pretty as Mina.

'How's it goin' kid?' Wildfire asked, though Harry wasn't sure of his actual name because they'd never met in person until now.

'Hi.' Harry pocketed his cards as he stood and shook the offered hand of the other Carny.

'Harry, right?' The lady asked. 'I'm Rose.'

'Yeah.' The boy nodded. 'I saw you with the horses yesterday.' Told her while glancing at Wildfire. 'And I think your fire's really cool. Doesn't it hurt?'

'Not at all.' Wildfire smirked and glanced at Rose, who seemed surprised that Harry had even noticed her. 'I thought it'd only be fair, comin' to say hello. I met that Severus chap yesterday. Got a bit of temper on him, eh?'

'Yeah, that's him.' Harry cracked a smile.

'You both found the carnival together.' Rose added with interest before she took a bite from her own hamburger. 'How do you know each other?'

'They share a tent, Rosey.' Wildfire told her with a sigh. 'They're probably related, eh?' He looked back at Harry. 'Is he your father? You're lucky lad, having your dad with you here.'

'Oh no, he's...' Harry hesitated and looked over at Pete, who was distracted with customers and likely couldn't hear him or the other two Carnies.

He didn't like having Severus here, because his professor wasn't the nicest person to be around or live with, yet he could see how others may think they were related, considering the situation. Plus they both had dark hair and always sat together at meals, as well as sharing their tent as a relative or guardian had to by Carny law. The orphaned boy really enjoyed being part of the carnival and the life it had to offer him, and a part of him thought it would be nice to pretend away the one part that pulled him into memories of his old life: a teacher he despised mutually.

How would things be if he erased that fact?

'He doesn't like to admit it because it's still kinda new, but yeah...' Harry lied. 'He's my dad.'

The moment he'd said it, Harry regretted it. Yet he felt that to take it back would just make him look stupid, so he kept his silence as the other two nodded and seemed impressed.

When Wildfire and Rose left in opposite directions, no doubt heading back to their assigned spaces, Harry ducked his head with shame. Not able to look at Pete either, Harry got out his deck of cards and continued to waste time away as he shuffled and played with them.

 


 

At eight that night, hardly seconds after the last guest had left the carnival, Harry paused in his task of assisting Pete with the clean up for the carts for the day, when he noticed a group of Carnies gathering outside Lady Swan's tent.

'What's going on?' He looked up at Pete, but the man had begun to approach and find out for himself.

'Do not take that tone with me!'

Harry gasped when he heard Mina yelling, which was a much more fearsome sound than he'd have imagined from her.

Three others started arguing and Ryan tried to urge them away from Baxer's cage, as the tiger was looking very agitated by the quarrel. The group moved closer to the Ferris Wheel as Harry watched, frozen to his post behind the carts, and was unable to work out what was going on or if this was normal.

To his surprise, he saw Carter emerge to try and calm everyone down, but Mina would not allow it.

'I can handle this, King.' She frowned at him.

'I don't care.' Carter growled at her. 'This ends now. Fighting amongst ourselves is not allowed.'

'We're not fighting!' One man shouted, yet looked fearful when Carter turned to glare at him.

'What's going on 'ere?' Wildfire stepped towards them. The look on his face confirmed to Harry that this was not normal behaviour and the fighting was something to worry about.

His eyes shifting from Pete to Ryan, Harry felt more anxious about Mina and moved closer in case he had to do something, though he had no idea what.

'You lied, King.' A tall Carny with bronze hair stated. 'You said they were gone. You promised we were safe again. And then, you change plans without telling us?'

'What did you do, King?' Mina glared at Carter. 'What's so damn important?'

'Shut up!' Carter yelled to silence the group, which had grown from a few people to nearly ten. 'You will trust me and do as you're told. What I do is for all of us!'

'Mina!' Harry was a bit scared now, since everyone looked so angry and he worried that she was going to get hurt.

Pushing his way through the crowd, he tried to reach her but got shoved around until he was mere feet from the Ferris Wheel. Harry realised he was cornered and everyone had started pushing, until someone set off a spell that felt like a strong wind, which flung him backwards off his feet.

'Ahh!' Harry yelled in pain as his back hit the Ferris Wheel very hard, sending an ache through his entire form. 

His glasses slipped off his face from the impact and he slid to the ground, crouching there in pain and shock. He felt Mina's hands on his shoulder, but Harry did not look up as he hurt too much.

The Carnies had gone silent as they listened to Carter shouting about breaking the rule of not hurting their own family. Harry's vision blurred and spun as a hot sensation slithered up his spine and across his face. Dizzy and with stinging eyes, Harry slumped sideways against Mina's shoulder as she picked him up. He didn't know where she as taking him, but the noise faded and soon he was resting against the familiar softness of his own bed, or at least the new one he had become accustomed to during his stay at the carnival.

'Shh, you'll be okay.' Mina brushed his hair with her hand, being very gentle and caring.

She had not taken him to the Medical Wing in the main tent because she had an idea of what had happened. She remained at his side until Harry had fallen asleep. Looking around the darkening tent, Mina raised her wand to light a few candles and considered her options.

With a sigh, she waved her light hazel wand and a swan Patronus bust from the tip. It flew around once and then disappeared through the wall to deliver her message to Severus, informing him of what had happened.

-- 

Severus marched into the tent twenty minutes later and looked livid.

Mina was sitting beside Harry's bed in a conjured armchair, where she watched Severus spell a few diagnostics while he muttered incoherently about the boy's ability to find trouble.

'You're our new management.' Mina rose from the chair once he was finished. Her words had not been a question as she stepped closer to him and watched his reaction, noting how guarded he was. 'Surely you'd have heard what happened?'

'Yes.' Severus frowned. 'The boy ought not to become involved in matters that do not concern him. Though, I am not surprised by his latest stunt.'

'How much do you know?' Mina lowered her voice cautiously and ignored his comments about Harry.

Severus paused and looked over at her, realising that her eyes were closer to being levelled with his own than he had assumed. Her sapphire eyes showed determination and almost desperation to know something she believed he may be aware of.

'I cannot assist you.' Severus replied in a soft, calculating tone. 'It is not within my power to do so.'

Mina swallowed and looked away, seeming hurt by his words if only because it furthered her struggle.

'He was lying, wasn't he?' She stared at Severus again, right at him in the piercing way that only she seemed daring enough to, which quite unnerved him. 'Carter. I know you're skilled, Severus. I can tell. You know when someone is lying. Tell me what you saw in Carter, please?'

Severus narrowed his eyes at the strange woman in front of him, who had taken his focus from the slumbering child to his left, if only for the moment. He considered her question and recalled his recent observations, pondering on what he should say or if it was something that should be said at all.

'Carter cannot be trusted.' Severus said. 'I shall never place my faith on such a man. And you need not hear this from me. You already know such facts; therefore, I do wonder why you feel the need to require my reassurance.'

'I need to know I'm not the only one who sees it.' Mina whispered, looking relieved and much calmer now that he agreed with her. 'The others...they blindly follow him. Ryan sees it, I think...maybe Pete and a few others as well. I know Ann does. She hated him from day one, though with that girl I cannot be sure...she hates everyone.'

'Ow.' Harry grumbled from the bed, startling the two adults as they turned to look down at him. Pushing himself onto his elbows, Harry opened his eyes and looked over, surprised to see Mina and Severus there, yet even more so with how clear they were.

Clarity was the clue.

He looked sideways to his bedside table where his glasses sat folded and unused. Harry then marvelled in the folds of his sheets, the reflections on his window, the bright blue of Mina's eyes, the buttons of Severus' clothes, his own fingernails, and the opened door nearby.

'Are you experiencing delusions, Harry?' Severus snapped at the boy's giddy expression as the child stared at everything as though he had never used his eyes before.

'I can see!' Harry exclaimed. 'Without my glasses. I can see everything so clearly!'

'I guessed you would.' Mina smiled. 'When you hit the front of the Ferris Wheel, your eyes turned pure white and you nearly passed out. The carnival healed you.'

'That is not possible.' Severus growled.

'The heart!' Harry declared. 'The Ferris Wheel is the heart, right? It was the first ride and so all the magic started with it. That's why you think the carnival is alive, because it has its own magic...and now, it healed me? Why me?'

'I do not know.' Mina said, looking confused while Severus gripped his wand and stalked out of the bedroom. 'For some reason, the carnival has chosen to heal you, Harry. It is most strange, especially considering you're not branded.'

'I want to stay here forever.' Harry said. 'I don't ever want to leave.'

Mina smiled sadly as she watched the boy jump from his bed and run to the bathroom, no doubt to stare at his reflection for hours and further grinning over his regained sight. She lowered her gaze and looked towards Harry's window, seeing the form of the Ferris Wheel in the distance.

'You're wrong, Harry.' Mina uttered almost mutely. 'You never get the choice to stay or go, no one does...yet, forever we shall remain.'

To be continued...
End Notes:
Please take a moment to send a review to share your thoughts on this chapter. I'd love to hear any comments you have about what has happened so far, what you think of the characters, and so on.
Looking Closer by watercrystals
Author's Notes:
To avoid any confusion, please refer to this map throughout this chapter and those that follow: http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r275/Kryptoniterush/carny2.jpg Simply copy&paste the link to a new window and refer to it whenever a character moves around the carnival or takes in its appearance.

Thanks - to my beta, Ash!

Harry did not think he could be happier at that moment.

He had returned to the bathroom after eating a meal brought to him by a house elf, since he'd missed dinner in the commotion of his healed eyesight. He didn't know where Severus was, though Harry hadn't bothered to check, but Mina was still in the other room where she was reading a letter delivered to her earlier.

Staring at his own reflection, Harry smiled and continued to absorb every tiny detail he noticed about his face and hair. He could see, without his glasses, and it was amazing! With one final scan, Harry stepped away from the sink, dressed in his pyjamas because he had recently had a shower, and entered the main room.

'You're still here?' Harry asked.

Even though he was pleased Mina hadn't left, the boy was also surprised to see her as he thought she had little reason to stay. He looked around for Severus, but the man wasn't anywhere in sight and his bedroom door remained firmly shut - unlike Harry's, which had been left wide open.

'I wanted to say goodnight to you, Harry.' Mina pocketed the letter and tried to offer him a smile.

Harry, seeing more clearly than he ever had, noticed her sadness. The sapphire orbs of her eyes emotionally resembled blue tear-drops as she glanced away. He felt a nudge on his shoulder and instinctively pulled away, thinking it was Severus shoving him in a direction again. He felt bad, when he realised it was Mina, because his action seemed to have made her sadder.

'Come on, it's time for you to sleep.' Mina instructed firmly. 'I know you probably don't feel too tired at this hour, but you need to rest.'

Actually, Harry felt exhausted and was trying not to sway on his feet. Yawning, he nodded and moved to enter his room, feeling unsure when she followed him to tuck him into bed. Offering her a wide smile, he said goodnight and rolled over to watch the stars through his window, which easily lulled him to sleep.

Mina stepped out of Harry's bedroom and closed the door until it was ajar. Turning, Mina saw Severus moving to sit on a sofa in the main room. He watched her carefully when she crossed the space of the tent and sat beside him with considerate regard for personal space.

They said nothing for a moment, until Severus broke the silence.

'You lied to the boy.' He said in calm statement of fact. 'You did not wish to bid him goodnight.'

'I did.' Mina returned and looked at him with a darkened expression. 'But yes, I lied. I wanted to talk to you, Severus. Compared to the others here, you are...different.' A small smile appeared on her face as she spoke.

'Different, how?' Severus narrowed his eyes at her, wondering if he was being accused of something and what exactly she wanted to talk to him about.

'You see things as I do.' Mina explained. 'You know loss and suffering, in ways we all do...but it's different for us, isn't it?' She looked at her hands, which were folded on her lap. 'It isn't the same, feeling grief and turmoil while knowing that at some point, we also created it. Maybe not then, in that exact moment where our world shatters from what we felt comfortable in knowing, but some time and some place...we were responsible for the same.'

Before he could question what she was talking about, Severus tried to control his urge to flinch and flee when she reached towards him. With her hands firmly holding his left forearm, he realised what she was referring to; Mina raised the black material of his sleeve and sadness filled her in a manner reflective of when Lily was upset. He tore his gaze away, wanting to snatch back his arm and would have, had she not gripped it so tightly.

'How did you know?' Severus asked instead. 'Do you...?'

'No.' Mina released his arm. 'I was never one of them. I could sense it about you, though.' She looked at him, as curious and somehow understanding as always. 'We all have our pasts. By Carny rule, we are under no obligation to tell those stories. Will you tell me yours, Severus?' She asked tentatively. 'I would very much like to hear it.'

'It is not something I wish to share, nor do I take pride in such recollections.' Severus narrowed his eyes. 'Carny law also states that one must respect the declination.'

Mina nodded and looked away. He expected her to be annoyed or disappointed by his rejection to tell her anything, therefore Severus was quite surprised when she rose from her seat and offered him a genuinely kind smile.

'When you're ready to take a chance and allow someone to know you, whenever that may be, Severus...' Mina said in a whispered tone. 'I will be here to listen. And then, if you so wish, I shall tell anything you would like to know regarding myself, this carnival, or...the one thing about Harry you cannot see, no matter how hard you may try. If you even try at all.' She leaned closer to his face, her breath mixing with his as she continued to speak, her blue eyes staring intently into his obsidian ones.

'Just know...I can see the truth.' Mina said strongly. 'I know, despite the mark of evil on your arm, that you're a good man. You're not a hero, Severus...you're much better, because I truly believe it is one thing to repel darkness, and another to overcome it. I would be honoured to hear your story, should you ever entrust it to me.'

And with a final breath against his cheek, which could almost be considered a kiss, Mina pulled away and was gone from the tent. Severus sat there, shocked and uncomfortable, as he tried to make sense of what had happened. He didn't understand her at all, but in that moment something had changed. He couldn't work out what it was.

The brief incident when he had lowered his guard...Severus feared she had seen something else in his eyes.

 


 

The following morning greeted the carnival with a downpour of rain. The water fell so heavily, that by eight o'clock there wasn't a single guest in sight. So, Carter Carnival did not open and most of the residences remained in their personal tents or gathered in the main one to pass the time with relaxation and mingling. Harry had been surprised at breakfast to see so many carnies in the tent. He soon adapted and decided to spend the day with Ryan and Pete, as Mina said she had things to do.

Not everyone was able to enjoy the free time, however. There were those who cast water repelling charms over themselves and headed out into the downpour, going to tend to the animals and partake in their regular duties.

Severus left the main tent around ten o'clock, deciding the boy would be fine amongst the others. He rose from his seat and walked away without Harry instantly noticing. He ducked his head, as the rain was still falling down strongly. With a simple spell, he remained mostly dry while Severus walked the thin path to the carnival. He didn't know why he felt the urge to walk around; perhaps he was missing the long corridors of Hogwarts, which always provided him with plenty of time to himself and the opportunity to clear his mind.

Upon deciding to remain at the carnival for the holidays, Severus had been informed he could have anything he requested, and therefore knew a Potions laboratory of his own would not be out of the question. As he walked the narrow path and wandered by the Smashers ride, Severus watched the ground where the water-drops landed, and felt oddly free to have not asked for the lab. He had distanced himself from his usual habits and surroundings, where he wasn't expected to maintain an image or be frequently sighted in front of a steaming cauldron.

It was a secret he mostly kept to himself: Severus wasn't the most fond of Potions as one believed.

Yes, he took great accomplishment in his work and marvelled in the entire subject; however, during his school days he wasn't the richest boy in his class or the one with the purest blood in his house. He was neither overly handsome nor exceptionally charming. Severus was a half-blood with good grades and second-hand belongings. There weren't many outstanding qualities to separate him from his classmates, until he received his first Potions grade. He was an “Exceeds Expectations” student in all his classes, on average, except with Potions where it was almost too easy to reach the top of the class. He allowed Lily to surpass him on occasion, though she often did so with his notes, yet overall Severus was clearly talented and no doubt it was because of his Prince bloodline inheritance. Even his own father could not find fault in his high grades in that one subject, on those rare times his mother mentioned them in a showing of pride for her son.

Even so, it was not where Severus had academically focused all his energy upon during school. His favourite subject had been Defence Against the Dark Arts, though he wasn't quite as good at the class as he'd have liked. Of course, it was always harder when Sirius Black considered him his most threatening competition, just as James Potter did for Transfiguration. It often angered Severus, how they wouldn't let him have that one victory...to actually be good at something. They were pure-bloods, charming, and handsome, so Severus always thought it was selfish of them to harass him even with something they cared less about - being one of the most academic in a class.

Potions was where he easily excelled, therefore Potions was the path Severus followed.

Though absorbed in his thoughts and memories, Severus had not wandered far. He passed by the entrance to the carnival and the sideshows, until he came to pause across from the Space Flier ride. There was a large pen that intrigued him. Even over the roar of the rain, Severus heard a softened sound of distress.

Approaching closely, he looked over and realised the fencing at the far back of the pen was crumbled, and a lone elephant was lying on its side. He looked around the area, from what he could see with the rain...no one appeared to be around. Stripping his outer black robe, Severus draped it over the fence and cast a protective charm on it so his robe wouldn't become soaked. He pushed up the sleeves of his white shirt and placed his wand in his mouth in a way a dog would hold a bone, as he gripped the wooden fence and climbed over it. Jumping down the last short distance to the hay-covered ground, Severus cautiously approached the large elephant. He guessed it was a female - from the short tusks, and was fully grown - based on her size. He looked her over, being extremely careful of his footing and distance in case she lashed out. Severus had no experience with elephants, but animals in general he knew a bit about. He'd earned high marks in Care of Magical Creatures during school, as well.

Unsure what to do, Severus first looked for any injuries and saw a thin river of blood seeping into the rain from one of her legs. There was a perfectly straight cut on her leg, which he knew could not have happened by accident. Considering sending for help, Severus met eyes with the remarkable creature and her emotions seemed to project themselves onto him. She felt vulnerable and abandoned, longing for a loved one she lost, yet was too proud to call out for help and show her weakness to another. Gripping his wand, Severus protected the wound from the rain and dirt, his gaze remaining mixed with the elephant's golden eyes as he cast the spell.

'Will to allow me to assist you?' Severus shouted over the rain.

Amazingly, the elephant nodded her head and stopped trying to get up. He didn't know why he felt he had to help her, but Severus did. He moved around her and assessed the best angle to cast a shoving charm. Aiming carefully, he willed his magic to strengthen the spell and push her upright, swaying the creature lightly so she could adjust her balance. It took nearly twenty minutes because he was trying to avoid causing her additional pain.

Once she was sheltered again and able to limp further into the dryness of the pen, Severus turned towards the broken fence and growled at the idea of someone causing it. Being the overseeing management of the carnival had already taught him enough about the enclosures the animals resided it – everything in the carnival was mingled with magic, therefore no matter how strong the elephant might be, there was no way she had done the damage herself.

As he pondered the possibility of using legilimency on an animal, Mac wandered by and halted when he saw the scene. Jumping into the pen to join Severus, he didn't say a word and only stared at the mangled wooden would-be-wall of the pen. The rain lessened enough for them to speak without yelling, though both wizards said nothing. Slowly turning, Mac gave Severus an odd look before he glanced at the elephant and saw her injury. It was sealed and no longer bleeding, though it would still require a bandage to aide her recovery.

'You helped Erica.' Mac realised, thinking Severus wasn't behaving like the dark and grumpy man he'd met recently. 'Why didn't you call for help?'

'I was able to manage on my own.' Severus answered.

'Yes, but you helped her yourself.' Mac repeated. 'I thought you had no intention of staying?'

'Aiding an injured creature hardly alters my decision to leave this place at the first opportune moment.' Severus glared at him. 'On a furthermore relevant note, I assume you are aware this damage was not caused by accident?'

'I'm aware.' Mac turned very serious as he looked back at the fence. 'I will have to call Carter just to repair it. Not even Chaos could have done this; not that I think she would though.' He sighed. 'I can only think of...but no, surely not? The Dwellers.' Mac gripped his wand and looked suspiciously around the area.

'I tried to warn him.'

The men spun around to see Mina standing there on the other side of the fence, looking towards Erica with concern and sympathy. 'Carter won't listen. Sasha saw them, on the outskirts just before dawn. We're not safe...we never were.'

'Precisely who are the Dwellers and what dangers do they pose?' Severus asked, looking from one to the other. He saw Mina glance at his robe and wanted to retrieve it, but she lifted and folded it over her arm before he could summon it.

'White suits you, Severus.' She commented, looking at the shirt he was wearing, which made him feel quite self-conscious. 'And with the Dwellers returning...I would advise against dressing so obsessively in black.'

'They're bad news, Severus. A danger only to us Carnies.' Mac added and ignored the interactions between the pair. 'Worst even than Death Eaters, in their own twisted way. And Mina, it's not confirmed they're back so don't go scaring the wits out of everyone from a rumour. King is handling this.'

'Of course.' Mina said in a falsely submissive tone that only Severus seemed to properly notice, as Mac moved to tend to Erica's wound without reaction to her words. She watched Severus leave the pen, and returned his robes to him. The rain had all but stopped now, as he looked down at the black material with a contemplative expression. Instead of speaking, he glared at the witch.

'You really do look just as good in white.' Mina smiled.

Severus rolled his eyes and still didn't comment, almost wishing he hadn't ventured out for a walk. He was glad Erica was in Mac's care, as opposed to lying helplessly in the chilling rain while injured. Severus caught the creature's golden gaze once more and quickly looked away as he turned to leave, his black robe remaining in his hands and not over his shoulders.

Mina watched him leave and turned to Mac with a nod of her head. Mac returned the gesture as he stood and approached her. They said nothing, only watched Severus walk away with his usual long strides until he was entirely out of sight.

--

By mid-afternoon the rain clouds had drifted away in the sky and many carnies went to dry off their booths and make sure the rain hadn't caused any trouble overall.

Harry had grown bored of the main tent. Because he had no idea where Severus had gone or why Mina had to spend all day working some place else, Harry wanted to constantly spend time with Ryan or Pete, since he knew no one else he felt comfortable around. However, they too became busy when the rain finally stopped and it left Harry with nothing to do.

Feeling adventurous, Harry decided to go have another close look at the Ferris Wheel and simply observe the rain-washed scenery of the carnival. He wandered down the narrow muddy path to the carnival with his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants. Seeing the puddles and mud with his own eyes, and never again through annoying glasses, Harry felt really happy despite the weather and being left on his own.

He walked to where the python was in her glass enclosure and watched her sleep for a moment. Until a voice jolted him from his peace and caused Harry to turn around rather suddenly.

'You leave Marlee alone.' Said a girl in a rude tone.

She was almost a foot taller than he was, yet couldn't be far from his age. Harry narrowed his eyes in realisation that he had seen her before, when he'd taken a long walk around the carnival. She'd been the one to carelessly avoid the queue of waiting guests and use the Smashers ride, skilfully crashing into the others with morbid enjoyment. Her black hair and blue eyes were more apparent than they had been then, causing him to further notice the contradicting mix of light and dark in her appearance. Her blue eyes were nothing like Mina's though, as Harry thought this girl was glaring at him from orbs of pure ice.

'I was just looking.' Harry said defensively. 'Who are you, anyway?'

'That's none of your business!' The girl snapped. 'I know you, of course. You're the new boy. Yeah, I've seen you around.' She approached him with an expression of dislike. 'What's your sob story? Not get enough hugs at home or something?'

'I don't have to tell you anything.' Harry returned. 'What about you?'

'That's not the same.' She growled. 'I'm not here because the carnival magically rescued me like it did for the others. I was forced here!'

'Oh.' Harry somehow couldn't find the will to be angry with her just because she was being so unfriendly. He supposed he'd have been rather annoyed too, if what she said was true about having no choice in joining the carnival. 'But...can't you just leave? What about your mum and dad?'

'I don't have a mum and dad anymore.' She said, looking away with shame as she clenched her fists at her side. 'I can't even remember them.'

'Me neither.' Harry replied. 'How long have you been here?' He didn't expect her to answer, since he noticed many to forget the specifics of when they had arrived and how long they'd been at the carnival.

'Four years, one month, and nine days.' She recited. 'Feels like ten years. What's your name? I didn't care before so I don't remember.'

'I'm Harry.' He told her, wondering why she cared now. 'What's your name?'

'They call me Chaos.' The girl sighed. 'I've earned it, really. It's not who I am, though...it's just a joke to them. It's not even my Carny name.'

'What's your real name?' Harry wondered, slightly glad to have met someone closer to his age.

She didn't answer, instead the girl looked over at a large puddle of water near the Smashers; left behind by the rain. He followed her gaze when she pointed to it and wondered what was so fascinating that it made her smile.

'It looks like fun.' She commented. 'I say we should jump in it.'

'We'll get all muddy.' Harry frowned and shook his head. 'And cold. No thanks. Besides-'

'Your dad won't approve?' She smirked. 'He'll scold you for being a bad boy and getting your clothes all wet, even if it can easily be fixed by magic? Are you scared, Harry? You don't want to have fun because of what others will think? Maybe if they jumped in a puddle once in a while, they won't think so poorly of it.'

Harry considered her words and looked at the puddle again. It did look like fun, though the consequences of what Severus would do if he returned to his tent like that...Harry wasn't sure it would be worth it.

'You want to.' The girl urged him. 'I can tell. Well, let me help!'

With a shove from both of her hands against his back, Harry felt himself falling towards the puddle. After a loud splash of sickening muddy water, Harry coughed and rolled over to face the laughing girl.

'That's not funny!' He said in frustration, feeling the cold water soak his clothes and tried to wipe some mud from his face. Watching her, he hit the water with his hand and sent it towards her. With a shriek, she opened her mouth with shock towards what he had done, while Harry deviously grinned back at her.

'I thought you said it would be fun?' He said.

'Oh, now you're gonna get it!' The girl jumped beside him, almost destroying their puddle entirely, and so a water fight of limited muddy water began.

A few carnies passed by, but didn't seem too surprised by the occurrence when they spotted the girl involved in it. After ten minutes, the two children stood and laughed as they remained covered from head to toe with mud and water. Without deciding it aloud, they then ran around looking for more puddles to demolish. Harry had to admit, she was right...it was fun and worth the mess.

Before long, however, they had to stop playing when the pair spent more time hugging themselves from the shivering cold than jumping into small pools of water. Teeth chattering, Harry just wanted to have a warm shower and change into dry, clean clothes. He looked at the girl, who was squeezing a section of her thick sweater to rid it of some water, and told her he had to go.

'Yeah.' She shrugged. 'I guess you should. I'll see you around again, right Harry?'

'Sure.' He nodded. 'I look forward to it.'

As she turned to walk away, the girl paused and glanced at him with obvious hesitation. With a loud huff of defeat and reluctance, she stood in front of him and offered her muddy hand towards Harry.

'I'm Ann.' She told him. 'That's my name.'

Harry smiled and shook her hand without a word, watching as she soon hurried away with a blushing face. He felt he'd made a sort-of friend and the carnival once again caused him to feel even more at home. Shivering, Harry rubbed his arms with his hands and headed towards the tents, hoping Severus wasn't there. He was lucky that time, to find the place otherwise empty, and was extra careful not to cause a mess as he gathered some fresh clothes and went for a shower.

His filthy shirt, pants, and socks were the only remaining evidence, which had just vanished away in the clothes basket.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Harry didn't notice his muddy footprints that led from the opening of the tent to the room he'd just left. Noticing the time, he rushed outside again and made his way to the main tent. Sitting across from Pete and Ryan, Harry was eager for dinner to start as he waited for Severus and Mina to arrive. Mac showed up alongside the pair when they did, and soon sat in the seat beside Pete as he looked across at Severus and continued their conversation regarding potion thickness.

Harry wondered if his professor had made an almost-friend today as well, like he had with Ann.

When Mina asked about his day, Harry happily told her and was enthusiastic until he reached the part about his new friend, becoming discouraged by the look of worry on Mina's face. She advised him to be careful of Ann and to never trust her, because she was called “Chaos” for a reason. He wanted to believe her, as Harry doubted Mina would have something like that if it wasn't true. Harry changed the subject anyway, still unsure if he should listen to Mina when he had no reason not to.

Ryan, Pete, and Mac looked displeased about Ann as well, so he thought maybe she could be someone to be more careful of. Still, Harry could not see what the big deal was. He shrugged off their concern and reached for his fork when his dinner appeared.

Ann didn't seem too bad, for a rude and annoying orphaned girl living in a carnival...and Harry was determined to give her a chance.

--

Later that night something somewhat unusual occurred in the tent Severus and Harry shared.

Both man and boy were standing in the bathroom; the child was once again fascinated by his ability to see properly as he stared at himself in the mirror, and the adult was furiously pondering the most appropriate way to chase the brat from the room. Severus stood a distance behind Harry, watching as the eleven-year-old altered his young appearance by messing his hair up, or pulling frowning expressions. Harry was usually very eager to flee to the room when he finished his shower (though he'd showered earlier after the incident with the mud, Severus didn't know this and Harry tried to keep it that way), yet this time he remained there in his pyjamas while Severus finally had to make sure he hadn't slipped and killed himself when the boy hadn't emerged from the room as expected.

'It has been two hours since I instructed to you make use of the shower.' Severus growled. 'Whilst others may gloriously worship your appearance, I can assure you that such praise is highly exaggerated.' He said. 'Do I need to throw you from the room or will you cease this vanity at once?'

'I made a friend today.' Harry told him, looking at Severus through the reflection. 'A girl named Ann.'

'Congratulations.' Severus said in a sarcastically dull tone.

'She pushed me into a puddle of muddy water, but then it was fun.' Harry continued.

'As evidenced by the trail of mud I had to clean earlier.' Severus muttered.

Harry turned around and frowned at the man, his hand still raised to hold a lock of his own hair. 'I think you made a friend today too.' He commented. 'With Stealth, I mean...Mac.'

'I have befriended no one in this atrocious place.' Severus said angrily. 'Get-Out!'

'Not even Mina?' Harry continued, though he inched away in fear of his professor actually tossing him from the bathroom. 'She's really nice.'

'You are trying my patience, brat! If I have to caution you against neglecting to do as you're told a final time, I assure you it will involve bodily harm in the process of removing you from this room.' Severus stated.

'Fine.' Harry grumbled. 'I was just trying to have a conversation! Why do you have to make everything so hard?' He marched out of the room and shoved the door shut, which would have slammed had Severus not waved his wand in time to prevent the abrupt noise.

Severus locked the door and thought Harry was perhaps the only person in the world who considered the bathroom to be a place in which to strike up a civil conversation with a professor he despised.

--

An hour later, Harry was sitting cross-legged on his bed and glaring towards the window. It was too cloudy to see the stars - regardless, he had no intention of going to sleep yet. He turned when he heard a noise, and Severus walked by. Jumping from his bed, Harry peered around his door frame and watched the man head to his own bedroom.

Severus paused and offered the boy a glare, which Harry reacted appropriately and shrunk away from in the process of retreating back to his own room. With an exhale, Severus walked to the boy's room and faced the defiant Gryffindor with an expression of dread.

'You and I shall never be friends, Harry.' Severus stated. 'It will take a great deal more than a conversation to alter such a fact. However, as I am all too aware of your rebellious inability to do as you are told, should you inevitably make another attempt at conversation, I advise you to at least choose an appropriate venue.'

'Don't worry, I won't try again.' Harry frowned. 'I just wanted to pretend for a minute that you were someone else. I thought, if I tried enough then you would be...and you'd want to hear about my new friend or tell me what you've been doing all day. I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again.' He looked away and moved to climb under the sheets of his bed.

'And whom did you have in mind?' Severus asked curiously.

'It doesn’t matter.' Harry turned away, his voice sounded angry and disappointed. He had wished calling Severus his “dad” in front of others was not just a slip he'd once made and had to maintain to avoid looking stupid.

'You're not him. You can never be him. Goodnight, sir.' Harry added and closed his eyes, praying his slumber would take over quickly before his emotions took hold.

'Very well.' Severus nodded and pulled the door almost closed, leaving it ajar exactly how Harry preferred it to be.

He walked to his own bedroom and stepped inside. Once under the covers, he conjured the doe Patronus has he had been every night since...well, he didn't really know how long. It was strange, as a few days ago Severus was certain of the facts regarding the past and now something so important didn't seem as clear as it once was. How long had they been at the carnival? He tried to count the days, except his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the boy. He wondered if Harry would indeed never try to have a conversation with him again, and more so Severus wished to understand why he even cared.

The boy had taken a chance and failed.

That failure meant Severus was spared from such awkward vocal interactions with the brat. He had also helped an elephant today out of mere whim, and saw something deeply familiar in the eyes of the creature. He hadn't worn his black robe again since Mina had stated he looked good in white - the same woman who wanted to hear his story and knew he wasn't a hero. Severus pondered on his day, and how out-of-character he considered himself to be on the day it had to rain.

As his eyes closed and sleep overcame him faster than it did the boy in the other room, Severus' last thoughts involved his fear of changing. When it came to a place he didn't understand or choose...the only thing that scared Severus more than being rejected, was being accepted and then somehow failing in the eyes of anyone who had given him a chance.

And finally, with his subconscious ebbing away his thoughts and fears...Severus would not remember the following morning, how in the moment he thought he was undergoing some sort of change within himself...Severus pictured not emerald eyes, but sapphire ones.

To be continued...
End Notes:
Please review...I would really appreciate it!
Befriending Chaos by watercrystals

Harry didn't move.

He remained still and tried to keep his breathing quiet as he slowly peered around the corner of the cage. Baxer, the tiger within the barred confinement, appeared to be sleeping. Harry cautiously walked away and hurried around the food carts. He guessed Ryan was watching him from his booth, But Harry ignored the teenager without turning to look at Gravity's booth at all.

It had been almost three weeks since Harry and Severus first arrived at the carnival. Time progressed at a decent pace, until Harry had met Ann. Every day since, he was on a mission and today was no different, despite the lack of people in the carnival due to the darkened clouds above. It didn't rain, as it had when Harry first met Ann, but few were willing to take any chances with the poor weather. Harry, though not a muggle guest, would risk being struck by lightning if he had to.

And it was entirely Ann's fault.

Crouched by the performance tent, Harry gulped and slowly rose as he prepared to make a run for it. Poised for the risky action, he had to clamp his hands over his mouth to withhold his shriek when someone suddenly tapped him on the back. Spinning around on the spot, Harry gave Ann the most evil glare he could manage. It wasn't very good though, as she only rolled her eyes at him.

'You're doing it wrong.' Ann said in a manner that instantly reminded Harry of Hermione. 'All this sneaking around is so obvious.' She crossed her arms over her dark purple sweater and wore an expression of a person who thought Harry lacked intelligence.

'You don't know what will happen if I'm caught.' Harry growled and wished she wouldn't intrude on his sneaking.

'Well, if you keep this up...I'll soon find out.' Ann said dismissively. 'Look, Harry...you need to blend in. He's called “Stealth” for a reason. And besides, he's not even there today.'

'What?' Harry hurried around the corner and looked across the path to the black booth with “Stealth” written across the top.

Narrowing his eyes as it was closed, as Ann had implied, Harry slumped his shoulders and sighed. He turned to look at the girl with annoyance, as though it was somehow her fault. It was, though, as Ann had been the one to tell him about the silver box that always sat on the counter of Stealth's booth. She'd told him how if anyone could take it without Mac knowing, they would be granted a special prize. According to Ann, only three people have ever successfully done it.

'Who have gotten the box before?' Harry asked her. 'What's in it?'

'I don't know what's inside.' Ann shrugged. 'King got it once, and Wildfire. I saw your dad get it the first morning.' She smirked. 'Stealth was so shocked.'

'Why do you think I can get it?' Harry frowned. 'And if you think you're sneakier than I am, why don't you get it?'

'I don't.' Ann shrugged. 'I don't want the prize. Besides, you're not branded so I reckon you've got a better chance. How else could your dad get it so soon?'

Harry didn't reply as he looked over at the Spinning Spider ride and wondered if it was as bad as he thought it looked to be. Ron would get scared just looking at it and Harry already felt a bit dizzy.

'It's not so bad.' Ann shrugged as she followed his gaze. 'I've been on it loads of times. It's stopping now – come on!'

'No way!' Harry pulled away from her hand, which had reached for him. 'I'm not going on that.' He shook his head.

'Yes, you are!' Ann insisted and held a handful of his shirt to pull him towards it. Harry was worried to realise she was much stronger than she looked. 'You're afraid of something you haven't even tried.' She continued and walked around the muggles who had just left the ride. Pushing Harry ahead of her to the cart that was the tip of the spider's nearest leg, Ann shut the door and sat beside him on the red seat.

'I want to get off.' Harry felt nauseous with nerves as though he had eaten spiders rather than being about to ride one. 'Ann, why are you making me to this?' He snapped at her, wishing he could have run away in time or shoved her away.

She flashed him a wide smile and didn't even bother to grip onto the safety bar in front of them, like Harry did. His hands were turning white as he tried to pretend it was a broomstick or large animal. Nothing worked and he was shaking when the ride began to move.

'Relax.' Ann rolled her eyes as she placed her hands behind her head and tried not to laugh at him.

'Shut up.' Harry growled, thinking she was an awful person right now.

It was impossible for him to relax as he sat inside a spider's leg about to spin around rapidly. It started off slow and he could make out some buildings in the far distance across the landscape. The second his grip slackened a tiny bit and he felt calmer, their surroundings blurred a bit more as the speed increased.

'Did I mention magical people have a bigger reaction when riding these rides?' Ann added as an afterthought. 'Since the rides are magic-created, sometimes our magic mixes with it and...Harry, you're looking very pale.'

Harry, unable to speak or hear her very properly, couldn't even force himself to close his eyes. His only proud moment was how he was able to keep himself from screaming as the ride spun and tilted him for many blurry minutes. When it began to slow, he was shoving Ann aside to get to the door. Jumping out, Harry hadn't prepared for the solid ground and gravity again, therefore he stumbled right over sideways onto the ground while Ann laughed from nearby.

'I'm sure it would be more fun if you went on it again. The first time is always rough.' Ann said as she watched Harry stable himself on two legs.

'Or if I said I wanted to.' Harry frowned. 'That wasn't very nice, Ann.'

'You have to face your fears, Harry.' Ann's amused expression was replaced with irritation. 'I'm trying to help you. If you're not scared, then it's not so bad.'

'It was horrible.' Harry groaned and felt dizzy. 'I'm going to lie down before I sick up.'

'Good plan.' Ann nodded as she saw how pale he still was. 'I'll see you at lunch. Bye!' She skipped away in the direction of the Smashers ride.

Harry slowly made his way to the residence tents and wondered why it felt so far away when it was important he get to his room as soon as possible.

Hunching over a few feet from the entrance of the tent he shared with Severus, Harry did not think he could make it to his room or preferably the bathroom. He forgot to tell Ann that he'd never been on any type of amusement ride before, nor did he like spinning around on anything. His dizziness and nausea did feel rather odd, maybe because of his lack of experience...he had no idea if it was supposed to feel this way or if something was actually wrong. What had Ann said about those who were magical and rode a magical ride? She seemed fine, though, so Harry just remained hunched and groaned, hoping his sickening sensation would fade.

It didn't.

The minutes passed and Harry felt worse.

Dizziness gave him a headache and his heart was pounding in his chest as he lowered himself to the ground. Feeling helpless and miserable, Harry didn't know what to do. He was lying there alone. Many would be on their way to lunch, so the likelihood of someone noticing was very slim, and he would be too far away and out of sight to be seen from the carnival. The moment he thought he would be doomed on his own, Harry expected Severus to arrive for one reason or another and scold him for being sprawled out on the ground. But no one came. Not even Mina, who Harry thought of next. He stayed there, until his head stopped aching and his heart rate became slightly more normal. Minutes passed and Harry closed his eyes, just resting there until he would be able to move again.

Finally, with a grimace, Harry shoved himself upwards so he was crouched on his hands and knees. Sweating, he whimpered and stood the best he could while shaking all over. Lifting his chin, he entered the tent and paused as he considered his destination. The bathroom would be useful if the nausea continued, however slipping and falling on the tiles would be bad for his health. Dragging his feet to his bedroom, Harry almost made it to his bed when a volumeous sound was heard from the room beside his.

'Ugh!' Harry grunted loudly and slid to the floor of his room, knocking his head against the side of his mattress. It hadn't hurt, however his head felt dizzy again and he found himself in a similar situation as he had outside. His eyes closed, Harry didn't have the willpower to do anything other than clutch his queasy stomach as he lay there, wondering whose hand was pressed against his forehead. He had been rescued and it was all that mattered. Harry's rescuer didn't speak, only lifted him onto his bed as Harry groaned again at the movement. The hand returned to his forehead as Harry felt his heartbeats calming and the dizziness gradually subsided.

'Harry?'

His eyes peeled open at the voice. His sight came into focus and he saw who was in the room with him, helping to increase his comfort after the horrid ordeal of the ride. It was Severus, and Harry found he wasn't surprised.

'What happened?' Severus asked in a controlled tone. 'Are you ill?' He judged this by the way the boy still had his hands over his stomach; Harry didn't have a temperature, though his face was pale and sweaty.

'Spinning spider.' Harry shuddered.

Severus spent very little time in the actual carnival, however he did know Harry was referring to one of the rides. The mere sight of it had caused Severus to recoil, as he had only been on a few rides in his life and all of them made him ill afterwards. And still Lily had insisted he join her to make her feel braver, thinking he would simply overcome his inner conflict towards the swirling, rocketing, and wavy motions.

A year after her death, he'd gone on a roller-coaster in her memory during a moment of grief...and had passed out before it started.

Severus looked down at her son and doubted James would have reacted the same way, being the Gryffindor Quidditch-lover he had been. Yet Lily's son did not share her determination to face the fearful rides and somehow come out okay. That was reason enough for Severus to place his hand against the boy's head for a third time. Still with no fever, Severus wasn't sure what the problem was.

'How do you feel?' Severus asked the child.

'Angry.' Harry grumbled. 'Ann made me...I didn't want to go on it.' He was able to speak more now, as his headache had faded and his limbs regained strength. His stomach, however, continued to worsen. 'Sick.' He said, noticing Severus' infamous glare being aimed his way, as Harry had clearly not answered the question properly right away. 'I feel really sick.'

And for the first time since arriving at the carnival, Severus suddenly realised the consequences of not choosing to continue brewing potions whenever he pleased. He could not summon a calming draught, or an anti-nausea potion. What if Harry had been poisoned? He had no antidotes on him either. All he had were a few headache drafts, a vial of dreamless sleep, and a bottle of mild healing draft.

'Get up.' Severus said and knew the boy wouldn't, so he reached over and grasped the child by his arm to pull him from the bed.

Harry protested and groaned until his legs gave away. Severus caught the boy easily with one arm and lifted the child to carry him rather than resolve to levitation. Severus had an instinctual feeling that using magic on the boy might hinder his recovery, though he had no evidence towards this...his instincts were rarely wrong.

Severus entered the main tent and ignored the sudden silence that came over the room, which was mostly filled with carnies as they watched Severus walk around the tables with Harry limp in his arms. The Potions Master did wonder why so many where indoors during the meal as most usually ate carnival food to avoid straying far from their booths and duties.

'Is Harry alright?' One of the wizards asked.

'Did something hurt the boy?' A dark woman questioned.

Severus ignored them all as he passed the lounging area with the blue sofas and walls lined with books. He reached the back of the tent were a portion of photos were pinned on the wall and glanced right to the doorway of bright blue curtain with animated golden stars. It was the Medical Wing, which Carter had pointed out when they'd first arrived, saying it was for the ill and injured.

The curtain was moved aside by Mac, who had been staring at the photographs when he'd noticed the pair. He didn't say a word, and Severus never even glanced at him as he stepped inside the room.

It wasn't a very large room and only had three beds, a wooden desk and chair, a large wardrobe, and an open door that revealed a small bathroom. A witch sat at the desk in a violet nurse outfit. She had strawberry blonde hair and dark blue eyes, with many freckles patterning her pale skin. When he entered, she stood and pointed to a random bed where he moved to place the boy.

Severus expected her to ask what happened or wave her wand to run diagnostics as Poppy did. She did neither. The witch placed her hand to Harry's forehead like Severus had many times earlier, and it seemed to tell her everything she needed to know about his condition except how it was brought about.

'His magic is unsettled.' She said in a smooth, serious tone. 'What has Harry told you?'

'He rode the Spinning Spider.' Severus informed her. 'And feels sick.'

'I see.' She nodded and glanced at the child, who appeared to have fallen into a merciful slumber. 'The rides are embalmed with the magic that created them. Muggles don't even notice, whereas witches and wizards may absorb a tiny portion of the magic and it may mix with their own signature amounts. Either Harry has a rare allergy to shared magic, or he was under a great deal of unprepared stress while he was on it. He has no fever and his breathing is normal, therefore, I am assuming the latter.'

'Typical.' Severus frowned. 'Count on the brat to find trouble where it is unexpected.'

'On the contrary, it's very expected for the first few times until one adapts or stop feeling over-stressed on one of our rides...of course, only if they're not previously informed.' She sighed. 'I'm Gloria, by the way.'

'Severus.' He replied while being under the impression she already knew his name. 'Will the boy recover on his own?'

'Yes.' Gloria nodded. 'Let him rest an hour, then Harry should be fine.'

The pair turned away from the sleeping child when the blue curtain was thrust aside as Mina entered quickly as though she had partially ran there. She moved to Harry's side and exhaled, pleased to see he was otherwise unharmed, before she turned to Gloria and demanded answers. Severus kept his distance as the boy was being attended to, however, with Mina's state of alarm upon having heard Harry was brought to the Medical Wing, Severus expected her to fuss over the boy as so many did. Instead, she continued to surprise him and took the calmed stance he now had, once she learned Harry would be okay and only needed a bit of rest to recover.

'Harry didn't want to go on that ride, did he?' Mina asked in a quiet voice as she watched the boy and spoke only to Severus. Gloria had returned to her desk where she was shuffling through some parchment.

'Apparently not.' Severus answered. 'He has befriended a girl close to his age. Ann. He claims she forced him to ride the Spinning Spider.'

'And I believe him.' Mina growled with clenched fists. 'That girl is nothing but trouble!'

'As is the boy.' Severus rolled his eyes.

'No, Harry is not.' Mina turned to him, grabbing his right wrist and rotating him enough to face her, which he pulled away from and glared back. 'Harry isn't anything like Ann. He is a kind boy with unsatisfying curiosity and the determination to stand against any injustice except the ones against himself. Ann is a spoiled brat who has no concern for anyone else. She is destructive, disobedient, and often cruel. She's like her damn godfather.'

'With your motherly treatment of Harry, I am surprised you would dislike another child so profoundly.' Severus had paused at her words though, not only because he hadn't expected the anger directed from her towards a young girl, but because of how familiar it was. How many times had Severus said things like that to himself or aloud? Harry was an attention-seeking, spoiled brat who was just as arrogant as his father James.

'You have been here three weeks, Severus.' Mina continued. 'I have been here years. That girl was trouble from the beginning and Carter ignored the issue. He lets her run around wild and she easily picked up on his traits. She is so much like him.' She narrowed her eyes and looked away from Harry, instead staring at the floor of the tent. 'I tried to reach out to her, I tried to help her...she literally spat in my face.'

Severus didn't know what to say, or if he should comment at all.

He had to admit, he doubted Harry would do something like that...if only because the boy would not be so foolish as to risk his life with such an offensive action. He glanced at the sleeping almost-twelve-year-old and felt unsettled by Mina's words against Ann. He had always been opposed to Harry for being like his father and Severus believed it was justified...until he heard Mina talk about Ann. It was so similar, and he wondered if they saw what others did not or if they were both blinded by dislike by projecting former hatreds onto a child.

'I have noticed, from my time as a Professor, that children rarely act out in such a profoundly offensive manner without first suffering injustice.' Severus shared. 'While I do not doubt Ann is indeed a brat, such behaviours for a young girl are quite extreme. Is she deliberately seeking to harm others? There may be a greater trouble at hand with that child, if what you say is true.'

'You would be a hypocrite not to believe me.' Mina said, her tone becoming quieter again though no less angered. 'Perhaps you should meet the girl. Then you will realise why everyone calls her “chaos” and why she is the only true outcast in this entire place. She is nothing but trouble.' She turned to leave but paused and faced him, moving very close to his face as she glared in a manner he actually felt uncomfortable with.

'Tell Harry I stopped by.' Mina whispered. 'If you ever compare him to Ann again, I will demonstrate precisely how much damage to ones dignity a man can endure. Do not challenge me on this matter, Severus. You have not been here long enough to understand. Ann is dangerous to Harry. If you care anything about his mother, than I suggest you protect him from that girl before something really goes wrong.'

She turned and left the tent, leaving Severus to feel anxious and as though she knew too much about him far too easily.

Mina had eaten earlier so she had no interest in the lunch meal taking place as she returned to the carnival. Pausing by Baxer's cage, Mina looked across the path and snarled silently at Ann. The girl had her back to Mina and likely didn't notice she was being watched, as the girl pressed her hands to the glass of the snake Marlee's habitat. She was whispering quietly and the snake seemed to pay enough attention whereas normally it would ignore those around her.

Mina did not mean to judge the girl so harshly, but she had hurt Harry without caring about what he'd wanted or how lucky she was to have someone try hard to be her friend. It was all Harry wanted...a friend. Unable to stand it, Mina marched over to Ann and grasped her shoulder, spinning her around so they were facing each other.

'Harry did not want to go on the ride.' Mina said. 'Why did you force him? Why do you want to hurt him?'

'He's fine!' Ann snapped, her saddened expression becoming angry and defiant as she squirmed out of Mina's grip. 'He was scared so I taught him not to be.'

'He's in the Medical Wing.' Mina frowned. 'He's not fine.'

'He'll adapt. Bad things happen all the time.' Ann turned away, not showing any concern for the boy's ill-being. 'Why do you care? You're not his mother!'

Mina halted as Ann turned and ran away in the direction of the paddock nearby. Her sapphire gaze remained fixated on the ground below the snake's habitat. Marlee watched her carefully, her bright yellow eyes unblinking as though she knew what was going on, even if she was just a snake. Mina swallowed and was frozen by Ann's words. Severus had noticed it as well, when he said she was behaving motherly to Harry. It was true, though...Harry was not her son. He was an orphan temporarily staying with his stern teacher at a carnival. He was not her family or her child...only her friend. But that's not how she saw him now. Mina couldn't help it and hadn't even realised what she was doing until now.

He wasn't her flesh and blood...Harry wasn't her son.

'Someone ought to be.' Mina decided. 'Family isn't always blood. Harry needs me, and I will be there for him.' She glanced towards the distance near the main tent. 'Just let them try to stop me.' She turned and marched towards her own tent, ducking instead as she felt determined in her decision. Harry wasn't her child, but Mina cared about him as though he was, and in her view...nothing anyone told her was going to change that. It was instinct, really, and she couldn't help it.

Sighing, he pulled a book-shaped wooden container from her desk and looked down at it emotionally. She did not open it, only gently brushed her fingertips over the image of a flying bird hand-carved on the front.

'Sparrow.' Mina whispered as a tear-drop landed on the box.


'You're not my dad!' Harry shouted as he stormed towards the opening of his residence tent. 'Stop telling me what to do!' He knew he'd pay for his words later, but right then he was furious at Severus. He marched away from the tents and was shocked the man hadn't chased him and slaughtered him on the spot.

He'd woken two hours ago and thought he'd get to relax after his ordeal with the ride and fear of his weakened, pained state afterwards. Instead, Severus had been right there and dragged him off to their tent. Harry had endured almost half an hour of a lecture involving picking friends, allowing others to force him to do things he knew would have ill consequences, about how it was the same arrogance his father had about his assumed invincibility, and of course the man had to end it with how worried Mina had been of him.

Guilt and anger mixed with shame had caused Harry to lash out.

He was fuming as he stormed off to the carnival and didn't look back to see if the dungeons beast was following him. Why did Severus have to be so nasty to him? Harry wished it was only that, but he was still hurt by what Ann had done and worst of all...how he had reacted. He felt so ashamed of himself for letting a girl overpower him and then how dreadful he felt afterwards when she was fine. He'd ended up in the Hospital Wing and the one part that bothered him the most...he had made Mina worry.

'Mina?' Harry dashed into Lady Swan's tent and looked around for her, frantic that she didn't like him anymore or was deeply upset by his actions. Severus being angry was expected and the man cared nothing for him, but Mina had been so nice to him and he ached at the idea of losing her.

Mina wasn't in her tent.

Harry's emerald gaze darted around at the fish swimming around in the walls and wondered where she could be. It was the middle of the afternoon so she wouldn't be at the main tent. Sighing, Harry still felt a little disorientated from his moment earlier and didn't want to run around the carnival in search of her. He resigned to looking for her during dinner, as his mood was too sour at the moment anyway and he didn't want Mina to think he was angry with her.

Leaving the tent, Harry nodded in greeting to Pete at the food carts and Ryan near the Ferris Wheel. It was his duty to help out anyone who needed it when he had free time. Harry had skipped on most of those duties today to sneak around on the mission Ann had challenged him to. Kicking a small rock with his shoe, Harry decided to wander around and ask anyone if they needed help. Curious by the paddock, Harry approached it and looked around for Rose - the lady he had met a while ago by the food carts with Wildfire. She was the one he had told about Severus being his dad, which was a lie. He had tried to avoid her since, but was at loss of what else he could spend his time with.

Spotting her with a bucket nearby, dressed in the typical cowgirl attire he had come to recognise her by, Harry hurried forward before she could enter the paddock.

'Hi!' He called out and soon reached her side.

'Oh, hello Harry.' Sasha smiled at him. 'What brings you here? I heard there was an incident earlier...are you okay now?'

'Yeah.' Harry shrugged. 'You're Rose, aren't you?'

'Sure am.' Sasha nodded. 'Would you like to help me out today?'

'Okay.' Harry agreed. 'What can I do?' He looked over the wooden fence and saw the horse and zebra grazing near the other end. He glanced at the golden tent with “Rose & Grace” written on it and wondered who Grace was. He decided not to ask, though, as the bucket of grain was handed to him.

'Go on.' Sasha nudged Harry towards the fence. He didn't see a gate, so Harry carefully (while trying not to drop the bucket or spill any grain), climbed over the fence and landed inside the paddock.

'Are they...tame?' Harry asked as the chestnut horse with a chipped ear instantly looked straight at him.

'I wouldn't use that word.' Sasha told him casually. 'They're family just like the people here. Even the animals need to find the carnival too. All the ones we have here have been through hard times too. Shake the bucket to show them you've got their food.'

'I think they know.' Harry said as the horse continued to stare at him. He shook the bucket anyway, making a rattling sound that caused the zebra to jerk his head up in attention.

'Don't be afraid.' Sasha said as Harry inched away when the pair of animals trotted over to him. 'Place some grain on your hand and let them realise you're a friend.'

Harry gulped and reached his hand into the bucket, holding out a handful of seeds to the horse, who was much taller than he was. He relaxed when the creature nibbled the food and seemed perfectly friendly. The zebra made a sound and turned away, keeping his distance as though he was the nervous one.

'What's wrong?' Harry wondered if he did something he wasn't supposed to.

'This is Cleon.' Sasha pat the horse's side and looked over at the zebra with a concerned frown. 'Stripe is...well, he hasn't been eating a lot lately. I don't know why. Something has him anxious.'

Harry looked over at her and thought she was voiding saying more. Peering around Cleon to get a better view of Stripe, Harry agreed with Sasha as the zebra did look rather frantic about something. Dropping the bucket so Cleon eat with Sasha standing there, Harry grasped a handful of grain and slowly approached Stripe. He glanced at Sasha and saw her hesitant expression as though she wanted to tell him to stay away. She said nothing, so Harry assumed the zebra wasn't wild or unfriendly, only scared.

'Hello, Stripe.' Harry said in a low tone in effort to calm himself and the creature who was shaking his head and stepping backwards if Harry moved too quickly. 'I'm Harry.' He talked to the zebra, who was younger than Harry realised at first and was actually much closer to his own height. 'I'm not going to hurt you. Don't you want something to eat?' He held out the grain, which the zebra eyed eagerly, before it tossed its had back and bolted. Watching the black and white animal run to the other end of the paddock, Harry felt disappointed he hadn't reached out to it, and worried about why it was so scared.

'Can I feed them tomorrow too?' Harry asked Sasha when he returned to watch her snatching the bucket from Cleon before he ate it all.

'Of course.' Sasha said in a distracted tone, still battling for the bucket with the horse. 'I'll wait for you.'

'Thanks.' Harry smiled. 'Is there anything else you need help with?'

'Not right now.' Sasha replied and frowned at Cleon, who had won the war for the bucket and was munching the grain again. 'I have to give Grace another riding lesson. She's hoping to put on a short show at the performance tent next month.' She sighed and offered Harry a short smile. 'I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow, Harry. Thank you.'

'Sure.' Harry waved and climbed back over the fence. Once on the other side, Harry turned and gasped as he was eye-to-eye with a distrustful Ann.

'What were you doing?' She demanded to know.

'Feeding Cleon.' Harry retorted. 'Where have you been? Did you know I was in the Medical Wing? And now Severus is angry at me. It's your fault!'

'I'm sorry.' Ann said, half genuine and mostly sarcastic. 'I thought you'd recover quickly. I didn't know you were so weak.'

'I'm not weak!' Harry snapped. 'You made me go on that ride! I've never been on one before and I was...' He gulped. 'It was really mean.'

'You've never been on a ride before?' Anna's eyes widened. 'Why didn't you say so?'

'You didn't give me a chance.' Harry looked away.

'Oh.' Anna sighed. 'Well, I wouldn't have done that...had I known.'

'I didn't want to do it. Why did you make me?' Harry didn't know what to think of her, but he was starting to wonder if everyone was right when they warned him about this girl.

'You were afraid. I wanted to show you that fear only gets in the way. You have to be brave or you'll always be afraid.' Ann shrugged. 'If we're to be defined by anything, it should be that when we're scared we choose to be brave than to run away.'

Harry paused and thought about her words, thinking she would have done well in his house of Gryffindor. She looked about his age, so he did wonder about that.

'Do you go to Hogwarts?' Harry asked and looked around to make sure no muggles were nearby to overhear. 'I think you'd make a good Gryffindor.'

'No.' Ann looked hastily elsewhere.

For the first time since Harry had met her, Ann actually looked troubled and unhappy. Not angry or mocking, but sad and confused or else longing for something. He felt his annoyance towards her fade, remembering how she said she had no choice in coming to the carnival.

'How old are you?' Harry asked.

'Twelve.' Ann replied. 'Last week. I missed my chance. I'm never going to Hogwarts.'

Harry watched her struggle with her emotions, no doubt trying to hide her misery and conceal it with anger. He wondered what would have happened if he had been excited to leave the Dursleys and go to Hogwarts, only to miss his chance. He was also confused, because he had followed her a lot the past week and never had he gotten the impression it was her birthday.

No one wished her Happy Birthday and no one seemed to care at all...if anything, they avoided her.

'I want to be your friend, Ann.' Harry told her. 'I've tried, but you don't seem to like me much.'

'I do like you.' Ann was shocked by his words. 'I do now, anyway. I've never had a friend before.' She exhaled. 'Look, we can't be friends unless you face your fears.' Her irritating attitude returned. 'I can't have a wimp for a friend.'

'What am I supposed to do?' Harry grumbled. 'I don't like rides. And I hate the idea of stealing.'

'Fine.' Ann looked around and her gaze lingered at the paddock. Turning, she pointed over at the tiger's cage, which was uncovered and showed Baxer asleep inside. 'Get inside with Baxer for a full two minutes, and I'll be your friend.'

'What?' Harry yelped and stared at the tiger who seemed to hate him and always looked as though he considered Harry an easy meal. 'Are you insane? No way!'

'He won't do anything.' Ann rolled her eyes. 'Baxer acts tough, but he's really not. I promise.'

Harry did not trust her and wanted to shake his head to deny such a stupid and reckless task. He didn't think he was fair to have to prove one deserved to be friends with someone else, but he didn't like the idea of being called weak and having no friends his age at the carnival. With a lot of inner debating, Harry looked back at the slumbering caged tiger and shuddered.

He couldn't do it.

'I...'

'You're afraid.' Ann rolled her eyes. 'I've seen how scared you are of Baxer. You always avoid him and are extra careful around him. He's a big kitten, really. You're always going to fear something so ridiculous if you let fear win. What happens if I got attacked and Baxer was out of his cage? How can I count you as a friend if I don't know if you'll help me because you're too scared?' Ann stated.

Harry grit his teeth together and reluctantly realised she had a point. He was brave...he had to be, to face all those things he did in his first year at Hogwarts. But Ann didn't know any of that. She didn't know how he had tried to save the Phliosopher's stone after escaping a giant three-headed-dog, a huge chess set, poisons, and then Lord Voldemort himself.

He didn't like being called a coward...so he had to prove otherwise.

'I'll do it.' Harry's voice came out shakier than he intended. He walked over to the back of the cage and the tiger didn't acknowledge him. Ann unlatched the metal hook keeping the barred door closed and the tiger contained.

'Two whole minutes.' Ann reminded him. 'Don't be afraid. He smells weakness.'

Harry climbed up the few steps and was shaking as he reached the partially open doorway. Baxer still hadn't opened his eyes or moved as Harry slowly edged into the cage. Maybe if the animal stayed asleep, this would be easy?

'Alright, I'm counting.' Ann nodded.

Harry's breath hitched as he saw her around the front of the cage. Looking over his shoulder he saw she'd locked him in. Too scared to wake the tiger by shouting at her to let him out, or otherwise moving at all, Harry sat on his knees and stared fearfully at the sleeping cat. For thirty seconds, he began to calm and think he might actually make it. Then the cat's eyes snapped open and harry fell backwards in alarm. Gulping, too petrified to move, he stared at the tiger and tried not to cry. The big cat was on all fours in a blink, his eyes fixated on Harry's as he watched the boy who had foolishly trapped himself in his cage.

Licking his lips, Baxer snarled and moved closer.

'Ann!' Harry whimpered. 'Let me out.'

'You're fine. One minute left.' Ann said from nearby, but Harry couldn't see or even hear her properly.

'N-nice kitty.' Harry trembled as Baxer watched him hungrily.

He wished Ryan wasn't busy entertaining customers, or Pete wasn't serving a large group of teenagers with large orders, so maybe they would save him. Not even Mina could, as she wasn't in her tent and Harry had no one else to rely on. No one other than Ann.

'Forty seconds.'

Harry shivered and watched the tiger in front of him, whose eyes were staring into his own. This predator was a lot bigger than he was, but Baxer was yet to actually do anything to him. Taking a risky chance, Harry reached his shuddering hand towards the cat just as Ann announced he had been inside the cage for two minutes. She said they were friends now and he heard the latch of the door unhinged. However, it could not have been Ann when strong arms wrapped around his middle and he was forced backwards out of the cage.

'Do you have a bloody death wish?'

Harry, standing on his own two legs as the cage door slammed shut behind him and Baxer released a snarl of dislike, he stared up at the last person he wanted to be caught or saved by. Severus Snape was beyond furious...he almost looked demented as he glared down at Harry and with their previous moment that resulted in Harry storming out of the tent, the boy suddenly feared more for his life now than he had inside the cage.

'He's just a big kitten, really.' Harry gasped out and looked to Ann for support. She was nowhere in sight, though at that moment he could not blame her this time, with the expression Severus had on his face as he gripped the front of Harry's shirt.

'You foolish boy!' Severus snapped. 'Reckless with no regard for the rules, just like your father.'

'Then why did you save me?' Harry felt exhilarated with confidence after surviving the encounter with Baxer, who had returned to his nap. 'Why didn't you let him eat me if you hate me so much?' Strangely, there were tears in his eyes as he said that. Harry didn't understand why, as Severus had always said mean things to him in the past while at school.

He turned to run away, but the grip on his shirt remained and Harry could not escape this time.

'Precisely.' Severus said in a dangerously low voice. 'Regardless of your friends and allies, brat...no one was able to save you from your own foolish desire to tempt death.'

'Then why did you?' Harry was confused as he continued to try to get away. 'Why did you save me if you don't even like me?'

'Someone ought to.' Severus replied as he released his grip on Harry. The boy stumbled backwards, yet remained still as he watched intently at Severus. 'Someone ought to care. Life and people are fickle that way...when the one we need the most is not always the one we want.'

Harry was quiet for a brief moment, until he raised his chin and forced himself to face Severus with his determined, still confused, gaze of emerald curiosity.

'And who do you need, sir?'

Severus didn't answer.

To be continued...
End Notes:
Next chapter: after facing the consequences of his actions with Baxer, Harry begins to think of his approaching twelfth birthday. Little does he know, it's on Severus' mind as well..

Please review, I would really appreciate the feedback!
End of the Seventh Month by watercrystals

Harry could not remember being as nervous as he was at that moment as he watched Severus pace moodily in front of him.

The boy was seated upon the sofa, staring anxiously at his muttering, furious professor. He had hoped, in a moment of fleeting awkwardness, that Severus would forget to punish Harry for sitting inside the tiger's cage. Of course, Severus never missed the chance to lecture and make Harry suffer before, so the Gryffindor didn't seriously expect to escape this situation without consequence.

He thought, in all fairness, it hadn't really been his fault.

Ann challenged Harry to spend two minutes within the beast's cage, and then locked him inside. It wasn't like he could just say “no”, right? She was a scary girl, and would probably shove him inside the cage, anyway. Besides, the ordeal was the condition to gain her friendship, and it was what Harry had wanted. Now he wasn't so sure. Severus halted abruptly and glared down at him, which made Harry feel as though he was shrinking under the angered expression of his professor.

'Do you have any idea how daft your sophomoric behaviour was?' Severus growled. 'Do you indeed have a death wish, or do you truly believe yourself to be above those of mortal status?'

'I know it was stupid.' Harry frowned and looked at his toes, which stuck out from the hem of his now too-long blue and white striped pyjamas. It seemed he'd made his clothes grow in his effort to disappear while Severus was pacing. Too amused by his use of magic, Harry was almost startled when his guardian spoke again.

'It was more than mere stupidity, brat!' Severus barked. 'It was suicidal; such idiocy beyond even your cretinous standards of disregard towards one's own safety.' He continued. 'Pray tell; why did you do it?'

Harry wasn't sure how to reply. He knew his answer would just make Severus angrier as it was a rather silly reason, when he thought about it. And he didn't want to get Ann yelled at too, so even he wasn't aware of what was being said when he muttered something incoherent under his breath.

'Brat-' Severus narrowed his eyes. 'Look. At. Me.'

Harry jerked his head upright at the dangerous tone and gulped, seeing the man's dark eyes glowering down into his own. He wriggled his fingers and felt them disappear inside his longer sleeves. His magic was very confusing sometimes.

'Why did you do it?' Severus repeated. 'Do. Not. Lie. To me.'

'I don't like being called a coward.' Harry grumbled.

It didn't actually matter what he said, as Severus stared intently at his emerald eyes with a silently cast spell. He flitted through the boy's mind for a few seconds, seeing the girl who must be Ann and realising the real reason why Harry acted so moronic.

The man glanced away first and did not comment on what he had seen. If there was any name, above all the rest, that Severus could not handle being referred to as, it would be “coward”. Despite the fact Harry was a child, Severus did not feel comfortable in faulting the boy for his line of thinking. However, it did not excuse jumping into a tiger's cage for any amount of time.

But how could he punish the boy?

Detentions and loss of points had no effect or function within the carnival, and simply locking Harry in his room would hardly get the message across. Uncomfortably, Severus shifted his footing and narrowed his eyes, being careful to keep his expression undecipherable. Maybe he could make the boy write down lines until the brat passed out?

'My dad would understand.' Harry's low, disgruntled tone reached Severus' ears, though he attempted to withhold his entire reaction. A snarl was heard from his throat as he glared over at the Gryffindor.

'Any father, regardless of how thick-headed yours may have been, would surely not wish his son to confine himself inside a cage with a predator.' Severus doubted his own words, due to his lowest opinions of James Potter. It did give him an idea, though. 'You're grounded.' He stated and ignored Harry's shocked response of a wide-eyed expression and stuttering.

'You can't do that!' Harry clenched his fists, enraged that Severus would be so unfair and use a punishment he felt was reserved only for parents. 'You're not my dad.'

'No.' Severus said through thin lips. 'I am, however, your adult guardian for the duration of our stay in this wretched place. That unfortunate duty allows a certain level of discipline you are long over-due to receive.' He waited for Harry to object again before he dashed forward and towered over the boy, effectively silencing him.

'One more word of disagreement, brat...' Severus threatened. 'And you will be immeasurably regretful.'

Harry snapped his jaw shut and glared at his professor. He sat there, defiant and furious, as he waited for the details of his unjustified grounding, which came from a man he felt had no right to give it.

'You shall attend each of your meals and perform your duties of assistance to the others at the carnival, as per you're required.' Severus detailed. 'You may not, however, engage in any amount of free time or wayward activities. You will keep your distance from that girl, Ann, regardless of what you may naively believe of her intentions.'

'For how long?' Harry growled through grit teeth, fighting the urge to complain with every fibre of his being.

'As long as necessary.' Severus retorted with a smirk. He made a warning gesture with his raised eyebrow when Harry opened his mouth, until the boy huffed and closed it again to sink backwards against the sofa.

'Can I go now?' Harry asked.

Severus looked the boy over and blinked with surprise.

When he didn't say anything, Harry assumed he was allowed to run off to his room. Severus could only roll his eyes when the boy stood and with his first step, stumbled forward onto the floor. Sprawled on his stomach, Harry took a moment to realise why he had trouble walking. The angered moment lost, he glanced at Severus with questioning as the man crouched beside him and examined the lengths of his pyjama sleeves.

Harry expected to be scolded for his accidental magic, as he had so many times while living with the Dursleys. Instead, he was startled to recognise amusement in his recent guardian's face. His regularly glaring and mocking professor was enlightened by the occurrence, and it confused Harry profoundly.

'Usually accidental magic only occurs in moments of profound stress, releasing of bottled anger, or upsetting fears.' Severus stated as Harry sat upright on the floor and watched the motions the man made with his ebony wand, re-sizing the sleeves to the length they should have been.

'Then why did this happen?' Harry wondered. 'I was annoyed, but not...what you said.'

'Perhaps your magic is seeking an outlet of its own.' Severus stood again and tucked his wand into the depths of his sleeve. 'I doubt it. It would make further sense if your magical core was developing at a different pace than it has adapted to. Possibly, it is a result of your recent misadventure with the Spinning Spider ride.' Severus said bitterly, thinking of the discomfort and sickening sensation Harry had experienced as a result of being forced on the ride.

Ann had been responsible for that as well, Severus knew. He despised the girl and was beginning to understand why Mina was so adamant in stating Ann to be nothing more than a trouble-maker.

'Go to your room.' Severus instructed. 'I will inform the house-elves to deliver your dinner here. I believe you have had quite enough mischief for one day.'

Hunching his shoulders since it meant he could not see any of the others as he often did during dinner, Harry knew better than to protest and marched off to his room. Taking pleasure in partially slamming his door shut, he jumped onto his bed and pressed his face into his pillow to keep himself from yelling or kicking something. The singular positive note he could find in the entire rotten circumstance was how he could delay finding out if Mina was mad at him for making her worry when he had been sick. He didn't have to face her; not yet, anyway, and it was the spark which ignited his motivation to calm himself and accept the punishment he was given.

For now, at least.

Harry knew he'd be in trouble again, not just because he was Harry Potter and trouble infallibly found him, nor as a result of Severus always hounding him for something, but simply because Harry knew nothing would keep Ann from getting what she wanted. He had not seen the last of her, as Ann would surely hunt him down once again. Harry rolled over onto his back and sighed, realising he was almost relieved to be having his dinner alone in his bedroom, away from Mina or Ann, and a mostly silent, moody professor being his only possible company during the rest of the night.


Breakfast began at six thirty every morning at the carnival, and every one of those mornings for approximately three weeks since Severus and Harry had resided there, the boy was impatiently ready to leave before the scheduled time. That morning, however, Severus approached the opening of the tent at twenty minutes after six and wondered where the boy was.

The door to Harry's room was partially ajar. Severus silently walked to it in the same way he used to stalk the Hogwarts corridors at night in search of late-night wanderers. He pressed his palm to the wood and lightly pushed it open with a deliberately slow motion. Harry was half-concealed under the bed, dressed in a pair of faded jeans, a blue shirt, and tattered shoes over white socks.

Lying on his stomach and facing the window, though it was out of sight because he was mostly under the bed, Harry appeared to be writing or drawing something. Severus inched closer, choosing careful footing as he peered towards the child to see what he was up to. He noticed a calendar sitting open in front of the boy, which Harry was apparently trying to figure out a date of something. There was nothing marked yet on the page of July, even as Harry hovered his pencil over the 31st in a circular motion as though he was noting its importance.

Severus pulled away and left the room. He had assumed it once he saw the calendar, and now he'd seen the confirmation of his thoughts. The brat was counting down to his twelfth birthday, and Severus' calculations indicated it would be the following day. Had they reached the end of July so soon? Where had the time gone, if they were already halfway through their stay at the carnival in accordance to their “two month” agreement?

He thought it would do Harry some good to be away from his likely doting relatives for his birthday, but Severus was unable to maintain that line of consideration. He was not blind; he could tell Petunia and her husband did not actually spoil the child, as evidence by Harry's thin form and ragged clothes.

Even so, Severus did not think the boy was very badly treated as he was far too defiant and social, he believed. Along with multiple other reasons he told himself to prevent becoming paranoid about the situation. Just because his childhood was poorly did not mean Severus should always jump to that conclusion with others. There could be different reasons for Harry's neglected appearance, Severus did not know...he had never chosen to pursue an investigation into the matter.

And yet, he could not ignore the fact Harry would not be surrounded by his family or friends during his approaching twelfth birthday. Even if the boy had taken a liking to many of the carnies, Severus was aware Harry missed Weasley and Granger. Harry may be meddlesome and arrogantly annoying, but Severus knew the brat was still a child. And no one of that age deserved to sit alone in a room with only their hated professor for company on their birthday.

'Harry!' Severus barked in his practised tone of irritation. 'Breakfast is to be served in three minutes. Cease dawdling; we haven't got all day!'

'Sorry!' Harry sounded as though he had whacked his head on the underside of the bed when Severus had called to him. Regardless, he soon emerged from his room with his hair in a mess and a sullen look on his face.

'You are grounded until I say otherwise; do not forget.' Severus lectured as they walked to the main tent, and made sure the boy stayed close enough to hear him. Any time Harry tried to quicken his pace, Severus would grasp his shoulder and yank him back to his side, ignoring the boy's squirms to escape.

'You will eat your meals at a timely manner, and fulfil your duties as required.' Severus continued. 'There is always something to be done; therefore, I will accept no excuses and no exceptions. Is this understood?'

'Yes, sir.' Harry groaned.

He almost took off running when the grip upon his shoulder was released and the main tent came into view right ahead and only managed to catch himself in time. As he reached the entrance, however, his urgency to flee inside was lost as he remembered Mina would be there.

'What now?' Severus snarled when the boy did not move.

'Mina's in there.' Harry looked at his shoes and sighed. 'I think she's angry at me for making her worry. I don't want her to hate me.'

'Nonsense.' Severus shoved the boy inside. 'Such a notion is impossible. If you are anxious over the possibility of her disappointment or anger, then perhaps you should wait until she is informed of your incident regarding the tiger yesterday.'

'No, sir!' Harry spun around so suddenly Severus almost bumped into him. 'Please don't tell Mina that, please! She'll really hate me then.'

'What am I being told?'

Harry grimaced at the sound of Mina's voice and wasn't aware Severus knew she had been there, in his own efforts to involve her without the boy openly realising his actions. She glanced at Severus and only he noticed the tiny change in her appearance, judged purely in her eyes, as she understood his motives.

'And I could never hate you, Harry.' Mina frowned. 'Why would you think such a thing?'

'Because...' Harry blushed and looked away. 'I did something stupid yesterday.'

'I see.' Mina nodded and guided Harry to their table, which was empty apart from herself, Harry, and Severus. 'Well, why don't you tell me about it? I assure you; I could never be capable of hating you.'

'You promise?' Harry whispered anxiously.

'My word is my promise.' Mina nodded. 'You'll feel better once you've told me. I do hope you weren't planning on keeping it a secret? I wouldn't want you to bottle up emotions that are bothering you in fear I would dislike you for them, Harry.'

'I'm sorry.' Harry muttered as what she said was true; he intended to keep it to himself for those reasons. 'You're so nice to me...I didn't want to make you mad. Or worry!' He looked at her, determined to get his point across. 'I didn't mean to make you worry about me when I got sick from the ride, honest!'

'Oh, Harry.' Mina sighed and shook her head. 'Of course I would worry. I care about you, and it made me sad to think you were harmed in any way. You shouldn't be sorry for that. I'm sure, if the situation was reversed, you would worry for someone you cared about as well?'

'Of course I would!' Harry said quickly. 'So...you're not mad?'

'No.' Mina smiled. 'Now, tell me what happened yesterday. Did I hear something about a tiger? Did Baxer do something?'

'Not really.' Harry focused on his plate of eggs, unable to meet her gaze in fear of her disapproval. 'I...well, I didn't want to be seen as a coward, so I sat in the...in the cage for two whole minutes. Baxer just watched me. I was okay, really-ouch!' He yelped when two squeezing fingers enclosed around his left ear.

'Severus, tell me this is an exaggeration?' Mina kept her grip on Harry's ear as she looked over at the man dressed in black pants and a white shirt.

He did his best not to appear smug or entertained by the ordeal Harry was enduring.

'Unfortunately, the boy speaks the truth.' Severus said in a dull tone. 'Had I not pulled him from the cage during the first opportune moment; I have no doubt the tiger would have made an easy snack of him.'

'Harry!' Mina frowned at him. 'How could you put yourself in such a dangerous situation?' She released his ear. 'Why would you do...wait, she told you to, didn't she? Did Ann make you sit in Baxer's cage, Harry? Tell me the truth.'

Harry rubbed his aching ear and did not reply. He was further annoyed to realise Mina and Severus had several things in common, such as the lectures and dislike of being lied to. He also did not want to get Ann in trouble. They were supposed to be friends now, and Harry knew Mina would forbid him to see Ann at all if he told her the truth.

'I chose to do it.' Harry said, which wasn't openly false. 'You said you wouldn't be mad.'

'I said I wouldn't hate you.' Mina corrected. 'You nearly gave me a heart-attack!' She gasped and placed a hand over her chest. 'Do you realise how dangerous that was? I thought you were afraid of Baxer, and the tiger has made no attempt to conceal his dislike of you.'

Severus slowed his pace of sipping from his morning tea when he heard the words he was casually eavesdropping on. It was shocking enough to have seen Harry sitting in the cage with the tiger, and now it was more so to understand the creature had prior dislike of the boy. He tried not to mentally re-live the moment, but Severus' mind continuously returned to the scene.

He had been walking down the narrow path in search of the brat who had run off earlier. Severus hadn't gone after Harry right away because he had needed a moment to calm himself, lest he actually strangle the Gryffindor. He halted in his tracks; his dark gaze landing on the sight of Harry sitting across from a predatory cat with his arm reaching towards it. Severus lost all sense and reasoning at that moment of fright. He had run forward, and the door of the cage flew open in reaction to his frantic magic before he even reached for it. He'd stretched forward only on instinct, curling his arms around the boy protectively and pulling him from the cage. The door dutifully swung shut again and latched itself.

Severus would not forget the moment, for as long as he lived; recalling the thundering of his own heart and sheer panic that overcame him. As his customary anger seeped into his form, Severus could not internally deny the rush of relief to seeing the boy standing unharmed in front of him.

His unmoving obsidian gaze was fixated on his plate as Severus tuned out of the conversation between Mina and Harry. His hands were under the table, each clenched at the material of his pants over his knees as he fought for calm.

He had protected the Gryffindor in any way he was able to during the past year at Hogwarts, and somehow nothing had compared to the moment with the tiger. Not when Harry was being tossed around high in the air by a jinxed broomstick, or the incident with the troll, or even many of the occurrences in the chambers of strangling Devil's Snare, violent chess piece battle, poisons of his own making, and Voldemort himself.

Perhaps because Severus had not openly witnessed those dangers about to happen, nor as closely, but for whatever the reason...the eleven-year-old child sitting inside a cage with a tiger had shaken Severus profoundly. And so strongly he hadn't thought of who the boy was, or why he had to protect him that fiercely...no, Severus had only reacted instantly without any realisation towards his actions or the reasoning behind them.

The boy had nearly died two days before his twelfth birthday celebration, which is why Severus saw it as exactly that.

The event on the 31st of July deserved to be noted, because the boy aging another year was an accomplishment, given the recent events. Harry had survived his encounter with the tiger, as he had survived his double confrontations with Voldemort, and Severus had recovered from his horror towards the entire experience...the Dark Lord be damned.

His thoughts reaching a halt, Severus felt a prickle of instinct and glanced from his plate to look over at Mina. Harry had gone to the other end of the tent to greet Ryan and Pete, who had just arrived for breakfast.

'What?' Severus frowned at Mina, as the woman continued to stare back at him with a too-knowing expression. He always felt exposed around her, and it agitated him terribly, which was why he had developed a habit of being snarkier than usual towards her.

She either failed to notice or simply didn't care.

'You were a Professor.' Mina stated. 'And even so, you're not the sort of person to let Harry evade the consequences of what happened yesterday. How did you punish him?'

'It is hardly any of your concern.' Severus returned. He could never tell if she was curious or accusing him of something, though in his view those two were often the same thing. 'He was adequately dealt with.'

'How?' Mina pressed. 'Harry insists you were very unreasonable.'

'Of course he would.' Severus rolled his eyes. 'If you must know; he was grounded. I have restricted him to his duties with no free time. He is also to avoid that girl I know was involved.'

'Ann?' Mina made a grunting noise of dislike. 'And you grounded him? So, what they say about you is closer to the truth then, is it?'

Before Severus could question what precisely was being said about him and what it had to do with how he had chosen a more parental method in regard to teaching the brat a lesson than a teacher's approach, Harry had rejoined them with extra company. Mina and Severus each looked away from the other and shifted on their seats at the same moment, paying little attention as Harry sat between them and chatted animatedly to Pete, Ryan, and Mac, who each sat across the table.


Harry was not happy with having his free time taken from him, though he probably shouldn't have had it to begin with.

He left breakfast shortly after Mina and Ryan, and wandered to the paddock where he had spoken to Sasha before the entire situation with Baxer. He'd agreed to visit her again to feed the horse Cleon and the reluctant, nervous zebra Stripe. Sasha hadn't really told him when to come by, and he didn't think they needed feeding until the afternoon, but Harry was bored and feeling a bit moody, so he preferred to climb onto the fence and sit on it as he watched the two creature eat grass in the distance.

He had a lot to think about too, with his birthday taking place tomorrow.

He was nervous about still not hearing about what happened to Hedwig and no one had seen her. Harry felt horrible and wished he knew if she was okay. Maybe she'd gone to the Weasleys or Hogwarts? Harry hoped so. Either way, this birthday was likely to pass by without acknowledgement or even a letter from any of his friends. He missed Ron and Hermione a lot. More so with each passing week, and he didn't know if they were worried he had disappeared and wasn't writing to them, or if they hadn't noticed at all.

It was still the summer, after all.

'A sickle for your thoughts?' Sasha spoke calmly from nearby as she approached him slowly, not wanting to startle Harry in case he fell off the fence.

'Oh, it's nothing.' Harry shrugged, even as his sigh of longing wasn't unmissed. 'I didn't know when to come here. I hope you don't mind?'

'Not at all.' Sasha replied. 'You're always welcome here, Harry. They don't need feeding, but I'm sure Cleon won't say no to some fresh company for a while.' She indicated to the chestnut horse, who was now watching Harry with interest, no doubt remembering the boy was the one with the food bucket the previous day. He had received quite a fill of grain from Harry, whereas Sasha often took a closer interest in his health on only limited a certain amount.

Cleon certainly liked Harry better.

'What about Stripe?' Harry looked over at the zebra.

'He's still anxious.' Sasha shook her head. 'I wish I knew why.' She glanced over her shoulder as customers approached, since the carnival had opened only a few minutes previous.

She excused herself and left Harry on the fence. He watched her head inside the golden booth before he focused on Stripe again.

Sliding down from the fence until his feet landed on the grass in the inside of the paddock, Harry reached into his pocket for a piece of bread he had taken from the breakfast table before realising he wasn't hungry enough to eat it. Not wanting to waste the food, Harry had pocketed it, and now he felt it would come in handy.

'Hey, Stripe.' Harry spoke in a careful tone as he took a step forward, holding out his open palm to reveal the bread. Luckily, Cleon had moved to a different section of the paddock and wasn't paying attention, otherwise Harry was sure the horse would have trotted over and stolen the food.

'No. I can't do it!'

Harry turned quickly when he heard Ann's voice. He saw her march out of the tent nearby, and Sasha followed her. The pair didn't get far and Harry couldn't make out all that was being said as there was still quite some distance between himself and the girls.

'Fine.' Sasha said. 'Give up. Prove to everyone how good you are by being a quitter.'

'Not one cares anyway!' Ann shouted back, sounding utterly livid.

'And what am I, your nanny?' Sasha looked hurt by Ann's words. She waited for the girl to reply, however, Ann hurried away without another word. Sasha sighed and stared at the ground, before she walked back to her booth and vanished from sight again.

Harry flinched when something touched his hand. He looked over to see his palm empty and thought for a moment that Stripe had finally come over while his back had been turned.

'Cleon.' Harry shook his head disapprovingly at the horse who was happily munching on the bread. 'That was for Stripe.' He frowned and decided to leave the paddock.

The boy was determined to get through to the zebra, even if he had to stand around with food scraps every day. For now he had duties to do, so Harry bid good-bye to Sasha and hurried into the depths of the carnival in search of a carny to assist.

--

Having spent almost the entire day shovelling elephant manure, Harry was exhausted by the time he'd finished his dinner and returned to his residential tent for a nice warm shower. Dropping onto his bed, Harry exhaled and reached under his pillow for his calendar. It was his birthday tonight, and Severus Snape or not...he would still go through his yearly tradition of staying up until midnight, counting down to being a year older.

Occupying himself with random drawings of Hedwig, Hogwarts, and Quidditch-related subjects, Harry was numbly aware of time passing by. With an hour until midnight, he was startled from his activity when his door swung open, which blew out two of the candles he had been using for light.

'What infernal reasoning do you have to still be awake at this time of night?' Severus glared at him.

Harry took a moment to reply, as he recovered from his shock of being interrupted and seeing his professor in his pyjamas.

'I'm sorry, sir.' Harry blushed. 'I hope I didn't wake you.'

'Your birthday will surely not pass you by whilst you sleep. I insist you go to bed. Now!' Severus glowered, having been unable to sleep himself as he knew the boy was awake and what sort of day it would be tomorrow.

'But it's tradition.' Harry sighed. 'I always stay up until midnight...wait, how did you know it will be my birthday?' He instantly became suspicious because Harry knew no one at the carnival was aware of the fact, and he certainly hadn't told his guardian at all.

Severus decided he was too tired and irritated to bother answering. He cast a charm to tell him what time it was and exhaled with dread. There was about fifty minutes until midnight and Severus had no desire to spend it trying to force the brat to sleep.

Grunting, Severus left the doorway of the boy's room and entered the main one. Sitting on an armchair, he levitated a book to his lap and decided to wait as well. There was no point in returning to his soft bed until the boy was asleep in his own, anyway. Unable to see the pages of the thick, red book he had chosen, Severus conjured and lit many more candles, which floated around the room in a similar manner the ones in the Great Hall did.

He paused, his wand still raised, when Harry slowly joined him and sat on the floor only a few feet away. He had a pile of scrap parchment, muggle paper, and an assortment of writing or colouring materials with him. Harry propped his muggle watch against the leg of the sofa and resumed his detailing of the feathers of the owl in his picture. Severus curiously glanced over his book to see what the boy was drawing, before he retreated backwards and flipped the page.

And so, the mostly quiet countdown to midnight began.

However, the moment came and went. By the time the sun had risen, there was concern sweeping through the form and mind of Mina. She rushed past several tents until she reached the one Harry and Severus shared. Peering carefully inside in case her worst fears had been confirmed, she was met with a rather unusual sight. It was just after seven in the morning, which was why she had sought out the pair in determination to discover why they had missed breakfast.

She entered the tent entirely, and a smile graced her features as she looked at the pair, who were each still dressed in their pyjamas. Harry was sprawled on his stomach, surrounded by papers and pencils. Severus was slumped in an armchair with a book sitting on the floor with his loosely hanging hand inches above it.

They were sound asleep.

Mina knew it was an important day, though, so she approached Severus first. Standing a short distance away, she pondered on the best method to wake him. Simply shaking him or placing herself in harm's way would be considered foolish, which was something Mina was not - for amusing reasons and very serious ones.

'Severus?' Mina spoke carefully. 'It's morning.'

'Hnn.' Severus made a sound and opened his eyes, not acting the slightest bit startled as she had been expecting. Wincing at his uncomfortable position and being caught in his sleepwear, Severus rubbed a hand over his blushing face and through his hectic hair. He followed her gaze to the boy, who remained blissfully oblivious of their company.

'Late night?' Mina wondered with a knowing smile.

'Apparently there was a tradition in which kept me from achieving any rest until it was fulfilled.' Severus grumbled.

He rose from his chair after retrieving the book and wandered sluggishly to his bedroom, no doubt to return in a more presentable attire and alertness. As he did that, Mina moved to lightly shake Harry. Surprisingly, he was the one who jerked upright with wide eyes and a gasp of alarm.

'Oh, hi.' Harry calmed when he saw Mina, his cheek flushing red as he let his sleepiness overwhelm him. 'It's my birthday today!' He blurted out, though mostly in vocalised realisation when he saw it was morning.

'I know.' Mina brushed some hair from his face with a fond smile. 'Happy Twelfth Birthday, Harry.'

'Thanks. But...how do you know?' Harry frowned, thinking too many people knew about his birthday already without him saying anything.

'Severus told me.' Mina looked over at the man who emerged from his bedroom, trying to button his white shirt and snuff a yawn at the same time. 'He's not a morning person really, is he?' She chuckled as Severus looked down at his own feet and returned to his room in search of his missing shoes.

'How did he know?' Harry huffed. 'I never told anyone here.'

'I'm glad Severus told me!' Mina cast Harry an exasperated look. 'How can we celebrate such a wonderful occasion if we don't know about it?' She shook her head. 'You missed breakfast, both of you. However, I do think the house elves will bring you something anyway, since it is such an important day. Run along and get dressed Harry...the others are waiting to wish you Happy Birthday.'

Harry's eyes and face lit up with a smile as he jumped from the floor and ran to his room to get dressed. His drawings and materials hovered after him with the aid of Mina's wand. Once the door slammed shut in the boy's excitement, Mina tried not to laugh as she walked over to where Severus was standing in his doorway.

'I believe you like to abide by comfortable schedules and regular sleeping hours.' Mina teased as she stood in front of Severus and ignored his glare when she reached to fix the top two buttons on his shirt for him.

Waving her wand to groom his hair, Mina checked for any other signs of early-morning disorientation. Looking at his face, their eyes met and she raised her hand to flick a strand of hair from his face.

'You really do look good in white.' Mina said in a soft tone. 'I'm glad you have taken to wearing it more often.' She smiled.

'It is a necessity, nothing more.' Severus retorted and wondered why his feet felt to be frozen to the floor or if the pounding in his ears really was from his own pulse. She was too close, with her bright blue eyes staring into his dark obsidian ones.

'I'm re...' Harry halted as he burst from his room and noticed the proximity of the adults.

He saw Mina blush with a smile as she looked away from Severus and took a step back. Severus seemed confused, though no less awake, before he returned to fiddling with his top button even if it was now properly done up.

'I'm ready.' Harry repeated, looking from Mina to Severus and back again. 'What's going on?'

Before another word was spoken, there was a loud screech and something whooshed into the room. Several items fell at Harry's feet, but he was preoccupied with the feathers in his face. As he swiped his blurry offender away, Mina stepped closer in hasty reaction, only to be halted by Severus' hand, which had lightly grabbed her elbow.

'It's the boy's owl.' Severus revealed, just as Harry discovered what was going on.

'Hedwig!' Harry exclaimed with shock and relief, when his owl screeched again and fluttered over to perch on the top of the nearest piece of furniture. 'You're okay. You found me!'

'The poor bird.' Mina said sympathetically.

'What do you mean?' Harry frowned and looked Hedwig over. Apart from being tired and having a few plucked feathers, she didn't look injured or otherwise poorly.

'Animals are not excluded from the magic hiding this carnival, Harry.' Mina explained. 'Your owl could only have found you by being lonely, longing of something she lost or wanted with all her heart, or having a desire for love and acceptance. You owl found you, yes, though likely because without you she had felt lonesome, desperate to be reunited with you while fearing you had abandoned her. Any one of those reasons....it's the only way she could have located you now.'

'Oh.' Harry looked sadly at Hedwig. 'I'm so, so sorry! I didn't know about the magic or that it would stop you from finding me. Will you forgive me, Hedwig? I promise I never forgot you or anything. I missed you...I'm so glad you're okay.'

After sharply biting Harry's ear with her beak, Hedwig hooted affectionately and seemed to have forgiven him, being equally happy to have finally found her magical boy after exhaustive weeks of endless searching.

'Let's not keep the others waiting, Birthday Boy!' Mina said as she reached and clasped Harry's hand in her own, giving it a tug to encourage him to move.

Her bright blue eyes shone with motherly love, though Harry remained entirely oblivious.

Harry nodded and glanced at Hedwig and saw her tucking her head under a wing, no doubt hoping to get some much-needed rest. Deciding to let her be for now, Harry expressed a wide grin in eager anticipation to his first real birthday celebration. He wasn't sure what to expect; Mina said there were several who wanted to wish him well and share the joy of his day, and that excited him. Heading to the door, his smaller hand gripping Mina's larger and far more elegant one, Harry startled her lightly when he stopped suddenly and turned around. Confusion on his face, Harry looked over at Severus and realised the man hadn't moved. In fact, his professor he had once thought to be vile and horrid almost looked uncertain and shy.

He didn't know how many emotions he had assumed on the man's usually blank face in the past few weeks, but Harry had never seen so much in the entire year prior. Was it because the carnival was so very different to Hogwarts, or was Severus himself somehow altered?

'Sir?' Harry looked at him boldly. 'Aren't you coming too?'

'I am not needed.' Severus replied in a familiar grumble. 'Go on. Your friends await.'

Before Harry could work out the words to say, Mina beat him to it with a stern yet kind expression on her face.

'You are wanted, Severus.' Mina said.

'And you are my friend.' Harry decided. 'I mean, if you're okay with that? I know you don't like me much, so I'm probably not your friend. But...you're my friend. I want you to come too.'

'See?' Mina chuckled. 'You've been invited, Severus. It would be rude not to accept. Besides, the house elves made plenty of cake and we will need your assistance in eating it.'

'Very well.' Severus agreed. 'I shall momentarily attend this event.'

'Okay.' Harry nodded. 'As long as you stay for the cake!' He said and hurried out of the tent, unlatching his hand from Mina's as he went.

'Oh yes, that is a must.' Mina winked at Severus, waiting by the opening for him to join her. This also prevented him from making a carefully crafted escape and disappearing for the rest of the day.

'You gain too much pleasure in teasing me.' Severus glowered at Mina as he passed her.

'You could have stopped me at any moment, if it truly bothered you.' Mina retorted as she joined his side and offered Severus a knowing smile. 'It's Harry's birthday; do you think you can manage a smile for us?'

'I doubt it.' Severus said sourly.

'Well, at least you're honest.' Mina sighed. 'Tell me, do you really not like Harry at all?'

Severus looked over at the twelve-year-old hurrying towards a small group nearby, and in the process of saying “no”, he could not make a sound. Closing his mouth, Severus decided not to reply as he continued walking at his slow pace. Mina seemed to understand, because she smiled and nodded her head.

'It's quite alright, Severus.' Mina whispered to him. 'Your secret is safe with me.'

To be continued...
End Notes:
Next chapter: Harry receives an exciting birthday present and learns some new skills, both muggle and magical. Meanwhile, who are the strangers lurking around the carnival and what dangers do they pose?


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