"You would, sir?" He finally managed to whisper. "But why?"

"Because as much as I may have disliked your father, the simple truth is that no one deserves to have grown up the way you have, Harry," Snape leant his head back and closed his eyes. "Your mother was my . . . best friend," he said slowly, faltering somewhat with his admission. He sat up and looked at Harry again, blinking several times. "And I can help you. I want to help you, if you'll let me."

Harry sniffled hard and rubbed a hand under his glasses in response. The fact that Snape was being so human in front of him—him—spoke volumes. It meant that he was serious, because the man didn't show his emotions in front of mere mortals like Harry Potter.

And that realisation sunk through him like an icy blast to his nervous system. Goosebumps appeared on his flesh and he shivered, wrapping his arms around himself suddenly as he understood what Snape was saying to him.

"Harry?" Snape pulled him in closer and had brought his duvet up around his shivering shoulders.

He means it! He means it! The phrase kept chanting in his mind and he dropped his head back down on Snape's chest as it pounded through him.

"Harry?" Snape asked softly and he made himself look up into those dark serious eyes.

"Well," he stammered, feeling a strange rush go through his stomach and heart as he timidly held his professor's gaze. "What would I call you?"

"Is that a 'yes?'"

It hit him all of sudden that Snape was every bit as nervous about this as he was!

Again, Harry put his arms around his centre and hugged himself tightly against the wave of confusing and overwhelming emotions bubbling through his system.

Taking a shuddering breath, he blinked and whispered, "Yes."

At his decision, Snitch abruptly woke up and began squeaking insistently at him. Looking down at his chest, he was surprised to find that his tiny pet was . . . bigger.

"Sir, he's bigger!" An amazed Harry said, holding his pet up to Severus' eye level.

"Indeed," a surprised Severus answered.

Snitch was still tiny, but whereas before he had only been about the size of Harry's palm, now he was the length of his entire hand.

The interruption provided by Snitch allowed both Harry and Severus a much needed reprieve from the overly emotional moment. By the time his pet fell asleep again, Harry found that he could breathe normally once more; his heartbeat no longer racketing loudly in his ears as he waited for the next surprise.

"Why do you think he's larger all of a sudden, sir?" Harry's wide eyes stared up at Severus.

"Severus," his professor offered in a soft voice.

"Sir?" A very befuddled Harry responded.

"You asked me what you should call me. I think it would be prudent for you to attempt to address me as Severus. That's my given name, if you recall," Severus said slowly, the barest hint of a smile touching the corners of his mouth.

Harry only stared back as his professor's words sunk in. Not only did the man seem to mean what he was saying, but he had told him to call him 'Severus' too!

"Severus," Harry blushed furiously and bowed his head against his professors—his guardian's chest.

"As to your pet," Severus said after a moment, "I'm beginning to see that the two of you are linked. Thus, when you grow—whether it be physically or emotionally—then Snitch does as well. Harry, look at me."

Nervous green eyes slowly met dark amber.

"You've grown emotionally, and therefore Snitch has grown in size."

. . .

In the end, Harry fell asleep against Severus' chest once more; the conversation fully draining what little energy he had managed to regain after the last flashback. Severus waited until the boy's body was completely lax against his own before getting up and tucking him under his covers with Snitch.

Standing up, he stretched carefully, the knots in his back twinging uncomfortably as he did. He knew they were from not getting any proper sleep over the past two days, and so after stealing one last gaze at the boy-who-lived-to-worm-his-way-into-his-heart, he crept out of the room and made his way to his own bed. He fell into it fully dressed and did not move for the next six hours.

After he awoke, he stumbled into his bathroom and took a much needed shower and then shaved. He was still sleepy and somewhat discombobulated, but at least he felt human again.

He found Hadwyn in his sitting room, studiously going through the lesson plans he had given him for each of the classes; Harry was nowhere to be seen.

"Surely the child is not still sleeping?" Severus inquired in a soft voice once Hadwyn had become aware of his presence.

"No, I suggested that he try writing letters to his friends with whatever he wanted to say to them, and that you or I would charm them afterwards for him."

"Charm them how?" Severus asked, his mind instantly going to several nasty "charms" he'd like to use on that nosy little Granger girl.

"Severus," Hadwyn said in a warning tone, the twinkle in his eyes belying his stern admonishment. "Secret binding contracts," he clarified. "The simple kind."

A simple secret binding contract merely prevented the reader of a contract—or missive—from sharing its secrets with anyone else not already "in the know."

"And did you share with him why it would be prudent not to share everything with his fuzzy haired friend?" Severus asked with a touch of distaste marring his features.

"I may have alluded to her threatening the headmaster and therefore putting his safety on the line," Hadwyn answered vaguely.

"How did he take it?" Severus eyes narrowed worriedly.

"Stiffened up, bit his lip, knuckles clenched, that sort of thing," Hadwyn said, his own face quite serious. "The boy needs you, and I think she needs to learn to trust him before he shares a secret of this magnitude with her."

Severus nodded slowly. He was touched-although he wouldn't admit it-over Hadwyn's faith in him.

"What of you? How are you faring?" He asked, waving his hand at the piles of papers and scrolls surrounding his old friend.

"The subject matter doesn't concern me," Hadwyn said, relaxing back into his seat with the change of subject. "But the prospect of being in a class with that many unknown students does."

Severus snorted at the other man's words. His friend had spoken truthfully, and he fully agreed.

"So you'd like me to give you a rundown of which students you should watch out for?" He asked, moving a few scrolls over to sit down on the sofa next to Hadwyn.

"I know, I know," Hadwyn answered, holding up two weathered hands. "All of them. Right, old friend?"

A sly smile came across Severus' face and Hadwyn dropped his head in his hands with a groan.

"I knew I should have said 'no,'" Hadwyn said, smiling a bit. "But then I wouldn't have met Harry, or found Snitch a home."

"True," Severus admitted with a slight incline of his head. "You'd best get your quill out if I'm going to take the time to go through all of the students for you."

He waited until Hadwyn had a freshly inked quill in his hands and something to write upon, before speaking.

"The first ones you should be aware of are the Weasley twins . . ."

. . .

'Dear Hermione,'Harry wrote at the top of the parchment. This was his third attempt at writing this letter and he was nearly ready just to tear this one up too. Hadwyn's words had bothered him, but he had appreciated that the older man had been willing to give him the truth. He was tired of people trying to keep him in the dark about such things.

'I can't believe,' he wrote, and then crossed it out. 'Actually, I can believe that you wouldn't believe me when I was told you I was okay with S-,' he faltered and then finished writing out, 'Snape. You don't ever,' he paused and stared at his paper angrily, and then crossed that out too. 'You don't listen to me when I tell you how I am, and I suppose I should have just expected that this time. Snape is a good person!'

Harry forced himself to relax his clenched fists. He is a good person! He's gonna take me in. He took me in. He's still taking me in!His thoughts raged at him from within his mind.

'You threatened the headmaster? That's so stupid! He could expel you and he'd be totally right in doing it. I figure you were just trying to keep me safe, yeah?'

This part was even harder to write. He turned to Snitch and scratched him in the good spot just under his chin, blinking his eyes hard against the emotion that seemed determined to well up there. Snitch squeaked at him and licked his little nose.

"Why did she have to be so stupid, huh Snitch? Her and Ron, always fighting around me. Why couldn't they have seen that I needed their help?" He sniffled again and looked away from Snitch. When he looked up again, his little orange and red creature was pulling something across the desk to him.

It was one of Snape's handkerchiefs. Snitch held it out and clicked his mouth at him.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," he said, picking up both the handkerchief and his little fuzzy pet at the same time. He blew his nose and then wrapped Snitch in a one armed hug. "Thanks."

With Snitch perched on his shoulder, Harry resolutely picked up his quill and began writing again.

. . .

Hadwyn had a vague impression that Severus was simply doing Father Christmas' job by writing out his list of 'bad children.'

"Wait, but I thought you said Marcus Flint was a 7th year last year?" He stopped Severus with a wave of his aching hand.

"His parents," Severus gave him a much exasperated glance, "asked that he repeat his 7th year and attempt an apprenticeship with one of the professors."

"You didn't—?" He started to ask.

If anything, Severus's expression only got darker with his suggestion. "I attempt to keep my students alive. Having Flint as an understudy would severely hinder those efforts."

"So who's he studying under?"

"Hagrid."

Hadwyn blinked and felt around in his ear for a moment. "Excuse me, did you say Hagrid?"

"His parents felt that it was necessary for him to learn a skill. Hagrid is teaching him a skill."

"And his pureblood fanatical parents didn't have anything to say about that?" He retorted incredulously.

"I was extremely blunt with them. They could allow him to be apprenticed under our games keeper, or he could fail out of school and be a drain on them for the rest of their lives."

"Well, when you put it like that," he nodded and shrugged.

"And provided he stays out of trouble, he is allowed to continue playing on the Slytherin Quidditch team," Severus finally added.

"Ah."

"Ah indeed. In my absence, you will be responsible for meeting with him once per week, and keeping an eye on his studies and anything else you feel inclined to ask him about."

"Got it," he answered, scribbling his notes down once more.

"Another one you should be aware of is the young Mr. Ralph Harper."

"How young?"

"He is twelve and quite rambunctious. I daresay they will enjoy having him on the Quidditch team next year though. I suggest that you make him aware of your presence, and then proceed to pop up unexpectedly in his life several times throughout the week."

They both smirked at Severus' words. There were more than a few like that on his list so far, but Hadwyn had already decided that if Severus could keep up with the little hellions, then he could too.

"Is Malfoy's scion still in your house?" Hadwyn asked next.

"Draco?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Little blonde haired twit?"

Amusement shone in Severus's dark eyes, but otherwise his face was serious. "He is much more tolerable than his father."

"Any others I should be aware of, at least within Slytherin?"

"Valerie Hobbs and Jayne Darc," Severus eyes rolled, and he let out an exasperated huff. "I count myself fortunate that those two young lasses like me," the Potions teacher hinted at vaguely.

Hadwyn was intrigued. "Well? Do go on, Severus. You know I need to be prepared," he added, leaning forwards with a grin.

"Prepared? But that is precisely the problem with these two, Hadwyn." Severus chuckled lightly.

"Valerie Hobbs is an extremely intelligent, and talented girl. If she ever wishes for a career as an escape artist she would give that American magician, Houdini, a mental breakdown. I have yet to discover a ward that she cannot break." His eyes then narrowed slightly. "As for Miss Darc . . ." he trailed off and his face sobered. "Well, if ever she were to go through with some of the inventive threats I have heard her use to scare students, even those older than herself, then I do believe that the Dark Lord will be in for some stiff competition."

"Surely you exaggerate, Severus!" argued Hadwyn, skepticism showing on his face.

"Jayne Darc is a quiet thing, Hadwyn, but she knows just how to scare others. I would say that her threats are merely defensive blather on her part, but there have been times when her wild magic has acted for her, and the results have been less than pleasant."

A contemplative look came into Hadwyn's eyes, before he countered with, "Sounds a bit like a Potions Master I know." He smiled at Severus and was rewarded with a glare.

"I do not 'threaten.'"

"True," Hadwyn admitted grudgingly. "You usually went through on those threats."

"I did enjoy the occasion where your hands turned backwards for an entire day," Severus answered with an evil shake of his eyebrows.

"I'm glad someone did," Hadwyn grumped back, his previous good humour abruptly absent.

. . .

Momentarily stalled out on the letter to Hermione, Harry decided to start on the one to Ron. In some ways, it was worse to write, if only because he wasn't furious at him. His only problem with his so-called best mate was the lack of attention the other boy had paid him over the previous term. If anything, he was disappointed in Ron.

'Ron,' he started out, his quill dragging on the paper reluctantly as he penned his note. 'I'm sorry that I can't talk to you in person, but I'm in a bit of a situation and believe it or not, Professor Snape is helping me with it. I don't know what Hermione has told you, but I'm with him 'cause I'm safe with him.'Harry threw his quill down and leaned his head back, closing his eyes tightly.

"A bit of a situation, eh Snitch?" Harry asked glumly after sitting back upright.

Snitch squeaked at him before crawling along his robes and patting his cheek with a tiny clawed hand.

'Professor Lupin,' he paused again and then narrowed his eyes in determination. A part of him almost hoped that Ron would get angry at him; maybe even angry enough to stop talking to him. 'I figured out something was going on, something bad was happening. Well, there isn't a good way to put this, so here's what happened. Lupin,' but again he stopped. His hand didn't seem to want to move.

His eyesight blurred and he sucked in a shuddery breath. "I hope he hates me. I hope he freaks out and never talks to me again," he babbled just under his breath to Snitch. His friend gave him a mournful sounding squeak, but he didn't notice. His anger and his fear twisted inside him like a living thing, fighting for a way out.

He picked up his quill again, imagining that it was the beast inside of his chest that was making him write.

'Professor Lupin raped me, Ron. And Snape is helping me and now he's going to take me away from school so I can get better and stop freaking out about everything. You can't tell Hermione. She thinks Snape's just hurting me and she's trying to get him in trouble. But he's not.' He underlined 'not' three times and then signed his name blindly at the bottom of the paper.

Tears spilled down his cheeks and he picked up Snitch and climbed up into his bed, curling up in a ball as he cried silently. His chest shook as he forced himself to keep his sobs silent, and Snitch curled a wing around his neck and lay down on the side of his head as he forced his anger and sadness out through his tears.

He only stopped when he became too exhausted to continue. And then his eyes drifted shut quite of their own volition, and he dropped into a deep sleep.

Snitch gave a mournful sigh of his own and then closed his eyes too.