Minerva McGonagall strode down the halls of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry with only one thing on her mind and that was finally having permission from Albus to check on little Harry potter and to do that she was going to need the help of one Severus Snape. She stopped when she got to the portrait of a young dark haired man with a snake slung around his shoulders.

"Pass word" he said in a clipped tone.

"Slytherin heart" Minerva said loud and clear and was granted access when the door swung open. She went into the familiar room which was decorated in burgundy and a dark brown with mahogany finishing. Sitting in one of the black arm chairs by the fire was the very man she had come to see, reading what appeared to be a Sherlock Holmes novel; he looked up when he heard the door open and smiled upon seeing the woman who had always been a mother to him.

"Minny what can I do for you today?" he asked before indicating for her to take a seat.

"Severus I have finally been given permission by Albus to check on Harry but I have to do it in a way that will not let the Muggles know who I am" she told him. Severus scowled lightly at the idea of checking up on the Potter brat who was no doubt pampered like a prince but he would do anything for Minerva because she was the only one who had not judged him by his past when he came to work a Hogwarts.

"What do you plan to do?" Severus sighed.

"We are going to use the Muggle idea of the Strange Situation, I along with Albus have a child psychology degree and we will be watching Harry and Petunia through a one way mirror to see her interaction with Harry. You Severus will be acting as a stranger and go into the room when we say to see how Harry reacts to you. We will find out through this if Petunia is a suitable care giver." Minerva explained.

"Alright so when are we going to do this" Severus said, his only answer was a smirk.

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Petunia Dursley was not a happy bunny as she dragged her useless nephew through the halls of the University of Surrey; she was here to take part in an experiment looking at the attachment between children and the person who had adopted them. The only reason she was even doing this is because if she had not then a social worker would have come to the house to check on the horrible little freak. When she finally got to room 108 she was shocked to see it was set up as a play room, great not only did she have to spend the day with the freak but he got to have fun as well. A woman in her mid-fifties stepped out of the room
and smiled.

"Hello Mrs Dursley I am Minny McGhee and I will be in charge of the experiment today, did you read the over view of the eight steps that I sent you" when Petunia shook her head Minny sighed and explained "You and Harry will go into the room were Harry can play. A stranger will then come in and interact with Harry. You will then leave the room and the strange will stay. After two minutes or when Harry becomes distressed you will go back in and comfort him and the stranger will leave. You will then come out of the room and leave Harry on his own. The stranger will enter the room and try to comfort the boy. You will then go back in and comfort him yourself when the stranger fails to do so. Alright" Minny said sounding slightly exasperated. Petunia nodded and lead Harry into the room.

Once inside the room Harry sat on the floor next to the train set and began to play while Petunia first sneered then picked up a magazine and began to read. Harry continued to play even when he heard the door open and a male voice talk to Petunia. He in fact didn't look up until someone sat down on the floor beside him, he only looked up because this was such a shock that someone was willing to play on the floor with him no one else ever did. The man was dressed in black trousers and a light blue shirt; he had short cropped back hair and dark brown eyes.

"Hello Harry my name is Simon Smith" The man said softly and his eyes widened when Harry replied with a hello. Harry started to play with the stranger and didn't even notice when his aunt left the room however he did notice when the stranger stood up and with a hasty goodbye left the room through the other door. A shadow loomed over him; he looked up and whimpered slightly when he saw the angry face of his aunt.

"What did you say to him you horror, why didn't you cry when he came to you. I swear if you make me look bad one more time I will make what happened yesterday look like child's play" She growled before going and sitting back down, Harry whimpered once more at the thought of what his aunt would do, the toys now lay forgotten. After a minute or so she got back up and left the room, even though Harry didn't mind that his aunt had left he hated being alone so he started to cry. The other door opened and the man from earlier came back in Harry automatically started to crawl towards him wanting comfort.

Simon bent down and picked the little boy up, silently gasping at how light he was, however it was not the weight that made him tighten his grip on the little boy it was the bruises on his back that he could see when the collar of his T-shirt slipped. Harry instantly calmed down and grabbed the front of the man's shirt with one hand and put the thumb of the other hand into his mouth looking up at the man with big green doe eyes. Harry didn't notice when Petunia came back into the room again the only thing he cared about was the fact that he felt safe in this man's arms and was not going to let go of him.

Simon looked up when Petunia entered the room and sneered at her before pressing a button on the wall next to the door he just came through which terminated the experiment. Through the same door he just came through Minny came out accompanied by and old man who Petunia at once recognized as Albus Dumbledore the headmaster of Hogwarts.

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Severus, Minerva and Albus were sitting in the middle of the Dursley's living room opposite a fuming Petunia who realised that she had been tricked and was about to lose her secret meal ticket, the only reason the freaks were even still here was because they were waiting for Vernon to get home, as if summoned by her thought alone the front door opened and his voice rang through the house, waking up Harry who had until that time been fast asleep on Severus's knee. When he walked into the living room the first thing he did was zero in on the people on the sofa but before he could ask any questions Albus held up his hand.

"Mr Dursley we have come to take your nephew away from this house hold, I have to say that after what I have seen today I do not think that he will be missed." Albus said looking at the still sleepy boy resting his head on Severus's chest while watching his uncle.

"Why are you taking him away we have done everything we can for him? He will be missed if you take him we all love him." Vernon said with complete conviction

"Everything you can like cover his body in bruises and hand prints, like tell him he is a worthless freak and that his parents died I car crash because they didn't love him!" Severus said his voice rising with every word until his shouted the last three words causing Harry to shake and whimper, this calmed Severus who went back to hugging the little boy.

"Bruises, handprints, car crash what the hell are you talking about I would never lift a hand to a child especially not one who is in my care" when Vernon said this his voice took on an edge of steel.

"Severus perhaps it would be best to show Mr Dursley the evidence by taking off Harry's top" Minerva said speaking for the first time. Severus nodded before gently lifting the top from the little boy's body showing two livid hand prints around the boy's ribs and smaller bruises all over the top of the boy's body. Vernon got up off the sofa and came towards Severus and the little boy, he kneeled about half a foot away from Severus's legs and looked at the little boy.

"Harry who did this, please tell me so that I can make them pay" Vernon said gently but his eyes showed his anger, it was in that moment that Severus realised that this man had not hurt the child in his arms.

"…" Harry whispered something that none of them caught.

"Can you say that a little bit louder so I can hear you" Vernon said with a slight smile

"Aunt Petunia" Harry said before burying his face in Severus's chest. Albus, Minerva and Vernon gasped while Petunia became as white a sheet. Vernon rounded on her

"Tell me it is not true, tell me that they are not your hand prints and pinch marks on that sweet little child" Vernon demanded, Petunia sat looking lost opening and closing her mouth trying to find something to say. Before she could Vernon grabbed her by the arm and yanked her over to Harry, he gently pressed her had against the bruise on Harry's ribs finding it to be a perfect match. Vernon let go of her as if he had been burned.

"It was you, you have been abusing your own flesh and blood, not only that but the only thing you have left of you sweet sister Lily" Vernon whispered not quite able to grasp what his wife had done. Petunia looked to be searching for an excuse before she set her face and opened her mouth.

"Of course I abused the little freak, I knew he would be a magic freak just like his mother and when he had his first bout of magic at two I thought that you would think him a freak but no you picked him up a hugged him like a proud parent. I knew then that the boy would keep his powers and that you were just like my parents, that you thought having magic was something to be proud of, I know that it is something that freaks have and he needed to know it. So I made sure that whenever he did magic he was punished for it, the reason he has those bruise is because he turned Duddies yellow sweater blue when Dudley complained about the colour, Dudley just like you thought it was great and asked him to do more magic. He deserves everything that he gets." She explained as if commenting on the weather.

Vernon looked at her then at the little boy still cowering in Severus's arms "Harry why didn't you tell me the first time that she hit you I would have stopped her." Vernon told him.

"Aunty said that if I ever told you then you would hate me to and that she would start hurting Dudley" This caused Vernon to take the little one into his arms and hug him.

"I will never hate you I promise and Dudley will always be safe. I am going to have to give you back to the nice man now but I promise that I will come see you soon ok" Harry nodded his head before being given back to Severus.

"You can take him but I want to be able to come and see him and bring Dudley with me, I will be divorcing my wife and taking custody of my son. Please look after him" Vernon said to Severus. The man in question looked at the little boy then the man before him and gave a sad smile.

"You are always welcome to visit with or without your son and I will do everything in my power to keep him safe and happy" he said to Vernon then turned to Harry "Harry would you like to wait till Dudley gets back from his friend's house to say goodbye?" Severus asked.

"Yes please" Harry replied.

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After a tearful goodbye with his cousin Harry was apperated to Hogwarts were he would be living during the school year while the rest of the time he would be living at spinners end with Severus. Dumbledore had decided to give the man guardianship as Harry seemed most comfortable with him. So after a long drawn out process of claiming guardianship through the ministry and the goblins, Severus retired to his quarters.

An extra room had been added by Hogwarts herself and he gave the wall a pat as he went past and into Harry's room to settle the boy into his bed. He lay Harry down and tucked the cover around him. Tonight the child fell straight asleep but he knew that it would not always be that easy. There would be trouble ahead but he knew that he and his new ward would face it together.

As he walked out the room just before he turned out the lights he looked at the little boy in the bed and whispered "A Strange Situation indeed"