"What do you mean he never made it home?" Minerva McGonagall demanded furiously.

            The man sitting behind the desk-Headmaster Albus Dumbledore-worried and warily eyed Minerva as if afraid she would start hexing him. She fixed her sternest glare on him as she folded her arms across her chest waiting for him to answer.

            Severus Snape, sitting in the shadows of the office, knew who she was referring to and couldn't help but sneer. Of course Potter would do something to attract attention for himself, the arrogant brat who is so like his father, he thought but said nothing out loud. The last thing he wanted to do was invite the wrath of Minerva McGonagall down on him, especially since she looked about ready to spit fire at the moment.

            "I mean what I said, Minerva," Albus Dumbledore said. "I decided to check the wards; they were supposed to update the instant Harry got home but they haven't yet."

            Severus narrowed his eyes. It was late around ten at night; it was too late for an almost twelve year old to be out of the house, even one as spoiled and pampered as Potter.

            "Are you sure they even picked him up, Albus?" Minerva demanded.

            "Why wouldn't they? He's their golden boy," Severus sneered.

            The Scottish Lioness glared at him. "Then how do you explain why he never made it home?" she demanded.

            "That's why I called both of you here," Albus said. "I need one of you to go to King's Cross Station and see if Harry is still there and one of you should check on the Dursleys home to see if he is there and the wards just didn't update for some reason. If he's not in either place then we'll have to look for him."

            "I'll check on the Dursleys," Minerva said; the anger was still there but Severus could hear undercurrents of worry. "I just hope he is there and the wards just didn't update." She turned and strode out of the office.

            "That leaves you to check King's Cross Station, Severus," Albus said looking at the Potions Master.

            "And if I do find him there, Albus?" Severus asked impassively.

            "Ask him what happened and then take him back to the Dursleys," Albus said with a shrug. "Perhaps his relatives just forgot."

            "Very well headmaster." Severus stood up and left the office inwardly cursing Potter. The brat just had to go and disappear; Severus was looking forward to finishing submitting his grades, returning to the home he inherited from his mother and getting some rest but now that would be delayed until Potter was found.

            Once he left the castle, he made his way past the wards and, turning on the spot and apparated to King's Cross Station with a barely heard crack that distilled the air. He arrived next to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10, which was the destination he had envisioned and looked around.

            The station was deserted though still lit so Severus could still see. He walked away from the barrier and began scanning the area for Potter. It shouldn't be that hard to see Potter if he was still in the station because it was still lit despite the late hour. There was no one that he could see though.

            Disillusioning himself, Severus wandered away from the barrier and toward the entrance to the station. He walked out of it and looked around for the brat but also making sure there was no one around just in case he had to reveal himself. There was no moon in the sky but starlight shone down on the sleeping city of London, though it did little to break through the darkness.

            "I'm not really surprised this happened," a soft, familiar voice sounded; the words sounded so matter-of-fact that Severus, walking toward the voice, wondered what the brat meant and who he was talking to. There was no one around that Severus could see.

            "I mean, my aunt and uncle have made it clear that they never wanted me from the beginning," Potter's voice murmured as Severus finally spotted him. He was lying on a bench next to a streetlight dressed in muggle clothing that looked two sizes too big and gently running his fingers along the chest of his snowy owl through the bars of the owl's cage.

            Severus frowned at Potter's words; they sounded defeated and sad as if he truly believed his own words.

            "Are you sure you delivered that letter, Hedwig? ‘Cause no one's arrived or anything," Potter said. Hedwig chirped but it was clear her chirp was irritated.

            "Okay, okay, I'm just making sure," Potter said.

            Severus frowned at that. Letter? Did Potter actually use common sense and send a letter? If so then why didn't anyone receive it? He wondered silently. He was about to reveal himself-startling the brat would be an added bonus-but paused when Potter began speaking again.

            "I hope Snape didn't get the letter. He'd probably burn it," the brat said with a sigh. "I don't even know why he hates me so much and to think I was actually interested in his class. It's kinda like chemistry in primary school, well harder than that but still. And he even accused me of not paying attention that very first day when I was just writing down what he was saying."

            Severus narrowed his eyes at that; he had noticed Potter was writing while he was giving his traditional first day of class speech. Had he really been doing that? He thought. He knew that Potter wasn't likely lying; he was talking to his owl and didn't know anyone was nearby after all.

            Although, him talking to his owl made Severus wondered if he should have stayed in Poppy's care after the incident with Quirrel.

            Thinking back to Potter's first words about him, Severus thought, does the brat actually believe that? He also thought about how Potter sounded so resigned when he accused Snape of hating him, which wasn't true. Severus didn't like Potter-he reminded him too much of his father but also brought back painful memories of his mother, especially because of his eyes-but he didn't hate the brat. He did save Potter's life during his first Quidditch game after all.

            "I hope someone gets here soon," Potter said. "If people walk by, they're going to think I'm weird for talking to an owl." He turned his gaze from Hedwig to the starry sky above.

            Well, at least he knows that what he's doing is odd, Severus thought deciding now would be a good time to reveal that he was there. He was curious about that letter though and wondered why it didn't reach anyone at Hogwarts. And if it did then who got it? And why didn't they give it to Albus or any of the other teachers?

            Canceling the disillusionment charm, Severus walked the remaining feet to the bench. "Mr. Potter," he said and smirked inwardly when Potter jumped and fell off the bench. He landed unceremoniously on the ground.

            "Ow," the boy muttered pushing himself to his feet before looking at Snape. "Snape?"

            "Professor Snape, Mr. Potter," Severus snapped folding his arms across his chest and giving the boy his best piercing glare. "What are you doing here?"

            Potter frowned. "You didn't get my letter, sir? I explained everything in that letter," he said.

            "No one received any letter, Mr. Potter," Severus said; he was being honest. "Professor Dumbledore received word that you never made it home though. Why was that?"

            Potter shrugged. "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon never arrived, sir," he said.

            "And why would they not arrive to pick up their golden boy?" Severus sneered.

            Potter's green eyes flashed but he remained silent and shrugged again.

            "Shrugging is not an answer, Potter," Severus snapped.

            "Why do you care?" Potter retorted.

            "I'm one of your teachers, Potter. It's a teacher's duty to make sure their students are safe," Severus said. That was true though the real reason why Severus was there making sure the brat was safe was because of the promise he made to Lily.

            "Now answer the question," he demanded.

            Potter glared at him before looking away. "Maybe they just forgot," he said but Severus, having trained as a spy for years, could catch the lie easily.

            "You're lying," he said. "Now come, I'm taking you home now."

            Potter said nothing; he simply nodded and grabbed his trunk and Hedwig's cage. Severus, wondering why Potter didn't get upset at being accused of lying-though he was-took the boy's arm and apparated to Privet Drive.

. . .

            Minerva McGonagall apparated to Privet Drive almost as soon as she was past the wards of Hogwarts before making her way down the street toward the Dursley's home. When she reached the house, though, she was surprised to find that there didn't seem to be anyone home. There wasn't a car in the driveway and all the lights inside the house were off.

            Maybe they're asleep, she thought walking over to the door. She needed to confirm that Harry was there before she returned to Hogwarts. Knocking on the door, she waited but no sound seemed to come from inside the home. She frowned before knocking again but, again, there was no answer.

            Sighing, Minerva stepped back wondering what to do now. She didn't want to just let herself in-that was rude-but she needed to know that the boy was all right. She decided that she would stay there until she came up with an idea of what to do next. Hopefully, Harry was all right.

            She didn't have to wait long.

            About ten minutes later, Minerva, in her cat form, was sitting on the fence that separated the Dursley's home from their neighbors washing her ears when Severus arrived with Harry in tow. Relieved to see that Harry was all right and curious to know what happened, Minerva bounded off the fence and blurred into her human form.

            "Severus," she greeted the Potions Master who didn't bat an eyelash at her sudden appearance.

            "Minerva, I found your wayward cub," Severus said.

            "Hey Professor McGonagall," Harry said at the same time.

            Minerva smiled at him. "Hello Mr. Potter. Where did you find him, Severus?" She asked looking back at the Potions Master.

            "King's Cross Station," Severus said. "Apparently, his dear relatives didn't pick him up."

            "I don't even think they're home," Minerva said looking back to the house. "I didn't want to just let myself in because that's rude but no one answered when I knocked."

            "Uncle Vernon's car isn't here," Harry said frowning. Dragging his trunk behind him, he walked over to the door. He turned the knob and, to Minerva's surprise, it opened.

            "That's weird. Uncle Vernon always locks the door before he goes to bed," Harry said before he pushed the door all the way open and glanced at the two professors. "You can come in if you want."

            Personally, Minerva wanted to know why the door was unlocked so she walked after Harry into the house shielding her eyes from the glare of the lights when Harry turned them on. What she saw shocked her to the core.

            The house was completely empty; there were no pieces of furniture, no pictures on the wall, nothing except papers and trash lying scattered on the dust-covered floor. It looked as though no one had been living in the house for months.

            Even Harry looked shocked.

            "Mr. Potter, why don't you go to your room and get some rest?" Minerva suggested hoping her voice sounded gentle though she was starting to feel anger, once again, course through her.

            "Um, okay," Harry said sounding dazed but he began making his way up the stairs taking Hedwig's cage with him though he left his trunk by the door leading into the cupboard beneath the stairs. Only when he was out of sight and out of earshot did Minerva turn on Severus, eyes blazing with fury.

            "They haven't been living in this house for months!" She hissed casting a silencing charm over them before she began speaking. "No wonder they didn't pick Harry up at King's Cross Station. They weren't here to pick him up! I knew they were the worst sort of muggle out there, I knew it!"

            Severus's wand was in his hand and he murmured a spell; a pale-blue light shot from his wand before Severus shook his head. "There are no traces of any kind of magic, Minerva. I can't even detect any wards around this place. Albus did say that the wards would fall if Petunia left this house and it looks like that is what they did."

            "But why?"

            "Ask Potter."

            Minerva's lips thinned. "You better not blame Harry for this, Severus," she said coolly.

            "I was not," Severus growled. "I am simply saying that Potter knows his aunt and uncle better than anyone."

            "Except you."

            Severus snorted. "I only knew Petunia and not nearly as well as I knew Lily. Petunia always hated me," he said.

            "Still, could she have done this?"

            "I wouldn't think she would stoop low enough to leave her nephew without protection even though she knew that he was in danger without the blood wards. Albus said he told her that in the letter he left for her," Severus said.

            "And yet all the evidence suggests that that's exactly what she did," Minerva said; her anger was still there but now she sounded worried. "What should we do? He's no longer safe here now that the wards have fallen."

            "We may as well take him back to Hogwarts, Minerva," Severus said.

            Minerva sighed but nodded and canceled the silencing charm. "I'll go get Harry," she said and made her way upstairs.

. . .

            Harry Potter was surprised that his aunt, uncle and cousin had actually abandoned him; left him at King's Cross Station, packed up everything in the house and left. They took everything, even what was in Dudley's second bedroom that had been given to Harry after the first several letters hare arrived back in July. Harry was literally left with only the clothes on his back and in his trunk.

            He sighed, putting Hedwig's cage down before stretching his fingers through the bars and gently stroking Hedwig's chest. The snowy owl chirped and Harry smiled at the owl before retracting his fingers and standing up. He walked over to the window and opened it letting in some of the warm, summer air into his room hoping it'll clear out the stuffiness.

            He then wandered back to his trunk. Professor McGonagall had told him to rest but, since he didn't have a bed to rest on, Harry decided that he might as well distract him and the only thing he had to do was his summer homework. Granted, he didn't want to do homework on the first day of summer vacation but there really was nothing else he could do.

            Harry decided to start on the summer assignment for Potions, he really did think Potions was interesting even if he didn't really like the teacher or understood why Snape hated him so much. As he dug out a parchment roll, a quill and inkpot and his Potions textbook, Harry noticed he couldn't hear anything from downstairs.

            Did they leave? He wondered silently as he turned to the page in the textbook and began working on his assignment.

            He only got a little ways through it when a knock sounded on his door. "Come in," he said looking up as Professor McGonagall made her way into the room stopping and looking around.

            "Where is everything, Mr. Potter?" she asked.

            "I dunno, Professor," Harry said shrugging putting down the quill.

            McGonagall was looking around and Harry could see fury in her eyes. He knew that the anger wasn't directed at him but he couldn't help but shift away from her. "Those...despicable...good for nothing...muggles," she snarled furiously.

            Harry was gazing wide-eyed at the Transfigurations Professor, shocked because he's never seen Professor McGonagall so angry before.

            McGonagall took a deep breath to calm herself before looking at Harry. "Come, Mr. Potter. We're leaving," she said.

            "Professor Dumbledore said I had to stay here though," Harry said a bit bitterly. He had tried to tell Dumbledore that he wasn't happy with the Dursleys but all Dumbledore did was tell him that he had to stay with his aunt and uncle and offered him a sherbet lemon.

            "You aren't safe here, Mr. Potter, despite what Professor Dumbledore says," McGonagall said. "Now come."

            Harry stood up and returned his inkpot, quill, textbook and assignment to his trunk. McGonagall then shrunk his trunk so that he could carry it easier. "Thanks Professor," Harry said putting the shrunken trunk into the pocket of his pants. He then grabbed Hedwig's cage and followed McGonagall down the stairs.

            Snape raised an eyebrow at McGonagall when she joined them. "What happened this time, Minerva?" he asked.

            "Despicable muggles," McGonagall growled. "They even took everything that was in Mr. Potter's room, everything. There wasn't even a bed in the room."

            Snape's lips thinned but he said nothing though Harry saw a brief flicker of quiet anger in the Potion Masters' normally impassive obsidian eyes as he turned and strode from the house. "Come on, the sooner Albus knows about this, the better," he said without glancing back.

            "Yes, Albus and I are definitely going to have a long talk about this," McGonagall said furiously leading the way out of the house.

            Harry trailed after them not once glancing back at the house that had been where he lived for the past almost eleven years. Where am I going to go now? He thought.

            McGonagall took his arm gently. "We're going to sidelong apparate," she said.

            Ron had told him about apparition so all he did was nod. McGonagall then turned on the spot and the two of them disappeared with a crack.

            They reappeared on a path with Hogwarts rising up in front of them; Snape appeared at their side and strode toward the gates without a backwards glance. McGonagall shook her head and after making sure Harry was all right-he was though he was a little nauseous-she followed the Potions Professor.

            Harry walked after the two professors in silence still thinking about where he would go now that his relatives abandoned him.

            After a moment’s consideration, it was decided that Harry would go see Poppy, who was the only one besides Minerva and Severus who was at Hogwarts at the time, while Minerva and Severus went to see Albus. Minerva insisted that Poppy check on Harry just in case though it was doubtful he was hurt or anything. He was probably just hungry though Minerva was surprised that he wasn’t more shocked by his relatives’ sudden departure.

            She was furious but she restrained herself so that she wouldn’t end up hexing Albus, even though she sourly wanted to do so. She couldn’t believe Albus had left that innocent little boy with his despicable relatives and, practically as soon as Harry was out of their sights, they packed up and left him.

            She thinned her lips as she and Severus neared the gargoyle leading to Albus’s office before she cast a sidelong look at the younger man at her side. She knew that he had treated Harry badly during the year but that was only because he saw Harry as a carbon copy of his father—a boy who was spoiled rotten by his loving relatives. Minerva hoped that seeing the truth would help Severus see that Harry was not his father.

            Severus was as impassive as ever but Minerva wasn’t fooled. She knew how much Severus hated neglect and child abuse and abandonment could be classified as either; he did not condone it and, despite how emotionless he seemed, Minerva knew he was seething inside. She knew this only because it’s happened before, several times.

            She remembered one time very well. It had been five years ago with a Ravenclaw muggleborn. The muggleborn had been abused at home for being magical and Severus had noticed the signs. He had reported them to both Filius, as the girl’s head, and Minerva, as Deputy Headmistress, and the three of them told Albus together. The way she remembered Severus explaining the situation to Albus, he had spoken with such a tone of voice that suggested he was barely restraining his fury.

            Minerva knew that Severus wouldn’t condone the Dursleys’ abandonment of Harry no matter how much he disliked the boy. She really did think that hate was too strong a word to describe what Severus felt for Harry. He may not like Harry because the boy was James’s son but Minerva knew that Severus knew that Harry was Lily’s son as well and he loved Lily. If anything, he only disliked Harry because the boy was also Lily’s son.

            After saying the password at the gargoyle, the two professors made their way upstairs and into Albus’s office. He was still seated behind his desk and looked up at the two professors putting down the quill he had been writing with. “Minerva, Severus, welcome back,” he greeted them. “Did you find Mr. Potter?”

            Minerva was about to respond when Severus cut in smoothly saying, “We did. He is currently with Poppy.”

            The Head of Gryffindor House heard the same tone that he used when he discovered that abused Ravenclaw muggleborn but she wasn’t at all surprised.

            Albus’s brow furrowed. “Severus, what is he doing here?” he asked.

            “He is not safe at his relatives’ home,” Severus said curling his lip into a sneer.

            Albus frowned. “My boy, I don’t understand…”

            “It is quite simple, headmaster,” Severus said, “the blood wards around the Dursleys’ home have fallen, they were nonexistent when we arrived and Mr. Potter was still at King’s Cross when I found him. When we went to the Dursleys’ home, we found that it was completely empty, everything was gone and it looked like it hadn’t been lived in for months. Plus, I detected no signs of any kind of magic, dark or otherwise.”

            Albus looked concerned. “Petunia wasn’t supposed to leave,” he said with a frown. “I told her that she wasn’t in order to protect Harry.”

            “Obviously she has,” Severus sneered folding his arms across his chest.

            “I am sure that this was all a misunderstanding. I’m sure if I find the Dursleys…”

            “A misunderstanding?!” Minerva hissed furiously unable to stay silent any longer. “They abandoned him, they haven’t been living in that house for months and you think this is all a misunderstanding! I told you they were the worst sort of muggle! I told you! And they’ve gone and proven me right! Now what do you plan on doing about it, Albus?!”

            “And how were you not alerted to the fact that the blood wards fell, Albus?” Severus asked narrowing his eyes. “Surely you must have at least some idea of when it happened.”

            “The blood wards wouldn’t fall unless the family no longer considered that place their home, Severus,” Albus said. “Or no one has been living in the house for more than six months. They would have weakened if the family hadn’t been living in the house for a month but would not have fallen until at least six months of no one living in the house.”

            “Then how is it that you only thought the wards were weakened and had not fallen?” Minerva demanded angrily.

            “Because it looks the same and I assumed that Petunia would adhere to the promise she made to me when I went to speak to them after Harry’s first bout of accidental magic when he was three,” Albus said.

            Severus snorted. “Petunia has never been known to keep any of her promises,” he said coolly eyes glittering with anger. “Now that she is gone, what is to happen to the Potter brat?”’

            “Well, we will surely need to find the Dursleys…”

            “You can’t seriously think of sending him back there! They abandoned him for Merlin’s sake!” Minerva shouted.

            “Minerva, you must understand that Harry is safest with the Dursleys,” Albus said gently before wincing when Minerva glared at him.

            The floo chose that moment to flare to life and Poppy’s head appeared in the green flames. “Albus, may I step through?” she asked.

            “Of course, my dear,” Albus said and Poppy’s head disappeared before her entire body appeared from the flames. She dusted herself off and walked forward.

            “How’s Harry?” Minerva asked.

            “Sleeping now,” Poppy said. “But, before that, when I was giving him something to eat, I asked him what happened. He told me that his aunt and uncle didn’t pick him up but I was surprised by how he sounded. He wasn’t surprised at all.”

            “That would match up to what he was saying to his owl when I found him,” Severus said.

            Minerva raised an eyebrow. “He was talking to his owl?”

            Severus simply said, “Perhaps he should have stayed a while longer in Poppy’s care.”

             “He was perfectly fine when he left, Severus,” Poppy said glaring at the Potions Master.

            “He was probably bored,” Minerva said. “But what did he say?”

            “Only that he wasn’t surprised that his relatives abandoned him,” Severus said. “He also said he sent a letter with his owl but, obviously, no one received it.”

            “That’s odd,” Minerva said frowning. “Surely someone must have received it.”

            “If they had then I’m sure they would have come here,” Albus said.

            “Well, whatever happened, what are we going to do about Harry?”

            “I am sure that if I explain everything to the Dursleys again then they will understand. But we must find him. Until then, we will need someone to watch over Harry,” Albus said. “I suggest that he stays with a teacher for now until the Dursleys are found as I trust no one else with his protection.”

            “If I didn’t have prior commitments with my children and grandchildren then I wouldn’t mind watching over him,” Minerva admitted.

            “I also have family commitments,” Poppy said regretfully.

            “I figured that,” Albus said with a small smile before looking at Severus.

            “No,” Severus said shortly.

            “You do not even know what I’m going to…”

            “Yes I do, Albus, and the answer is still no.”

            “Severus, you are the only one left who can watch over Harry and will ensure his safety and protection,” Albus said.

            “I have no desire to watch over the Potter brat,” Severus scowled.

            “It will only be for a few days, Severus, maybe a week or two depending on how long it takes me to find the Dursleys,” Albus said.

            “I’m sure there are others who can watch Potter,” Severus said.

            “None that I trust, Severus,” Albus said. “Do it for Lily.”

            “Potter would never agree,” Severus said though his jaw clenched.

            “I’m sure he will once I explain everything to him,” the headmaster said standing up. “Severus, it is only for a few weeks at the most and this is not open for any more discussion.”

            “Very well headmaster,” Severus said though Minerva knew he was not happy.

. . .

            Harry woke up to find himself lying on a familiar bed in a familiar room.

            Sitting up as the memory of what happened earlier—or the day before since Harry wasn’t sure what time it was—came back to him, Harry looked around just as the door to the Hospital Wing opened and Madame Pomfrey walked in with the Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape just behind her.

            “Good morning, Mr. Potter,” Pomfrey greeted him.

            “Morning?”

            “Yes, you slept through the night, which is good since it was rather late when you got here,” Pomfrey said before she called for a house elf to deliver Harry his breakfast.

            “Hello Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore greeted him as he began eating slowly. “Can you tell us what happened yesterday?”

            Harry swallowed a bite of his eggs before looking up. “Didn’t Professor Snape or Professor McGonagall already tell you, Professor?” he asked.

            “They did but I would like to hear your side of the story,” Dumbledore replied.

            Harry picked at his food. “My aunt and uncle didn’t pick me up,” he said. “Professor Snape came and took me back home but they weren’t home. The house was empty and we came here.”

            Dumbledore nodded. “That is what Professor Snape told me,” he said. “So, until we find your relatives, you’re going to be staying with one of our teachers. It will only be for a few weeks, Harry.”

            Harry frowned. “Who?”

            “Professor Snape.”

            Eyes going wide, Harry warily eyed his most disliked professor who seemed to hate him for no reason. “But…”

            “Believe me, Potter, I do not like it anymore than you do,” Snape said shortly before Harry could voice his objection.

            “It is only for a few weeks at the most, my boy,” Dumbledore said gently, “just until we find your relatives.”

            Harry didn’t know if being with Snape would be better than being with the Dursleys but he knew that there was no point in protesting since it was obvious Dumbledore had already made up his mind. He just nodded sullenly.

            “Marvelous,” Dumbledore said clasping his hands together. “Severus, are you planning on returning home for the summer?”

            “I only have a few more final assignments to grade then yes,” Snape said flatly.

            “Then I suppose Harry will have to stay with you in your quarters until you are done. I shall set out to find Mr. and Mrs. Dursley right away.” Without another word, the headmaster turned and walked out of the Hospital Wing.

            Harry finished eating his breakfast and Pomfrey waved her wand banishing the tray before she said, “You may leave now, Mr. Potter, though I do suggest you eat more. You’re too skinny.”

            Harry flushed in embarrassment as he climbed off the hospital bed.

            McGonagall was still in the Hospital Wing and she smiled gently at him. “I will see you next year, Mr. Potter,” she said before she, giving Snape one long look, turned and left the Hospital Wing.

            “Come, Potter,” Snape said shortly and led the way out of the large room. Harry followed him taking his trunk and his owl’s cage with him.

            They walked in silence down the hallway toward the dungeons until they came to a portrait of a sword with snakes coiled around it. Snape came to a stop at the portrait before murmuring something under his breath and the portrait changed to a doorway that Snape walked past.

            Harry trailed after him into the Potion Professor’s office. It was dark but that was quickly fixed by a wave of Snape’s wand. The walls were lined with jars of Potion ingredients and the desk that sat in the middle of the office was covered with pieces of parchment, an inkpot and a jar carrying quills.

            “Come, Potter. I’m sure the headmaster has already asked Hogwarts to add a room to my quarters for the day,” Snape said striding past the office to another door that Harry figured led to the professor’s quarters.

            He followed him.

            Snape’s quarters were small but also done in gentle earth tones. In the living room was a couch over the back of which was a green quilt sitting across from a fireplace. An armchair stood at an angle facing the fireplace and, resting on the wall across from the armchair was a bookshelf that seemed to overflow with books. There were four doors lining the wall that Harry figured led to other rooms.

            Huh, I would’ve thought it’d be black and dreary, Harry thought.

            “Come on, Potter,” Snape growled. He was already walking down the short hall toward one of the doors and Harry hastily hurried after him. He didn’t want to get on the professor’s bad side, more so than he already was since the professor already hated him.

            “This is your room, Potter, for the next day or so anyway,” Snape said shortly pushing the door open.

            Harry stared; the room was easily twice the size of his room back in the Dursley’s home with a window charmed to resemble the Quidditch pitch outside. There was a four-poster bed in the room’s center with a nightstand next to it and a wardrobe sitting near the magicked window with gray carpet stretching from wall to wall. Other than that, it was empty.

            “This is mine?” Harry asked looking at the professor.

            Snape’s upper lip curled. “I suppose it is not as good as what you’re used to but it’ll do,” he sneered.

            “It’s better than what I’m used to,” Harry said before he could stop himself.

            Snape’s eyebrow rose but all he said was, “I want you to know that this is only temporary until your relatives are found but, until then, you’ll listen to and obey my rules. For one, my study, which is the room across from yours, is off limits. If you get hungry, just ask a house elf and your owl is free to leave when she wishes. That window is also magicked to allow your owl to leave and return when she wishes. I’ll be in my office grading. Do not disturb me unless you absolutely have to.” He stressed out that last rule before he turned and walked away, cloak billowing around him, before Harry could reply.

            Wonder if his rules’ll be different when we go to his actual home, Harry thought walking over to the nightstand and placing Hedwig’s cage on it. He scratched his owl’s chest before unlocking the cage and Hedwig flew out before chirping.

            “I can’t believe I’m actually gonna stay with Snape of all people,” Harry said softly to the owl as she landed on the nightstand and began preening her feathers. “Well, he’s not being nasty to me like he was during school so I guess that’s a good thing. And it’s only for a few days to a few weeks, though I’m not looking forward to the Dursleys returning.”

            Sighing, Harry decided that to continue working on his summer homework like he was when Professor McGonagall came to get him. He wasn’t like Hermione but he also wanted to be a good student, even if he didn’t want Ron to know that, and it would also give him something to do to pass the time since he didn’t have chores to do for the Dursleys until they got back.

            Pulling out his Potions textbook, the parchment he had started working on back at Privet Drive and a quill and inkpot, Harry set to work.

. . .

            Albus Dumbledore apparated to Privet Drive before making his way down the street to number four to find, just as Minerva and Severus had said, it completely empty. The lights were off, there was no car in the driveway and it looked like it hadn’t been inhabited in a while. Albus didn’t doubt his two professors but to see it for himself saddened him.

            He thought that Petunia’s promise would keep her there to protect Harry but it was shocking to see that when he returned to the Wizarding World, she just decided to leave. He hoped that he could make her see reason and come back to watch her nephew.

            Having cast a disillusionment charm on him when he got there, Albus made his way into the home. He wandered around it, wand in hand as he cast a spell to determine if the wards were indeed gone. He didn’t doubt Severus but it was always a good idea to be certain.

            Just as Severus said, there were no wards around the house and Albus could easily see by the lack of furniture and the amount of dust that the Dursleys really hadn’t been living there for a while. He cast another spell; this time, it was a spell to confirm how long it’s been since the wards officially fell, which was something he couldn’t figure out in his office at Hogwarts.

            He was even more saddened when the results came back saying that the wards fell nine months earlier, which was around the time Harry left to attend Hogwarts. He shook his head sorrow in his normally twinkling blue eyes. He needed to know why they did this and, perhaps, he may have a chance to persuade them to return.

            But he needed to find them first.

            He decided to ask Arabella, the squib who had been sent to Privet Drive to watch over Harry, and see if she knows anything about where the Dursleys could have gone. Walking out of the house, Albus made his way across the street and, looking around to make sure there were no muggles around, canceled the disillusionment charm.

            He knocked on the door and, a moment later, Arabella opened it. She looked surprised to find him standing there but there was also a gleam of relief in her eyes that took Albus by surprise. “Albus, it’s about time,” she said stepping back. “Come in, come in.”

            Albus frowned but stepped into the house anyway.

            “Tea?” Arabella asked closing the door behind him.

            “Yes, thank you,” Albus said before he sat down on one of the couches disturbing the half-Kneazle that had been sleeping there. With a baleful glare at the colorful wizard, the half-Kneazle leapt off the couch and padded away.

            Arabella handed him a cup of tea before sitting down across from him in an armchair. “I know I should have informed you before hand, Albus, but I just didn’t want to believe what I was seeing especially to such an innocent boy. I mean, they were only suspicions after all and I didn’t think you’d believe me. But then little Harry left to go to Hogwarts and the Dursleys packed up everything the very next day and left!”

            “Do you know where they went?” Albus asked sipping at his tea.

            “No though I overheard Vernon Dursley say something about his sister Marge. I don’t know where she lives though but she’s just as nasty as Vernon and Petunia are,” Arabella said coolly. “It was when they just left the day after little Harry left to go to Hogwarts that I realized I should’ve told you my suspicions all those years ago.”

            There was sorrow in her eyes. “I should’ve done something! That poor boy! But it was all suspicions. I had no proof.” She shook her head.

            “Arabella, I don’t understand .What were you suspicious of?” Albus asked genuinely confused.

            “I believe Harry was being mistreated by his relatives, Albus,” Arabella said. “He was much too small for his age—he looks like he’s eight or nine—and I’ve seen him outside, shoveling snow, weeding the garden, since he was four or five. His cousin and his friends are always bullying him and it doesn’t look like his aunt and uncle do anything to help him. And that’s only what I’ve seen! I think it’s worse than this, Albus.”

            “Arabella, these are fairly serious accusations,” Albus said uncertainly. He didn’t like what the squib was telling him, even if there was no proof to back them up.

            “I know and I know that I’ve got no proof but still!” Arabella looked really distressed and Albus stretched out a hand before placing it on the old woman’s arm.

            “Calm down, Arabella,” he said. “I need to find them, Arabella. Harry’s only safe here…”

            “Not from his relatives if my suspicions are right,” Arabella said angrily.

            “We don’t know that your suspicions are right or not, Arabella,” Albus pointed out standing up. “I thank you for the tea, Arabella, but I must go.”

            “Is Harry safe at least, Albus?” Arabella asked.

            “Yes, he is.”

            “Good. I hope I’m wrong, Albus, but if I’m not then I hope Harry’ll be all right,” Arabella said softly as she stood up and showed Albus to the door.

            “I’m sure he will be, Arabella,” Albus assured the old woman before he left the house and, once he was sure there was no one around, he apparated away back to Hogwarts.

            As he entered the school, though, Minerva joined him. “Albus, did you find the Dursleys?” she asked.

            Albus shook his head. “I have a lead but I don’t know where Vernon’s sister lives,” he said. “I’m thinking of using a tracking charm though.”

            “Might be the only way unless you want to go through muggle authorities,” Minerva said, “but you would stand out a bit.”

            Albus chuckled knowing his Deputy Headmistress was right.

            “By the way, Albus, the Minister of Magic wants to speak to you,” Minerva added. “He just floo-called but I told him that you were busy and would get back to him when you got back to Hogwarts.”

            Albus nodded. “I will floo-call him right away. How are Severus and Harry?”

            “I checked in on them an hour ago and they’re fine.”

            “Good. I’d better not keep Minister Fudge waiting for much longer,” Albus said before he made his way toward his office.

            Severus was working on grading assignments in his office mindful of the boy who was in the room that had been given to him for the few days Severus would be at Hogwarts finishing his grading. His thoughts went to everything he had learned over the course of the day before; the Dursleys abandoning Potter, Potter not surprised by it and the fact that Potter was not the spoiled pampered prince Severus always thought he was. He could still remember the surprise in Potter’s eyes when he had seen the room he had been given even though it wasn’t much. And Potter’s words; it’s better than what I’m used to.

            Severus put his quill down and rubbed his temple. He didn’t know how he was going to survive a few weeks, at most, with Potter. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with a spoiled brat but all the questions that were swimming around in his head; he didn’t have any answers to them. He had noticed little things today, like his surprise at being given such a large room and his lack of surprise by his relatives abandoning him, and they were hinting that something was not right.

            Now if only Severus could figure out what those hints were really trying to tell him.

            Pushing the thoughts away, Severus refocused on the assignments he was grading; he needed to get them done and he knew that he wouldn’t if he spent all his time contemplating the enigma that was Potter. Granted, that contemplation was a welcoming relief from having to read through dunderheads who didn’t know how to write if their lives depended on it, and that was just spelling-wise.

            By the time lunch came around, Severus had managed to get through half of the assignments and his head was hurting. Swallowing a headache potion, he made his way back into his quarters to get something to eat for lunch. He paused when he noticed his quarters were quiet and wondered were Potter was; surely the boy knew it was lunchtime.

            He probably just asked the house elves, Severus thought but he still made his way to the room; he told himself it was because leaving an almost twelve year old to his own devices for too long wasn’t smart.

            Knocking on the door, he heard a soft “come in” before he opened the door. He was surprised to see Potter seated on the four-poster bed in the center of the room chewing on the end of his quill while occasionally looking at the textbook that lay open beside the parchment he was writing on.

            “Doing summer homework, Potter?” Severus said covering his momentary surprise with a sneer.

            “Might as well get it done while I can,” Potter murmured around the end of the quill he was chewing on. Severus gritted his teeth; that irritated him to no end. Potter’s last words came to his mind and Severus narrowed his eyes.

            “While you can?” he said.

            Potter nodded absently lowering the quill and starting to write again. He paused and looked back at the textbook before turning the page. “Did you need something, Professor?” he asked lifting his head. His glasses were slightly askew but he fixed them after he put the quill down on the parchment.

            “Have you had lunch yet?” Severus asked eyes scanning the area. He knew that if Potter did then the house elves likely already cleaned everything up. However, judging by the surprised look Potter gave him, the answer to his question was no.

            “I guess I lost track of time,” Potter said. “Uh, thanks for reminding me though.”

            “Can’t have Gryffindor’s golden boy starving, now can we?” Severus replied with a sneer to hide that he was a little unnerved with the boy’s appearance. He wasn’t a spy for nothing and he could see that Poppy wasn’t kidding; the boy was much too skinny and he seemed a little pale though he did have it in him to glare at the Potions Professor.

            Before he could say anything, though, Severus added, “Just ask the house elves to get you something to eat.”

            “What are house elves?” Potter asked before he looked down suddenly finding the blank portion of his piece of parchment interesting.

            Severus, on the other hand, was surprised Potter didn’t know about house elves. If anything, he would have thought Weasley would have told him about them. He decided to humor the boy though. “House elves are magical creatures that usually work for wizards and witches. They are the ones that cause the food to appear in the Great Hall for example.”

            “I never knew that.”

            Severus snorted. “Well, now you do,” he said shortly before he turned and was about to leave the room when Potter stopped him again.

            “Um, Professor, how do I contact a house elf?” the boy asked.

            Severus closed his eyes. Today’s going to be a long day, he thought.

. . .

            The day passed by relatively peacefully, at least in Harry’s opinion. After learning how to contact the house elves in Hogwarts, he spent most of his time in the room he had been given working on his summer homework. He was a bit confused y one of the questions he had to answer for his Potions assignment and was tempted on asking Professor Snape but, remembering how nasty Snape was to him during class, he wasn’t sure if that would be a good thing.

            But he hasn’t acted that way since he picked me up at King’s Cross and agreed to watch over me until Professor Dumbledore finds my relatives, Harry thought. He chewed his lip as he studied the question; he could barely read his own handwriting but then he hadn’t had much practice with working with a quill before.

            Sighing, Harry decided to get back to his Potions essay and work on his Charms assignment. It wasn’t as long as his Potions assignment and Harry was able to get through it by dinnertime. Rubbing his fingers to ease the cramps and standing up and stretching. He walked around a bit; he had been sitting for so long that his legs had fallen asleep.

            Afterwards, he returned to the bed and called for Petal, the Hogwarts house elf who had helped him during lunch, and with a pop the female house elf appeared next to his bed. “What can Petal get for yous, Master Harry?” she asked.

            Harry shifted uneasily. He didn’t understand why the house elves always called him ‘master’ but when he asked Petal to stop, it would fall on deaf ears and Harry just gave up. “Uh, surprise me,” he said.

            Petal smiled and disappeared with a pop. She reappeared a few moments later as Harry pushed his parchments and quills out of the way and a tray appeared on the bed; there was plate of roast beef, steamed broccoli covered in creamy cheese, mashed potatoes and a dinner roll that smelled as if it was freshly out of the oven. Also on the tray was a goblet filled with pumpkin juice, a napkin and a knife, fork and spoon.

            “Thank you Petal,” Harry said.

            Petal beamed. “Yous such a nice master, Master Harry,” she said before she vanished with a pop. Harry would never understand why she always said that whenever he thanked her but decided not to worry about it.

            He was halfway done with his meal when a knock sounded on the door. “Come in,” he called wiping his mouth before he began eating again.

            The door opened and Snape walked in. “At least you didn’t lose track of time this time, Potter,” he said.

            Harry decided against responding to that. “Has Professor Dumbledore found my relatives yet?” he asked. He wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of going back with the Dursleys but he knew that it was inevitable. Dumbledore made it clear a few weeks ago that Harry had to go back even though Harry had tried to tell him that he wasn’t happy there. He was afraid of telling Dumbledore the entire truth and was hoping that hinting at the entire truth would be enough; sadly, that was not the case.

            He played with a loose thread on the blanket as he waited for Snape to respond. He had been conditioned from a young age to never ask question and, though he knew things were different at Hogwarts, he still felt a little uneasy about asking questions especially from someone who hated him.

            “You would have already been sent back already if he had,” Snape said.

            “Oh.”

            “Severus?” A voice called and Snape turned before walking out of the room. He returned a few minutes later with Dumbledore just behind him.

            “Hello Harry,” Dumbledore greeted him with a cheerful smile and a twinkle in his blue eyes. “Getting started on your summer homework I see.”

            “Might as well get it done right away,” Harry said with a shrug.

            “Capital idea, my boy. It’s always a good idea to get through homework right away so that you will have the summer free for doing fun things,” Dumbledore said.

            Yeah, fun things, Harry thought sourly. The most fun he has during summer vacation was being able to go outside and work in Aunt Petunia’s garden. That wasn’t that fun but, compared to Harry’s other chores, it was.

            “I was wondering if you could help me, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “I was considering using a tracking charm to find your relatives but then I thought that perhaps you might be able to help me out.”

            “How?” Harry asked.

            “Do you know who your uncle’s sister was?”

            Harry grimaced as he thought of Aunt Marge—she wasn’t really his aunt but Uncle Vernon insisted that he call her thought—and her vicious dog Ripper. He could still remember spending most of the time Marge was visiting in a tree to avoid that dog.

            “I take it by your expression that you do and don’t get along with her,” Dumbledore said.

            “Probably doesn’t spoil him like his aunt and uncle do,” Snape sneered.

            Harry glared at the Potions Professor; he didn’t know a thing about Harry’s life with the Dursleys. Of course, that was primarily because Harry didn’t tell anyone; he feared no one would believe him and he feared what his uncle would do if he found out that Harry told someone. Still, it hurt to be accused of being a spoiled brat when the exact opposite was true.

            “Severus, really, you shouldn’t judge Harry like that without knowing if it’s true,” Dumbledore chided the Potions Professor gently.

            Snape glared at Dumbledore and Harry had to bite his lip to keep from chuckling at seeing the Potions Professor being rebuked.

            “But you do know her, Harry, yes?” Dumbledore said.

            Harry sighed but nodded. “Her name’s Marge,” he said.

            “Do you know where she lives?”

            “Uh…” Harry narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember; he had overheard Vernon tell Petunia where Marge lived a few years ago. “South Yorkshire, I think.”

            “Very well, Harry. Severus, will you be leaving soon?”

            “Tomorrow morning,” Snape said stiffly.

            “Very well. I doubt I will have found them by tomorrow if they are not with Vernon’s sister so I shall keep you and Mr. Potter updated on the search. Good evening to you two.” Dumbledore then left the room.

. . .

            The following morning, Albus apparated directly to South Yorkshire and cast a disillusionment charm on him as well as a tracking charm. Some tracking charms could work with only a name to go by—names were power in the Wizarding world—and the tracking charm that Albus cast was one of those. It led him to a house a few miles away from one of the cities in the county; there was a large garden outside of the house and, tied in the garden, were twelve big dogs.

            Albus released the disillusionment charm and the twelve dogs immediately started barking wildly and pulling on their chains. Thankfully, they were not strong enough to break free from their leashes. Albus ignored them as he walked down the stone path to the door; there wasn’t a car in the driveway but Albus figured either the Dursleys weren’t there or they had left early.

            Knocking on the door, Albus waited patiently until the door opened to reveal a short, plump woman with blue eyes. “Who are you?” the woman demanded.

            “Are you Marge Dursley?” Albus asked not answering the woman’s question.

            “Who wants to know?”

            “My name is Albus Dumbledore. I’m looking for your brother and sister in law, Vernon and Petunia,” Albus said. “Have you seen them?”

            “Ah, Vernon said you’d be comin’ by. Get off my property before I set my dogs on you!” Marge growled.

            “I only wish to know where your brother and sister in law are and then I shall leave,” Albus said surprised by the term that Vernon had used to describe him; he remembered Vernon using that term to describe both him and Harry when he had visited the Dursleys after Harry’s first bout of accidental magic when he was three. He had thought Vernon had grown out of using that term but, apparently, he hadn’t.

            “I ain’t telling ya. Vernon said that you’ll just stick that nephew of Petunia’s back with them and they don’t want that. Good for nothing brat that kid is. Ungrateful little urchin. Vernon should’ve given him up for adoption or put him in an orphanage,” Marge said furiously. “That degenerate brat’s as shifty as his alcoholic parents; it’s a no wonder he went to St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.”

            Albus felt anger go through him at the sheer number of insults that was spewing from the woman’s mouth. He gritted his teeth slowly relaxing himself when he felt his magic begin to stir in response to his anger. He could now see why Harry didn’t like Marge Dursley.

            “I ain’t answering your questions so get off my property now,” Marge said sternly.

            Albus wasn’t at all fazed by Marge’s tone. “Just tell me where Vernon and Petunia went and I shall leave,” he said.

            “No.”

            Albus sighed. “I really didn’t want to do this,” he murmured and cast a silent legilimens before poking around in Marge’s mind long enough to determine that Vernon had only told his sister that they were going to stay in a hotel in London before looking for another place to live. Once Albus got the name for the hotel, he left Marge’s mind.

            “Good day to you,” he said politely before turning and walking away. He didn’t need to obliviate her because he hadn’t done anything relating to magic around her.

            Once he was out of sight of Marge’s home, he apparated to London near the hotel he was seeking. He made a point of transfiguring his clothing so that they resembled, somewhat, the clothing of those around him. There were still eccentric, not that Albus cared, and did draw the eyes of more than one person.

            Reaching the Holiday Inn hotel, Albus made his way into it and over to the innkeeper’s desk. “Excuse me?” he said to the girl who was reading a magazine.

            “Yeah, what can I do for you?” the girl asked in a bored tone.

            “I’m looking for a couple of guests who are staying here.”

            “Names?”

            “Vernon, Petunia and Dudley Dursley,” Albus said.

            The girl went about looking for the Dursleys while Albus was conscious of the stares he was receiving from the other guests in the hotel’s lobby.

            “Sorry, sir, the Dursleys checked out an hour before you got here,” the girl said.

            “I see. Do you know where they went?” Albus asked.

            The girl shrugged. “No idea. Is that all?”

            Disappointed, Albus nodded before leaving the hotel. His only lead and now he didn’t know where to continue looking. He supposed he could try casting another tracking charm; if they had only left an hour ago then they couldn’t have gotten that far, could they?

            Albus decided to try that and hope he could find another lead as to where the Dursleys were and, perhaps, get answers for why they left Privet Drive.

. . .

            Severus glanced over his shoulder to make sure the brat was keeping up as he led the way past the wards of Hogwarts. Normally, he would have floo-traveled to his home but there were certain spells that prevented anyone who wasn’t of the Prince bloodline from entering the home unless they had prior permission. As Potter didn’t, Severus would have to apparate them to beyond the boundary of the wards surrounding the valley and then make sure the wards understood that Potter had permission.

            Severus still didn’t like the idea of bringing a Potter into his home but he was still very suspicious. He couldn’t help but be; everything that has happened in the past two days was proof that something was seriously wrong. It was hard for Severus to keep hold of his preconceived notions about the Potter brat when the little things he has been noticing were hinting that his notions were wrong.

            He gritted his teeth. He wasn’t too surprised he hadn’t noticed these little things during the school year. All he saw was a carbon copy of James Potter; the rule breaking and the fiasco with the Philosopher’s Stone only added to that. Now, on the other hand, he was forced to see the little things he missed while school was in session.

            This thinking is starting to give me a headache, Severus thought coming to a stop once they were beyond the gates of the home. “Come, Potter,” he said.

            “Where’re we going?” Potter asked.

            “Forgotten already, Potter?” Snape said coolly.

            Potter flushed and glared at him. “No, I’m just wondering where your home is,” he snapped.

            “You’ll see,” Snape said taking the boy’s arm. “I suggest you let your owl out of her cage. She didn’t seem to care for apparition the last time we did it.”

            Hedwig chirped in response and Potter hesitated but opened the cage. Hedwig flew out of it before chirping and flying off gliding along with the gentle wind.

            Snape then turned and apparated away with a soft crack that distilled the air; the two of them reappeared on a dirt path surrounded by trees that sloped gently downward into a beautiful but small valley. The Princes had chosen the valley to build their ancestral home because it was far enough away from the muggle world that they could avoid the persecution of witches and wizards during the 1600s; nowadays, it was peaceful and no one of a dark nature could find the valley let alone get past the protection wards that surrounded the valley, and the manor within it.

            When Severus inherited Prince Manor after his mother passed away, he had learned there was more to the valley than he knew before. It was also home to a host of magical creatures of both light and dark origin; the wards only prevent dark creatures, witches and wizards from entering the valley and there were already dark creatures in the valley when the wards went up. The creatures left the residents of Prince Manor alone and, in turn, the residents of Prince Manor left the creatures alone. There were some that didn’t mind it if the residents of the manor asked them questions—some of the creatures were sentient enough to actually respond whether out loud or telepathically—or studied them but there were some that you should avoid if you could as they are very protective of their homes and, especially, their young.

            “Wow,” Potter breathed upon seeing the valley. “This is beautiful.”

            Severus didn’t respond as he kept his hand on Potter’s arm and led the way down the sloping path past the wards; his magic stirred in response to the wards and, because he was holding Potter’s arm, the wards acknowledged that Potter had permission to be in the valley. Once beyond the wards, Severus released Potter’s arm and told him to keep up as he kept walking.

            The valley was one of the smaller valleys within the Pennines though only witches and wizards knew about it and only those of the Prince bloodline—and those given permission by a Prince—could enter it. The valley was primarily forest though a river did weave its way around the boundary to the north and west of the valley.

            As the valley wasn’t big, the walk to Prince Manor took maybe five minutes. You could walk from one end of the valley to the other in twenty minutes if you took your time and ten if you were in a hurry. Potter was looking everywhere as they walked along the path toward the manor though, his emerald green eyes wide with surprise and awe as he moved.

            “You actually live here?” he said.

            “No, Potter, I just brought you to a random valley because I felt like it,” Severus said scathingly glaring at the dunderheaded brat he was forced to keep an eye on.

            Potter flushed again before glaring at him but said nothing.

            Finally, the two of them reached the manor. It was a beautifully constructed with sash windows along the first and second floors and towers that rose up a floor higher on either side of the manor. There was a stone path winding its way across the grass to the double doors.

            “This place is huge,” Potter breathed.

            Severus, again, didn’t respond as he led the way to the doors and unlocked the doors. He walked into the foyer waving his wand to turn on the lights as Potter hesitantly followed him. The foyer was large with a spiral staircase that led to the first floor and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling; on the wall across from the door was a portrait of Severus’s mother who was currently asleep. To the right of the staircase was the living room; there was also the door that led to a stairway that would take someone to the top of the south tower. To the left was the dining room, and beyond it the kitchen, and the door that led to a stairway that would take someone to the top of the north tower.

            A pop sounded and the Prince family house elf, a small female house elf by the name of Kari, appeared. “Master Severus is back,” the house elf greeted him. “And yous has company? Yous should’ve told Kari, Master Severus, so Kari could prepare.”

            “It was last minute, Kari,” Severus said.

            “Where shall your guest stay, Master Severus?”

            “One of the guest rooms is fine, Kari.”

            “Kari’ll get to work cleaning the room, Master Severus,” Kari said before disappearing with a pop taking Potter’s stuff with him as she went.

            “Come, Potter, we should discuss some things while we’re waiting for Kari,” Severus said leading the way into the living room. He sat down and Potter, after a moment, sat down in the armchair in the room.

            “As you know, you’ll be staying here until Professor Dumbledore finds your relatives. While you are here, I expect you to obey the rules I have set for you. I will not have you running around as if you own the place.”

            Potter glared at him but, before he could say anything, Severus went on.

            “The rules are simple that even someone as dimwitted as you should be able to comprehend them,” Severus added earning him another glare. He was probably being a bit unfair, especially if his suspicions were correct, but he wasn’t exactly a nice person.

            “The main rule is that you are my guest and you will treat me with respect. Do that and I shall endeavor to do the same,” Severus said and decided to ignore the incredulous snort that Potter let out. “And remember that you are a guest and should not treat this situation as if you were back with your relatives. Understand?”

            “I understand, sir,” Potter said.

            Severus was silent for a long moment but decided that if Potter was going to remain with him for a week at the most, that was supposing it took that long to find the Dursleys, then he would no doubt get bored eventually. He didn’t like the idea of Potter wandering around his home but it was better than hearing him complain about how bored he was.

            “You may also explore the manor if you wish,” he said hoping he didn’t sound as reluctant as he felt. “But do not enter any of the rooms that are locked; they are locked for a reason. As we wouldn’t want Dumbledore’s golden boy to starve, you are welcomed into the kitchen at any time if you get hungry. If you are in dire need of assistance, come get me or Kari. You may also leave the manor but do not go into the forest and ask permission before going flying.”

            “Yes sir,” Potter said.

            A pop sounded and Kari reappeared in the living room. “The guest room is ready, Master Severus,” she said.

            “Good. Please escort Mr. Potter to his room, Kari,” Severus said.

            “Kari’ll do that. Come, Mr. Potter, Kari’ll show you to your room,” Kari said looking at Potter.

            Potter nodded before following Kari as she led the way toward the spiral staircase.

            Severus watched him go before turning his gaze to the fireplace across from him as it flared to life and Albus’s head poked through. “Headmaster,” Severus greeted him.

            “Severus, may I step through?” Albus asked.

            “You will anyway so I suppose.”

            Albus’s head disappeared and his entire body reappeared. “I am afraid I am at a dead end in locating Harry’s relatives, Severus. I managed to track them to a restaurant in London but I lost the trail again. It will take time for me to pick it up again.”

            “And?”

            “Harry may end up having to stay here a bit longer than I had originally thought.”

            Wonderful, Severus thought sourly though, to be honest, this gave him more time to prove whether his suspicions were true or not. He had to know because he did not tolerate child abuse or neglect and if Potter really was being abused or neglected then Severus would do whatever he must to remove Potter from the Dursleys’ care. He told himself that he was only doing it for Lily but another part of him argued that he was also doing it because he hated child abuse and neglect with a passion and would not wish that on the Potter brat, no matter how much he didn’t like him.

            “Very well headmaster,” he said out loud.

            “I shall be going now, Severus,” Albus said. “I will return when I have any more information on the Dursleys’ whereabouts.” Without another word, he turned before floo-traveling back to Hogwarts.

            The following day, Harry decided to go exploring. He had spent most of his first day at Prince Manor working on his summer homework except for the times when he got hungry. He rarely saw Snape during the last day though Snape did make sure he didn’t lose track of time and actually ate. Snape was content to leave Harry alone so long as he adhered to the rules and Harry found that living with the snarky Potions Professor was better than living with the Dursleys.

            Harry snorted. Living with anyone is better than living with the Dursleys, he thought.

            He pushed aside the Transfigurations essay he had been working on before getting to his feet. Stretching, he made his way out of the guest room he had been giving and looked around wondering where to start exploring. He was still surprised Snape was actually letting him explore the manor and Harry half-expected Snape to tell him that he changed his mind.

            He decided to start with the second floor and then go on to the first floor and finish with the two towers. Making his way down the hallway, Harry pushed open the first unlocked door he found, which was right next to his room, and found that it was another guest room. The next room turned out to be a study while the next couple of rooms were locked.

            Shrugging, Harry went to the other side of the hall and continued exploring pushing open all doors that were unlocked and revealing a music room—Never saw Snape for a music person, Harry thought—that had many dust-covered instruments and a lounge that was pretty bare except for worn couches and paintings adorning the walls with the exception of the eastern wall that was dominated by an unlit fireplace.

            Closing the door to the lounge, Harry continued his journey opening up another door that led to a large, walk-in closet that was devoid of items. When Harry opened the door, though, the light bulb that hung from the closet’s ceiling turned on. Harry frowned when he spotted something across from the door; a brass handle of some sort.

            Curious, he made his way into the closet making a point of keeping the door partially ajar so that it didn’t close behind him. He hated enclosed spaces from having spent ten years of his life living in the cupboard beneath the stairs. He came to the handle and grasped it before turning it and, to his surprise, there was a click. When he pulled on the handle, the door swung open with a creak shedding dust on Harry to reveal a narrow hallway shrouded in shadows with narrow windows lining the wall to allow in thin shafts of sunlight.

            This looks like it hasn’t been used in a while, Harry thought and, his curiosity getting the better of him, he pulled the door open wider causing it to creak again before he made his way into the hallway and right into a cobweb.

            Wiping the web off and thankful there weren’t any spiders on it, Harry walked across the narrow hallway to one of the windows. He jumped a little when the door to the secret hallway closed behind him and hoped that he could open it again. He found he could see into the front yard of the manor as well as the portion of the valley that Harry and Snape had walked through the day before. He walked along the hallway noticing that it wasn’t that long and there didn’t seem to be any other doors except for one at the other end of the hall.

            Walking over to that door, Harry opened it gently before peering into it to find a narrow spiral stairway going upwards as well as downward. Wonder where this leads, Harry thought before he stepped onto the stairway, jumping again when the door shut behind him, before deciding to go up.

            Walking upwards, he reached another door with a brass handle. The door was unlocked and Harry turned the handle before pushing it open to reveal a large circular room surrounded on three sides by large windows and a domed ceiling enchanted to resemble the sky above like in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. There were also telescopes in the room and star charts and constellations on the wall on which was the door. Across the floor was a plush midnight blue carpet and there were a few armchairs in the room.

            Harry had to admit the room was nice. It reminded him of a smaller version of the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts but looked more comfortable. He walked over to the windows noticing that he was in the north tower and that he had a pretty good view of the northern end of the valley including the mountains in the distance.

            Leaving the room and closing the door behind him, Harry made his way back down the stairway and to another door at the bottom of the stairway. Pushing it open, he noticed it led to the dining room. The dining room was currently empty; it was a large room complete with a mahogany table surrounded by four chairs in the center, a china chest on the wall opposite the door and landscape paintings adorning the walls.

            Closing the door to the tower behind him, Harry decided to check out the south tower now. Making his way across the living room, he opened the door to reveal a stairway that seemed a little shorter than the one in the north tower and led to a doorway about halfway up. Pushing open the door, Harry noticed there were a few steps that led to an archway and, when he walked up those steps, he found himself in a library. There were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves along the walls with windows covered with sky-blue curtains in between a few of them. The room also had a domed ceiling but the floor was lower than the one in the north tower. There were four bookshelves a foot taller than Harry lying parallel to each other in the center of the library with an aisle between each—and between the bookshelves and the wall—wide enough for a single person to walk. However, at the end of the circular room across from the door was a semicircular room filled with small tables and armchairs. The entire floor was covered with gray carpet.

            Harry wandered around the bookshelves noticing they were arranged by category; Potions, Charms, Transfigurations, magical creatures and even an entire section with muggle fiction and nonfiction books. Harry noticed there were quite a few books that he has always wanted to read on those bookshelves and wondered if Snape would let him read them while he was staying at the manor.

            He sighed sadly because he doubted that would happen. He wasn’t going to be staying at Prince Manor for more than a few days—a few weeks at the most, Dumbledore had said—and then he would be returning to his relatives. He didn’t want to but he knew he had to, Dumbledore made that clear after the end of the year feast.

            But if I had a choice, would I choose to stay with Snape rather than the Dursleys? Harry thought.

            He found he didn’t have an answer to that.

            Snape did treat him better than the Dursleys did even if he mostly ignored Harry’s presence. He did say that Harry could eat whenever he got hungry and that he could explore the manor so long as he stayed out of any of the locked rooms within it. He even said that Harry could fly, even if he had to ask permission, and Harry found himself stunned by how much freedom he was given compared to the Dursleys.

            Shaking his head, Harry decided to ask Snape if he could read one of the books in the library and hope the professor would let him. Walking back to the door, Harry left the library and returned to the living room. It was nearing lunchtime anyway, from what the clock in the library said, and Harry was starting to get hungry.

            Harry entered the living room just in time to see Snape leaving the cellar and decided to ask him. “Professor?” he said uncertainly.

            “What, Potter?” Snape asked; his voice was as emotionless as his eyes but that wasn’t anything new. At least he wasn’t being his usual ‘evil bat of the dungeon’ self, which still struck Harry as odd.

            He hesitated again before he decided to just come out and ask. “Do you think I can borrow one of the books from your library?” He asked.

            Snape’s eyebrow rose. “Which one?”

            “Erm, the Chronicles of Narnia books, sir. I’ve always wanted to read them,” Harry said.

            Snape was silent for a long moment. “Just don’t ruin them. Have you had lunch yet?” he said.

            “No sir. I was just about to and thank you, sir,” Harry said surprised that Snape had actually agreed.

            Snape grunted before walking into the kitchen and Harry followed him.

. . .

            Severus watched Potter as the boy sat down at the dining room table with his lunch. It wasn’t as large as any of the other meals Severus has seen the boy eat but at least it was something. Severus figured if his suspicions were right then Potter would likely have to increase the size of his meals very gradually in order to not make himself sick. At the very least, he knew enough to not eat too fast.

            Severus was unsure of what to do now. He and Potter were getting along—rather he was ignoring the boy’s existence most of the time—but Severus knew that he wouldn’t get the answers to any of the many questions in his mind if he continued to ignore the boy. He had to find a way to get Potter to open up to him and that wasn’t likely to happen because of their mutual dislike of each other.

            But then, Severus wasn’t sure if he did dislike the boy anymore. He had disliked Potter because the boy resembled his father and he assumed that the boy was raised like his father. Now that he had those notions shattered, he couldn’t say that he disliked the boy anymore because he wasn’t sure if he did or not.

            “Professor?”

            Severus pulled himself from his thoughts to find Potter looking at him. “What?” he asked neutrally.

            Potter seemed to hesitate. “It’s nothing, never mind,” he mumbled.

            Severus raised an eyebrow. “If it was nothing, you would never have asked,” he said gruffly.

            “I…It’s just…do you think you can help me?” Potter said finally.

            “Help you with what?”

            “That Potions essay you assigned. I finally figured out how to answer the question you assigned but I’m having a bit of trouble organizing it,” Potter said lowering his head almost as if he was embarrassed to have asked for help on a homework assignment.

            Severus, on the other hand, was surprised the boy had asked him for help. Well, if I want to stand a chance at figuring out the enigma that is Harry Potter, not acting like I do at Hogwarts might be a good start, he thought. Besides, the boy asked politely—and was actually willingly seeking help—he would help. “Many first years have trouble organizing their essays to where it makes sense,” he said.

            Contrary to popular belief, Severus was willing to help students but with his reputation as the bat of the dungeon that he kept more to keep his cover with the children of Death Eaters and with the fact that he had to be strict in order to prevent dangerous and potentially fatal explosions, it was rare for any student who wasn’t in Slytherin to seek his help.

            “What do you have so far?” he added.

            “Uh…can I go get it?” Harry asked.

            Severus nodded and the boy got to his feet before dashing out of the dining room. “Walk, Potter,” he ordered and heard a soft “sorry” before the boy slowed down to a walk and disappeared into the foyer.

            The boy returned a few minutes later with the parchment in his hands and handed it to Severus before returning to his seat. Severus narrowed his eyes as he scanned the essay; despite how unorganized it was—and the fact that Severus could barely read the boy’s handwriting, it did contain all the information that Severus wanted it to.

            “First of all, it’s hard to read this chicken scratch you call writing,” he said.

            Harry glared at him. “Not my fault I never learned how to write with a quill,” he muttered.

            Severus raised an eyebrow putting the essay on the table. “I would’ve thought your friends would teach you or your Head of House.”

            “Heads of Houses do that?”

            Minerva, I’m going to have to talk to you about this, Severus thought. “I do anyway,” he said.

            “Oh, uh, Hermione said that some of the older students help the younger ones, the muggleborns, learn how to write and she had practiced before she came to Hogwarts,” Harry admitted.

            “Why didn’t you ask for help then?”

            Harry shrugged.

            “Shrugging is not an answer, Potter.”

            Harry glared at him before looking down and didn’t answer.

            “Potter…”

            “I guess I didn’t want them to know I didn’t know how to do this. I mean I’m supposed to know this stuff ‘cause my parents were wizards themselves,” Harry muttered.

            Severus raised an eyebrow. “Potter, you were raised by your relatives and they’re muggles. Do you honestly think you’re supposed to know this stuff when you were raised by muggles?” he said.

            Harry shrugged again.

            Severus pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing softly. “Other than being barely able to read it, your essay does have everything I asked for it. All you need is to organize it.”

            “How do I do that?”

            “There are two parts to the question, Potter. Simply separate your paragraphs according to which part of the question it’s about. Right now, everything is in a single paragraph and it makes it hard to understand what you’re trying to say,” Severus said handing the parchment back to Potter.

            Potter took the parchment. “Thank you, sir,” he said softly.

            A little while later found Severus reading in the living room while Potter was attempting to rewrite his essay on the coffee table. Occasionally, Severus would glance at the boy to see him doing that irritating habit of chewing on the end of his quill before he would start writing. Severus had instructed the boy on how to properly hold the quill and what to do to prevent random splotches on the parchment and he was surprised but pleased that the boy had listened to him.

            I wonder why he never listens in class, Severus thought. He thought about it and wondered if it was because of how he treated the boy in class. He wondered if the boy would have done better had Severus not picked on him just because he thought the boy was a carbon copy of his father.

            “Professor?” Potter must have noticed Severus was observing him for he looked at him questioningly.

            “Yes Potter?” Severus said.

            “Is this okay?” Potter held out the parchment.

            Severus, surprised by how fast the boy worked, took the parchment and studied it before nodding. It was more legible than the previous draft though there were still splotches in random places and it was organized in the way that Severus suggested the boy organize it.

            “Yes, it’s fine Potter,” he said handing the parchment back.

            Potter smiled a little. “Thank you sir,” he said softly. “Uh, do you think I could use information from your library to add to it? ‘cause I’m still half a foot short.”

            Severus was secretly pleased the boy was putting so much effort into his homework assignment. It made Severus wondered why the boy didn’t do that during the school year. “Yes you may, Potter,” he said.

            “Thank you sir.” Potter got to his feet and walked over to the door that would take him to the library.

. . .

            Over the course of the next three days, Harry was surprised by how different Snape was outside the classroom. The professor was actually willing to help Harry with his homework and explained concepts that Harry didn’t understand. It was as if he turned into a completely different person once they were away from the students

            He still managed to finish the majority of his homework thanks to Snape’s help though so he decided to take a break and go flying. He walked into the kitchen with his Nimbus Two Thousand in his hands to find Snape there reading the Daily Prophet and sipping at a mug of coffee. It was only ten in the morning but Harry has been up since six as that was the time he was used to waking up.

            “Professor?” he said.

            Snape lifted his head from the paper. “What?”

            “Can I go flying?”

            Snape grunted. “Don’t go near the forest and be back by noon,” he said shortly.

            “Yes sir.” That gave him a good two hours of flying and Harry was looking forward to it. Besides, flying would allow him to see more of the valley than he had been able to since he arrived. The last three days he had been too hesitant about asking Snape if he could go flying and had been working on his summer assignments; today, he thought since he was practically done with his homework, he may as well take a day for himself.

            Mounting his broom once he was outside, Harry soared into the air. He flew around the manor smiling as the wind rushed past his hair before he went a bit higher so that he had a better view of the valley. There was little else to be seen that Harry hadn’t already seen though.

            Suddenly, something solid but cold collided with Harry sending both of them spinning until they both crashed into a tree and fell to the ground. Landing with a thud in the roots of the tree, Harry disentangled himself from the creature that flew into him to find it was a beautiful bird with blood on its otherwise pure white chest. Its wings were glossy pale blue and white and its eyes were an icy blue. The bird melodic trill was filled with pain as it struggled to get up.

            “Hey, hey, don’t get up yet. You’re hurt,” Harry said concerned.

            The bird gazed at him. ‘I know I am hurt, boy,’ it trilled and Harry was startled to hear the bird’s melodic feminine voice in his mind.

            “You…You talk,” Harry breathed eyes wide with surprise.

            ‘Of course I speak, boy,’ the bird trilled. She titled her head before gazing at Harry with her icy blue eyes and then trilled, ‘You have such a pure heart. I have never met someone as pure as you. The master of the manor within this place has such ice around his heart that it is difficult for me to see if it is pure or not. There is such pain in him but there is also pain in you.’

            Harry felt a bit uncomfortable but also curious. “How do you know that?”

            The bird trilled out a melodic laugh. ‘I have the gift of seeing into hearts and mind though I only speak to those I know are worthy,’ she said.

            “You think I’m worthy?” Harry said.

            ‘No, I know you are worthy. Now, will you please help me? I happened to have a run in with a dangerous chimera and I am badly injured. I have managed to stop the bleeding but I do not know for how long,’ the bird trilled. Now her voice sounded a lot weaker than before.

            “Okay, uh, I don’t know what to do though. Uh…” Harry thought quickly and decided that the only way he could help the bird is if he got back to the manor. He could only hope Snape wasn’t cruel enough to not help a badly injured animal.

            “I’m gonna take you back to the manor,” Harry said. “Maybe Snape’ll help you.” He reached out and hesitantly picked the bird up before grabbing his broom with his other hand before making his way back to the manor.

            When he reached the manor, he made his way into the living room before looking around wondering where Snape was. He decided to just ask Kari. “Kari?” he called and, with a pop, Kari appeared before him.

            “Yes, Mr. Harry?” she said.

            “Do you know where Professor Snape is?” Harry asked.

            “Master Severus is in his lab. May Kari get him for yous?”

            “Can you please? This bird’s injured and I don’t know what to do,” Harry said looking at the bird in his arm worried.

            Kari looked at the bird and gasped, her large eyes going wide. “Oh my…Kari’ll get Master Severus right away,” she said and disappeared with a pop.

            “Is that what I think it is?” The female voice that sounded caused Harry to jump before turning to find the portrait of a pretty woman with the same black hair and obsidian eyes as Snape peering at the bird.

            “Uh, I dunno,” Harry said wondering who this woman was.

            The woman looked at him before smiling. “I do not believe we’ve been introduced. My name is Eileen, I am Severus’s mother.”

            Harry wasn’t too surprised. The woman looked too much like Snape to not be his mother. “Uh, I’m Harry Potter,” he said uncertainly.

            “So you’re Lily’s son. You have her eyes,” the woman said.

            Harry’s eyes went wide. “You knew my mother?” he said.

            “Of course. So did Sev. He was her best friend, you know.” Eileen frowned at the dumbfounded look Harry was giving her and added, “Obviously, you didn’t know. I’m going to have a talk with my son.”

            Kari reappeared in the room and was followed by Snape. “See, Master Severus, it is one,” she said.

            “I can see that, Kari. Potter, what happened?” Snape said narrowing his eyes.

            “I dunno, Professor,” Harry said pulling himself from his thoughts that Snape knew his mother and was her best friend. “I was flying and then she flew into me. She’s injured though, professor.”

            “Come, we’ll treat her in my lab,” Snape said.

            “When you’re done Sev, I want to talk to you,” Eileen said firmly.

            Snape glanced at his mother. “About what?” he asked.

            Eileen’s tone was frosty as she said, “We’ll discuss it when you’re done.”

            Snape nodded before he led the way to the cellar and Harry trailed after him with the bird in his arms while Kari took his broom to his room. Harry made a mental note to thank her for that later.

            “Put her here, Potter,” Snape said gesturing to the table and Harry, as gently as possible, put the bird on the table. Snape pulled out his wand before murmuring a spell under his breath and narrowing his eyes.

            “What is she, Professor? Kari and your mum seemed surprised when they saw her,” Harry said looking at the bird as Snape began to work.

            “It’s an ice phoenix, Potter,” Snape said without looking at the boy.

            “Ice phoenix?”

            “Yes. They are very rare but there are a few who live in this valley. I have only ever seen one up close once,” Snape said absently as he worked.

            “I’ve never heard of ice phoenixes,” Harry said looking at the bird. Now that he thought about it, the bird’s glossy feathers looked a little like icicles.

            “If you’re going to remain, Potter, then the least you can do is help. Go get me a syringe and a glass of water. There should be a syringe in the medicine cabinet in one of the bathrooms,” Snape ordered.

            Harry nodded before turning and leaving the Potions lab. After finding a syringe and filling a glass of water, he returned and handed both to Snape. Snape took it before gently giving the semi-conscious ice phoenix water. The ice phoenix seemed to feel better after Snape finished giving her the rest of the water.

            ‘Oh that’s much better, the ice phoenix said in Harry’s mind.

            “It looks like the wound’s not infected, which is good,” Snape murmured. He had already spelled the blood off the ice phoenix’s chest and was now working with closing the gash on her chest.

            Harry hovered anxiously nearby as he watched the Potions professor work. “She’ll be all right, right?” he asked when Snape stepped back.

            “Yes, Potter, she will be fine. We will need to keep her hydrated though. Ice phoenixes cannot go long without water,” Snape said.

            Harry nodded relieved that the ice phoenix would be all right.

            ‘Thank you, child,’ the ice phoenix said in Harry’s mind.

            He smiled at her. “You’re welcome. I couldn’t just let you die,” he said much to Snape’s surprise.

            ‘This is simply one example of your pure heart, child. I pray you never lose your compassion,’ the ice phoenix said before she drifted off into sleep.

            “You could understand her?” Snape said awed.

            Harry glanced at the professor. “Yeah, why?”

            “Phoenixes are notoriously picky on who they are willing to speak with,” Snape said before he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Come, let’s leave her to sleep. Kari’ll keep an eye on her.”

            Harry nodded before following Snape as he led the way out of the lab.

            “We need to talk, mister, now,” Eileen said sternly once they entered the foyer.

            Snape glared at the portrait but Eileen simply met his glare with one of her own. Harry watched the battle of wills going on between mother and son that the mother eventually won. Snape broke eye contact before nodding and walking up the stairs while Eileen left the frame probably to travel to another portrait.

            While Snape was speaking with his mother, Harry decided to do some research on ice phoenixes. Walking across the living room, he made his way into the library within the south tower.

            Severus’s personal study was a brightly-lit room with a mahogany wood desk at its center behind which was a comfortable looking chair. Behind the desk was a bay window that allowed for a view of the backyard and next to the desk was a bookshelf while the portrait of Severus’s glowering mother rested on the wall on the other side of the desk.

            Severus, closing the door behind him, turned to face his mother. “What’s this about, mum?” he asked.

            Eileen folded her arms across her chest. “Why didn’t you tell Harry that you were his mother’s best friend?” she asked.

            “I didn’t exactly have the time, mum,” Severus said.

            “That’s only an excuse, not a reason. You could’ve easily asked him to stay behind in class and told him.” Eileen narrowed her eyes studying Severus who avoided her look before she said sharply, “Why didn’t you tell him?”

            “I don’t need to explain myself, Mum,” Severus snapped.

            “Don’t take that tone with me, young man,” Eileen said sharply. “I may only be a portrait but I’m still your mother! Harry’s an orphan and there’s no telling if he even knows anything about his parents. Don’t you think he would be curious to know something about his mother?”

            “I thought he already knew about his parents. Merlin knows he learned a lot about his father during his first year and I thought Petunia would’ve told Harry about her sister,” Severus said.

            “Petunia? You mean to tell me that Harry went to stay with Petunia after his parents were killed? Even I knew that Petunia resented everything to do with magic. Do you honestly think she would’ve told Harry about Lily?”

            “At the time, I did,” Severus admitted.

            “At the time?”

            “I’ve recently learned that Petunia was not a…suitable guardian for Ha…Potter,” Severus said barely stopping himself from calling Potter by his first name. His voice was cold and Eileen narrowed her eyes.

            “It’s more than that isn’t it, Sev?”

            Severus has never been able to lie to his mother so he simply nodded.

            “What happened?”

            “I only have suspicions, mum, but Petunia and her husband abandoned Ha…Potter,” Severus said.

            “She abandoned him?” Eileen’s voice rose in anger as she hissed, “What kind of aunt would abandon her nephew? That’s horrible.”

            That’s what Tobias would’ve done if he had the chance, Severus thought bitterly.

            Eileen calmed down before she said, “That poor boy.” She shook her head.

            Severus didn’t respond to that.

            “Are you going to speak to Harry about his mother?” Eileen asked. “He deserves to know about both of his parents and you knew Lily better than anyone except Petunia.”

            While Severus didn’t like remembering a time when he and Lily were friends, he knew his mother was right. “Very well, mum. Now I should check on the ice phoenix,” he said.

            Eileen nodded and Severus turned before walking out of the study and making his way into the lab to check on the ice phoenix. The ice phoenix was stirring as Severus walked over to the table and she slowly lifted her head to look at Severus with beautiful icy blue eyes. She trilled softly before resting her head back down.

            Severus gave the ice phoenix some water before examining the healing wound on her chest. He frowned when he noticed it was healing a lot slower than he would have expected considering ice phoenixes heal a lot faster than normal. “At least it isn’t infected,” he murmured wiping away the dry blood before giving the ice phoenix more water.

            The ice phoenix continued to observe him as he worked and he was a bit unnerved by her gaze. She said nothing though not that Severus was surprised; ice phoenixes only ever talked to someone whom they deemed worthy and whom were pure or not evil. Considering Severus’s past actions, he wasn’t at all surprised.

            After he finished, he left the ice phoenix to rest some more before casting a spell to alert him when the ice phoenix woke up.

/////

            ‘Ice phoenixes normally live in places in which the climate is extremely cold but the only known colony of ice phoenixes live in Greenland. Ice phoenixes are master healers and, like their fire cousins, their tears are a known cure for basilisk venom. Ice phoenixes also have icicles on their wings that can be used to heal minor cuts and bruises. They are very knowledgeable in herbs and berries that can be used in healing potions and they have the ability to sense physical pain and determine where physical injuries are located.

            Ice phoenixes normally do not go near witches or wizards and have the ability to know whether someone is evil or not. They will willingly go near a witch or a wizard who is not evil but will not talk to them unless they feel the witch or wizard is worthy. Usually, ice phoenixes only speak to those who are pure of heart. However, they are also able to determine whether someone is in conflict and can sense emotional pain in anyone even if they are a master of occlumency.’

            Harry put the book down as the last word caught his mind. What’s occlumency? He wondered before he decided to look it up later and went back to reading. He got through another chapter of the book he had been reading before he realized it was time for lunch. Closing the book, he returned the book to the bookshelf and left the library.

            He walked back into the living room and headed toward the kitchen to make himself some lunch. He was halfway done with lunch when Snape entered the kitchen his face as expressionless as usual. “Potter,” he said by way of greeting.

            “Professor, how’s the phoenix?” Harry asked.

            “Recovering,” Snape said making his own lunch before sitting down.

            Harry was also curious to know what happened between Snape and his mother but knew it was pointless to ask as it wasn’t his business. He was also curious about whether Snape really was his mother’s best friend or not. So he focused on his lunch. However, to his surprise, Snape decided to break the silence.

            “I’m surprised you haven’t asked me about what my mother told you earlier,” Snape said.

            Harry shrugged before looking at the Potions Professor debating whether to just ask him. Snape had been receptive of his questions before but then none of those questions were as personal as these ones. And yet if Snape really did know Harry’s mother then why shouldn’t Harry ask? He knew some things about his father but nothing about his mother other than the fact that he had her eyes.

            It was the desire to know more about his mother that had him asking, “Sir, did you really know my mother?”

            “I did,” Snape said much to Harry’s surprise. He hadn’t expected Snape to answer. “Just as my mother told you, she was my best friend.”

            “She was? You really did know her? Why didn’t you tell me?” Harry wasn’t sure whether to feel angry or upset by this revelation.

            “I had assumed Petunia told you about her, an assumption that has been proven wrong by recent events,” Snape said.

            “You knew Aunt Petunia too?” Harry asked.

            “I did. Your mother and I lived down the same street when we were growing up. We became friends when we were six,” Snape said a reminiscent look in his normally emotionless obsidian eyes.

            “What was she like?” Harry asked hopeful that the Potions Professor would tell him more about the mother he never knew.

            “Kind,” Snape admitted, “intelligent and very brave. She graduated at the top of her class. She wasn’t above helping others and was very compassionate to everyone. She was also very forgiving and willing to give others second chances even when they felt they didn’t deserve it.” Snape’s eyes took on a haunted look as he said those last words but it vanished almost as soon as it appeared and Harry wondered if he had seen it at all.

            “She also had a temper and very few people could win an argument with her,” Snape added. He looked thoughtful before adding, “Did Petunia have any pictures of her?”

            Harry shook his head. “No but Hagrid gave me a photo album that had a few pictures of my parents and me when I was a baby,” he said sadly. He looked toward Snape before adding, “Did you know my father too?” He figured Snape did but was curious to hear what the Potions Professor would say.

            “I did,” Snape said. “We never got along to say the least.”

            “Is that why you were such a jerk towards me in class?” Harry asked before he could stop himself. Eyes widening as he realized what he just said, Harry started to apologize.

            “I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t…” he began.

            “Rest assured, Potter, this isn’t the first time I’ve been insulted. I’m used to it. In answer to your question, in part it was. I thought you were like your father but…recent events have caused me to realize my assumptions were not true, which is why I would…like to apologize for my actions toward you during the school year.”

            Harry blinked unsure of where that came from; Snape had just apologized to him? No adult has ever apologized to me. I’m just a freak, freaks aren’t worthy of apologies, he thought.

            “Who told you that?” Snape demanded fury coloring his voice that caused Harry to jump and the boy realized he had said his thoughts out loud.

            “I…no one,” Harry said quickly.

            Snape narrowed his eyes. “You’re lying,” he said and Harry paled even more. “Who told you that, Potter?”

            Harry didn’t answer.

            Snape pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “You must know that isn’t true, Potter. You are not a freak,” he said.

            “Uncle Vernon said I am ‘cause I do magic,” Harry murmured.

            “Do you think your friends are freaks, Potter? Or Professor Dumbledore?” Snape demanded.

            “Well, no.”

            “Then why would you believe that you’re a freak just because your muggle uncle said you were. He’s a muggle and muggles don’t understand magic. Humans have a tendency to fear and hate what they don’t understand, Potter,” Snape said.

            Snape’s words made sense but Harry decided he didn’t want to talk about his relatives anymore. The last thing he wanted was to let slip something else; if Uncle Vernon found out he told someone about what occurred in the Dursleys’ household then he would be in for a world of pain when he went back to the Dursleys.

            “Can you tell me more about my mum, Professor?” he asked.

            Snape was silent for a long moment. “What do you want to know?” he asked finally.

            “What was her favorite subject at Hogwarts?” Harry asked.

            “Charms,” Snape said. “She was brilliant with Charms. She often spoke of how she wanted to become a Charms Mistress after she graduated.”

            “Did she like Quidditch?”

            Snape snorted. “No, that was your father’s arena. She was a bookworm and spent quite a bit of her time in the library. She didn’t care for flying and only did it because she had to,” he said.

            “Oh so am I like her at all?” Harry asked.

            Snape was silent for a long moment. “I don’t know you well enough to answer that, Potter,” he said finally before he lifted his head. “Looks like our phoenix guest is awake.” He stood up before returning his empty plate—Harry hadn’t even noticed when he finished eating—to the sink and then making his way to the cellar.

            He also finished eating before placing his plate in the sink and joining the professor.

/////

            A scream tore through the silence of the manor jolting Severus sharply out of his sleep. Sitting up, he quickly determined that the scream was coming from Potter’s room. He got to his feet and dashed across the hall to Potter’s room his wand falling into his hand as he made his way into the room.

            He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at Potter who was tossing and turning in his bed screams of pure agony and fear tearing from his mouth. He moved over to Potter’s bedside knowing he would have to wake the boy up before sitting down. “Potter,” he called reaching over to shake the boy.

            “Don’t hit me,” Potter whimpered shrinking away from Snape who froze in shock at the boy’s words.

            Did he just say what I think he said? Snape thought stunned.

            “I’m sorry, Uncle, I’ll be good, please don’t hit me,” Potter cried as he tossed and turned.

            Snape gritted his teeth. He would have to worry about what Potter said later. “Potter! Wake up!” He tried again shaking the boy’s shoulders but the boy still kept begging his uncle to not hit him.

            “Potter, Harry! Wake up!” Severus called again unsure why he thought the use of Potter’s first name would work and yet it did.

            Potter’s eyes snapped open as he finally managed to break free from his nightmare. Snape sat back observing the boy as he curled up wrapping one arm around his knees while using the other to put his glasses on.

            “Professor?” he whispered before his eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

            “Potter, what were you dreaming about?” Severus said though he had a good feeling he already knew. He was convinced now that his suspicions that Potter was being mistreated at his relatives were true

            Potter looked down. “It’s nothing,” he said.

            Severus could tell that the boy was lying and he pressed his lips together. He had to treat this matter carefully; abused children were conditioned to never speak about their abuse to anyone in fear of retribution. It was a delicate matter but Severus has handled such cases before and knew what to say.

            “Harry, nothing said here will leave this house. What were you dreaming about?” Severus said as soothingly as he could manage. He knew using the boy’s first name would startle him but Severus felt it would help matters more than hurt them.

            “Nothing,” the boy repeated.

            “It didn’t sound like nothing. You were asking your uncle not to hit you,” Severus said going on to one of the things he overheard while he was trying to wake the boy up.

            Potter paled.

            “Harry, did your uncle hit you?”

            “N…No…” Potter began.

            “Harry, I heard everything you said,” Severus said. “Now answer me.”

            Potter seemed to tremble as fear clouded his features. “I…I can’t. He…he’ll be mad,” he whispered.

            “Harry, nothing you say here will leave this house,” Severus said again.

            “He’ll find out. He always does,” Potter said looking down at the covers.

            “This manor is protected. Only witches and wizards can see this valley and only those with permission can enter this valley,” Severus said.

            Potter played with a loose thread and didn’t respond.

            “Harry…”

            Potter closed his eyes. “If you already heard everything then why are you asking?” he asked.

            “I only wish for confirmation, Harry,” Severus said.

            Potter kept his eyes closed. “Why do you care?” he whispered.

            “I’m your teacher, Harry, and your current guardian. It’s my duty to make sure you’re safe. If you’re being abused at your home…”

            “I’m not…” Potter began.

            “…then I’ll do what I must to remove you from your relatives’ care,” Severus said sneering out the last word.

            Potter’s head shot up sharply and his eyes widened. “But Professor Dumbledore said I had to stay there,” he protested.

            “I do not condone abuse, Harry and if you are being abused then I promise I will not let you get sent back to that place no matter what Professor Dumbledore says,” Severus said firmly.

            Potter’s eyes seemed to well with tears and he hastily wiped them away while Severus was thankful the boy hadn’t burst out crying. He wasn’t that great at dealing with crying pre-teens.

            “Did your uncle hit you, Harry?” Severus asked.

            Potter closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

            “Why?”

            Potter’s voice shook as he spoke. “I…I hadn’t finished my chores in time,” he whispered.

            Severus gritted his teeth as he thought about his own father who would hit him if he hadn’t finished doing his chores on time too. He pushed his thoughts away as he thought about what to do. He figured there was more to the story but he also knew that he wouldn’t be able to get Potter to talk about everything at once. He’d have to get Potter to open up gradually.

            “Do you think you can go back to sleep or would you like some dreamless sleep?” Severus asked out loud.

            “What’s that?” Potter asked curiously.

            “It’s a potion that allows the drinker to enter a dreamless sleep, hence its name,” Severus said.

            Potter hesitated. “I think I’ll be fine,” he said softly.

            “Very well,” Severus said before he stood up. “Good night.”

            “Good night, Professor,” Potter said softly before he rested his head on his pillow and closed his eyes.

            Severus left the bedroom before making his way to his room thinking about what he learned.

            It had been five days since Minerva’s favorite—though she would never say so out loud. Severus already knew that she thought that way—Gryffindor had been abandoned by his despicable relatives. The Head of Gryffindor House always knew that the Dursleys were the worst sort of muggle and she couldn’t figure out why Albus decided to place Harry there.

            She shook her head as she put her quill back on her desk after she finished with the last of the paperwork. She had been planning on leaving for home a few days ago but it had taken a bit longer to finish her grading and the end of the year paperwork she needed to do than she had thought it would. At least now she was done and could head home but first, she was planning on speaking with Albus to see if the Dursleys have been found yet—frankly, she was hoping not—and then checking on Severus and Harry to see if they were getting along—she hoped they were.

            Stacking the parchments after the ink dried, Minerva got to her feet before making her way out of the office and heading toward the headmaster’s office. Reaching the gargoyle that guarded the office, she murmured “sugar quills” and walked past the gargoyle onto the spiraling staircase as soon as the gargoyle jumped aside.

            “Still no news on the Dursleys whereabouts?” Minerva asked as soon as she entered the office.

            The wizened headmaster shook his head; he looked tired. “I’m running out of places to look and spells to try, Minerva,” he said. “I lost their trail somewhere near the airport.”

            “Could they have left the country?” the Deputy Headmistress asked.

            “I had thought of that,” Albus admitted, “but I don’t know how to determine if they have or not without alerting the Ministry. If the Ministry finds out the Dursleys left then, no doubt, they will attempt to gain custody of Harry and that’s the last thing we need.”

            “Speaking of that, if you can’t find the Dursleys then who will be given custody of Harry?” Minerva asked.

            “I don’t know,” Albus said. “I’m hoping to find the Dursleys and convince them to take Harry back.”

            Minerva was silent for a moment fuming at the headmaster’s one track mind. “After they abandoned him? I don’t think that’s a wise thing to do, Albus,” she said. “Surely there must be someone out there who could take care of Harry. Why not the Weasleys? Harry and the youngest son Ronald have become very good friends.”

            “Molly already has seven children to take care of,” Albus said. “Besides, I have time to think about that as we can’t decide what shall happen to Harry until after I, at least, try to talk with the Dursleys.”

            I doubt it will do much good, Minerva thought. “Very well. I have finished with the paperwork and the grading,” she said placing the stack of parchments on Albus’s desk. “I’m going to go check on Severus and Harry before I head home.” She was one of the few that Severus allowed into the ancestral Prince Manor; Albus was another, though he rarely went there, mostly because he didn’t want to intrude.

            “Very well. Give them my best wishes,” Albus said.

            Minerva nodded before she turned around and left the office.

. . .

             Harry walked into the cellar behind Snape carrying a glass of water in one hand and a syringe in the other. He made his way over to the ice phoenix already knowing what to do after having done it a few times the past two days since the ice phoenix came to the manor. The ice phoenix lifted her head before opening her beak so that Harry could fit the syringe in and give her some water.

            ‘Thank you,’ the ice phoenix trilled after she drank the entire glass. She winced when Snape’s slender fingers brushed over the still healing wound on her stomach.

            “It’s still not infected, which is good, but it’s healing a lot slower than it’s supposed to,” Snape murmured.

            “What does that mean?” Harry asked. He wasn’t as wary about asking Snape questions anymore since the Potions Professor had answered his questions about his mother. Not only that but Snape had told him that he would not let Harry got back to the Dursleys, even if he had to go against Dumbledore. While Harry wasn’t sure if he could trust the Potions Professor, it still felt nice to know someone was willing to do something.

            “It means that whatever caused this wound is somehow stopping it from healing as it normally would,” replied Snape. “Since she responds to you, can you ask her what happened with to cause this?”

            “She said it was done by a chimera,” Harry said, remembering that the ice phoenix had said that to him when they first met.

            “It might still be best to get her story to figure out what’s going on,” Snape said.

            “All right.” Harry glanced at the ice phoenix. Can you tell us what happened? He thought knowing the ice phoenix could hear him.

            The ice phoenix let out a trill. ‘I already told you. I was attacked by a chimera,’ she replied.

            Yeah but we need to know more if we want to figure out why you’re wound isn’t healing, Harry thought. Is it because of the chimera’s attack?

            The ice phoenix was silent for a long moment. ‘Not really,’ she trilled finally. ‘It was, in part, but I’ve been wounded by a chimera before and it usually heals rapidly. This time it didn’t because the chimera had poison on its claws.’

            “Poison?” Harry repeated out loud.

            Snape glanced toward him. “Poison?” he repeated. “From what I know, ice phoenix’s are immune to most poisons.”

            ‘That is so but not all,’ the ice phoenix trilled and Harry repeated her words out loud.

            “What type of poison aren’t you immune to then?” the small Gryffindor asked.

            ‘It’s known as solani igni and it’s fatal to ice phoenixes,’ the ice phoenix replied.

            “Fatal? But that means…” Harry trailed off unable to think about an innocent animal dying.

            The ice phoenix let out a reassuring trill. ‘Relax, child, I was not given a high enough dose of the poison for it to kill me. It is simply preventing me from healing my wounds quickly,’ she said.

            “Is there a cure?” Harry asked.

            ‘I was heading on my way to where a cure could be found when I flew into you,’ the ice phoenix trilled.

            “What did she say?” Snape asked.

            Harry repeated her words to the professor before adding, “Do you think maybe we can get the cure for her?”

            “If I knew what the cure was then it would be possible,” Snape replied. “Ask her if she knows what the cure is.”

            ‘Tell him that I can understand him and he does not need to ask you to repeat his questions to me,’ the ice phoenix trilled.

            Harry smiled. “She said that she can understand you just fine and you don’t have to ask me to repeat your questions to her,” he said.

            ‘As for the cure, it’s a rare type of ice flower that can only be found in this valley. Unfortunately, I only know its general location and that it’s guarded by a magical creature that makes the chimera look like an innocent pup,’ the ice phoenix added.

            Harry repeated her words out loud before frowning. “There’s gotta be a way to get this cure,” he said.

            “Unless we know what we’re facing, it will be dangerous,” Snape said.

            “But she needs it. She could die,” Harry protested.

            ‘I said I am not in danger of dying, child,’ the ice phoenix trilled irritably.

            “What did she say?” Snape asked.

            Harry flushed in embarrassment. “She just reminded me that she’s not in danger of dying, but what if it gets infected?”

            “I am keeping it from getting infected right now, Potter,” Snape said. “She will be fine. What I am wondering is why the chimera attacked her? Ice phoenixes, like their cousins, are among the most respected magical creatures in the Wizarding world.”

            ‘It is a long story,’ the ice phoenix trilled. ‘And it would take too long to explain while having Harry—may I call you Harry?’

            Harry nodded.

            ‘—repeat everything. So, though I still cannot see beyond the ice around his heart, I will let him hear what I am saying,’ the ice phoenix added glancing toward Snape. ‘Can you understand me?’

            Snape’s eyes flickered with shock. “I can,” he said keeping his tone emotionless but even Harry could hear the undercurrents of surprise.

            ‘Good, then this will not need to be explained twice. Ice phoenixes have a secondary gift that few know about; the gift of foresight. We can see possible futures but never clearly enough to figure out what our visions are telling us or stop it from happening. However, every once and a while, an ice phoenix will have an extremely vivid vision and, when this happens, it is because the ice phoenix is supposed to do something to either stop her vision from or cause it to come to pass depending on the vision and whether it goes against an ice phoenix’s nature or not.’

            ‘Unfortunately, like humans, even ice phoenixes are not perfect and there are a few—very few—who support the dark wizard Voldemort,’ the ice phoenix added.

            “Voldemort! Why would an ice phoenix support him?” Harry exclaimed while Snape flinched.

            “Please don’t say his name around me, Potter,” he added.

            Harry looked at him curiously but decided not to ask, though he was wondering why.

            ‘I do not know. Perhaps Voldemort compelled them to join him or perhaps they were corrupted. Contrary to popular beliefs, phoenixes are not incorruptible. Either way, I had one of these vivid visions. Long story short, one treacherous ice phoenix was part of the Council of Elders that I spoke to about my vision and sought to stop me from causing it to happen. So she compelled a chimera—which only an Elder can do as chimeras are normally resistant to compulsion from an ordinary phoenix—to prevent me from causing it to happen. Needless to say, she failed.’       

            “Failed? But you were poisoned by a chimera and you haven’t been able to get the cure,” Harry protested.

            The ice phoenix trilled in amusement. ‘She failed because, in her attempt to stop me from causing my vision to happen by having that chimera poison me, she caused me to meet up with the very people I was supposed to meet up with,’ she said. She let out another trill that could only be described as a laugh at the confused looks she was receiving from both Harry and Snape.

            ‘I cannot tell you everything about my vision, child, but I can say that you, Harry, and you Professor Snape play a very significant role in it. Now, I grow weary and I should sleep.’ Without waiting for Harry or Snape to reply, the ice phoenix rested her head on the table before drifting off to sleep leaving the two wizards in confusion.

            A pop sounded and Kari appeared in the lab. “Master Severus, Professor McGonagall wishes to come over. May Kari let her?” she asked.

            “Yes you may, Kari,” Snape said.

            “Wonder why Professor McGonagall’s here,” Harry said out loud as Kari disappeared.

            “Probably assuring herself that I did not turn you into potion ingredients,” Snape said dryly as he led the way out of the lab.

            Harry glanced back at the sleeping ice phoenix before following Snape though he couldn’t help but wonder about the ice phoenix’s vision and why it included him and Snape.

. . .

            Severus walked into the living room as Minerva stepped out of the floo dusting off her robes. “Minerva, what brings you here?” he asked neutrally.

            “Simply came by to check on you and Mr. Potter,” Minerva said.

            “The brat’s fine, Minerva.”

            Potter, who had walked into the living room at that moment, glared at him but said nothing about it. “Hey Professor,” he greeted the Transfigurations professor.

            “Hello Harry, how are you?” Minerva asked.

            “I’m fine.” Harry hesitated then asked, “Am I going back to the Dursleys?”

            Not if I can help it. Did he already forget that I promised to get him out of there? Severus thought. He decided it was because the boy didn’t trust him and, considering how Severus had treated him during the last year, the Potions Professor wasn’t that surprised.

            Learning about the abuse Potter suffered through had really been an eye-opener to just how badly Severus, himself, had treated Potter. Just because he didn’t physically abuse the boy didn’t mean that he wasn’t abusive. He didn’t know how he could have been so blind to the fact that he was just as bad as the Dursleys and he found himself ashamed of his actions.

            I should never have treated him like that, just because he looked like Potter. Learning about what the Dursleys did to him proves that the boy is not Potter. In fact, in the past five days, I’ve come to see that Potter is more like Lily than I had thought, Severus thought feeling a pang of guilt. He hadn’t felt any kind of guilt since he had delivered the half-heard prophecy to Voldemort.

            Glancing at Potter who was telling Minerva about the sick ice phoenix and the cure that she needed, Severus vowed that he would do what he could to make up for becoming the bully he swore he would never be. He did not want to be like his father or like the Marauders—he had sworn he would never become a bully—and yet that was exactly what he had become. He didn’t know if he could make up for it, especially since he couldn’t exactly change his entire attitude toward Potter. He needed to keep his cover with the children of the Death Eaters.

            However, he would try. He would do it for Lily; he was positive if she was alive right now then she would have hexed him for how he treated her son. And he would also do it because, at the moment, he was being a hypocrite as he always kept his promises and yet had broken his promise to never become a bully. Fixing everything was definitely going to take some time to accomplish but Severus had time, even if it wasn’t much.

            Potter’s stomach chose that moment to remind them that it was nearing lunchtime.

            “Looks like someone’s hungry,” Minerva commented while Potter blushed in embarrassment.

            “You’re welcome to join us, Minerva,” Severus said.

            “I would, Severus, but I already promised my family I would be coming by for lunch. As it is, I am going to be a few minutes late. I’ll see what I can find out about this ice flower and I’ll tell Albus. Maybe Fawkes will know something.”

            “Fawkes?” Potter echoed.

            “Professor Dumbledore’s phoenix,” Severus said.

            “Professor Dumbledore has a phoenix?” Potter echoed surprised.

            Minerva nodded. “I’d best get going. I’ll write if I find out anything, Mr. Potter.”

            “Thank you, Professor,” Potter said sounding grateful.

            Minerva inclined her head to Severus before floo-traveling away.

            Severus and Potter made their way into the kitchen, Severus’s thoughts were on his promise to Lily and his desire to make up for becoming the bully he never wanted to be while Potter…Severus wasn’t entirely sure what the boy was thinking.

            “Do you think I could write my friends, Professor?” Potter asked.

            “No one will be able to track your owl here so yes you may. Do not tell them where you are though,” Severus said.

            Potter nodded before making himself a sandwich and sitting at the table. He was halfway through his sandwich before he paused and glanced at Severus. “Do you think you can help me with Professor McGonagall’s homework?” he asked hesitantly.

            Severus had agreed to help him with his Potions assignment so he didn’t see any problem with helping the boy. The boy’s desire to actually do his homework right away, unlike most children who would put it off to the end of the summer holidays, reminded him of Lily too. “If you wish,” he said out loud.

            Potter looked relieved. After he finished his lunch, he left the kitchen only to return a few minutes later with his Transfigurations textbook, a quill and a piece of parchment.

. . .

Dear Harry,

            Hope you’re having a good summer, mate.

            I can’t believe your aunt and uncle didn’t come to pick you up and weren’t even home when you got home. That’s crazy. Why didn’t they? And where are they?

            By the way, Mom wants to meet you though. Do you think whoever you’re staying with will let you come to the Burrow (that’s what my home’s called by the way)? If they will let me know.

            Ice phoenix? I never even knew they existed but Mom said that they’re really rare and are great healers but are picky on who they choose to talk to. Wonder if she’ll talk to me? Hey, if you come over, do you think you can bring her?

            Gred and Forge say hi by the way.

Ron

            Harry put the letter down wondering if he should tell Ron the real reason why his aunt and uncle didn’t pick him up but decided not to. Ron didn’t know what his life was like living with the Dursleys and it wasn’t as if he was going to be staying with Snape for much longer.

            A full week had gone by since the end of term and still Professor Dumbledore has been unable to find the Dursleys. He is convinced that they left the country and had informed Harry and Snape that it would take much more time to find them now that they were out of the country.

            “We’ll have to be careful to keep this quiet. If the Ministry finds out that the Dursleys have fled the country and left Harry here then they will attempt to make him a Ministry ward and that is the last thing we need,” Dumbledore had told them when he had come to visit the day before.

            So, as it was, it was decided that, since the Ministry never interfered with the muggle world, they would just let the Ministry keep believing that Harry was still living with his relatives.

            “This means that I will have to put off locating the Dursleys outside of England for a while, a month at the most, in order to prevent the Ministry from finding out,” Dumbledore had said.

            Basically speaking, Harry was stuck with Snape for longer than they had originally thought. At the very least, an unspoken truce had formed between Harry and his Potions Professor and they were treating each other civilly. Harry was amazed to see how different Snape acted when they weren’t in the classroom; he actually helped Harry with his summer homework and, though he was still impatient, he wasn’t cruel like he was in class. It was mind-boggling to think that this Snape and the Snape Harry had in class were so different.

            Snape was also willing to talk to Harry about his mother, even though Harry was not blind and could tell that it hurt him to talk about her. He had learned that he was like her in a few ways, such as his willingness to get his homework done right away and the fact that he hadn’t needed any help with his Charms homework. He had taken to Charms immediately, just as he had taken to flying.

            Speaking of flying…

            “Are you sure you should be flying around?” Harry asked looking at the ice phoenix who was ghosting form one side of Harry’s bedroom to the other. Her wound had finally finished healing, though there was still some of the poison in her system that was slowly leaving thanks to the ice flower and she was well on her way to a complete recovery, from what Snape said, but Harry wasn’t entirely sure she should be flying. She could be risking reopening her wound.

            ‘I need to get my strength back and flying is the only way I can, since I can’t flash anywhere yet. Professor Snape said I shouldn’t try it until I’m stronger,’ the ice phoenix—who had told Harry the day before that her name was Crystal—trilled as she landed on the headboard close to where Hedwig was resting on her perch.

            “At least we were able to find the ice flower you needed,” Harry mused. He had learned that Snape had located the ice flower the day before after finding out its exact location from Fawkes who, apparently, had been there before. Apparently, Fawkes was able to flash Snape directly into the cave so as to bypass the creature that was guarding it.

            ‘I would have done that too if I hadn’t been as injured as I was,’ Crystal had told them when Harry had asked why she hadn’t done that.

            ‘Indeed,’ Crystal trilled.

            “So, are you going to be returning home soon?” Harry asked reaching over to pick up Hermione’s letter.

            Crystal shook her head. ‘Ice phoenixes take life-debts seriously. You and Professor Snape saved my life so I owe both of you a life-debt.’

            “It was more Professor Snape than me,” Harry admitted unfolding Hermione’s letter.

            ‘Yes but you did help. That is why I owe both of you life-debts. I just wish there was some way to thaw the ice around Professor Snape’s heart. I would like to know if he really is as good as he acts,’ Crystal trilled.

            Harry shrugged not answering since it sounded as though the ice phoenix had been talking to herself. He finished opening Hermione’s letter and began reading.

Dear Harry,

            Are you having a good summer so far wherever you are? I can’t believe your aunt and uncle didn’t pick you up and weren’t even there when you got home. I’m so sorry, Harry. I hope that nothing happened to them.

            I can understand why you can’t tell me where you are. It’s probably to keep you safe or something, like from the press or people who don’t like you. I hope that whoever you are with is treating you right though.

            An ice phoenix? That’s wonderful. I’ve read about them. They’re primarily healers, one of the best natural healers out there, and they are primarily found in cold places like Greenland or Antarctica. They are also very picky on who they choose to talk with; they only talk to those that they believe are worthy. I find it amazing that this ice phoenix thinks you’re worthy. I do so wonder if she will talk to me.

            By the way, have you finished your summer homework? I already have it all done and I am looking forward to our next year. Maybe you, me and Ron, with our parents and guardians, can go to Diagon Alley to get our supplies together.

            I hope that you have a great rest of the summer.

Hermione

            A pop sounded and Kari appeared in the room. “Dinner’s ready, Master Harry,” she said.

            “You don’t have to call me ‘master’, Kari,” Harry said putting Hermione’s letter down.

            Kari smiled. “Kari doesn’t mind, Master Harry.”

            Harry sighed but nodded. “All right, I’ll be right down,” he said.

            Kari nodded and popped away.

            “Are you coming with, Crystal?” Harry asked looking at the ice phoenix. “Or do you wanna stay up here?”

            ‘Leave the door open,’ Crystal trilled.

            Harry nodded before getting off his bed and leaving the bedroom. He decided to write Hermione and Ron back after dinner.