"The person in the back steers, the front is the power."

"I'll sit in front," Harry said, and listened carefully as Severus described how to get in and out of the sit on top kayak without tipping it over and how to sit while inside it and how to paddle.

"If you fall off in the middle of the lake it will be nearly impossible to get back on, but I will show you the best way," Severus told him after Harry had gotten paddling down and they'd paddled from the boating dock to the swimming dock. "It will require that you get into the water."

Harry didn't like the idea, but he knew that he had a life jacket on, gillyweed in an airtight bag in his pocket, and also that they were going to be in only five or six feet of water there at the dock.

"If we were to use one of the sit-in Kayaks this would not be possible," Severus said as he showed Harry how to hoist himself from the water and onto the Kayak.

"What do people do when they fall out then?"

"In the sit-in Kayaks experienced paddlers wear a wet skirt that keeps the water out if they tip over, and they use their paddle to right themselves again, otherwise they pull a cord and they and the wet skirt separate from the boat. Then they swim."

Harry frowned, wondering what a wet skirt looked like because he had neither a sit in kayak or a wet skirt to look at. Their kayak was like a big flat pontoon on top with a rounded underside and a narrow fin. In answer to his confusion, Severus said, "They do not have wet skirts here because if someone who is inexperienced uses one they can flip over and become trapped in the kayak. If the wet skirt is put on the wrong way it is impossible to get out of the boat while under water."

Harry slid into the water at the motion Snape made for him to do so and was uncomfortable with the fact that his feet couldn't touch the bottom and the life jacket seemed to be slipping up past his ears.

"Try to do as I have shown you."

He did try and failed as he slid back into the water. He tried seven or eight more times and was finally too tired to try again, so Severus climbed up onto the dock and Harry did the same.

"I would advise you not to fall out," Severus said, and Harry gave a nod.

Feeling like the boat wasn't going to be his best part of the event, Harry asked if they could practice the other parts of the course again, and Severus nodded. The rules to the race were simple: Both counselor and camper had to make it through the three legs and to the Signing Rock together or their victory didn't count. There were three parts. It started in the gravel parking lot behind the Dining Hall. Campers and counselors would have to race on foot up the trail to the rock face. From there the camper would have to climb to the top while their counselor controlled the safety rope. Once the camper was to the top, the counselor would have to run to the obstacle course and complete it while the camper went down the back side of the rock face. As soon as the counselor was done with the obstacle course, the camper would do the zipline, and once on the ground they would race to the second leg of the course at the swimming pool. The second leg was easy enough. The camper had to jump in at the deep end of the pool and swim the length of the pool to the shallow end and climb out. Then the camper and their counselor would race to the lake for the third leg. There were no real rules about the third leg. Racers could use bikes or horses to race around the edge of the lake to the signing rock at the other end, or use boats. According to Severus, everyone always chose boats because it was the fastest route. For the first time that summer, Harry wished he had his broom... flying over the lake would be a much faster way to win his new bike.

As they trained in the few days leading up to the race, Severus noticed two things about Harry: his determination to win, and how relaxed he seemed to be. The teen had been becoming more used to his teacher's presence in the last few weeks, but in the last day or two since he'd healed the Gryffindor's ankle, the child seemed to finally be at peace with having Severus as his counselor. He was tempted to keep asking himself, ‘how did that happen?' again and again, but stopped himself, not wanting to be the cause of his own irritation.

* * *

Harry didn't want to eat breakfast. He was too amped up for the race, like he was before a Quidditch game. Only it wasn't Hermione there with him at breakfast telling him to eat, it was Severus Snape of all people. The man had told him to eat a lot of breads the night before at dinner and to skip the sweets (which Harry had) because it would give him carbs to burn the next day during the race, but now he was trying to push fruit and yogurt on him and Harry wanted nothing to do with it.

"I don't want it," Harry said, and Severus frowned.

"The strawberries in the yogurt will give you some immediate sugar to burn. The race will last almost an hour."

Harry shook his head and held up his hand. No, he couldn't eat when he was too nervous or excited, it had always been that way since as long as he could remember. Once uncle Vernon locked him out of the house at supper as a punishment and a neighbor took pity on him and gave him a sandwich. Harry had been too worried to eat it though. He thought that he'd get in trouble for eating without permission or that he'd be locked out all night, so the sandwich went to waste and that neighbor never tried to give him food again, which he had always been sorry for.

"One bite."

Harry looked up with such a frown that Severus looked surprised and didn't ask him to eat again that morning.

"Can we put bikes up by the swimming pool or something?" Harry asked. "To get us to the lake faster?"

"There is no rule against it, but also no guarantee that we would get to them first. Another team might take them before us."

"Hm."

They were waiting at the starting line in the parking lot for other teams to finish their breakfast.

"I did however, take the opportunity last night to leave bikes and helmets halfway down the bike trail around the lake... in case something unforeseeable should happen to our boat."

Harry grinned. "You're a cheater," he said, but he didn't say it to be mean.

"I am a Slytherin," Severus corrected, and Harry continued to smile.

"How many teams are there?" Harry asked when people started to gather.

"I believe there are ten this year. Many of the younger campers did not wish to compete."

"Have you ever won before?"

"Twice, but not for several years." He and his camper had won the first year he'd gone to Kennewick to council. The same camper who had run away to the other camp with a bad attitude ended up having a competitive streak, and Severus had used it to get close to him. Several years ago he'd also been partnered with a young man who was determined to win, and who had spent almost three weeks practicing the various legs of the course. Severus of course had never won the race in his time there as a camper, but he'd never been all that keen to either. Harry was competitive and determined though, and if he could overcome his fear of the water, barring any mishaps, Severus thought they had a good shot to take it this year.

"How is your ankle?" Severus asked. He had a feeling that it was still hurting the teen who was just too focused to mention it. Or perhaps stoic was the word. He didn't complain about his bruises, and Severus reflected, he'd never heard him complain at Hogwarts either. Not about injuries, or injustices, or anything else.

"It's fine."

Severus raised a brow, but more people began coming out of the dining hall and the noise level rose so he didn't say anything else about it. Some of them headed towards the obstacle course and others towards the pool. They were spreading out to various parts of the course to watch the competitors.

Harry began bouncing on the balls of his heels and shaking his hands as though preparing himself for some great feat of strength just as Callum approached the gathered teams.

"You already know the rules so I'm not going to go over them again. After I blow the whistle to start the race, I'll be down at the pool on lifeguard duty for that leg. There's a counselor on duty at the rock wall, one at the obstacle course, and one for the ropes course to make sure everyone is safe and following the rules. There will be two counselors in boats on the lake in case of emergency, and as soon as the last team has cleared the pool I'll join them. There are also two counselors and their campers at the signing rock to help determine which team gets there first. Are there any questions?"

A younger boy asked if there was anything that could get them disqualified, and Callum replied, "Only if you do something that's harmful to another person or team."

When Callum was sure there were no more questions he held up three fingers and put the whistle to his lips. "Get ready!" he said, and dropped one finger, then the second, then the third. The whistle blew and Harry and Snape sprinted to the start of the path that lead towards the boys cabins and to the rock wall and ropes and obstacle courses.

Harry's ankle hurt a little and they ended up being the third team to reach the rock wall, but only by a few seconds. Harry harnessed himself while Snape rigged up his own harness. Once Snape checked that Harry's was on right, he hooked him up to the safety rope and Harry began to climb the rock face. He was the third to start, but they'd practiced this over and over and he was the second to finish. He unhooked from the line and ran down the side to the ropes course where he waited at the bottom of the ladder for Snape to finish the obstacle course. Snape had apparently been able to pass the first counselor on the course and finished in record speed. Harry had a feeling he was probably the best at the obstacle course from years of practice. He ran to Harry at the ropes course and Harry started to climb the ladder, now in first place. Harry for his part did the zipline and ropes course in what he felt was his own personal best time and made it to the bottom where Snape helped him unharness and they ran down the path towards the pool. They were only halfway there when another team came up behind them. It was the boy who had asked about being disqualified. The boy was a fast runner and so was his counselor and Harry and Snape barely made it to the pool at the same time as they did. Harry didn't bother taking his shirt off and dove straight into the deep end of the pool, swimming as hard as he could to the shallow end and climbing out to meet Snape. The other boy was right beside him and Harry glanced behind him to the pool to see that two other teams were starting their swim and several others were racing down to the pool.

Running hard and feeling tired, Harry tried to match Snape's long strides as they ran to the lakeside. The other team got their life jackets on and took a canoe into the water before Harry and Snape got there.

Out of breath Harry put on and buckled a life jacked and then helped push one of the two person kayaks into the water and climbed into the front. He was pleased to find out that there were two bottles of water on the boat, and after they had paddled for several minutes he opened one and took a drink while Snape continued to paddle, and then began paddling again. The kayak was faster than the heavy canoe and they came even with the other team.

"Keep going," Snape said. "There is another team right behind us in a kayak."

Harry turned and sure enough there was a team paddling hard who was about to overtake them despite their early lead. Harry dug deeper into the water on either side of the kayak with his paddle and focused on the bike he wanted to win. He had to get it. They pulled ahead by a few feet and passed the first motor boat with counselors and campers on it who were there for safety.

"We have paddled one third of the way," Snape said.

Harry didn't respond. His arms were starting to feel like jelly and he was trying to focus on the far end of the lake. This was about as far as he'd been before towards the other end.

After almost ten more minutes they started to come up to the second motor boat and Harry glanced over at it. There was a large man on board and he was watching Harry. Harry's insides turned cold. Uncle Vernon's out of jail. He's come to get me, and I'm in the water! He's in a motorboat and he'll catch me! Harry realized then, that in his excitement about the race that morning, he'd forgotten his supply of Gillyweed in the cabin.

"Harry, slow down or you won't make it to the end."

Harry barely heard Snape. He was paddling as fast as he could go. Snape had said he was the power of the boat being the one to sit in front, and he had to have as much power as he could to get away from Uncle Vernon. He thought hard. Had his aunt been in the boat too? There had been another person. A skinny person. They were both there to take their revenge. Maybe something had happened to Dudley while he was with Aunt Marge and they'd come to torture Harry for payback.

"Harry, slow down," Snape said again.

Harry didn't want to slow down, but his arms were spent and he felt shaky from not eating that morning. He involuntarily dropped his paddle in the water, and because the boat was gliding quickly through the water, they passed it by. Within seconds the floating paddle was far behind them.

"Are you ok?"

Harry didn't answer and Snape asked again. After he asked a third time, a kayak passed them as they began to slow, but Harry didn't see a kayak with a team, he saw a motorboat out of the corner of his eye with his aunt and uncle, and now Aunt Marge too. Still no Dudley. Was he dead?

Hands shaking furiously, Harry bit his lip. They were coming for him. There was a gentle hand on the back of his shoulder then from behind and Harry startled badly, rocking the kayak. He threw his hands down to the sides of the boat in a panic to hold on.

"What is wrong?"

There was movement behind him and the kayak rocked again as Snape crawled to the center and was right behind Harry. Harry flinched at the sudden contact as Snape touched his shoulder again and tried to turn him slightly so he could see his face.

"What is it? You are paler than Draco Malfoy."

Harry shook his head. He'd lost sight of the motorboat with his family. They were somewhere on the lake watching him... waiting to ram the kayak and tip him into the water where he'd drown.

"Potter!"

Severus said his last name with such force that Harry turned to look at him, and he saw the fear and anxiety written across the child's face.

"What is it about the water? Tell me what is wrong or I will have to signal the rescue boat over."

"NO! PLEASE!" Harry panicked.

"You do not want the rescue boat." It wasn't a question.

"They're on it! They'll dump me into the water and hold me under!"

"Who will?"

"My aunt and uncle!" His hands continued to shake despite that he was holding one in the other trying to get it to stop.

Snape looked around wildly, spotted the second rescue boat some distance behind them, and frowned. "There is no one on the boat but Jake and his camper."

"I saw- I saw them!"

"Jake and his camper?"

"My family." Harry looked around wildly, feeling confused. He had seen them, hadn't he? But as he looked again more closely this time, it was only Jake and his camper on the boat in the distance, watching the race.

"They are not here. Even if they were out of jail, no one would tell them you had come to this camp or where it was."

"You don't know them," Harry said looking down. His anxiety was at an all time high as he looked around again. Several more canoes and kayaks had passed them now.

"They have held you under the water before?"

"Please don't let my uncle get me."

"They are not here Potter, and even if they were I would not allow them to harm you."

"I don't have the Gillyweed Professor. They'll know." Harry had felt anxious before. He'd felt nervous before. He'd felt downright terrified before. But he'd never felt hopeless before. Not like this. He was certain he'd die on this lake and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Not even Rhys would be able to help if he were there.

Suddenly there were two warm arms around him though, and Harry stiffened, eyes clenched shut. He was certain he'd be dragged into the water at any second, but he was still sitting on the kayak, and these arms weren't beefy or hurting him like Uncle Vernon. They were just there, steady and warm.

"I will not allow harm to come to you," was the serious yet calm voice in his ear. It was Snape. Snape was right there. Were these his arms?

Harry continued to shake for a minute or more as Snape held him, but slowly calmed and Snape let go. Harry looked and in the distance he could see that several kayaks were on the not so distant shore. They were closer to shore than he'd thought they were and the race was over by now.

"I messed this up," Harry lamented. He could feel Snape in the boat behind him moving back to his position at the rear of the boat.

"It is only a race."

"I'm all messed up," Harry said. He was curious to know if Snape would say something like, ‘it is only life,' but he didn't.

"You have reason to be," was what Snape said instead, and he began paddling them the rest of the way in to shore. When they hit sand Harry got out and sat on the beach facing the lake. Somewhere behind him in the trees was the signing rock. He could hear people whooping and laughing in the distance.

"You do not wish to sign the rock."

"I didn't earn it. I didn't work hard enough. I lost us the race."

"And losing somehow negates all the effort you put into it?"

I wasn't perfect, Harry thought to himself. At home everything he did had to be perfect or he got punished. Somehow he'd forgotten that here. He'd been allowed to slack and be imperfect and he'd forgotten the rules. He'd let his messed up brain get the best of him. There had been no Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia or Aunt Marge. It had all been in his head.

"Do you win every Quidditch match?" Snape was standing over him, blocking out the sunlight.

"No, but I don't freak out in the air either and think people are there that aren't."

Snape reached down and startled Harry by lifting him up from under the arm. Harry stood there and looked at his professor.

"Everyone has ghosts Potter. It is just unfortunate for you that yours are more like demons."

At that moment there was movement in the trees behind them and a grinning girl and her counselor came down the path with a brand new mountain bike.

"It's ok," Harry mumbled. "I didn't want a bike anyway." He walked off around the edge of the lake on the side he hadn't been on yet, and Snape followed. He knew as well as Harry did, that he did want that bike.