Harry’s visit with his godfather was a disaster.

It didn’t start out that way. He had arrived just before lunch, after he had made what he hoped to be the last adjustments to his potions essay. Snape had handed him most of his essays with only one or two comments, which he had been able to fix within an hour. His potions essay though, was defiled with so much red it had taken Harry more than three hours to fix all the mistakes. It had annoyed him greatly that Snape had made him fix all of his essays before he was allowed to visit his godfather, and he had been stupid enough to mention it to Sirius.

They had been enjoying a lovely lunch, curtesy of Molly, when Sirius had asked why he hadn’t come earlier. Apparently Dumbledore had only told him he would be arriving today, and not given a time. So, Harry had told him that Snape made him finish his homework first, assuming that Sirius, like any other adult who cared about their children, would agree with Snape’s actions.

It turned out that Sirius didn’t even know of the new arrangement. He still though Harry was staying with the Dursleys. Harry had explained what exactly had happened since the school year had ended. Sirius was mostly silent during the tale, though he did make nasty faces every time Snape was mentioned, until the part where he told him the two of them were living at the Potter mansion. At that, Sirius hit the roof. Completely incensed that not only was his godson being forced to live with Snape, the man was actually allowed to live in James’ old home.

He paced around the house for nearly an hour, completely ignoring Harry’s attempts to calm him down. Which, if Harry was being honest, was more than a little bit annoying. Did his opinion not matter at all? Harry didn’t mind living with Snape, at least not at the moment, and he absolutely loved the fact that they were staying in his father’s old home.

It wasn’t until Sirius started muttering about forcing Dumbledore to remove Snape from his best friend’s house, that Harry put his foot down. He send a wandless stinging hex at Sirius, something he had been working on for occasions just like this. Sirius yelped and turned to glare at Harry, his expression turning from annoyed to flummoxed in less than a second when he glanced down and saw that Harry’s wand wasn’t anywhere need the boy’s hand.

Harry merely lifted a brow at the man. Another thing he had been working on, though not exactly for this situation. In fact, he’d been practising the look purely for Snape. It always seemed to work for Snape and Harry had wanted to try it on the professor, just to see if the man could be affected by the look as his students always were. By Sirius’s expression, it seemed to work on him.

His face fell slightly as he stared at Harry “You look so much like him when you do that.”

Harry cocked his head in confusion “Who? My father?” Everybody was always telling him he looked like James, and who else would Sirius mean.

Sirius shook his head and grumbled “No, Snape.”

The Gryffindor could help but chuckle at that. It wasn’t like he wanted to be anything like Snape, the man was way too grouchy for Harry’s liking, but clearly he had managed the expression perfectly. Signing as he noticed Sirius’ crestfallen look, Harry grabbed his arm and pulled the man to sit next to him. “Look Sirius, I’m really sorry. I know you don’t like Snape. I’m not exactly a fan of either, but I’m fine. For ones in my life, I’m actually having a fun summer.”

Sirius scoffed at that “I can’t imagine Snivelly knows what fun means.”

Harry made a face at his godfather’s nickname for Snape. It sounded like some of the names the Dursleys come up with, Whining Welp and Potty being the most prevalent.

His godfather seemed to think the face was an indication of the amount of fun Harry was really having and said. “I bet he has you doing chores and homework all day.”

Harry shrugged “My only chore is lunch, since Snape is usually in the middle of brewing at noon. And I only had to do homework in the morning. I’m probably done with most of it now, though my potions essay will no doubt be returned scribbled in red.”

Sirius blinked at him “He checks your work?”

“Yeah. He’s a lot less helpful then Hermione, since we can usually convince her to give us the answer, but it’s really useful. I’m definitely getting an O for every assignment. Well, except for Potions, since he’ll probably take points for the amount of help he’s been giving me.”

Seeing the look on his godfather’s face, Harry grinned “What, do you want to look my work over to?”

Sirius shook his head rather quickly and returned Harry grin. “No thank you. I swore never to touch another essay as soon as I finished Hogwarts.”

“Yeah, I thought you might have.”

Sighing, Sirius stretched his legs, relaxing against the back of the couch. Shooting a curious glance at Harry, he asked “So, what was with that stinging hex?”

Biting his lip, Harry tried to shrug the comment of “You were losing it and refused to listen. I’ve come to realize that sometimes, one has to take drastic measures to get results.”

“You learned this while staying with Sniv..” Harry frowned at him and Sirius broke of, shaking his head he rephrased “Snape thought you to do that?”

Harry snickered and shook his head “No, absolutely not. He was being annoying and the thought of it popped into my head. The thought was funny so I’ve been practising.”

“You haven’t used it on him but you were fine using it on me?”

“Well, yeah. No offence, but you just aren’t that scary. Also, Snape hasn’t yet forced me to use it on him. He can get rather testy but lately he’s been listening.”

Sirius gave him an odd look, one that made Harry want to squirm in his seat. “You talk a lot do you?”

Harry pursed his lips, thinking that over. “Yes and no. Snape insists on lessons everyday between two and five, which usually involve a lot of talking. And it’s not like we ignore each other the rest of the time. But it’s also not like we talk about anything personal.”

“What are these lessons about?”

Smiling, Harry told his godfather about all the things he’d been learning. He was careful to leave out certain things. Like some of the books he’d been reading, and some of the more intense discussing he’d had with Snape. It was probably not a good idea to inform Sirius about the rather ruthless tactics Snape was teaching him nor was it smart to mention the small duel.

If Harry had hoped Sirius would forget about the magic he had used earlier, he would have been seriously disappointed. His godfather listened closely as Harry told him about his summer so far, asking a question here and there, but when the tale was done he asked “So are you going to explain where you learned that kind of magic?”

Harry sighed in resignation. “I’ve always been able to do it. When I was younger, I used it to unlock my door all the time. I didn’t know it was magic, to me it always seemed as if I’d simply wished it to happen. Last year I was training my butt of for the tournament and was often exhausted. So, one night when I was finishing up my homework, I really didn’t want to get up to get the book I left on my bed…”

Sirius gave him an incredulous look “You summoned it?”

Harry shook his head “I would have used my wand if that was possible, but the door was closed. I just kind of wished it could appear in front of me, and it did.”

“That sounds like you conjured it. Without the use of a wand or spell.”

Harry nodded “Yeah, it’s like accidental magic but controlled.”

Sirius led out a long breath and stared at Harry “You’re mother ones told me she used to be able to do something similar but lost the ability.”

Harry stared at him “Mum could do it too?”

Sirius grinned “I don’t think she ever used it like you. I’m pretty sure she would have used that stinging hex on James and me if she could. But she often complained that she would have been much better at Herbology if she could still make flowers bloom.”

Harry bit his lip, slightly worried all of a sudden “Do you think I’ll lose it too?”

Sirius shook his head slowly “You’re mother lost it soon after coming to Hogwarts. Like most children, she learned to reign in her accidental magic and lost access. She was still gifted with wandless magic but she could no longer wish for the flowers to bloom.”

Harry sighed “It’s strange that every magical child has done that kind of magic, yet there are very few wizards who retain the ability into adulthood.”

“Not really. Children are generally more open. Their limited experience means they have no concept of what should and should not be possible. When you grow up, you learn the ways of the world as those around you see it. We are thought that accidental magic cannot be controlled, and we believe it because memories of childhood are often fussy. It’s like an internal block that is extremely hard to overcome.”

Harry gaped at his godfather “Since when did you become so smart?”

Sirius grinned at him “It was actually Remus who said that. Or at least something similar.”

“So… Do you think everybody could learn how to use that kinds of magic?”

Sirius shook his head sadly “No. There are very few children who manage to truly control their magic. Personally, I never learned any control until I gained my wand. Those that do learn control rarely learn how to do it consistently, since their magic is usually too weak at that age.”

“Do you know how easy it was for my mother?”

Sirius shook his head, his lips thinned for a moment before he said “Ask Snape. They were friendly for a while.”

Harry bit his lower lip. He really wanted to ask more but he had a feeling Sirius wouldn’t welcome questions. Harry’s parents were still a sore subject, one nobody but Harry wanted to discuss. So, he followed Sirius’ silent suggestion and changed the subject. “So, tell me about you. What are you doing in this godforsaken house?”

Sirius grimaced and started explaining all about Gimmauld Place. Apparently, it was his family home and Sirius had moved back at Dumbledore’s request. Harry couldn’t help but wonder why Dumbledore kept putting people where they didn’t want to be.

Sirius also explained about the Order and how they were all trying to find out what was going on. He looked like there was something he really wanted to say but eventually decided against it. Leaving Harry to consider ones more what exactly they were hiding from him.

Harry tried to get more information on the war from Sirius but gave up rather quickly. It wasn’t working and Sirius was getting agitated. So Harry changed the subject to James and listened as Sirius regaled him with stories of their youth. It seemed to be one of Sirius’ favourite pastimes, reminiscing about the past. Time went by quickly as he told his stories with a smile on his lips and a faraway look in his eyes, and before they knew it, it was time for dinner.

Harry had promised to make a pizza for Sirius and went to the kitchen, his godfather following close-by. They chatted a bit about random things as Harry went around the kitchen and rather the ingredients from the pantry. He pushed up his sleeves without much thought and went to grab and egg when Sirius grabbed him.

Looking at Sirius, he saw the man glare in fury at his arm. He followed the man’s glare and winced inwardly as he saw the gigantic bruise that spanned his loved arm. He hadn’t really notice the bruise before but seeing it now, he realized he’d been extremely lucky it hadn’t been broken. Seeing the murderous look on Sirius’ face, he pulled away and stepped back.

“What did that bastard do to you?” His eyes were narrowed as he practically hissed the question.

Harry shook his head “Nothing, I just fell.”

Sirius’ eyes widened “You fell?” His voiced cracked and he stalked out of the kitchen. “I’m going to kill him. He’s not going to get away with this.”

Harry heard the threat and followed Sirius into the living space, trying to get him to calm down. It didn’t work though, Sirius’ steady stream of curses and insults kept him from hearing anything Harry had to say. Not even the stinging hex could stop his godfather as he paced furiously.

Harry watched it for a while, thinking it would eventually end. It wasn’t like Sirius could actually get to Snape. But as time went by, Sirius didn’t seem to calm down at all. He was still pacing, throwing out some choice curses every so often, and not at all listening to anything Harry had to say.

After an hour, Harry tried another stinging hex to get the man to pay attention to him. This time, is worked. Sirius made a small jump and turned to glare at Harry, his lips pressed firmly together. Thinking the man understood that Harry had something to say and he should really listen, Harry started “Sirius, please. Severus didn’t hurt me.”

Sirius’ eyes widened “He makes you call him by his first name?” He sounded disgusted at the thought.

Harry, a bit insulted at the thought of being made to do anything, glared at his godfather “He makes me do nothing. And I used his first name because you seem incapable of understanding that things are fine between Snape and myself.”

Sirius opened his mouth to say something but Harry held up a hand and returned to glaring at the man. “He took me away from the Dursleys. I have been trying to get away from there for years. He was the only one who ever did anything about it.”

“I didn’t know Harry, please.”

Harry shrugged “It doesn’t matter if you knew. What matters is that from all the people who supposedly care for me, it was the one who seemed to despise me most that got me out. It doesn’t matter that it was simply because he happened to be there, happened to actually see it with his own eyes. What matters is that he saw. He doesn’t think of me as The-Boy-Who-Lived or my father’s clone anymore. I’m sorry if you don’t like it Sirius, but I trust Snape. He may not be the nicest person in the world but he’s learned to see me has Harry. It’s nice to have somebody see me as me instead of some fiction that doesn’t exist.”

Sirius gaped at him “I don’t think you are James clone. I know you’re not him.”

“Maybe you do, most of the time. But you’re like Ron. Most of the time I’m just Harry, but ones every so often you expect me to be James, just like Ron expects me to be The-Boy-Who-Lived.”

“And you think Snape doesn’t think of you as the Potter Brat any longer?”

Harry smiled “Ooh, I’m sure he does. It’s not easy to let go of preconceptions. But unlike everybody else, he admits that he has some misconceptions that he needs to work on.”

Sirius shook his head, clearly not getting a word of what Harry was saying. “He’s trying to manipulate you Harry, can’t you see that? Look at what he did to your arm.”

Harry threw up his arms in aggravation and grabbed the tin with flu-powder. Sirius wasn’t going to listen to him, not when it came to Snape, and Harry kind of had enough. If his godfather was unwilling to believe him, there was really no reason to stay. He threw a handful of powder in the fire and stepped in. With one last glare at Sirius his said “Potter Pride” and zoomed away.



Harry stumbled into the sitting room of Potter Mansion. Still furious at Sirius’ complete lack of attention to anything he said, he stalked to the door, fully intending of retreating to his room. He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder and Snape’s near whisper of “Potter, wait.”

Harry turned and looked at his current guardian. “Yes, sir?”

Snape scrutinized him for a long moment before leading him back towards the sofa and motioning for Harry to sit down. Harry followed the directions reluctantly, waiting for Snape to explain what he wanted.

“What happened?”

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He really didn’t want to talk about this, especially not with Snape, but he knew the man well enough to know he wasn’t going to let it go. So, Harry told the truth, part of it anyway. “He won’t listen. He’s so wrapped up in his hatred for you, what I want doesn’t even cross his mind.”

“Aah” Snape sat back, obviously unsure what to say to that.

Harry shot him a wry smile “I was used to not being listened to, you know. Until you took me away from my family.”

Snape just kept staring at him. A completely flummoxed expression crossing his face for a single moment. “You expected better from your godfather because of the decline in animosity between us?”

“Well no, not exactly.” Raking a hand through his hair, he tried to find some way to explain it. “It’s just… I was used to everybody seeing what they want to see. Even Ron and Hermione do it sometimes. But then you got over it. I suppose I was just thinking maybe I could make Sirius see too.”

Snape sighed and shook his head “I realized I was wrong due to circumstance. If you want Sirius to see you for who you really are, you’ll either have to shock him into it or hang around him so much that he can’t get around the truth.”

“I doubt simply being around will change much. Like everybody else, he’s convinced he known what’s best for me.”

“You are a child and he’s an adult, Potter. That usually means he should know best.”

Harry grimaced at that “Do you think you know better than me what’s best for me?”

Snape didn’t answer for the longest time, clearly considering the question before he said, very slowly “I think nobody really knows what’s best for you at this moment.”

“What do you mean?” Harry was frowning, not certain what Snape meant by that. He’d expected the man to say that yes, he did know better. He hadn’t considered the possibility of the dour man admitting that maybe neither of them really knew what was best at the moment.

“It means that I have come to the conclusion that we are all missing pieces of information. A year ago I would have thought that yes, I know best. I know better now. But you need to realize that, that doesn’t mean you know everything you need to know.”

Harry sighed. There was the crux of the matter. Harry was aware he didn’t, knew there were things they were keeping from him. “Then tell me.”

Snape shook his head “Not yet, it’s too dangerous.”

“Then when? What do I need to do to get the full picture?”

“Study hard and follow my directions the rest of the summer. We will talk of this again before you return to school.”

Harry wanted to protest. He wanted to know what was going on and he really didn’t want to wait. Snape was helping him learn a lot of cool stuff but very little of it seemed useful in the current situation. And it wasn’t like Harry had the time to go through school and learn like everybody else. He needed to learn how to fight, how to survive the madman on his tail. He couldn’t do that if everybody kept thinking of him as some helpless child. But Snape’s concern was valid. He hadn’t outright said it but Harry understood the danger of the connection between himself and Riddle. Harry could see through his eyes, what was to say that Tom couldn’t see through Harry’s eyes. His eyes widened at the sudden realization.

“That’s why the headmaster hasn’t really looked at me since the graveyard, isn’t it? He’s afraid what he’ll see.”

“What are you blathering about? You’ve had several conversations with the headmaster this summer.”

Harry tapped his chin in though “Hmm, yes. But not ones has he looked me in the eyes. I know you think I’m self-absorbed but Dumbledore has been acting different these past weeks, and it’s not just because Riddle is back. The headmaster doesn’t trust me because of the connection I have with Tom.”

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose, a gesture he was making more and more lately. “The headmaster has not been inclined to confide in me when it comes to that connection but I suspect that you are right, to an extent. It is very possible that he wished you to learn Occlumency for precisely that reason.”

“Occlumency will stop the visions?”

“Possibly. Occlumency allows the practitioner to shield his or her mind from outside intrusion. It is meant as a counter to Legilimency. Whether it will help with you block the connection between you and the Dark Lord has yet to be determined.”

“Then why aren’t you teaching me? Shouldn’t keeping Tom out of my mind be a priority?”

“It’s not all about you Potter.”

Harry rolled his eyes “True, it’s about you. If Riddle finds his way into my head, he may find out about our current living situation.”

Snape glared at him “I’m assuming that was not meant as a threat.”

“It was meant as genuine concern. Having visions has up and downsides, if it was just about getting rid of them I might not care. Having him in my head… That’s a whole different problem. I need to know what’s going on if I’m going to survive. I can’t have that bastard roaming around in my head and risk giving away secrets.”

The corner of Snape’s mouth twitched as he inclined his head towards Harry. “My apology, I should not have snapped at you. Teaching you Occlumency is not something I’m particularly looking forward to.”

“Why?”

Snape sighed and stood up. “We will talk about that tomorrow. For now, you should ask that elf for some dinner. You can use tonight to go over all you’ve learned this past weeks. You will have to answer some questions before we continue with new subjects.”

Harry watched Snape walk away and wondered what the problem was with teaching him Occlumency. They’d been getting along fine for the past weeks and Snape had even taught him some things about potions. Surely, if the man managed to actually teach Potions to Harry, Occlumency should be no problem. If Snape thought it would be worse than Potions class, Harry might just change his mind about wanting to learn.



The following morning, Snape knocked on his door two hours earlier than usual. Having been up and about since 5 am due to nightmares, Harry opened the door already dressed. Snape had handed him a shirt and some shorts, all in black of course, told him to change close and meet him outside as soon as possible.

The Gryffindor grinned, he knew what this was about. Two weeks had passed by and he was finally getting that physical training. Harry wasn’t overly athletic, the only sport he ever played was Quidditch and he was perfectly fine with that. But he had been looking forward to showing Snape that, unlike his pansy Slytherin team, the Gryffindors we in shape both on and of a broom.

Harry ran outside, happy to get some extra fresh air. The normal two hours a day were starting to seem rather short, in comparison to the amount of time he spend inside the house, specifically the dungeon. Snape was sitting in one of the lawn chair, lounging back with a book on his lap. Not even looking up from his book, he waved his wand and a timer appeared in mid-air. Snape told him to start running and with another flick, the timer started counting.

Harry did as he was told and ran running clockwise around the mansion. It turned out that the house was rather large, one round was about equal to twice the Quidditch pitch. Still he ran the first round quickly, only slowing down marginally for the second. On the third round though, his pace started decreasing in a steady pace, his breathing became laboured halfway through the lap. By the time Snape came in sight again, he was holding his sight and his gate was more of stumbling than running. As he reached the law chairs, he collapsed in the grass not even trying to make it to the furniture.

There was a long silence as Harry did his best to regain control over his breathing, as well as his heart rate. Glancing over at the timer, he groaning silently as he noticed that the three rounds had taken him 30 minutes. Snape had said he needed to run for a full hour each morning.

From the corner of his vision he noticed Snape getting up and he tensed, waiting for the order to get up and finish the hour. Without a word, Snape grabbed his hand and pulled him upright.

Handing the Gryffindor a bottle of water, he waited for the boy to drink before he said. “You are supposed to be working on conditioning, not sprinting. Next time, don’t be a foul and pace yourself.”

Harry sighed but nodded reluctantly. Snape was probably right. He’d tried to run as fast as he could, just to prove to Snape that he wasn’t the lay slacker the man thought him to be. “Sorry, sir.”

Snape waved him of “Don’t bother. That first lap took you only seven minutes, that’s quite impressive. Just remember that tomorrow, you won’t get away with a stunt like that.”

Tilting his head upward, Harry gave his professor a questioning glance “Tomorrow?”

“From now on, you will be running every morning before breakfast. Go take a shower, we have some things to take care of today.”

Harry did as asked and ran upstairs for a quick shower. As he entered the kitchen ten minutes later, breakfast was already on the table, waiting for him. Smiling slightly as the amazing meals he’d been having lately, Harry dug in with relish. The morning exercise had let him famished, even the disapproving shake of Snape’s head didn’t make him slow down.

After they both had something to eat, Snape returned all of Harry’s summer essays with an actual smile on his face. The expression was such a surprise to the boy that he sat there completely frozen, until Snape cleared his throat and waved for Harry to take the essays. Harry had looked at the parchments and gave a wide grin when he noticed none of them held any red. Looking at Snape with some surprise he asked “There is nothing left for me to improve?”

Snape shook his head “There was very little to improve in the first place.”

“But… But you made me rewrite them at least three times.” Harry sputtered, too shocked to decide whether he should be angry or not.

Snape shrugged lightly “You wrote perfectly acceptable essays for students your age. I do not accept perfectly acceptable, especially not from you.”

Harry narrowed his eyes and glared at the older man “That’s not fair. Why would I be any different from the other students?”

Again, that light shrug. “Because you have brains.” Waving a hand, Snape sent the dishes away, then dismissed Harry. “Go put your stuff away and meet me at the entrance in ten minutes. We have some errant to run.”



Half an hour later, Harry was running after his professor, trying to keep up with the man as they strode through a muggle shopping centrum. During their trip with that wretched Knight-bus, Harry had tried to get Snape to tell him where they were going, but the man wouldn’t budge. As they’d arrived in London, Harry had been confused as to what they were doing there. They couldn’t be visiting Diagon Alley since they couldn’t be seen together, and Harry simply couldn’t imagine Snape needing something in Muggle London.

That was, until Snape suddenly stopped in front of a store with a bunch of glasses in the display cases. Ushering Harry inside, Snape followed closely and led him to a counter. A moment later, a tall lady with classes on the tip of her nose appeared.

Looking at Snape she asked “Can I help you gentlemen?”

Snape nodded and put a hand on Harry’s head. “This young man needs a pair of reconstructive glasses.”

The woman’s eyes widened as she looked at Harry. Then she looked around the store suspiciously, as if checking that nobody was listening in, and leaned forward to ask in a whisper. “Has he been tested for direct magical treatment?”

Snape scoffed “I’m afraid that is not in our price range. The glasses will have to do.”

The woman pursed her lips, looking for Snape to Harry with a pensive look. Then she shook her head. “Let me test him. If he’s a candidate I know someone would be willing to help for free.”

Snape just stared at her, clearly not comprehending what she was saying. Harry on the other hand, knew exactly what the woman was doing. People in the magical community were overly nice to him, not because they thought he needed it, but because they thought he was a hero and therefor deserved it. It aggravated Harry.

Shaking his head, he spoke up. “I’m sorry mam, I can’t take your charity.” Then he glanced at Snape, about to ask if he couldn’t pay for it with the money from his family vault. Surely this was a good reason to use it, right? Before he could ask though, the woman spoke again.

“It wouldn’t be charity, Mr Potter. It would be a gift, one you deserve.” Harry opened his mouth to protest but the woman shook her head and smiled at him. “Consider it a gift to your mother. She would have wanted you to accept this.”

Harry noticed Snape frown and step forward, as if to say something. Before he could, Harry asked “How do you now my mum?”

“I was one of the students she tutored in charms. I would not have become both a magical as well as muggle optometrist without her help. This is the least I can do to pay her back for her kindness. Now, will you follow me so we can do those tests?”

Sighing, Harry nodded in resignation. It still felt kind of like charity to him but he couldn’t say no. If she wanted to help him because of his mother, who was he to refuse. It was a lot easier to say no when it was some stranger offering kindness because of their hero-worshipping.

Ones they were in a separated room and Snape had closed the door behind them, the woman told him to sit. She then proceeded to cast a few spells on him, which she finished with a delighted smile. After that, she made him sit behind some kind of contraption that Harry suspected to be a muggle device, and made him read a bunch of letters. After repeated the process a few times, each with a different lens in front of his eye, she moved the machine and told him to wait.

Harry sat there, twisting his fingers in his robes and biting his lips nervously. He never had an eye examination and had always assumed them to be much worse. The fact that they turned out to be so simple and painless had him on edge. Things were never this easy.

What seemed like ages later, the woman reappeared holding a blue folder and still smiling brightly. She handed the folder over to Harry. “Congratulations young man, you are a candidate for a treatment that will restore your eyesight completely within a matter of weeks.”

Harry accepted the folder, and looked from her to Snape with wide eyes. His voice rose a few pitches a he asked “A matter of weeks?”

The woman nodded cheerily. “Correct. All it will take is a few potions and some charms and you’re all set. Though, I must point out that the correction may wear off after time.”

“How much time?” Harry would be delighted to be rid of the glasses, as they were a right nuisance, but he couldn’t risk his vision leaving him unexpectedly. With his luck it would happen right before Riddle cast the killing curse on him.

“It depends mostly on the strength of the potion. The potions I order are said to last anywhere between twenty and thirty years.”

Snape scoffed “If the child decides to go through with this, I will provide the potion myself.”

Harry gave his professor a grateful smile. He didn’t like taking potions, he never had. They tasted vile and were way too easy to screw up. If he was going to take them, he’d much rather they come from Snape. Harry smiled inwardly, now that was a strange thought. A month ago he would have considered anything coming from Snape liable to be poison and now he was thinking the complete opposite. Deciding to think on that particular change later, he asked “If you made it, could you be more precise in the time? I mean ten years is an awfully long stretch. It would be nice if I only needed to carry glasses as backup for a year or so.”

The woman glanced between Snape and Harry, then said hesitantly “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I will need to use the charm and I can’t just use any potion that’s handed to me. I need to be certain of the quality.”

Harry glanced at Snape and snickered softly at the man’s expression. Figuring it best that his professor didn’t piss of the nice lady, Harry said “This is Potions Master Severus Snape, Ma’am. I’m positive his potion will be more than sufficient.”

Snape shot Harry a withering glare, but Harry ignored it in favour of watching the expressions on the lady’s face. It was rather amusing to see her go from recognition to wide-eyed shock to confusion. “I remember you. You were in Lily’s year, Slytherin if I’m not mistaken.” Shooting a nervous look to Harry, she added “I heard you followed him.”

Snape sneered at her “I did, that’s why I’m here with the bloody boy-who-lived.”

The woman didn’t seem to get the sarcasm and she recoiled slightly. Obviously perturbed by the man’s statement. Harry could help but roll his eyes at his teacher. Patting the woman’s arm, he told her calmly “Don’t worry about him. Without a cauldron to brew his nasty poison, he’s not much of a threat.”

The woman give him a wide-eyed look while Snape smirked at him; whether it came amusement at his statement or was due to him planning how to prove the statement wrong, Harry wasn’t certain. The woman led out a short huff of exasperation and shook her head. “You clearly have your father’s humour, your mother was never that cruel.”

Harry sucked in a breath at that, completely taken aback. “I’m sorry. I didn’t meant to scare you.” He tried to apologize, eyes wide with horror. He wasn’t the kind of person who made jokes at others expense. A bit of dark humour was one thing, actually hurting somebody with his words was a whole other can of worms.

The woman took a deep breath, apparently steadying herself, then patted his arm. “Don’t worry Mr. Potter. It is not your fault. We all deal differently with our problems. I ran away from the magical world, hid as a muggle, when the war was raging. I am not one for violence and I had the luxury to get away from it. I have a feeling you don’t have that choice.”

Biting his lip, Harry shook his head. No, He never had the option of running away. If he tried, no matter where he went, Riddle would follow him. He had no idea why the maniac had come after him in the first place, but he knew that Tom wouldn’t stop until he finished what he set out to do.

The woman patted his arm again and smiled softly. “Then nobody can blame you for dealing with your hardships with a little dark humour. Now, as for this treatment. If you’re truly against using the potion I have in stock, you will have to return here when you have the potion you wish to use. The charms must be applied between one and two hours after taking the first potion. After that, you will need to drink one vial of the potion as soon as your vision start to become blurry. Usually, you won’t need the potion any longer after three to four weeks.”

“How many vials does it usually take?” Snape asked, clearly interested again now that they were talking about the potion.

The woman looked at him, completely professional now “The potions usually wears off after two to four hours for the first day. After that the interval will grow with two hours after each potion. The longest treatment I have ever given took six weeks and over sixty vials of potion. For some reason, she was stuck at a 24 hour interval for two extra weeks.”

Snape nodded slowly, wearing that look he always had when he was measuring ingredients. “Do you have the recipe at hand?”

The woman shook her head “I can have it send to you by the end of next week.”

Snape inclined his head, then glanced at Harry “I suppose you still want new glasses for now?”

Harry looked down, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. He didn’t need new glasses. These had served him fine for years, and they could continue to do so for the few weeks they were needed. Yet, he had always wanted glasses that were actually meant for him.

Somehow Snape seemed to read him. Harry saw him nod towards the optometrist as he asked “The frames will do for now, no need getting used to new frames when he only needs them for a short time, but he needs new lenses.”

Harry gave Snape a grateful smile as he handed his glasses over to be refitted with a set of lenses that were actually made for him.

Two hours later, Harry was sitting opposite of Snape on a small table in a bistro. After the optometrist had handed Harry his new glasses –and Harry had looked around amazed at the sudden clarity for a full ten minutes– they had gone on to a department store and Snape had ordered him to buy a new wardrobe.

He hadn’t specified what exactly he wanted Harry to buy and the Gryffindor didn’t think he needed that much. Had he been able to get some of his own money, he probably would have bought more. He’d been dying to spend some of his money on decent muggle clothes for ages but hadn’t had the chance. The problem was that Snape was buying him this stuff, and Harry had no idea what the motivation was behind it. The charity without reason had made him feel uncomfortable.

So, after about half an hour, Harry had returned with a handful of shirts, some jeans, and a bunch of new socks –he hadn’t been able to bring himself to grab underwear, even though he knew he needed some. Snape hadn’t been happy at all. Extremely aggravated, he had led Harry around on a merry chase as he grabbed everything he thought Harry needed. Surprisingly, Snape included several blue shirts, a few greens, and even a red one –though not Gryffindor red. He had directed Harry to try three pairs of slacks, a suit jacket and even a pair of shorts.

The trek through the store with Snape took over an hour as Snape led him from one department to an hour. Directing him to try this or that and making him choose between colours and so on. In the end, Snape had bought him clothes for every single occasion. Everything Harry would ever need, from formal to informal, from hot to cold weather, Harry had something to wear. Snape had even included swim trunks, pointing out that the ones he had used during the second task were ‘less than flattering’.

Harry had tried to protest several times during the insanity, but Snape had waived him off. When he had been about to buy an overly expensive three piece suit, Harry had protested so loudly Snape had decided to bribe him. He would allow Harry to pay him back for all the clothes the boy wanted to keep, as long as he kept his mouth shut until it was time for lunch.

After that, Harry had stayed silent. Snape was allowing to pay him for the stuff he liked, and he wasn’t forcing him to accept the things he didn’t like. It was a better deal than he had expected when the day started.

By the time they ordered lunch, Harry had already decided that he was going to keep everything Snape had bought. Even the silly formal wear the man had insisted on buying. He’d grown a lot during the last two weeks. So much so that he had a feeling some of the aches in his back were not entirely caused by his constant studying or the regular brewing he was doing lately. He hadn’t asked but he thought it was due to one of the potions Snape had been giving him lately.

He reasoned that he wasn’t going to grow much more, since Snape obviously thought this was the perfect moment to do an inordinate amount of shopping. So the clothes would be fine for several years. And with his strange life, it was best to be prepared for all occasions.

So they ate their lunch in silence and left to return home without any more words on the clothing matter. Snape led them to an alleyway and shrunk all their packages so they fit in their pockets. Once that was done, he held onto Harry’s shoulders and apparated them away.

They appeared a moment later in front of the Potter mansion, Snape steadied him while Harry tried to keep his nausea to a minimum. After taking some steading breaths, he looked up with a smile and followed Snape inside.

Snape brought the packages to Harry’s room and put them on his bed. Unshrinking them with a few wand movement, he told the Gryffindor to meet him in the library as soon as he was done unpacking his new clothes.

Ones again, Harry followed Snape’s directions without any complaint. He was doing that a lot lately and as he unpacked, he tried to figure out why. He realized that at the moment, he didn’t have much choice. Snape was going to brew a potion to restore Harry’s eyesight. He was stupid enough to mess up his chance at perfect sight over something as stupid as being forced to unpack new clothes.

Except that that didn’t explain why Harry had not made a single comment about the earlier order to go shower. That had been a completely reasonable request of course, but it had been given as an order. Harry didn’t like orders. He had taken them from his family for much too long.

Sighing, he let the question of why he was listening to Snape go as he put away his last pair of socks. As long as Snape was being reasonable, it didn’t matter. After all, the Gryffindor had been pretty clear at the start of this arrangement that he wasn’t going to do anything unless he has a good reason. Well, he had good reasons for everything he had done so far. If Snape saw his obedience as anything besides acceptance of a logical request, that was Snape’s problem.

As soon as Harry sat down on of the chairs in the library, Snape started questioning him about the things he had learned in the past two weeks. It wasn’t like the questions Snape usually asked at the start of potions. He didn’t care about any particular potion of spell that Harry had learned. Instead, he gave the boy scenarios, each with a different problem Harry had to solve.

One question was all about protecting two children while fighting of an attack without doing anything that might scare the children. It asked for some inventive protection as well as some sneaky spell work. What made it even more challenging was Snape’s addition comment that the attackers were throwing some explosive potions.

Harry’s only solution was using a runic ward, one that would form an almost solid barrier. He didn’t know the exact runes but Snape has surprised him by saying that the runes weren’t important. Apparently, it was not expected of Harry to retain that kind of detail, only the idea’s and possibilities mattered.

After that, the answers had become slightly easier for the Gryffindor. He had learned so much in such a short time, that he had to agree with Snape about the details. He simply couldn’t retain them. He had however gained so much general knowledge that he could now see many more options when given a problem.

In answer to getting rid of the attackers without scaring the children, Harry had proposed making the attackers believe there was some kind of predator after them. Snape had given him a strange look and asked how he thought that would be done. Harry had shrugged and told the man he had no idea. But if you could go through someone’s memories, as well as erase them, it was only logical there would be some way to change them. Of course, Harry understood that giving someone a vision was slightly different from affecting past memories but hey, everything was possible with magic.

Snape had shaking his head at him, either in amusement or astonishment, Harry couldn’t tell. Snape had refused to tell him whether it was possible or not but the potions master had accepted Harry’s answer as acceptable.

Another scenario that had amused Harry was the invitation to a formal dinner with the Malfoy’s. Harry had laughed his way through that answer. He mentioned all the formalities and niceties Snape had been teaching him but only while explaining all the things he wouldn’t do. Instead, he told Snape, with a perfectly straight face, that he was going to use the steak knife to ensure Draco would remain an only child. His napkin would combine nicely with a permanent sticking charm, to keep Draco from spewing more of his venom, and he was certain colour of wine was much more vibrant when applied to a pretty carpet.

Snape’s lips had twitched at some of his comments but he hadn’t said a word until Harry was done. At which point the only comment was a dry “At least it won’t be ignorance that induces you to behave like an ape.”

Harry’s favourite scenarios were the ones that asked for battle strategy. Snape would set him some enemies and allies, and tell him were the battle took place. Harry was then expected to think of a strategy to accomplish a certain goal.

He was particularly fond of the fight that supposedly took place in the forbidden forest. The place held so many things one could use in a duel, Harry took nearly half an hour to go over all the possibilities. It wasn’t the amount of things one could do with the trees, which varied from hiding behind them to ripping out a whole tree and using it as a clobber.

It were all the animals that kept Harry going. Snape had clearly not considered involving them, since he kept staring at Harry as if the boy had gone mental. But Harry had gotten to know one of the centaurs and was certain they would help. The same went for many of the other creatures, such as the hippogryphs and thestrals. They may not be on friendly terms with the Gryffindor, but Harry had learned that you could get the help of the vilest creatures as long as you gave them an enemy worse than you.
It was especially fun for Harry to see the look on Snape’s face as he mentioned the spiders. The man gave a visible shudder but sat forward in rapt attention. Apparently, the spiders produced a venom that was an extremely valuable potions ingredient.

When Harry mentioned the Weasleys car that was hiding in the forest, just to cover all his bases, Snape cut him off. Though, he did so with a smirk on his face that Harry read as a mask to cover the actual smile. It had taken Harry a week to realize that Snape did have a sense of humour, and it wasn’t all dark humour and sarcasm either.

He had realized that when Harry had fallen headfirst into one of the cauldrons he was cleaning. Snape had started scolding him about the dangers of skin contact with certain potions but halted halfway through his rant. Harry had just come up from the cauldron full of soap water; his glasses were balancing precariously on the tip of his nose, his hair was plastered to his head and water wat dripping everywhere. Snape had given him a look and abruptly started laughing. By then, Harry had seen the man fail to hold in a smile twice, yet the full laughter still had him rooted to the spot. Snape had returned to his serious state quickly and continued his lecture on safety in the lab, but Harry would never forget Snape’s laughter.

Since then, he tried his best to make the man smile. It wasn’t easy, especially since Snape could never find out what he was doing, but Harry decided it was worth it. The potions master needed some laughter in his life, no matter how much the man protested that he did not.

Snape had him working on the scenarios until it was time for dinner. While they ate, Snape continued his test by asking questions, mostly about Harry’s summer assignments. Both wizards seemed completely astounded when Harry was able to answer every single question in detail, without really having to think about it.

During the evening, Snape had him discuss all the things he had learned. It started with all the laws and the way magical society work. This Harry agreed with and things he would change. The biggest dispute between the two wizards was on the laws concerning dark creatures. While Snape agreed that the rhetoric the Ministry showed the werewolf population was a problem, he was completely against werewolf children attending Hogwarts. Harry understood why, and he couldn’t blame the man, but he was still all for it no matter how much Snape protested.

To avoid a fall out between the two, the subject was changed to magic. More specifically, the different kinds of magic and all the way they could be used. It was a subject the two had discussed multiple times already. Snape’s extensive knowledge on all things magical and Harry’s curiosity on the subject often let them to discussing possibilities, especially when combining certain aspects of magic.

Harry always like those conversations, the potions master always had some kind of insight Harry had not yet considered, and he had a feeling Snape felt the same. More than ones he had seen a look of surprise on the wizard’s face during those talks, and Harry suspected that surprise was not something the older wizard experienced often. Like laughter, the Gryffindor made it his mission to bring some more surprises to the man’s life.

Time passed quickly as the two talked. Too absorbed in whatever the subject of the moment, neither wizard noticed when midnight rolled past. Somewhere late in the night, or possibly early in the morning Harry had no idea, Snape told him to go to bed and get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day and since Harry had passed his test, he was going to be introduced to a whole new part of his training.

As Harry fell in bed, still wearing his clothes, he was slightly concerned with the way Snape had said that last sentence. The way the man had emphasised ‘training’ was something to be concerned about. Not because Harry was at all against some defence training, he was going to need it when Riddle showed up next, but because Harry had a feeling this was going to be the part of training that had made Snape willing to become his guardian. With another sigh, Harry closed his eyes and tried to put all of his worries out of his mind. Tomorrow was a new day, and he was positive Snape would not care how late they had gone to bed when it was 6am and time for Harry’s morning run.