Harry couldn’t believe his luck. After he had let a boa constrictor escape from a zoo, he considered it a small wonder that the Dursleys were taking him anywhere with them, even less to a bigger town. It was a welcome reprieve from pruning the roses and secretly doing his homework. He had already been told to not expect anything to be bought for him and to refrain from doing anything ‘freaky’. Therefore, he didn’t delude himself and expect to have fun, but it was at least a change from the dull routine that was Number 4 Privet Drive. He couldn’t wait to go to the Burrow and the Quidditch World Cup together with Ron and Hermione.

“Stop dawdling, boy.” His uncle bellowed and Harry rolled his eyes. Dudley hadn’t even left the house yet. Sliding into the back seat, he waited for the rest of the Dursleys to get into the car. Dudley sent him a malevolent glare before balancing his huge rear into the car. His cousin had been everything but pleased when he had learned that Mrs. Figg was out of town visiting a friend and his parents still didn’t trust his freaky cousin to stay home alone. The car dipped under Dudley’s weight and Harry wondered how it still worked after transporting Uncle Vernon and his cousin regularly. The car dipped even further when his uncle got into the driver’s seat and his aunt was the last to sit down. The motor of the car howled and it slowly rolled out of the driveway. Sitting together with sweating Dursleys in the middle of summer in a car was in any event not fun. Harry ignored the elbow digging into side and hung his head as far out of the window as he dared.

The hour felt much longer than it really was to reach their goal and Harry had to peel his T-shirt from his back when he got out of the car. He grimaced as he imagined the huge sweat stain that had to be on his back.

Surprisingly enough, he had some fun following the Dursleys around. There were a lot of things in the windows he wasn’t that familiar with and it was more than a little entertaining to watch Aunt Petunia trying to convince the shop assistants that her precious ‘Dudders’ wasn’t fat and only needed something fitting ‘to accommodate his sturdy build’. Dudley resembled more a whale than a pig now and Harry allowed a grin to spread over his lips as the current shop assistant wrung her hands, clearly not wanting to offend her costumers.

“Surely, you have trousers his size?” Aunt Petunia said, the only sign of her tension her tightly clasped hands.

The assistant let her eyes travel over Dudley’s bulk again.

“I fear we do not have clothes that will fit him.”

 The whole way out of the department store Uncle Vernon railed against the incompetence of the shop assistant and declared they would never buy there anything ever again.

The next four stops had a similar outcome and Harry secretly anticipated steam to come out of his uncle’s head as if he had taken a pepper-up potion and for his aunt to break her own hands. Dudley was by now whining and Petunia tried frantically to appease him.

Harry had to roll his eyes when she finally agreed to go to the big candy store they had passed earlier.

“But only one sweet, Diddykins, remember your diet.”

Harry quickly came to the conclusion that the candy store was the highlight of the day. It was much bigger than Honeydukes and the scent that tickled his nose made him want to lick his lips. The bright colours made the shop look almost magical. He hung back from the Dursleys, who had already walked further into the store. It would take a while till Dudley had chosen one single sweet. His aunt had been surprisingly strict with his diet.

He browsed through shelves with dozen varieties of chocolate bars and other mouth-watering chocolate goodies.  For the first time, he regretted not having any muggle money. Ron would have loved some of the things here. Asking his relatives for money was out of the question, though. A little further in the back were the lollipops in every possible colour and he imagined Hermione wrinkling her nose at so much cavity inducing sugar accumulated in one sweet. Next came the huge candy section and the candies were just as colourful as the lollipops, and because of that, the black figure inspecting the assortment of sweets stood out starkly.

Harry blinked.

No, it couldn’t be.

What would that certain person be doing in a candy store in the middle of a muggle town?

Harry couldn’t imagine anyone, he would have less likely expected to meet here than Severus Snape, git extraordinaire, bat of the dungeons of Hogwarts.

There had to be other people wearing only black and having lanky hair. He reassured himself that the man wore muggle clothes anyway and returned to inspecting the sweets. The presence of the man kept niggling at the back of his mind, though, and he risked looking up again. The height was about right, but he imagined Snape to be less gangly, but then again, it could be just the robes. Feeling annoyed with himself, he decided to just find out. If only so, he could write to Ron and Hermione that for one absurd moment he had thought to see Snape in a candy store. If it wasn’t Snape, the man wouldn’t react.

Walking closer, he passed the man.

“Monkshood.” He whispered when he was on level with him.

He hadn’t expected for one second for the man to swirl around and stare at him. His mouth fell open and he stared at Snape astonished.

The black eyes flashed as they took him in.

“Potter.” Snape said his name with the customary sneer as if he had just eaten something sour. There was no doubt about the identity of this man anymore.

“Do yourself the favour and wipe that dumb and unflattering look off your face. It is not wise to advertise one’s lack of intelligence that openly, Mr. Potter.”

Harry snapped his mouth shut. Of course, the first thing the man had to do was to insult him. Reminding himself that they were not in school, he decided to at least try to not let himself get baited. There was no need to rile Snape up before the school year had even started.

“Good afternoon, sir.”

Snape lifted an eyebrow at his greeting.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Potter.” With that Snape turned around again and continued to scrutinise the candies.

The image was too bizarre. Harry had to blink several times and when the shock had worn off from meeting Snape outside of school, he had to grin. Snape in a candy store of all places in the muggle world. His friends wouldn’t believe it.

“I am sure it is possible for you to come up with something more productive to do than stare at people. Or is that too difficult?” Snape asked him sarcastically without looking up.

“No, sir. I just didn’t take you for the type to buy candies.”

“I am not, but they have their uses.”

“In potions?” Harry asked surprised and this time Snape looked up.

“Haven’t you learnt anything in the years I have taught you? Sugar renders most potions useless!”

“Most, but not all, sir?” Harry asked smartly.

Snape glared at him murderously and Harry ducked his head. If looks could kill...

“No, candies are much more useful for poisoning annoying dunderheads during the school year.”

Harry stared mutely at his potion teacher. That was Snape being sarcastic, wasn’t it? He swallowed. He and Ron had always speculated that Snape wouldn’t mind poisoning Gryffindors.

“Scared, Potter?” Snape purred and Harry shook his head reflexively. Snape couldn’t be worse than Basilisk venom.

“Since you are already bothering me, you don’t perhaps know the headmaster’s favourite, do you?” The other drawled.

“You are poisoning Dumbledore?” Harry squeaked shocked.

“Professor Dumbledore.” Snape corrected him nonchalantly. Harry stared at his professor horrified. When he didn’t say anything, Snape looked at him again.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! No, I do not plan to kill the headmaster. It’s his birthday. I suppose I should not expect you to understand the higher arts of conversation.”

Did Snape have humour? The concept was new to Harry. Determined not to make any more of an idiot out of himself than he already had, he stepped up next to Snape and looked at the candies. He found quickly what he was looking for.

“There, lemon drops.”

“There are two kinds.” Snape said sourly.

“Oh...”

Harry tried not to think about the fact that he was choosing candies together with his most hated professor.

“Don’t those look more like the ones Dum-Professor Dumbledore usually has? I don’t think they are round.” Harry finally said and Snape sent him a calculated glance. Eventually, his professor took two packets.

“Come along, Mr. Potter.” Snape drawled. Suspiciously, he followed the man to the counter and watched him pay. To his surprise, his professor handled the muggle money easily. After throwing a quick glance in the direction where he had last seen the Dursleys, he followed him out of the shop. The Dursleys were still heatedly arguing over what to buy.

Outside, Snape opened one of the packets and held it out to him. Harry looked at him puzzled.

“I assure you I haven’t had the time to poison them.”

Hesitating for a second longer, Harry reached out and took one of the candies.

Snape was giving him sweets. The world was coming to an end.

It was delicious. He hadn’t had anything sweet since he left Hogwarts.

“Is it the same as the headmaster’s?” Snape asked impatiently.

Harry nodded. He felt slightly reassured that there was a reason Snape let him try the candy. That man really was meticulous.

“Good.” With that, Snape dropped the open packet into his hands.

“Sir?”

“As if I would want that disgustingly sweet stuff.”

Harry was gobsmacked, but got himself under control quickly.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Any word of today to anyone and I will find a way to use every bit of you as potion ingredient.” Snape said and stared down at him.

“Pity that.”

The other only scoffed.

Harry jumped slightly when there was a high pitched shriek behind him.

“Petunia.” Snape said smoothly and Harry felt his mouth fall open in shock for the second time that day. He hurriedly snapped it shut before his teacher gave another snide comment.

“Severus.” His aunt said clipped and uncle Vernon looked Snape up and down suspiciously.

“Mom, Harry has candy!” Dudley said before Snape could answer.

“My, my, Petunia, pray tell, do you still find clothes for that boy of yours.”

The look on the Dursleys’ faces was priceless and Harry vowed to commit it to memory forever. He had been right. The candy store was the highlight of the day.

When Dudley tried to lung for the lemon drops and got an electric shock, he corrected the notion in his head: the highlight of the month!