There was a bang, followed by screaming. Snape threw his arms up in order to protect himself from the raging smoke that had suddenly come rushing towards him from his class. What on earth?
He waited for a few moments, still hearing the stupid children screaming.

"Will you all shut up!"

If they didn't stop screaming then that meant that they would've possibly be hurt, and were screaming out in pain. But no, they all quietened down, they were frightened... As usual.

"Get out of my way".

He growled, making his way slowly to Potters desk, how did he know it was Potter? He just knew. Potter lay on the ground, his hand on his chest, trying to breathe. Hermione was by Potters side in an instant.

"Harry, are you alright?"

"He obviously isn't alright Miss Granger!"

Snape hissed at her, she was, after all, looking at him. So she could clearly see the state that Potter was in.

"Madame Pomfrey will help us".

Snape said to Hermione who nodded before leaving the room. Snape had realized that Potter was staring at him, his green eyes were glistening.

"I'm sorry -".

"Keep quiet Potter, you shouldn't say anything right now".

Pomfrey was by Snape's side in a flash. She placed her hand on Potters forehead.

"What potion were you using?"

"Alignment Foragona".

"I've never heard of it -".

"If you never heard of it, then it's may be difficult to try and heal Harry, I can assist in that if you want, since I have more experience than you".

Snape could see that the medi witch was wanting to strike him, but he shook her head in stead.

"Fine, but be careful, this looks like a pretty bad one".

"You think I don't know that?"

Snape had dismissed the class, leaving Snape alone with Harry. The boy was still looking at him. Snape had levitated Harry off the ground before moving him to his quarters.

"You weren't thinking Potter, now you'll have to stay with me for a bit to recover, this potion was a complicated one. At first I wasn't going to proceed with it, but judgment got the better of me and I assumed my students were good enough by now to handle it. I'm thinking otherwise".

Harry tried to speak but the Potions Master put his hand up.

"Thus, I shall try not to anger you as you cannot speak properly, I'll get you a drink, the potion should have parched your throat, knowing you would've screamed".

The Potions Master left the room and Harry lay on the couch, anger flared up inside him, why couldn't he do anything right?

“NO, YOU CAN’T DO THIS, YOU CAN’T HURT THEM, LEAVE THEM ALONE!”
Snape jerked up from his slumber, his body was aching all over, damn it, he slept in his chair again. Potter was lying on the ground at Snape's feet, thrashing about, his brown hair as soaked and matted to his forehead.
“Shit”.
Snape threw himself off the chair and came to the boy's side, trying to get a hold of his wrist. Only to notice something, cuts.... The boy had cut himself. Snape hissed as if he were to be in pain as he managed to grab Potters wrist. “Potter, wake up!” He tried to shake the boy, but he not too hard, he didn’t want to hurt him. It took about twenty minutes until Potter was awake.
“What happened?”
“You had a nightmare, that’s what happened”.
Snape drawled out as he got up from the floor, glaring down at the boy, “can you see anything?”
“No, it’s dark”.
Snape cursed to himself before going over to the sink, wetting another cloth, “it’s taken affect, don’t open your eyes”, Snape said quickly as he returned to the boy's side and placed the cloth on Potters eyes once again.
“Thanks, I’ll head to the dorm now”.
The boy made to get up, but Snape had grabbed him roughly by the shoulder, “you’re not going anywhere”.
“But I have to, you can’t look after –“.
“I made this potion, Poppy can’t do anything but be my assistant at the moment, so I have full responsibility for you, now get back on the couch and don’t think about leaving”.
Snape watched carefully as Harry made his way up the couch, holding the cloth to his eyes, “will I get my eye sight back?”
Snape had no clue about that, he just hoped so. He sighed and moved over to the window, looking around. It was quite nice this place, Snape hadn’t looked at Hogwarts this way, he should do it more often.
“Professor?”
“What?”
Snape rolled his eyes in anger after having his moment broken off, “can I have a drink please?”, Snape was going to tell the boy to get it himself but realized otherwise. He growled before grabbing a glass of water. Potter had gone to grab the cup, but Snape had stopped him, “I'll give you the drink after you tell me about the cuts on your wrist”. Snape could see that he had struck a nerve when Potter froze, “I don’t know what you’re talking about”.
“Don’t fool around with me Potter, I saw the cuts when you were flailing around like an idiot on the floor only a few moments ago”.
Potter didn’t respond, “Potter?” The boy looked away from him, “you won’t be able to run away from me because you’re... Temporarily blind, now speak up”.
Snape found that he like cornering the boy, it made him feel so much better. Potter turned to Snape and went to grab the glass again, but Snape put the glass down and wrapped his hand around the boys.
“What’re you doing?”
He heard the weak question escape the boy's lips, “checking how bad your cuts are”, but before Snape could do anything, the boy had ripped his wrist out of Snape's.
“Leave me along, I never asked for your help”.
“I don’t care, now give me your wrist”.
“You don’t care, so lay off”.
“Don’t be cheeky with me Potter, remember who the boss is here”.
“Dumbledore is”.
Snape sucked in some air, stopping himself from slapping the boy senseless, in all odds he grabbed Harry’s wrist, before whispering the freezing charm on the boy.
The cuts were bad, if the boy had gone down further then he would’ve lost the workings of his hand. Snape looked up at Potter, though the cloth was blocking the view he could sense fear.
“Potter... Who was in your dream, was it Voldemort?”
Harry froze but then slowly nodded, “who was he hurting?” Snape asked, he needed to know what the core was, “he was hurting Sirius”, Harry replied dully. Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“You don’t cut anymore do you?”
“No, not anymore”.
“Don’t lie to me, Potter”.
“I’m not... I’m not lying, sir”.
Snape narrowed his eyes at the tensing teen, he sneered, but gently wrapped his hand around the boy's wrist, “if I find out you’re lying then there will be serious consequences, do you hear me?” The boy nodded. Snape had gotten up, “I'm gonna have something to eat, I’ve got noodles –“. Snape was cut short when Harry suddenly chuckled, “what’s so funny Potter?”
“Noodles, you eat noodles?”
“Well... Yeah, is there a problem?”
“No sir- I mean yes – wait, no there isn’ a problem –“.
“For crying out loud will you spit it out!”
Harry had jumped at the sudden outburst from the discontented teacher. When Harry didn’t say anything Snape sighed and began boiling the water, he’d use magic but didn’t feel like it right now. He got the noodles and poured the hot water in, “they’ll be done soon”, Snape said, once again he heard the boy giggle, and he sighed once more out of annoyance.
“What is it now, is it the noodles?”
“I’m sorry sir, but I can’t think of you eating noodles, it just doesn’t suit you”.
Snape frowned at the boy, what did the boy think he ate? Well, certainly not the noodles all the time, he’d have it on rare occasions, mainly on really cold days like today. “Well... I eat noodles on cold days okay”. That seemed to crack the boy up, even more, Snape couldn’t help but just stand there, clueless. Hearing the boy laugh had shocked him, he had seen Potter smile but never heard him laugh. When the laughter died down Snape had grabbed two forks and brought the noodles over.
“You don’t have to feed me, sir”.
Snape shoved the fork into Potters grip, “good”, he said, “I wasn’t planning to”. Snape watched as Harry had brought the noodles to his mouth, but his hands were shaking, the potion was still taking its toll on him. He waited until the boy ended up dropping the fork. “For god sake Potter”, Snape had conjured up another fork and a little table to place Harrys and his own cups of noodles on top. He began feeding the boy, “thanks”, he heard the audible whisper and Snape couldn’t help but smile. Potter couldn’t see him, so he’d best act as casually as he could.

“I won’t be long Potter, I need to talk to the headmaster”.
“What're you gonna tell him, that I’m a failure at Potions, that I should quit whilst I still have the chance?”
“I was thinking of saying that, but thought otherwise, you’re not the only student to have been injured, it so happens that you messed up on a new potion”. With that, Snape had left the boy, making his way over to the headmaster's office.
Albus was standing next to his pet, Fawkes, the phoenix was glowing when it spotted Snape, alerting the headmaster who had turned to greet him.
“Hello there Severus, are you alright? You look rather pale”.
“I’m always like this sir, and I’ve never changed... It’s about the boy”.
“Ah, I heard that he injured himself pretty bad, but Poppy said that you’re looking after him, why didn’t you let Poppy take over?”
“A new Potion that only I know sir, it’s my responsibility”.
“Ah, well then, you can carry on with that, you two can bond, it’ll be like Lily all over again”.
“That’s... Uh... That’s not even good sir, anyway Potter has been cutting himself”.
“Are you certain?”
“No, I just came up here and blurted this out for no god damn reason – of course I’m bloody certain!”
Snape couldn’t help but feel like he was talking to an idiot, but truth is told, Albus was a very smart man, he only chose to be smart, which was not very often. Snape rolled his eyes when the headmaster chuckled at him, but then Albus halted to a stop, “you must try to find out why he is like that”.
“What if it’s his family?”
“Then he must leave them”.
“And go where?”
Albus gave Snape a knowing look, “you’re not answering me sir”, Snape replied but Albus waved him off, “go back to the boy, he needs you”. Snape went to speak but thought otherwise, he turned and left the room.
Snape found Harry trying to feel around the room, he had already knocked some things over and by the blood on his hands and the floor, he’d tried to fix them.
“Merlin Potter!”
Snape rushed over to the boy, startling him as he grabbed the boys hands, “you’re bleeding!”
“I didn’t mean to hurt myself, I tried to fix the –“.
“Not another word from you hear me”.
Snape pulled Harry over to the couch and sat him down, healing the cuts on his hands before repairing the glass bottles the boy had managed to destroy.
Snape took a deep breath before sitting down next to Potter, “Potter, can you tell me what caused you to cut yourself?”
“None of your business”.
“That’s no way to talk to your teacher”.
“I know, but I don’t want to talk –“.
“You will tell me”.
“Why?”
Snape felt like throwing himself out the window, “because I’m worried”, he could feel the boy tense, he too was surprised, Snape was worried for someone? It took a few minutes before the boy spoke, “my family”.
“Ah, thought so”.
“If you knew, then why would you ask?”
“To assume that it’s their family is very dangerous Harry”.
Again the boy tensed, even Severus tensed at the use of Harry’s name, “I cannot barge in and assume that it’s your family who made you like this”. Harry nodded to that answer, “do they physically hurt you?”
“Oh god no, they wouldn’t dare, not after I had blown up my aunty”.
Snape shot him an amused glance, “come again?” Snape wasn’t so sure he heard that right, “you blew up your own aunty, how on earth did you do that?” Snape asked and the boy answered with a shrug, “one of your greatest powers huh?” Snape leaned back in the chair, “but I still think you’re lying”.
“What?”
“The abuse, I’d say you’d just anger the even more if you blew up your aunty”.
“They didn’t abuse me okay!”
Snape glared at the boy who refused to look at him, even though he couldn’t see him. Potter then let out a yawn, Snape found this to be the best time to put the boy to bed. He stopped himself, Potter was three years old, he was in the sixth year, he was almost an adult. He shook his head and made his way over to the cupboard, “here”, the covers flew over the boy. Snape watched as Potter grabbed the sheets and spread his legs over the couch. Snape also grabbed a new cloth and replaced the old one, “how're your eyes?”
“They don’t sting anymore”.
“That’s good”.
“Professor”.
“What?”
“You like jokes?”
Snape instantly got up, only to be stopped when the boy grabbed his robes, “please, can’t I throw you one”.
“Make it quick”.
“Why did the chicken cross the road?”
“To get to the other side”.
“Correct, why did the crocodile cross the road?”
“Uh to get to the chicken?”
“Well done Snape”.
Snape threw a sour glance towards the boy, “that wasn’t even good”. Potter crossed hs arms, “fine then, you throw one at me”.
“No”.
“You’re no fun!”
“Go to sleep Potter”.
Harry had gone to sleep in about an hour, leaving Snape to think for a bit. He has to have a look at Potters memories, maybe when he’s asleep, then Potter wouldn’t fight him. Snape turned to the sleeping boy, his wand up, “Legilimens”, Snape whispered and he felt his mind leave his body as he invaded the boys own.
A house, he was in a house, the Dursleys he was guessing, in seconds he heard a man yelling, “boy, get down here at once!”
Snape watched in amusement as he watched Potter make his way down the stairs, his face was pale and showed no sign of happiness, one bit. The professor followed the boy into the living room, seeing the three Dursleys on the couch.
“You hurt Dudley”.
Petunia said, her eyes were wide with fright, “I never hurt him on purpose!” Potter said and Snape watched as the bigger man got up from the couch, stalking towards the boy with a menacing look, “you do not raise your voice at us you hear me?” Snape backed away few steps to inspect more. He almost gasped when the older man struck the boy across the face hard enough so that the boy fell to the ground. Snape watched in horror as the man brought his foot down on the boys back, hearing the scream erupt from the boy's mouth. Snape had instantly sprung forward, trying to block the child from the blows. But it served nothing as the older man had passed through Snape. He wasn’t real in Harry’s mind after all.
Snape sprung back into reality, almost gasping for air, by god that was horrible. He looked down at the sleeping boy, what would he say, that he invaded the boy's personal space? He didn’t know.

•
“Professor?”
Snape opened his eyes, looking into green glowing eyes, “Potter, why do you have the cloth off your eyes?”
“I don’t feel any pain, but I can’t see anything still”.
“That’s why I’m working on it”.
Snape grunted as he pushed himself off the chair and slowly made his way over to the cupboard. “I have a few things in here”, he said, “that I need to make in order to regain your eyesight”.
“So it’s all temporary, the eyesight thing”.
“I hope so”.
He pushed some bottles aside and sighed in relief, he hadn’t used this one particular bottle for anything. He looked back at Potter, who had his head turned to the professor, god Potter looked normal, no one would’ve figured out that he was blind unless he acted it out. Snape came to the boy's side, poking the boy's shoulder, “come, we have to go to the classroom, don’t dawdle”.
Snape hadn’t realized he was walking fast when he heard a crash and he spun around to see the boy on the floor, lying in a suit of armor.
“Oh, that’s right, sorry”.
He heard himself say to the boy as he went to his side to help him up. He’d actually forgotten that the boy was blind, “really professor?” Snape could hear the amusement in the boy's voice, even though he was trying to act tough. The classroom was dull as always and Snape couldn’t help but shiver. Making his way over to the cauldron on his table, “don’t be too close to me Potter”.
“But –“.
“No buts, now sit at one of the desks”.
Snape watched as Potter felt his way around the room to find his spot, Snape started up the cauldron and began mixing the ingredients, finally putting it into the bottle. “This will be ready in a days time, great,” he said to Potter who groaned, “can’t it be less?”
“You want to do this Potter?”
Snape snapped at him, he hated how the boy expected more, “you wanna hear another joke?” The boy asked and Snape frowned at him, “Potter, what’s with you and jokes Potter it’s unnerving”.
“Just trying to lighten up the mood”.
“Well don’t, you’re making me sick”.
Snape finished up the potion and levitated it so it could brew out the back for the day. He turned back to Potter, “come, we need to eat breakfast”.
“The Great hall, but I won’t be able to sit with my friends”.
“No not The Great Hall, my quarters”.
“What’re we gonna have, noodles?”
“Very funny”.
“Really, you actually thought that was funny?”
“No”.

Snape watched as Harry bit down on the cupcake, slowly. But that wasn’t the unnerving bit, the boy was staring ahead, and Snape happened to be in the way. So basically he was eye-screwing Snape as he tried to eat his own food.
“Potter”.
“Yes, professor?”
“Look to your left”.
Harry did so and waited for something to happen, “and stay there”, was Snape’s reply, now the boy wasn’t looking at him. “This is yummy –“.
"I don’t care”.
Snape's reply was short and sharp, he bit down on his cupcake and looked at the fireplace, “professor?” Snape rolled his eyes, “what do you want, can’t I eat my cupcake in peace?”
“Uh sorry, but I need to pee”.
“Oh... Well then follow me”.
Snape got up and brushed the crumbs from his robe and went to the bathroom door, only to stop and look back at Potter, only to remember that Potter still couldn’t see, “this way” he said out aloud so that Potter, could follow his voice. Snape had pushed the boy closer to the toilet, “you know what to do”. With that, Snape was gone. He placed the empty bottle in the sink, cleaning it out as he went along. Potter had come out a few minutes later, “uh professor?”
“What Potter”.
“You didn’t actually tell me where the bowl was”.
Snape’s heart sank, “oh please don’t tell me –“.
“I’m sorry sir I really need to go and I just –“.
Snape had barged right past the boy, and by god did he want to kill him, “why didn’t you just say when I pushed you in there?!” But then again it was Snape's fault, he forgot the boy was blind... Again.
The bathroom was clean, and Snape rubbed his eyes, he was too tired for this. Potter had received some homework, which was good because that meant Potter could be busy.... Oh right, he couldn’t see. Snape couldn’t help but snarl out aloud, why did he keep on forgetting for god sake? He sat next to the boy, who was trying to pretend to read.
“I’ll help you out”.
Snape said as he grabbed the parchment, it wasn’t hard, Snape would read out the question and the boy would answer, he didn’t get everything correct, but at least he was learning from his mistakes. But doing it for around an hour had sent Snape over the top.
“I think that’s enough now”.
Snape said through clenched teeth as he rolled up the parchment, trying to keep his cool. The boy sighed and leaned back into the chair, his eyes were glassy, “just to let you know I can see a little”, Snape frowned at the boy.
“When were you gonna tell me?”
“Oh I was gonna tell you after I did some of my homework, it’s an easy way out, having a teacher help you”.
“You little brat!”
The boy had used him, now that pissed Snape off, he got up and left the boys side, “where are you going?”
“I’m going to inform Dumbledore about you recovering, you should be well enough to go to your own dorm”.
“But I like staying here”.
“And be pampered like a little pooch, no way Potter, now don’t make yourself comfy, you’ll be out soon”.
Severus found Albus outside the office, which was highly unusual, “headmaster?” Severus spoke and the man turned to him with a smile.
“Ah Severus, how’s the boy?”
“He’s fine, in fact, he said he can see, so he should be able to get back to his dorm”.
“Is that so?”
“Yes”.
“I have one thing for you to do Severus”.
“And that is?”
“You need to look into Harry’s home life”.
“I...”
Snape thought otherwise about telling the headmaster that he’d already invaded the boy's mind, but the headmaster was quick, “you’ve already looked into it?”
“Yes, I was curious, he’s been cutting and all so...”.
The Headmaster had nodded to Snape's reply, “I understand, he will have to live somewhere else then”.
“Well, I don’t know about where he should go”.
“Nonsense Severus, the boy will stay with you”.
Did Snape just die on the spot... Yes... Yes, he did, “come again?” Snape threw a questioning glance at the old man, “the boy will live with you until he will –“.
“Absolutely not!”
“Severus, you know Harry needs help”.
Snape was trying not to cry, why the hell did it have to be him, he would have to stand up to the stupid jokes the boy conjures up un order to make him laugh. “Please Severus, he will be coming of age soon, it wouldn’t hurt”, Albus was throwing him a pleading look, come to think of it, it wasn’t long until the boy hit the age, and the boy was getting abused. Severus hated any students that were brought up that way, it was cruel.
“Fine, so help me god”.
Snape snarled at the man who smiled, “thank you very much, Severus, Lily would be proud”.
Snape turned and left the man alone, he hadn’t thought about what Lily would’ve wanted, it had been a while. Let’s see how the boy will take this.
“What?”
The boy glared at Snape, this took an interesting turn since the boy didn’t want to leave the room not only an hour ago. “You heard me”, Snape said, “you’re going to live with me for a bit”.
“But why?”
Snape knew that that question would appear, “because I know of your homelife”. Snape watched as the boy frowned in confusion, “what’re you talking about? My home life, how do you even know –“. The boy froze at the sudden realization, “you looked into my memory, you BASTARD!”
“Now you wait – language Potter, I knew there was something up, as I had told you before, I was concerned”.
But the boy shook his head, “I can’t believe you, that was personal, you can’t do that”.
“I’m afraid I’ve already done it, don’t fight me on this”.
“I hate you”.
Snape couldn’t suppress the shock on his face, the sudden change of a boy. Maybe because he was hiding his true emotions away. Snape shook his head, “be that way Potter, your stuff has already been taken to mine”. The boy sprung up from the seat, “you can’t be serious?”
“I’m quite serious, and if you keep up with your stupid attitude I will ground you”.
Snape stopped himself, he was acting like a goddamn parent, and Potter wasn’t even his! But Potter wasn’t paying enough attention to actually hear the slip-up. Holidays were only a week away. “I’ll let you go and sulk for a bit, I need to see if the potion is ready”, Snape said, he didn’t want to hear any more from the kid, it was driving him nuts.
The Potion was fine, Potter had told him that he couldn’t see clearly, which was what was expected, this Potion was to kill off any other strands of poison that infected the body. When he returned to the room he found the boy sitting in front of the fireplace, his knees up to his chest, “Potter, the potion, drink it and it’ll clear the rest of your eye sight”. The boy snatched the drink from the professor and gulped it down.
“It’s gross”.
“Good”.
Snape snatched the bottle back and went to clean it, “you hate it as much as I do don’t you?” Snape stopped when he heard the boys voice, it was true, he didn’t like the idea of having the boy over for the holidays.
“I don't particularly like the idea myself, but I couldn’t stop it”.
He heard an audible sigh coming from the boy, life isn’t fair, isn’t it? Snape thought to himself.

A week had gone by and Potter had resumed to his studies, thanks to Snape he wasn’t behind, though they fought daily about it. The students were getting ready to head home, though Snape had kept an eye on the boy, making sure he didn’t run off to get on the train. Even Albus was keeping an eye out for him.
“I really appreciate you doing this Severus”.
The headmaster said with a cheery tone and Snape rolled his eyes, “yes, and I’m delighted”. The headmaster could hear the sarcasm leaking out of Snape's comment, “come now child, you don’t have to take it too harshly”.
“I’m not, and I’m not a child!”
Snape threw back his words as he realized how childish he sounded, but that earned a good chuckle from the headmaster, “you’ll be fine my boy, but if you’ve got any problems just let me know, I won’t be far away”. With that, the headmaster was gone, leaving Snape to wonder why he was even born.
Potter was by his side after two hours had gone by, “what took you so long?” Snape snarled at the boy and Potter sighed, “just saying goodbye to my good friends before I die”.
“Oh get over yourself Potter, come along”.
Snape turned and began striding over to the end of the platform, the boy threw him a confused look.
“What’re we –“.
“Apparating, the fastest way to get home, hold onto me”.
“Not in a million –“.
Snape grasped the boy's arm and closed his eyes. Both felt the pull on their navel as hey were swept through to Snape Manor. He didn’t wait for the boy's reaction, Snape pushed the boy side, “I've got your room ready, you can sulk up there for a bit”. Snape felt powerful once they were in his house. He watched Potter trudge up the stairs.

•

It wasn't until three hours later did he hear the door to the boy's room open. Snape sighed and put his cup down.
“I’d watch the middle step Potter, it’s rather –“.
There was a scream and loud banging that followed. Snape sprung up from the seat and rushed into the hallway, only to keep himself from laughing, he attempted to scowl at the boy, “are you going to watch where you’re going? You’ve got your eyesight back now!”
“I’m sorry for doing a graceful fall down the steps, probably the best thing that could happen in this house”.
He wasn’t far off with that, Snape had to give a point to him. “Come on, I’ve got afternoon tea served up and no, it’s not noodles”, Snape quickly added in.
They sat quietly, Harry was sipping his coffee, which was starting to irritate Snape. The boy was picking at his food, “um, I’m pretty full now sir”.
“Full? You haven’t eaten a bit”.
Snape leaned forward as he looked down at Potters plate, it was true, the boy hadn’t touched the plate at all, “I’m really not that hungry”.
“Eat”.
“What? But I just said that –“.
“I said eat, you’re not going to be underfed, now eat”.
“So I can eat now?”
“Yes, of course, you can, why are you asking –“.
Snape then realized something, the Dursleys, they must’ve restricted him to the amount of food that he received, he cleared his throat, “you can eat, you’ll be fine, you can eat whenever you can”, he tried his best to put on a soothing voice. The boy was hesitant but then began eating to Snapes' relief.
He had finished off the food so fast that Snape was sure that the boy would puke, “you feeling alright now?”
“Yeah”.
“I’d say you’ve got some homework to do over the holidays as well am I right?”
The boy nodded, but refused to look at the professor. Snape mentally sighed, he has to ask more of the boy later on in the day. “We’ll be going out soon”, Snape said, he jus had to buy a few more Potions for the class. But the boy shook his head, “I don’t want to go”.
“And why do you think you can’t go?”
“Because I don’t want to”.
“You’re coming with me and that’s final”.
“You can’t tell me what to do, you’re not my father”.
Snape felt like he had been slapped one hundred times, of course, he wasn’t the boy's father, but he was under his roof, and the sudden change of attitude had shocked the older man to no extent.
“I may not be your father, but you’re under my supervision, you’re in my home, you do as you’re told. When you turn of age you can do whatever you want”.
Snape eyed the boy off who looked rather peeved off, “fine, but don’t take so long”, Snape couldn’t help but sneer at the boy, “don’t be stupid Potter, I can take as long as I want”.
It was about an hour later that they had to leave, Snape had put on his usual cloak and made sure the boy was in his sight, making sure he wouldn’t run away. They reached the potion ingredients store in no less than seconds. “Don’t go too far”, Snape hissed to the boy, who rolled his eyes before moving further into the shop. Snape had made his way down the aisle, though he was looking for the ingredients, his eyes wandered over to the boy, who was in the next isle, he could just see him through the bottles. “I don’t want you touching anything you hear me”, Snape said. The boy sighed and returned the glare through the shelves, “I’m not gonna destroy anything”.
“Well, we can’t be so sure”.
Snape had collected what he needed before going to the counter, the cashier gave him a smile, she was tall with long brown hair. He only smirked at her, feeling Potters presence next to him.
They were on the street now, “you like her don’t you?”
“What’re you talking about?”
“That girl in the shop, you have the hots for her”.
“Watch your mouth Potter”.
“But it’s true, you’re moving on from my mom, aren’t you? Just because she’s dead!”
Snape took a threatening step to the boy, startling him, “don’t you dare say that!” The boy smirked at him, “I can say whatever I –“. Snape couldn’t believe he had hit the boy, he watched in trepidation as the boy put his hands up to sooth his, now red, cheek.
“You hit me”.
“You deserved that one”.
Snape wanted to mentally slap himself, the boy looked away from him, ignoring Snape all the way home. Snape was alright with that, he didn’t want to talk to the boy, not when he as showing such rude behavior and no, he wasn’t going to assume it was the Dursley's doing. The boy could clearly control himself and he chose to act like a little brat. Snape roughly placed the ingredients in his bag, ready for use next time. The boy had rushed upstairs, not even blinking an eye at the professor. If the boy wanted dinner then he will have to come down.
Dinner was served, but the boy hadn’t returned from the room, so Snape decided to check up on him. He slowly made his way up the stairs, making sure he wouldn’t trip over. He could hear the boy talking, chuckling as well.
“I know, he’s a strange man, I wonder what he saw in my mom”.
Who on earth was he talking to, certainly not the house elf, she was down at the kitchen. He quietly moved over to see where the boy was. He was in the old room that Severus never used, and he was talking to the grandfather clock, well maybe not to the clock, the little bird that lived inside. His voice was muffled, but he could still hear him.
“I bet mom would’ve loved him, but what would’ve happened to me if she ended up marrying that greasy git?”
Why did everyon have a thing for his hair, it was greasy! Snape rolled his eyes at the comment. “You think I wouldn’t be born? I’d say I wouldn’t be born... But what would I look like if I was born? Man, I would have his hair, oh god that’s gonna kill –“.
“Are you done?”
Snape had pushed the door open, startling the boy. The anger wasn’t there anymore, but Snape still didn’t want to have any further conversation with the boy. True he shouldn’t have hit him, but showing such disrespect to an adult can mean so much.
“Dinners ready”.
Snape turned and began walking back downstairs, almost tripping over the middle step, he cursed silently but kept his composure, as the boy appeared at the top of the stairs.
They were silent, only the sounds of the knives and forks could be heard. “Someone is coming over tomorrow –“.
“And you want me to hide away in my room, pretending that I don’t exist?”
“What?”
Snape was quite shocked after hearing this, and the boy looked up from his plate, “don’t worry about it, I’m pretty good at –“.
“No, you can be there if you want, though we’ll just be discussing some things, I was wondering what you were going to do”.
“Oh I wasn’t going to do much I guess”.
“Is that what they told you to do?”
“Pardon?”
“The Dursleys, did they make you hide in your room because –“.
The boy dropped the knife and fork and rushed out of the room, leaving Snape rather surprised.

Was Snape peeved off? Yes he was, how dare that boy storm away from him, he demanded answers, if the boy held back then he would hurt himself mentally. Snape trudged up the stairs, contemplating his next move with the boy, yell at him? No, don’t do that, how about try and reason with him? Yeah, try that. Snape found the boy in the bedroom, sulking.
“Oh, that very mature of you”.
Snape said, catching the boy off guard, “go away!” But Snape didn’t move, “now that’s no way to talk to your elders”.
“So you’re saying you’re old?”
Snape’s world was spinning, it was hard to keep up with this boy, first, he’s angry, then he’s upset and now he’s happy. Snape rubbed his temples and sighed, “yes, I guess I am admitting to the fact that I’m old, now get over it”. The boy leaned back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, “is there something you wanted?” He asked Snape, who was still standing at the door. Snape didn’t know how to approach the boy, he’s started off softly.
“Harry”.
The boy seemed to flinch at the use of his name, “why won’t you tell me more about your home life?”
“Because it’s none of your business”.
“But you want help, don’t you?”
“Well... Yeah, I do –“.
“Then why are you withholding information? I know you don’t like me invading your mind, but it’s because you’re not helping me the right way”.
Harry opened his mouth o snap back, but thought otherwise, what Snape was saying was completely right, he wasn’t helping at all. He wasn’t going to get anywhere, but it wasn’t easy, he didn’t know what would happen to the Dursleys if they were found out.
“I’ll be downstairs when you want to talk okay”.
With that, Snape had turned and made his way down the stairs. He had only reached halfway when Harry came barging out, “Snape!” He called, startling the professor who swung around, but lost his footing, even worse, Harry had tripped over on the top step and had plummeted towards the older wizard. It happened in slow motion as pupil smashed into the teacher. Both flying down the stairs in one motion. Landing at the bottom with a tremendous thud. Both lay on the dusty wooden floor, Harry was sprawled across Snape’s stomach whilst Snape was on his back.
“Well... That went well”.
He heard Harry say and Snape tried to get up, but the boy was still lying on him, “get off me”. Harry had crawled off, and Snape quickly got up, talk about humiliation, Snape could feel his face heat up.
“Now what were you going to say?”
The boy raised his eyebrows at him, Snape assumed that Harry was surprised that he didn’t go off his head the fact that Harry wasn’t watching where he as going, but then again, he saved Snape greater humiliation because he had tripped over as well. A good cover up.
“Could we talk about it over dinner?”
Harry could see a slight smile on the man's face, “of course, whenever you feel like it”, Snape replied before rubbing the back of his head, “sorry about the fall”, Harry quickly said but the man waved him off, “it’s fine, we’re all clumsy”. Snape knew he was starting to be soft with the kid.
“Didn’t think you’d wear anything else but that black robe and suit”.
Snape looked down at the dark jeans and top that he was wearing, though they were close to being black, they were still casual.
“Well, I’m not too boring as you always are... Potter”.
That cracked a smile from the boy, at least they were on the road to recovery, but Snape had to be careful with his hopes.
•

The man that had come over was a friend whom he lost contact with, it was nice to find someone like him. But the thing was, if Snape had a few friends, he would’ve have invited this man. His name was Voran, he was in the same house as Snape back when they were younger.
“It’s nice seeing you again, been up to much?”
Voran asked as he sat down on the couch in the living room, that’s when Harry came in. Vorans smile widened.
“And this must be your son, by god”.
He quickly got up to shake Harry’s hand, the boy threw a worried glance towards Snape who had entered the room, “Ah, he’s not my son, I’m just looking after him”.
“Oh... So like babysitting?”
“Yeah kind of like that”.
Snape could see Harry throwing him a dirty look, “want something to drink?” He asked Voran who nodded, “Yeah, my throats parched, thanks, chap... Mind telling me about yourself? Maybe your name?”
Vorans attention was on Harry, who snapped out of his stupor, “Oh, I’m Harry”, Voran smiled at him, “I’m Voran, an old friend of Snapes”. Harry was surprised that the potions teacher even had friends. A few minutes had run by and Harry began feeling awkward just standing there, “you want a drink or something, beer or a hot drink?” Harry heard himself ask and wondered why the hell he would ask such a thing. Voran thought for a moment before answering with a smile, “coffee will do”. After Voran had settled in, Snape had followed Harry into the kitchen, he too was going to make a drink himself.
“He seems nice”.
Harry said quietly to Snape, who threw him a confused looked, “yeah? What, did you think he was gonna be horrid?” He threw back at the boy who shrugged, “Yeah, that’s what I thought, I thought he’d be like you”.
“Thanks”.
“No problem dad”.
Both froze, the only thing making noise was the kettle going off, “sorry I didn’t quite catch that”, Snape said quietly, but Harry shook his head, “it’s nothing of any great importance”.
“Oh I think it is, did you just call me dad?”
“Maybe I did, so what, it was a slip of the tongue”.
To be honest, Snape didn’t mind at all, at first he’d go against it, but the boy didn’t have his parents, so it’s would’ve been a comforting word for him. Though Snape did feel that he was taking the position way from James. But all Snape did was smile, yes he smiled, the boy didn’t see because he was staring straight at the kettle, trying his best to ignore the teacher at all cost.
“You know, if you feel like calling me dad, then feel free, I won’t stop you”.
Snape then left, leaving the boy rather shocked.

It was nice talking to Voran, he was different, though the two older wizards mostly talked about Potions, which bored Harry to the core. But the good thing was, he could ask Voran some questions about some Potions, but the problem was, he could see Snape glaring at him as if to say, why were you withholding those questions from me? You had every other day to ask... Are you afraid of me?.
Harry cleared his throat as Voran would explain the potion, truth be told, Harry was a little bit frightened from what Snape would say, he expected the boy to know this and would throw a snarky comment instead of helping him.
“Did that solve your problem?”
“Yes, I did, thanks”.
Harry smiled at the man, “I thought Snape would’ve known that”, Voran said with a chuckle, man this was getting difficult and Voran wasn’t making it any better for Harry as Snape shifted in his seat. “Anyway I should be heading off, the wife would be wondering where I was, it was nice meeting you both”.
“It was a pleasure”.
Snape said with a small smirk, Harry was dying now, why did Voran have to leave now? How about in a few hours time? He had just put the boy in deep shit.
The wizard left with a snap, leaving Snape and Harry alone, Harry could hear Snape lean back into the chair, “so why, may I ask, did you not ask me those questions when you had the chance?” Snape’s voice was low. Harry opened his mouth to say something but decided against it, but Snape had spotted him, “what were you going to say?”
“Nothing... I just...”.
God, this was awkward, Harry thought as he shifted in his seat, “you’re not afraid of me are you?” Snapes voice seemed to echo throughout the whole entire room, sending shivers down the boy's spine, “uh... What makes you think that?”
“Well, you’re afraid to ask me such questions, and I would be quite confused if you were afraid of me because you’re quite defiant in class... So I assumed you had no fear towards me”.
Harry was starting to get quite agitated around the man now, “look will you just lay off of it, I don’t have to ask you anything!”
“Oh really, and what would’ve happened if Voran hadn’t of come over, you still would’ve been searching for the answer to your lovely question”.
Snape was snarling at the boy, man this wasn’t going to go down well, both males had really short tempers. They glared at each other for quite some time, “why do you always serve to piss me off?” Harry growled at the man, whose eyes widened in complete anger, “well I’m sorry t piss you off, but that makes me human! I don’t know about you”.
“I’m completely human thank you very much you bat!”
“How dare you!”
Snape had sprung up from his chair as did Harry, Snape was taller, he was six foot whilst Harry was only small at only five foot five, he had to crane his neck in order to glare back at the professor before him.
“Apologize at once Potter”.
The boy flinched, hearing his last name once again, “no, you apologize for taking this whole situation too seriously!”
“Potter!”
“Snape!”
Suddenly the older wizard lunged towards the younger one, Harry yelped out in shock and threw himself backward. Both of them were sprawled out on the living room carpet, Snape was trying to grab Harry's ankle in order to drag the boy closer, “Potter -Harry – stop moving!” Snape was trying to crawl after the boy. If anyone had come into the room they would immediately walk out, it’s not every day you see an adult crawling after a teen on the carpet. Harry couldn’t help but burst out laughing after realizing what they were doing, “he threw Snape a look and slowed down as the professor caught up to him. Snape had thrown himself on top of the boy in order to push him into the floor, stopping him from moving anymore, “that’s enough from you!” Snape snarled, but that only made Harry laugh even more as Snapes elbows managed to poke his sides, “what may this be, is the boy who lived is ticklish?” Snape had realized as he went to prod the boy's side again, earning himself a good squeal.
“You’d be careful, the dark lord should never know about this”.
Snape couldn’t help but smile as Harry tried to squirm out from under him, “get off me!” The boy yelled but was overcome by giggles as Snape shoved his elbows down in his sides again. “Stop, get off me, I mean it!”
“It doesn’t look like you mean it!”
“Dad!”
Snape froze and Harry found it the best time to spin around into him back and shove his knees up, connecting with Snapes stomach. Snape gasped and fell back off the boy. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to call you that – well I did, but then – well I’m sorry okay –“.
“Harry”.
“I know you’re not my dad, but it just slipped out – I’m really sorry, god I’m such an –“.
“HARRY!”
Harry looked up at the teacher who shook his head, “it’s alright, remember what I said to you in the kitchen about an hour ago?”
“No”.
“Oh... Well, that’s concerning”.
“Sorry”.
“It’s fine”.
Snape sat back and leaned against the couch, “I said along the lines of, you can call me that if you feel comfortable”. Harry nodded and mirrored Snape's position. “He Snape”.
“You can call me Severus, Snape is when we’re doing classes and around the school”.
“Cool... Just saying... I think you would’ve been a great dad”.
Severus froze at the words, and Harry added on, “I think you would’ve been better if you didn’t have me though”. A pang of guilt washed over Severus and he quickly shook his head, “either way I would have been a pretty damn good father”, he said, trying to lighten up the mood.

•
He two had migrated the kitchen, Severus had asked if Harry liked cakes and seeing the boy flinch had gone against the idea. But the boy shook his head, as they started with the ingredients he explained to Severus about the cake ordeal at the Dursleys when he was younger.
“Oh wonderful, the Malfoy’s house elf makes it worse for you”.
Snape chuckled, “why’d you go for the cake anyway?”
“I thought If I could catch it then it would’ve been saved”.
Snape shook his head.
The cake was meant to be a chocolate, “I didn’t know you liked chocolate”, Harry said, as he mixed the contents together, watching the oozing chocolate lap over the spoon, “Yeah, I do, but eating too much I unhealthy”.
“Yeah true”.
Harry then sniffed the spoon and threw a shocked look at Severus, who frowned at him, “what?” Severus asked and the boy pointed at the spoon, “that’s not chocolate!”
“What!? Yes, it is!”
“Then you smell it, it doesn’t smell like chocolate at all!”
Severus leaned forward to take a sniff and Harry basically flicked the spoon upwards, the spoon hit Severus on the nose and stayed there. Harry backed away a few steps, trying to hold back the laughter. He watched as Severus slowly removed the spoon from his face and wiped the chocolate from his nose, “you’ve asked for it!” Was all Harry heard before a bag of flour hit his forehead. The bag exploded, flour covering the boy. Severus tried to keep a straight face as did Harry The flour settled and Severus looked at the flour covered boy.
“You suck!”
Harry yelled at him, “I think that’s the translation of, you’re the best at fighting back”, Severus laughed, “no way, you’re not!” Severus burst out into hysterics, totally shocking the boy, he had never seen his potion teacher like this. “What’re you gawking at, never seen someone laugh?” Severus stopped, “Oh right, you haven’t really seen this side of me have you”.
“Haven’t really? I’ve never seen this side of you, you’ve been a heartless –“.
“Heartless?”
“Yes, a heartless ass of black robes since the day I got sorted”.
“Oh wow, I hadn’t noticed”.
“Oh really?”
Harry rolled his eyes and turned to the cake, “think we should finish it?” He nodded towards the cake and Severus turned to it to see if It was still alright, “it’s not damaged so why not”.
What was the cake like? No clue, Severus didn’t know because Harry ate the whole damn cake, “you know, you could’ve just left me a smidge”.
“You’re too slow”.
“Harry!”
“Okay, alright, I’m sorry, I was hungry!”
“You eat like you’ve been –“.
Severus stopped himself, eyes widening when he realized what he had said, but the boy shrugged it off, “It’s okay” Harry said, but Severus could see that tears were starting to form in his eyes, “Harry, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to say that” Severus had no clue what to do, hug the boy, no he’d already opened himself up to the boy way more than what he had intended. “Tissues are over there” was all he said. He couldn’t hug him and he never will.

Harry had awoken to hear voices downstairs, yesterday was great, except for when he burst out crying and Severus had pointed to the tissues for him. He rubbed his eyes and made his way silently down the stairs, being careful to avoid the middle step. It was Dumbledore, and he was sitting at the table, Harry didn’t emerge but managed another peek, he could hear their voice clearly.
“Severus, the boy needs to go back home”.
Dumbledore’s voice rang through Harry’s head and held his breath as Severus turned to him, “Why so? He’s safe here”.
“The Blood Wards Severus, there’s only so much you can do, we can’t place a Blood Ward over your house, you’re not his guardian by law”.
Harry watched as Severus went to say something but stopped himself, “when does he have to go?” Harry’s heart sank, Snape was going to give him back, all that time together had been a lie. Did Harry begin to love Snape? As crazy as it seemed, Harry had come closer to Snape, as if Snape was like his dad. As quietly as he had arrived, Harry had left. The room was lit up by the morning light. Harry had rummaged through his trunk and pulled out the little envelope opener. Though it is a little blunt, if he could just put more strength in, then it should work.
Severus sighed and shook his head, “but the cuts Dumbledore”, the older wizard sighed, “I know, but the boy has to be protected”.
“This may sound crazy, but is there any way to keep the boy?”
Severus had grown to close to the boy, he couldn’t have him go back there, “there is one way... You can adopt him”.
“Adopt?”
Severus stood there for a few minutes, would he do it? He had to think about it, “anyway, I’ll let you think about it if you agree, ask the boys permission and then contact me”, Dumbledore got up from the seat and apparated out. Severus sighed and placed the cup of coffee on the table, he was really opening up to this kid way too much, he would put himself in danger, he was still loyal to the Dark Lord. Harry would have to stay hidden. Severus decided to wake the boy up, he wasn’t going to let him sleep in. He trudged up the stairs, but when he reached the top he stopped, was that crying he could hear?
“Harry?”
Severus called out, the crying had stopped and he could hear rustling, followed by curse words. Severus pushed the door the boy's room open and he almost dropped dead at what he saw. Harry was sitting on the bed, he had pulled his sleeves up and had attacked his arms with, what looked like, an envelope opener, “Harry!” Severus took a shaky step towards the boy, but froze when the boy brought out his wand and pointed it towards Snape, “don’t you come any closer!”
“Harry, what’s wrong?”
“I heard you with Dumbledore, you’re giving me back to the Dursleys!”
Severus mentally cursed, “Harry, listen to me –“.
“No, you listen to me, you were playing around with me, seeing if I would open up, which I did, and now you’re trying to hurt me, how dare you! I HATE YOU!” Suddenly the wand sparked to life and Snape was knocked off his feet, he was pushed back and slammed into the wall in the hallway. The world went fuzzy and Snape looked up to see Harry’s blurry form getting from the bed before apparating out of the room.
Once Snape felt better he had slowly gotten up from the ground, rubbing the back of his head. He had to find the boy quick, he was angry, yes he was, how dare he use magic on him. When he finds Harry he would give him a piece of his mind. He grabbed his cloak and apparated outside, where would Harry go, that was the problem.

•
Harry sat in front of the tombstone of his parents, staring at the names, James Potter and Lily Potter. He wondered what it would be like if they were still alive. He rubbed his eyes and hissed in pain as his arms hurt. He thought back to when he hit Snape with the spell, he regretted doing it after he apparated, Snape had never hurt him physically.... Well apart from the slap, he did kind of deserve it since he was being highly rude to the professor, but he couldn’t severely injure Snape since he was the elder. He sighed and got up from the ground, “I love you both” he said as he trudged away, he would have to find his way back to the Dursleys, he didn’t want to bother Ron and Hermione at all. The Dursleys were the only ones he knew.
Aunt Petunia was mortified when she saw Harry, “Vernon isn’t here, he won’t be here for about a week, he’s on a business trip, so I guess you can stay”.
“Thanks”.
“Let me see your arms”.
Aunt Petunia could be a horrid woman when she wanted to be, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a heart. They sat at the couch and she brought out some bandages, “I know we’re the ones who’ve done this to you”, she nodded down to his arms, “but you can’t stay here, of Vernon will kill you”. There were determination and fear that flickered through her dark eyes. Harry nodded, “I understand”.
“You can go up and have a rest, I’ll have dinner ready soon”.
“Can you do me a favor”.
“What?”
“A man... His name is Severus Snape, he may be looking for me, if anyone from the wizardry world comes looking for me, tell them I’m not here, that you haven’t see me since the day I left to be at Hogwarts”.
Aunt Petunia opened her mouth to say something but chose to just nod her head.

•

“Have you found him yet?” Snape had barged into Dumbledore’s office, McGonagall was there as well. “We’ve been searching everywhere, I went to the Dursleys and they said that they haven’t seen him since the day he left for Hogwarts”, McGonagall said, she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, “by God, where would this kid be?” Snape narrowed his eyes.
“He’s playing around with us, I just know it”.
“How do you know?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure he wants to avoid me because he struck me with a spell seconds before he disappeared”.
“Ah, I see, well then, Snape, you can check the other places I’ve allocated for you to do, and McGonagall will go over her allocations as well. But Snape knew exactly where the boy would be. They had already gone to the Grangers and the Weasleys, Mrs. Weasleys face would be easy to read if she was lying, but she wasn’t, Harry wasn’t there. Which pointed straight at the Dursleys. “Who was there when you went to check on the Dursleys?” Snape asked McGonagall, “Mrs. Dursely and her son, her husband were away”.
“All the better to check that place again, I’ll come with you and you distract her whilst I scope the house out”.
McGonagall wanted to go against such a plan but could see the despair in the man's eyes, he wanted Harry back, even it if killed him. “Alright then, but don’t go off at him”, she said in a calm tone.

•
Snape and McGonagall had appeared at the doorstep once again, Mrs. Dursley looked rather shocked, her face paled, that showed Snape something, “may we come in?” He drawled out and she hesitated before opening the door more to let them in. Snape had stopped in the hall, letting Petunia past him, but didn’t follow he looked up the stairs before looking back at the two women, “where’s the toilet?” He asked and Petunia pointed down the hall, Snape smiled with little thanks but waited until she looked away and went up the stairs, he could hear someone up there. Suddenly someone had come out from one of the rooms from the right, it wasn’t Harry, but Dudley, the cousin, “where is he?” Snape said harshly, scaring the boy, “Where's who?” The boy was shaking when he saw the cloaked man, “don’t play stupid with me boy”, he brought his wand up, seeing the eyes widen in total fear. He pointed to the bedroom at the end of the hall. Snape had his wand and slowly made his way to the room. He couldn’t hear anything, so he opened the door. His heart beat sped up when he saw Harry, lying on the bed, sleeping, his glasses were on the side table, his hair was ruffled, and he was still in his clothes. Snape closed the door behind him and locked it. Coming to the boy's side, he knelt down, his cloak billowing out around him.
Harry was sleeping peacefully, so Snape every so gently stroked the boys bangs out of the way, seeing the lightning bolt. He stirred, and Snape went and stroked his face, though he said he was going to be very angry with Harry because of the hexing incident, all anger was flushed away as he watched over the boy. Harry’s eyes suddenly fluttered open and squinted as he couldn’t see properly, so slowly grabbed his glasses. Snape came into view and Harry freaked, kicked out at the professor, who dodged his feet and pinned them to the bed.
“Harry, stop fight me, come on!”
“Get away from me, don’t hurt me!”
“Harry, I’m not gonna hurt you, now please!”
The boy was hesitant before he stopped fighting, “I’m sorry”, he whimpered to Snape, tears sliding down his cheek, “I know Harry, you didn’t mean to hurt me, you were upset”.
“But I didn’t have to hurt you, but I did”.
“One can only take so much, now come on home”.
“But I am home”.
“Really?”
“... No, guess I’m not”.
McGonagall was at the door, she sighed in relief when she saw the boy, “hello professor”, Harry said weakly and she rolled her eyes and smiled, “you’ve made us so worried, how come I couldn’t sense you here?”
“Oh, I learned to block my presence from other people”.
“Well Harry, I suggest you don’t do that anymore, who knows you might be in danger and we won’t be able to find you”.
“Yeah I know, I’m sorry”.
Snape had helped Harry up, trying to avoid grabbing the boy’s arms as they were bandages, “Harry, you promise to not cut anymore if you keep on doing it, I’d have no choice but to stay by your side”.
“I promise”.
Snape knew they couldn’t make promises they couldn’t keep, but he wanted the boy's words, even the boy's voice was dripping with guilt. Snape pulled Harry to his body before giving McGonagall and nod and apparating home.
“Are you still tired?”
Snape asked and the boy shook his head, “what about hungry?” The boy nodded, “yeah... We’ve still got the sandwiches?”
“Yeah we still do, I haven’t eaten anything, I wasn’t going to until I found you”.
They sat down in complete and utter silence, “Harry...” The boy looked up, “the Dark Lord will be calling me tomorrow, I don’t know how long I’ll be”.
“It’s too dangerous”.
“I know”.
Harry looked down at his arms in shame, he had put Snape through a lot of stress and he already had a lot on his shoulders.
Snape stifled a yawn and smiled when Harry copied him, “we should be heading to bed now”, he replied and Harry all but nodded, “good night”, Snape said as he got up and made his way up to the stairs, but then Harry had called him. Snape had looked down the stairs to where Harry was standing, the boy looked like he was going to ask something, but waved Snape off.
Snape pulled the covers over his freezing body, why did it have to be tonight? Why did it have to be freezing? He rolled over, facing away from the door. A few moments later he heard his bedroom door open and he froze, feeling the cover move a little, as if someone was pushing them down a bit, and then the bed dipped by just a bit. The covers returned and he suddenly felt the warmth, for a few moments Snap waited, until he slowly turned on the bed and was surprised to see Harry sleeping next to him. Was that what Harry was going to ask before they went to bed? If he could sleep with Snape? It kind of weirded the older wizard out, Harry was almost seventeen. But the wizard knew that it was nothing sexual, the boy had never sought any comfort before. The Dursleys wouldn’t have done anything for the boy. So instead of pushing the boy out, Snape turned over so he was facing the boy and strung his arm over the boy's waist as if to comfort the boy. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

The mark hurt so bad, Snape hissed in pain as he scratched his arm, he nudged Harry awake, the boy stirred and his eye flickered open, “I have to go, he’s calling”. The boy's eyes widened in fear, “don’t worry, I’ll be fine”.
Snape quickly got out of bed and grabbed his cloak, moving to the bathroom to get dressed, “don’t leave the house when I’m gone”, he said to Harry before disappearing into the bathroom for a good few minutes.
Snape came out the bathroom straightening his robes, “please be safe”, Harry said, he was standing by the door and all Severus could do was nod before be apparated.

•
Severus had greeted the Dark Lord at the table, “it’s a pleasure to see you Severus”, The Dark Lord said with a smile, “as it is to you my lord”, Snape replied, he went to go to his seat, but The Dark Lord stopped him, “just a minute my Severus, we must discuss something”. Severus managed a peek to all the other Death Eaters at the table, who seemed a little uncomfortable, “come with me”, The Dark Lord had risen from his seat and he had ordered Narcissa to follow, both wizards exchanged worried glances before following their leader. All three stopped in a room and Severus took a step towards Narcissa when The Dark Lord locked the doors, “Severus, I know you’re one of my trusted allies, but Narcissa, you haven’t yet passed the test”.
“Test?”
Severus asked as he looked at Narcissa who was taking deep breaths and looking at her feet, “Narcissa is yet to hurt someone”, The Dark Lord, Narcissa had looked up at the leader, her eyes were defiant, “can we please not make it Severus?” Hearing those words had almost stopped Severus’s heart, the promise of being safe was broken. The Dark Lord snarled at her, “you must do it, I hand chose him myself, he will know that he would be getting ten times worse than what this really is if I find out he’s a traitor!” Severus shifted on his feet.
“Now hurry up and attack him!”
Severus backed a few steps away from Narcissa to give her room, she looked up at the man, their eyes meeting for a few minutes before she lifted her wand and cast the Cruciatas curse onto Severus, who fell to his knees, screaming in agony. Narcissa tried to hold her ground but couldn’t as Severus screamed out again, she stopped the curse, but The Dark Lord came to her side and grabbed her wrist, the wand now pointing to Severus again, “don’t stop, you’re showing weakness, how about us Sectumsempra, his own spell”. Severus froze, still on his knees as he looked at Narcissa with fear, but only for a few seconds before he threw a defiant look and nodded.
“Sectumsempra!”
Narcissa drew in a breath and watched as Severus fell back, lying on the cold wooden floor, “well done Narcissa, you’ve passed the test, you should great power in the last spell”. The Dark Lord walked over to Severus, looking down on him, “you may go home, get some rest, you are no longer needed tonight my child”. With that, The Dark Lord and Narcissa were gone, Snape was hissing in pain as he tried to get up, only to fall back the ground, thankfully he knew the healing spell for this.
He apparated home, still lying down, Harry had walked into the living room right at that moment and almost screamed, “Holy shit!” He was by the teacher's side in seconds, “what do I do, tell me before you bleed out!” Harry yelled as he attempted to try and stop the bleeding. “Vulnera Sanentur, remember I used it on Draco in the bathroom”, Snape hissed out. Harry remembered it perfectly clear.
Snape lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, he had changed his torn clothes into sleep wear. Harry had given him a few drinks to calm him down. The boy was downstairs with Dumbledore, he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t have the boy by his side even if he wanted to. Snape slowly sat up just as Dumbledore came into the room, followed by Harry.
“Ah, Severus, you’re awake, how’re you feeling?”
“Better than before”.
Severus threw a worried glance over to Harry, “Harry, can you get me some water, the filtered water’s in the fridge”, the boy nodded before heading out of the room, buying some time for the professor.
“Albus, I can’t do it, I can’t look after Harry”.
The headmaster stared at Severus, the gears were working, “I understand Severus, we are putting the boy in danger if we keep him with you”.
“I’m glad you understand, where do you think he’ll go? Not the Dursleys”.
“Since the boy was with you I had created boundaries through the school, they’re strong enough to keep intruders out and keep Harry safe”.
“Good... I won’t tell Harry yet, I’ll have to pack his things and then tell him”.
“The better way than not doing anything at all”.
Both wizards stopped talking when they heard Harry coming up the stairs, “so, Narcissa had brought your own curse upon you?” Albus asked and Severus nodded, looking over to Harry, who had the filtered water, “yes, but don’t blame her, she had to be tested, he was there when it all happened”, Dumbledore nodded, “I see... Well you’d better get more rest, and it’s nice to see you again my boy”, Dumbledore threw Harry a smile, which Harry returned.
“Look after the old boy for me”.
Severus rolled his eyes and swiftly took the glass of water from Harry, “what do you want for dinner tonight?” Severus asked and Harry stared at him, “what?” Severus asked and the boy frowned, “you’ve just been attacked and you’re acting like it never happened?” Harry said incredulously, Severus shrugged.
“I know it happened, but I’d rather not remember it, damages my sanity”.
“Aren’t you already far from being sane?”
Severus glared at Harry but the boy just ended up laughing, “very funny”, Severus said before taking a sip, “Ron and Hermione wanted to come over and see how things were”. Severus stopped for a minute, should they come over? No... Well, the boy needed to be distracted so that he could go and pack the boys things and send them back to Hogwarts, “they can come over”. He could see the shock on the boy's face and couldn’t help but crack a smile, “what?” he asked and the boy shook his head and smiled, “No, nothing”.
“Alright... Oh, and you haven’t answered my question about dinner”.
“Oh right uh, Spaghetti, but don’t worry I’ll make it”.
“So kind of you”.

Snape was up within an hour and Harry had started doing the spaghetti, well, that what it was until Harry began yelling for Severus who quickly rushed into the kitchen only to see Harry holding the saucepan in his hand, which was overfilled with spaghetti, “what the hell?” Severus said as he came to Harry’s side, “I think I can feed the whole order with this”, Harry said and Severus couldn’t hide his smile, “Indeed you can, thankfully we’ve got Hermione and Ron coming over tonight, I’m sure they like spaghetti”.
“Yeah, I’m lucky with that, thinking pesto?”
“Whatever”.

It wasn’t long until the two friends had visited, Severus had waited until all three had forgotten about him and he silently moved upstairs to Harry’s room. Once he was inside he flicked out his wand and cast the cleaning spell and grabbing all of Harry’s clothes, neatly folding them and placing them in the suitcase.
It had taken Severus no less than five minutes to get everything sorted, he sends the suitcase to Hogwarts and felt his heart beat faster, the boy wasn’t going to be happy, but it was for his own good. They would still see each other at school, Snape had called Dumbledore to let him know that the suitcase was at Hogwarts and that he was going to bring Harry back after Ron and Hermione had left. A pang of guilt hit Severus, he took the boy in without thinking too much through, he was toying with the boy's emotions.
Severus had grabbed the plates whilst Hermione had grabbed the cutlery, “honestly Hermione, you’d be anyone’s maid”, Ron replied as he shook his head, “I just feel useless when I’m watching them”, she snapped back at him. Severus rolled his eyes, it’d be funny if they were to be married later on in life. They sat down, but not in silence as Hermione started talking about homework, “I’ve got this for you Harry, so it can help you study”, she said with a triumphed smile, Severus rolled his eyes at the girl, but he knew there was going to be a bright future for her. One thing led into another, talking about their first day of Hogwarts.
“Remember the first time you saw me?”
Harry said to Severus who snapped back into reality, “pardon?” The boy rolled his eyes, “I said, did you remember the first time you saw me?”
“It’s a bit hazy, all I remember was you being put into Gryffindor”.
Hermione smiled, “how about the time we saw Fluffy!” Ron almost choked on his food, “oh god, don’t remind me of that!” He said and Severus frowned, “how’d you find Fluffy?” He asked and Harry shrugged, “uh, we kind crossed his path without even knowing it”, he said and Severus shook his head, “he could’ve killed you”.
“I know, but we’re here”.
“Yeah, sheer dumb luck as McGonagall would say”.
Severus rolled his eyes when the trio laughed at his comment. They were over for quite some time and Severus was starting to get a little ticked off, it had hit six and he was tapping his feet by that time.
“I think it’s time for you two to head home, your parents would be worried sick”.
“Yeah they would be, anyway, we should be going Harry”.
Ron gave Harry and good hug as did Hermione before leaving, Severus took a breath and turned to Harry, “we need to go to Dumbledore at the school, come we must not dawdle”.
“Alright”.
Severus flinched, hearing the trust set in that tone that the boy used on him, it made him want to puke, he was going to mentally hurt this boy, but he couldn’t do anything about it... At least not for now.

Dumbledore was at his desk when Severus and Harry arrived, “ah, you’re here, and you’ve got the boys things?”
“Already in the dorm”.
Severus said quickly, but Harry had noticed, “wait. What?” Dumbledore eyed the boy, “you’ll be staying here, Professor Snape will no longer be looking after –“.
“WHAT!”
Harry turned to Severus and the wizard cringed, even wanting to step back from the boy, “YOU’RE GIVING ME AWAY?”
“I’m not giving you –“.
“Bullshit!”
“Calm down!”
“NO THIS ISN’T FAIR, WHY CAN’T I STAY WITH YOU, IS IT BECAUSE I’M TOO MUCH LIKE MY FATHER IS THAT IT?”
Severus groaned in annoyance, “you know that’s not the reason!” he boy took threatening step towards the teacher, “then what is it?”
“After what had happened with Narcissa I knew I couldn’t look after you, and besides, you’re safe in here”.
“But I’m old enough to look after myself”.
“Hence why you don’t have to live with me”.
Severus could see that he had the boy cornered, “come now Harry, Snape has other things to tend to”, Dumbledore said, “no! That’s not fair, you can’t give me back, I want to stay with you!”
“Don’t be so childish Potter!”
Severus had turned to the boy, but instantly regretted it when the boy broke down, but before Severus could say any further Harry had lunged at him, almost knocking him to the ground, “get off me!” Severus yelled, Dumbledore had quickly gotten up from his seat and advanced on the two, his wand out, “Harry, that’s enough!” Severus said he didn’t want Dumbledore knocking the kid out, “no, please don’t do this!”
“You can see me during school, I can come in to see how you –“.
“Stupefy”.
Harry was flung off Severus and Severus was about to snap at the headmaster. But Dumbledore threw him a look that said, ‘go while you still have the chance’, so Severus left.
The house felt so empty, even though Severus was in it, but the first hour had gone by and Severus was already missing the company of the boy. He shook his head and scolded himself, he can’t miss the boy, he was becoming weak, he couldn’t do that or he’d be killed by The Dark Lord. He sighed and rubbed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, he just had to wait a little more, and then it will all end.