He was sure either he’d died or gone crazy, that was the only explanation for the extremely comfortable feeling that currently enveloped him. He was then amazed to find a ceiling when he opened his eyes, unfortunately being brought back into reality also reignited his aches and pains. He reached rather haphazardly for his glasses and tried to remember how he’d ended up here. The memory came back to him pretty fast as did his conflicted feelings; he may dislike Snape but he was still a far cry away from the Dursley’s who he wouldn’t be seeing for awhile. That alone was enough to raise his spirits. He was glad to notice the small clock on the bedside table as he had no real way of telling the time otherwise, it was currently 7:34am. That made sense since this was generally the time his Aunt would be banging on his door and ordering him to make breakfast.

He was at a slight loss for what to do. Breakfast wasn’t for another half-hour according to Snape and he really didn’t think Snape would take kindly to him exploring the house before then. He could maybe work on some of his holiday homework but surely he wan’t that bored yet. Eventually he decided to write to his friends, not that he actually had any means of communicating with them; he’d sent Hedwig to the burrow out of fear his Uncle might finally make good on his promise to hurt her. He assumed that Ron would send letters to him with her and he’d send her back with a reply but that was just another thing gone wrong for him this summer. He’d tried not to let his anger bleed into the letters as he wrote but he still questioned them a bit fiercely about why they’d yet to send anything.

By the time he was done it was 7:56, he may as well be a little bit early, surely Snape couldn’t hold that against him. He looked through his clothes in an effort to find anything that wouldn’t have Snape sneering at him but came up empty handed. It seemed he truly owned no nice clothes besides his school robes.

He walked into the kitchen connected to the dining room surprised to find Snape already there focused on a book and by the looks of the empty plate, having already eaten. The table was full of food including pancakes, toast, bacon and eggs; his mouth watered at the sight of it and it took all his self restraint to stop himself from wolfing it all done on the spot. The Dursleys had apparently trained him well however and he sat at the table and refrained from touching anything. It was then that Snape’s piercing gaze looked up at him for the first time since he entered.

“Something the matter Potter?”

“No sir,”

“Then eat.”

That was all the prompting Harry needed before digging in. He tried to stop himself going to fast but evidently failed since Snape was now watching him with one eyebrow raised. He tried to ignore it and focused on what he actually wanted to achieve here; to get more information about this secretive ‘mission’. Snape was definitely not about to give up the information easily so he’d have to do it tactfully, he was gonna have to out Slytherin the head of Slytherin easy peasy.

“Sir, do you live here alone ?” Snape stopped reading and briefly glanced up at him

“Yes Potter, did you expect any different?” his unamused drawl did nothing to to stop Harry.

“Yes actually, perhaps a supermodel wife.” Something like shock went across Snape’s features then a brief hint of amusement before his general emotionless façade was back in place. He had succeeded then, he’d wanted to rattle the Potions master first in an effort to hopefully bring down some of his defences.

“And pray tell what gave you this notion?” He was honestly astonished that Snape hadn’t threatened him with some barbaric punishment and to be honest he hadn’t really thought this far ahead.

“Nothing in particular, professor.” he quickly drank from his cup in an effort to distract himself.

“Perhaps this ‘supermodel wife’ is just simply out of town.” He couldn’t help but choke on his water and was honestly in shock. Had Snape made a joke?

Well he wasn’t about to give up now….

“But sir, won’t she be worried about you disappearing on a mysterious and potentially dangerous mission without a word. Won’t she wonder where you’re going? what will you tell her?”

Harry couldn’t believe that Snape simply smirked. He also realised that he had given away his hand when Snape levelled a gaze that said ‘Ah so that is what this is about’ .

“As much as I’d like to discuss my imaginary super model wife I believe we have more important matters to address, like the fact that you insist on dressing like a street urchin at my table.”

He felt his face get a little heated at that, he also didn’t really know how to reply. He supposed all he could really say was the truth, well part of it, even if it meant Slytherins mocking him for the rest of his school days.

“These are the only clothes I have, sir.”

Snape regarded him critically and it made his skin itch being under such an intense gaze, he refused to make eye contact and stared distractedly at the leftover crumbs on his plate.

“I suppose that will have to be remedied.”

that was it? no scathing remark or insult? what the hell did that mean anyway?

“I will be visiting Diagon Alley tomorrow to attend to some private matters, you may spend the time purchasing new clothes then. Although you will have to wear a glamour of course.”

This whole situation just seemed plain strange to Harry, well at least he’d be able to visit Diagon Alley he thought happily. The rest, well he had no clue.

The potions master was obviously waiting for a reply and Harry quickly spoke

“Yes, sir”

Snape simply nodded and returned to his book.

“Potter, you may do what you wish as long as it fits within the rules I have stated. I do however recommend you do your holiday homework in this time as there will most likely be little chance to do it later.”

Ominous warning aside he recognised it as a dismal and made his way back to the bedroom not really sure what he would do. He supposed he should probably do some homework as much as it pained him. He started with an easy one, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Since there DADA teacher had really been Barty Crouch Jr. Dumbledore had assigned the homework himself and thankfully it was fairly short. When he’d finished he decided to reward himself and stretch his legs.

He stepped out of his room and walked back down to the sitting area where Snape was notably absent. He didn’t really have a clue where the library was but he imagined it would have to be in the front section of the house where they had first come through.

He suspicions were proved correct when he found an archway leading to an area he’d missed before. As he stepped through he could almost imagine Hermione’s astonished expression. The area certainly rivalled the Hogwarts library; warm lights hung from the ceiling softly illuminating the shelves upon shelves that lined the wall. Small arm chairs were littered throughout the room as well small alcoves cut out from the wall next to wide windows. A ladder was leaning against the wall that seemed to float just above the floor, Harry guessed it probably had featherlight charm on it. He ran his hand along the spines of some of the books and he was amazed to see that this row contained muggle books. A quick glance at the other shelves revealed that the definite majority of books featured magic of some kind.

A small stack of books sat next to one of the arm chairs, Harry nearly laughed when he read through the titles, there was ‘Potions: An Extended History’, ‘Efficiencies of Brewing’, ‘A Tale of Two cities’, ‘The Magical Properties of Aquatic herbs’ and ‘The Art of War’. He had a very hard time imaging the professor sitting there reading muggle books perhaps even drinking tea. Harry walked around the room and found a book that sparked his own interest, ‘Curses, Counter curses and How to Perform Them’. The book wasn’t very thick and even had diagrams explaining wand work.

He made his way over to one of the window seats that looked out at the front yard and began to read.

***

Severus Snape was working in his potions lab and pondering the boy he’d been forced to take in. The brat had clearly been trying to pry information out of him this morning but that wasn’t what puzzled him, in fact that behaviour was pretty par for the course with the idiotic Gryffindor.What puzzled him was the strange things he’d seen since he’d picked up the boy. There were so many little things that just didn’t sit right with him. He couldn’t piece them together, individually they could be explained away but together they made no sense. Like the padlock on the boy’s trunk, surely he had locked his school books away in an effort to ditch school work? Then there was the clothes, perhaps Potter had just had a tantrum and destroyed all his other clothes when they weren’t to his liking. Finally was the bruise cream when he collected it, he found it half empty; did that mean the boy was hurt elsewhere? No, Potter had just overacted with his one measly bruise and wasted Severus’s supplies.

That boy is driving me mad, why must he complicate everything?

A few hours passed and he walked into the dining room to eat lunch. He was interested to see that Potter was absent, then realised he had never actually told Potter what time lunch was and mentally kicked himself. He was now going to have to go and search for the boy.

He started with the boy’s rooms sure that Potter was most likely there. When it was empty he couldn’t help but curiously glance at the bag the boy had bought with him. Indeed it had looked as if Potter had rifled through it in search of something other than the grey rags three sizes too large for the boy.

He left quickly lest he’d be tempted to more snooping. His next guess was that Potter was outside, the boy did seem to love the outdoors; perhaps due to his obsession with all thing Quidditch. However the grounds were strangely Potter-free. He felt a little twinge or worry but pushed down his paranoia, after all the boy surely couldn’t get himself into trouble in such a short amount of time.

He walked into the library stunned to find Potter comfortably lounged in a seat next to the window, even stranger it seemed he was absorbed in a book.

He cleared his throat and Potter instantly became aware of his presence. The boy actually looked a bit sheepish and placed the book aside.

“Hello Sir”

part of him was still getting over the fact that Potter had willingly decided to spend his time in a library so it was a few seconds before he answered.

“I believe it is time for lunch Mr. Potter, if you would follow me.”

He didn’t bother waiting for a response and turned on his heel in a rather intimidating manor. Food had once again appeared courtesy of his house elf Polly, not that the boy knew that. He could almost feel Potter’s discomfort at being so closely watched as they both sat down.

“Mr Potter. I assume the book you were reading was for homework?”

He wanted to clarify that at least. One less troublesome puzzle piece.

“No, well… sortiv’…. you could kinda of put it as Defence Against the Dark Arts, I guess.”

“But you were reading it specifically for that subject yes?”

“Not really, it just looked interesting.” the boy looked like he was almost expecting to be reprimanded.

Well, he was going to solve the mystery of Potter one way or another, knowing the boy-who-lived it would likely get everyone killed if it was left alone.

“Potter do you have any other injuries other than the bruise on your face that I should be aware of. I warn you, do not lie to me.”

Potter instantly blanched and he knew the answer to his own question.

“I uh, no sir.”

He levelled a deathly scowl at the boy but apparently Potter truly wanted to keep his secret because he continued to stay silent.

“Potter, do you understand exactly how dangerous it is to go on this trip injured? it could result in you making a fatal blunder that would get us both killed!”

“Well I would sir, if you told me anything about where we are going. Or why!”

“It is not your place to know every bit of information about the Order, if I had my way you’d be treated as exactly what you are, a boy inquiring about things way beyond his understanding.”

“But it involves me! I’m apparently supposed to go someplace to do something simply because I can speak to snakes!”

“Yes, and that is all you need to know!”

The boy seemed to try and calm himself first then speak.

“Well could you at least tell me what we are doing Sir,”

He too tried to compose himself before this devolved into a useless argument.

“Potter I will tell you what we are doing, if you explain why there was a lock on your trunk.”

apparently this caught the boy quite off-guard.

“Why does that matter?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Fine, because my uncle put it there.”

Now it was Snape’s turn to be caught off-guard.

“And why did he do that?” He hoped the boy would elaborate.

“He… dislikes magic.” this evidently was all the explanation the boy was willing to give.

“I answered your question professor, now its your turn.” he had half a mind to just refuse and leave Potter wondering but unfortunately he was a man of his word, well, as much as a spy can be.

“Alright Potter. We are retrieving something, something for the Order.”

“What are we retrieving” he then quickly added “sir.”

“An item the Dark Lord wants, that is why it will be dangerous. We will not go if you do not agree to listen ^^to every command I give and obey without question, do you promise to do so?” He was going to make Potter agree to this later but figured since they were already talking about it he should do it now.

Potter seemed unsure but eventually caved “Yes, I promise.”

“I will hold you to that.”

“Understood, now will you tell me exactly what we are retrieving?”

He inwardly groaned, the boy simply could not let the matter drop.

“The Vincere Stone, it allows the user to break through any wards instantaneously. You can understand why we cannot let it fall into the hands of the Dark Lord.”

Potter nodded subtly.

Neither had anymore to say to each other so they ate the rest of their meals in silence. After they had finished he added one last comment before letting the boy go.

“Potter, dinner will be at 7. Don’t forget.”

Potter once again nodded, an action Severus was beginning to detest, and left.

It was only later that he realised he had never actually got an answer to his question about Potter’s injuries.

***

Harry sat on the bed staring at the bruising salve. He wanted to use it, badly, but he din’t want to risk Snape noticing anymore than he already had. He’d been careful to move around looking completely unaffected by his bruises and cuts. Snape surely only noticed because he’s used so much of the damn paste.

He decided against it, he could certainly deal with his injuries a little longer after doing so all summer. Instead he pondered on the information Snape gave him. What they were going after seemed pretty powerful, if Voldemort did get it things could go very very badly. Harry himself would definitely be screwed, the wards on Hogwarts would be broken and he’d undoubtedly be killed along with many other students including his friends. He was happy to avoid that possibility, even if it did mean having to obey Snape.

The next few hours he found himself doing a variety of tasks, from actually studying, reading in the library and walking outside along the magnificent grounds, though he was careful to avoid straying to far. He never saw Snape while in the house and he’d begun to wonder if Snape was even there. By the time dinner rolled around he almost didn’t expect to see the professor.

Wondering down the stairs Snape was once again sitting at the table waiting for him. They didn’t talk much throughout the meal, Harry only asking about where exactly the food was coming from and Snape explaining his house elf Polly was responsible. Snape also told Harry that he must be in his room by 10 and in bed by 10:30, a request he thought was fair.

After dinner he wondered back into the library, he was beginning to enjoy his time spent reading there. This time he took one of the larger couches that had looked ever so slightly worn.

For one of the first times this summer, he felt himself actually tired for a reason other than his chores, it came with a certain feeling of contentment. Without meaning to his book accidentally fell from his hands and his eyes fell slowly shut, his hand limply falling on top of the hardback.

***

After finishing a few of his lesson plans for the coming year, Severus decided he would go and confront Potter about these mysterious injuries. He finished off his last line, put done his quill, and made his way to the boy’s rooms. There was something very strange about having Potter stay in his house, in fact he had barely ever had anyone live here let alone a student.

When he pushed the door open and found the room empty, he almost wasn’t surprised. Trust Potter to break the rules he had just outlined about being out of his rooms past 10.

Now the only question was where the brat had gone. After once again searching through the house he found Potter in the library for the second time today.

He was about to make a scathing remark and threaten punishment when he realised the boy had yet to respond to his being there. Upon closer inspection he found the boy asleep, he had to admit Potter looked quite a bit different asleep then in his waking hours. Almost more…. Lily like. He shook himself of the thought, Potter had inherited his fathers looks he was a carbon copy, everything except the eyes.

He found himself at a cross roads, he couldn’t exactly scold the boy the way he’d been planning too. Nor was he ever going to carry Potter to his bed. He settled for removing the book from the boys hands and taking off his askew glasses that undoubtedly were cutting into his face. His eyes were drawn to something he hadn’t seen before as he did so; part of a bruise was exposed under the boys sleeve, an area of discoloured skin that surely continued up the boys arm. This was something he’d make Potter explain, one way or another, before the trip. He turned around and nearly made his way all the way out of the room before he drew his wand. He said a small incantation and the lights dimmed and the blanket laid on the back of the sofa landed softly on top of Potter.

***

Harry felt slightly disorientated as he got up. The realisation that he fell asleep in the library hit him and he looked around the blurry room in search of his glasses. He couldn’t actually remember taking them off and he was pretty certain he hadn’t put the blanket on. Did….Snape? No, he had probably done it and just forgotten, in fact he hoped Snape hadn’t noticed him at all considering he broke Snape’s out-of-bed rule.

He got up and walked into the kitchen slash dinning room where Snape currently sat. He seemed to be focused on the newspaper in front of him and was only half paying attention to eating the food. Harry hesitated for a second, the picture was all to reminiscent of his Uncle and he almost felt like backing out of the kitchen all together. Instead he stepped forward and tried to summon his Gryffindor courage.

He jumped slightly as Snape’s silky monotone voice spoke.

“Potter as we discussed yesterday we will be traveling into Diagon Alley.”

Oh yeah, he’d forgotten about that.

“I will apply the glamour after breakfast”

He’d forgotten about that too.

“Yes, sir.”

He was actually a little happy about the glamour, he wouldn’t mind not being Harry Potter for a few hours. After he finished breakfast he was slightly eager to go.

“Sir, I’m ready now.”

“Well how nice for you Potter, I however need a few moments to collect some things.”

He blushed at that, he didn’t realise how presumptuous he sounded until after he spoke.

A few moments Snape left, he returned back after a couple of mintues carrying a bag containing a variety of vials that shimmered when they caught the light. He held his wand to Harry’s face and it took alot of Harry’s self control not to move away. Just before he began Harry made one last request,

“Could you…. Could you make it look nothing like me.”

“That was the point Potter.” Although Snape seemed to look a little curiously at him.

He heard Snape mutter a few spells and felt a slight tingling sensation over his face. It was done merely minutes later. Snape conjured a mirror and held it out to him.

As he took in his new appearance he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his new features. His nose was slightly shorter and turned a little more upward, his whole face was narrower and his ears stubbier. He now had small freckles across his cheeks and his hair was a much lighter shade of brown as well as being shorter. His lighting bolt scar was completely gone and his mouth seemed just a bit wider. Almost all of his features were changed, all except for his green eyes, which still remained behind glasses.

“Brilliant Sir.”

Snape didn’t acknowledge his response and instead spoke one more line of latin and Harry felt a different sensation.

“Potter you can now remove your glasses, the spell will only last briefly but long enough for what we need.”

He took of his glasses off not sure what Snape was talking about, however the moment the glasses left his face he noticed his vision stayed clear.

“Thank you Sir” he said not really sure what else too say.

Snape just nodded and began to walk into the sitting room to which Harry followed.

Once they were there Snape made his way over to the fireplace and lit it with a small spark from his wand. He grabbed the powder from the mantle and threw it in. He stepped inside as green flames licked the bottom of his black robes.

“Diagon Alley.” A moment kater and Snape was gone

Harry repeated Snape’s actions and made sure to speak clearly, remembering the last time he tried to travel by Floo to Diagon Alley.

His world was a spinning vortex of colours for a few seconds before he was spat out rather ungracefully onto the floor. He looked up and met Snape’s intense gaze before standing up and brushing the soot off himself.

Snape didn’t move the entire time and only spoke when Harry was fully done.

“Shall we begin?”