Chapter 5: Not 1, not 2 but 3 letters

It was an oddly quiet morning today, the sun slowly began to creep into Harry’s bedroom. It was nearing 7 am when Harry began to rouse awake. Rolling over in his bed Harry stretched out his arms when he heard a light crunch. Opening his eyes, he looked to the left of him and realised the noise came from the letter he was trying to read the previous night. Lifting the letter, he felt a buzz shoot up through his arm. Realising that it was too early to figure this mystery out, he tossed the letter onto his left nightstand and got out of bed. 

Walking into the bathroom, Harry had a quick shower and got dressed. As he finished lacing his old sneakers, Harry made eye contact with the letter. He paused for a second and finished tying his sneakers. Looking at his trunk, Harry remembered the 2 other letters that he had taken from Grimmauld Place. He was brought out of his musings by the grumble in his stomach. Deciding to creep down the stairs towards the kitchen to get some breakfast, Harry remembered writing an apology letter to Snape and sliding it under the door. How would Snape act? Would he accept his apology? Did he even read the letter, or did he just throw it away?

Deciding to just bite the bullet, Harry walked into the kitchen to find, as usual, the Professor sitting at the table, nursing a cup of plain black coffee. Snape made no sign of noticing that Harry had entered the room. Trixy, popped into the room and motioned Harry to sit at the table, where she was placing a bowl of cereal in front of him. Harry quietly sat down and sliced an apple to put into his cereal. Minutes passed on, and no one had made a move to talk. All that could be heard was Harry slurping the milk in his cereal, and Snape occasionally flipping through the Daily Prophet.

Putting the newspaper down, the potions professor began “That was a very mature thing you did last night Potter. Apologizing for what you did, even though what you did was very immature. None the less, I accept your apology.” Harry was surprised after hearing Snape, for the first time, have a calm conversation with him.

“I really am a sorry professor, I’ll be better next time,” Harry said in a soft voice, however maintaining eye contact. The professor merely ‘mhmm’ in agreeance. 

“So, Potter, what are you doing today?” Snape questioned.

“Probably just write a few letters to my friends….” ‘Don’t forget Potter, you mustn't tell Weasley and Granger that you are staying here. If you must, tell them you are staying with Black.’

Agreeing to say that he was staying with his godfather, Harry excused himself to write to his friends. Deciding that he should write his letters outside under a tree, Harry quickly went upstairs to gather his quill and some parchment.

It was slightly breezy; however, the sun was not hidden by clouds today. Harry sat under a big tree full of leaves, which slightly shaded him from the scorching sun. His first letter was to Ron.

Dear Ron,

How’s your holiday so far? Mine’s pretty alright. I’m staying at Padfoot’s these holidays. It gets pretty boring here, there is not much to do. Anyways, anything is better than the Dursley’s right? 

Look, I’m writing to apologize for what happened/ could have happened at the Ministry of Magic (MOM). All you guys could have been seriously hurt, or even killed. I would never have been able to deal with myself, knowing that it was because of me that you died. So, yeah, I just wanted to say sorry!

Anyways, I hope Romania is nice, and your family is doing well. Our OWL results are going to be coming out at the end of the holidays. I hope we get a chance to catch-up way before then. If I’m being honest, I don’t know what else to write about. So, when you get the chance, write back soon, like I said; there’s not much to do here.

Harry.

P.s. Say hi to Fred, George, and Ginny.

Laying aside Ron's letter, he grabbed a new bit of parchment and began to write a letter to Hermione.

Dear Hermione,

How is everything at home? I hope that you are doing better since the ordeal at the MOM. I can’t apologize enough for what happened. You and the others should never have come along. It was all my fault, and I should have only been the one to get hurt. To be honest, I miss you guys more than ever now.

On a good note, I’m not staying at the Dursleys anymore; I’m at Padfoot’s. It’s getting a bit boring here holed up in this house. I hope that it won’t be long until we catch up, otherwise, I might just go out of my mind if I have to see only Padfoot and Kreacher.

Have you figured what subjects to do for next year? I’m sure you will get all Outstanding’s, for your OWLS. Me on the other hand, don’t tell Ron, but I’m worried that I failed everything. With Umbridge and everything going on last year, I don’t think I did well enough.

Anyways, hopefully, things will be better this year, look forward to hearing from you soon.

Harry

After finishing his letter to Hermione, Harry wrote a letter to Neville, Luna as well as Ginny; apologizing for the Ministry. Having written so many apology letters, this left Harry feeling dizzy. Lying back against the tree trunk, Harry dozed off to sleep, until he was awakened 2 hours later by raindrops landing on his head. The sky had turned from blue to a deep grey, it started to pelt down with rain. Harry quickly grabbed his letters and made a dash for the house.

Harry quickly opened the door and thudded into the house. He brought in the dirt that was on his shoes with him. He softly called Trixy and asked her to clean his shoes and the floor that was covered in mud, not wanting to anger Snape. Looking at the grandfather clock in the lounge room, Harry realised that it was lunchtime already. Walking into the dining room, Snape was nowhere to be seen. Deciding to take his lunch into the study upstairs. It had a good view of the grounds and a comfy balcony seat. 

After eating some sandwiches whilst sitting at the bay window, Harry got to thinking about his Hogwarts subjects and what his potential marks were. He knew that Snape would probably kill him if he knew what his marks were; he would just have to hide them first. Putting aside his empty plate (which quickly disappeared thanks to Trixy) Harry continued to sit at the window and reflect on the previous school year. It was another 2 hours later, that Harry snapped out of his daydreaming and remembered the letters in his room, sitting in his trunk.

Getting down from the seat, Harry briskly walked to his room where he strode towards his trunk. Opening the lid Harry removed the 2 books that he had used to store the letters.

Opening the first book, Harry touched the second letter from his mother. Once his hand touched the letter, it zapped him as did the other one. Feeling frustrated Harry threw his book onto the ground, and reached for the other book, which stored the final third letter. Cautiously touching the thirst letter, Harry prepared himself to feel the zap; however, it never came. Looking at the letter, this one did not glow, nor did it produce any weird zapping feelings.

Looking at the letter closely, Harry realised that it had written on it, the same thing as all the others. Carefully analysing the front of the letter, was for nothing, as nothing significant popped up. He flipped the letter over, and tried to rip it open, however, this letter too could not open. As he tried to open this letter, whilst it did not open, something appeared in the bottom right-hand corner of the envelope; It was a date. It read {30.07.1996}.

Harry was surprised when he read the date, it was the date for his 16th birthday, which was only a mere few months away. Sliding his hand over the date, Harry felt a warm tingle. Looking at the letter to see if anything had changed he realised that the date had disappeared. Quickly flipping the letter over, Harry was mesmerised, feeling a mixture of happy and sad feelings. The words ‘Harry’s Letter’, where replaced by ‘From Lily, your mother’. Trying to open the letter again, to no avail, Harry could not do it. 

He realised then and there, that he would most likely be able to open the letter on the date specified; his birthday. He would just have to wait until then to see what his mother had written. 

Gabbing a new journal, Harry went back into the study and sat at the study table Snape said was his. In this Journal Harry wrote on the front page ‘Theories to the 3 letters’. Sitting back Harry cringed, remembering Tom Riddle’s Diary. However, putting that aside Harry spent the next 3 hours, sitting in the library, writing down the many theories he had. He wrote about what he thought each letter contained. For example, Letter 1, Harry guessed was for his Graduation. Letter 2, was for accounts at Gringotts Bank. And the 3rd obviously for him on his 16th birthday.

Feeling mentally fatigued Harry sat back and looked on fondly at his afternoon of investigative work. Snape was leaning against the doorframe looking at Harry with one eyebrow raised. 

“Well, well, you voluntarily are in the library, and it seems that for once, you have gotten some work done,” Snape said in a sarcastic voice. The professor strode into the room and went over to Harry’s desk to peer at what he was doing. Harry immediately shut his journal and pulled it towards his chest. Snape merely raised his eyebrow and walked away from the desk, to sit on his own.

“Professor,” Harry asked capturing the attention of his teacher. “I was wondering, is there a book in this library, on how to charm lock objects?” Harry asked looking around at the vast array of tomes. “Don’t fear Potter, I won’t be peeking in your diary anytime soon. I hardly have the time to waste hours reading about your ‘lady problems’” Snape finished smirking.

“Lady pr… no! I’m writing about theories in here, not about my life proble… never mind!, I’ll just ask Trixy.” Harry got up in a huff but was quickly settled as Snape got up from his seat and pointed for Harry to sit back down.

“Calm down Potter, I was merely jesting you. Here” Snape picked a small book from the shelf named ‘How to lock everything with a few simple charms’. The potions master handed Harry the book, then retreated to his desk. Harry say at one of the chaise lounges in the library and began to read the book. Harry asked Snape if he could perform the spell to lock his journal. Snape, however, denied Harry the right to do that, as he had never performed the spell before. The potions master was worried that Harry would set his Library and everything in it on fire. Snape decided to do the spell himself and help Harry to lock his journal. The journal from now on would only open at Harry’s touch. The clever bit about this spell is that, if someone tried to coerce Harry into opening the journal, it would deny him access; as it would feel Harry’s fear.

Handing Harry, the book, Snape sat on the other end of the couch. The professor asked Harry “What theories are you writing about? Mhmm” Harry just wiggled around on the seat feeling uncomfortable. Harry did not want to tell anyone about the letters. He would then have to tell Snape that he stole them from Grimmauld Place, meaning that Snape would be likely to ground him; severely! Harry was about to make up a few theories when Snape suddenly became very stiff.

The potions master quickly looked at Harry and told him to pack an overnight bag, as he was to stay at Blacks. Whilst Harry went to his bedroom and slowly packed together various items, Harry was confused about why Snape had gone cold suddenly. What did he say to cause Snape to behave like this?

Severus on the other hand quickly dashed into his room, grabbed various bits of clothing, however they were hidden beneath in large traveling cloak. He briskly walked past Harry’s room when he realised that Harry was leisurely packing his bag. 

“POTTER! Hurry up, you're not still packing your bag, are you?” At hearing the professors booming voice, Harry jumped in fright and began frantically packing his bag. After shoving random bits and bobs into his backpack, Harry ran out of the door and down the stairs, to see Snape waiting for him at the door.

Using the floo network, Snape throws Harry into the floo network, himself being not that far behind. Once they were both in the lounge room of Grimmauld Place, Snape told Harry that he wanted to have a private chat with Black, whilst he was to go unpack. Not wanting to anger the professor any more than he already was, Harry dashed upstairs, taking two stairs at a time.

After hearing the commotion Sirius Black stepped into the room, wondering who the hell was trying to break into his house. Upon seeing it was Snape, Sirius was about to start a string of foul words when Snape interrupted him.

Speaking slightly out of breath, Severus begun urgently “There is no time to speak now Black, Potter is upstairs, and he is to stay here for the evening. He has not eaten dinner, therefore feed him. I am being summoned; I have to go.” With that final word, Snape dashed outside where he touched his dark mark, and apparated to the imminent death eater meeting.

Back upstairs Harry was unpacking his overnight bag, whilst trying to understand what happened to the professor. Harry was upset at the fact that the professor had rushed him out of the house and threw him into the fireplace. After unpacking his bag, he heard his godfather yelling for him to come downstairs. Harry walks into the kitchen and sees ’s Kreacher placing 2 bowls of soup on the table.

“Snape said that you hadn’t eaten, perfect, neither have I. Sorry, I know it’s only onion soup, but at least this is one of Kreacher’s better recipes.” Harry sat down and they both ate the hearty meal in peace and quiet. The silence continued, as Harry did not know what to talk to his godfather about. He thought of asking about the letters his mother had written, however, he thought not, considering he did steal them from this house. Sirius too was quiet throughout the meal, however, was the first person to break the silence.

“So, how're things with Snape, did you do much today? If I lived there, I would sleep in until 4 pm so I would never have to see that great ugly bat.” Sirius said laughing at his own joke; if you could call it one. Harry not knowing what to say merely laughed quietly. 

Eventually, Harry asked Sirius question about his parents. Sirius spent hours talking about his father, and what mischief they used to get up to when they were younger. When Harry asked about his mother, Sirius would go on to say that she was “ a talented witch, who was exceedingly kind…” nothing that he hadn’t already heard from Remus or professor Dumbledore.

“Really though, how is living at Snape's like?” ‘Fine’ is what Harry responded. He continued, “The beginning was bad, although I mean that was partly my fault…. But after I apologized for running away, Snape’s treating me more like an adult I suppose. He’s not following me around the whole day, he leaves me alone which is good. We were actually having a genuine conversation when all of a sudden, he got really deadly quiet. He seemed angry, so I guess we aren’t getting along that well, he hates me, that’s for sure.” 

“Pfft, just like Snape to act like a git! Pretends to treat you like an adult and then brings you over here, instead of trusting you to stay alone in his house; you’re hardly going to set it on fire!” Sirius grumbled the last words.

“What do you mean….?” Harry asked confused, he was interrupted however by Sirius’ babbling.

“Yeah, you know what I mean. And not that I don’t want you here Harry, because I love spending time with you, and I wish you could stay he….. Anyways. I’m just saying, his house is so warded no one could get in. He should have just gone to his death eater meeting and left you there alone… not dragging you here.” What Sirius had said, sparked a lightbulb in Harry.

Snape had become pale, was agitated and forced him to come to Grimmauld Place because Snape was being called by Voldemort and didn’t want to leave him alone.

Harry felt bad for mistrusting Snape and thinking that he was mad at him; the professor was only trying to be a responsible adult. Sirius continued to yap on about Snape, however, Harry could listen no more. Because the more he heard, the angrier he became. Sirius was being very immature. Snape was going to a death eater meeting and didn’t want him alone in the house. Harry remembered what Snape had said about how they could only trust the wards to work to some extent. Maybe Snape was worried that someone would try to break through. Looking at the clock Harry realised it was nearing 1 in the morning. Harry stood up abruptly,

“Are you ok?” Sirius asked Harry, looking concerned. Harry merely stated that he was tired and that he was going to bed.

In bed, Harry reflected on Snape. He would ask Snape, why he couldn’t stay at Snape Manor. Was his theory correct, in that Snape was worried Harry could get kidnapped, or that he merely didn’t trust him, alone in his house?

On another note, Harry couldn’t help to feel slightly concerned for Snape, yet also a little curious. What did Snape have to contribute to the death eater meeting? With that last thought, Harry drifted off to sleep.

At precisely 2:30 am Harry woke up with a start. He was sweaty from head to toe and his eyes were wide and frazzled. He had only been asleep for 1.5 hours when the visions started to come. 

*Vision*

Snape was sitting at an old black timber table. Sitting amongst the many death eaters was Bellatrix, and the one person that Harry could not take his eyes from was Draco Malfoy. He could not believe it! That smarmy ferret was now a death eater. When Harry thought of Draco as a death eater, he thought that Draco would be happy and revel in the fact. However, what he saw was a pale boy, who looked skinny and sick; not to mention scared. 

Looking at Voldemort Harry was trying to make out what was being said, however for some reason he could hear nothing. 

Harry slithered through the room and upon the table. Nagini coiled into a ball and sat facing Voldemort. With this view, Nagini/Harry could see every death eater in the room. Not being able to hear anything, Harry tried to understand what was being said by trying to read people’s facial expressions. Snape’s face seemed stiff, stiffer than usual. He began shifting the slightest bit in his seat. Suddenly everyone stood up and went outside, the snake slithered along Voldemort. They were outside, and Harry could not help but to start to feel anxious. Why were they all going outside? Suddenly, Harry could hear what they were all saying very clearly.

“I have gathered us outside, as I’m sure Mrs. Malfoy does not want any stains in her clean home.” All the death eaters at hearing the word stain immediately stiffened. Voldemort continued to speak, pretending that he did not see everyone flinch.

“It has come to my attention by a young man, a new follower, that someone here is not being faithful. Who here knows where Harry Potter is?” Voldemort asked looking at each and every death eater. Bellatrix was the only person to say that Harry was most likely with his filthy muggle family. At hearing this Voldemort simple waved her off. He was walking around his circle of death eaters when he came to stand in front of Severus Snape.

“You, Severus?” Draco looked at his professor in concern and Snape was trying his best to seem unfazed. 

“My lord?” Severus asked looking confused. “It is as Bellatrix says, the boy is with his aunt and uncle.” Voldemort continues to look at Severus then walks away. Severus subconsciously relaxes, as Voldemort walked away. “Percy Weasley” There was silence. Voldemort began “Percy Weasley is the young man in which I am talking about; our new follower” There was a lot of shock and ‘ooing’ in the crowd. “And he sneakily found out that you, Severus are keeping the boy who lived in your Manor. Is this correct?”

There was a deathly silence. All that could be heard was the whooshing of the wind. Everyone looked at each other but did not move a muscle. Bellatrix however, had started to smile, most likely in the hopes that Severus would be killed. Harry now, was shocked, and worried beyond words. Voldemort knew that Snape was lying.

“If that is correct, you won’t mind us coming to your manor, to see if the boy is there would you?” Voldemort smirked. Severus was glad that Harry was not there. However, he knew that he was dead, the second they looked around the manor, all of Harry’s belongings were in the room upstairs. His Gryffindor quidditch jersey which was laid out on his bedroom chair. Not to mention his school trunk with his initials on it.

Voldemort made Snape take down each and every one of the wards on the house. Once inside each of the death eaters was told to scour the house. Snape was told to stay in the foyer downstairs. Voldemort stood in the foyer merely looking at Severus, trying to probe his mind. Severus was trying valiantly to stay focused and to occlude as much as possible. He knew that sooner or later, one of his ‘colleagues would find Potter’s things, and then he would be screwed.

Ten agonizing minutes, waiting, finally it was Bellatrix who happily told everyone to come upstairs. Once they were all assembled, they all stood and took in the room. It was definitely Potter’s room. His belongings were hanging here and there, not to mention that his trunk was in the middle of the room for everyone to see. Severus could not think of any excuses that could cover for what was happening. Severus looked up from the trunk and saw that every person in the room was looking at him. Voldemort and Bellatrix were the only people that had triumphant smiles on their faces. “My my, Severus. Still faithful to your filthy redhead mudblud after all this time.”

*Back at Grimmauld Place*

Harry woke up seconds before he had heard what Voldemort said to Snape. Harry was drenched in sweat and was shaking from his vision. He removed the blanket and ran to Sirius’ room; where he banged on the door 4 times. Wiping the sweat from his forehead on the back of his hands, Sirius frantically opened the door, he seemed as if he was shocked awake.

“What, what is it, Harry? Are you alrigh….. Woah you don’t look too good kiddo, you sick?” Sirius asked looking concerned.

“No, I… I had a vision. It’s Snape…. He’s in trouble. They know that he has been taking care of me. The death eaters, they know he’s a spy. Please, you have to alert the order, they are going to kill him.” Harry was walking up and down the carpet, shaking his head back and forth, trying to think of a solution.

“Kreacher!” Harry bellowed out of nowhere. Sirius had not gone to alert the order, as he was standing still, most likely still taking in what was going on. 

“There is no time to alert the order. Send Kreacher to Snape Manor and tell him to apparate Snape out. The wards are down, he can get in. Please, Trixy, Snape’s house elf isn’t there, she’s gone away for the weekend.” Harry was now frantically shaking Sirius’ arm trying to bring him to the present.

Sirius looked at Harry and took a second to call Kreacher. Sirius was thinking about what would happen if he just didn’t call Kreacher. Would it be so bad if Snape kicked the bucket? It’s not as if he would be missed. Harry sensing what was going to through Sirius’ mind, said in a very slow and deadly voice.

“If you don’t do this if you don’t call Kreacher and save Snape. I. Will. Never. Forgive. You.

At hearing that Sirius called Kreacher and gave the instructions to retrieve Snape and to bring him back here. Harry exhausted by the vision, collapsed to the ground; fainting. Sirius shocked, gathered Harry in his arms and took him to bed; laying him on top of the covers. After making sure Harry was breathing correctly, Sirius rushed to the floo network and called Dumbledore. 

Dumbledore immediately floo’d to Grimmauld Place, where Sirius narrated what had happened to Harry, and that Kreacher had gone to get Snape. They both sat in the kitchen, waiting for Snape to come back.

*Back at Snape Manor*

“My my, Severus. Still faithful to your filthy redhead mudblud after all this time. And to think, to be deceived by you, after all this time. Before I kill you, look around boy, these are my true faithful followers. Every one of you may inflict as much pain on Severus, until I find it the right time for him to die. With the first crucio, Severus stood with his eyes closed. By the 6th crucio Severus was on the floor screaming in agonizing pain. Mulciber stopped with the curse when they all heard a pop come from the doorway. It was a house elf, however as soon as the elf appeared, it disappeared. They all looked around frantically wondering where it went. However, what they did not realise was that as they were looking around, Kreacher had apparated himself and Snape both back to Grimmauld Place. 

All that could be heard from Snape Manor was an uproar. As Severus had escaped, they burnt his home to the ground.

*Grimmauld Place: The next morning*

Harry woke up at 8:00 am and looked around his room, the first thing he noticed was that he was not under the covers. It was then that Harry remembered what had happened the night before. He left the room barefoot and rushed downstairs to the kitchen. Once he walked through the room, Dumbledore was sitting at the table with a very tired looking professor. “Professor!” Harry said in concern as he spotted Snape nursing his usual cup of black coffee.

“Ah Harry my boy, do come and eat some breakfast” Professor Dumbledore said in a jovial voice.

Harry disregarded the headmaster and sat down, looking Snape up and down to see if there were any visual signs of torture. A plate of scrambled eggs, toast and bacon landed in front of Harry. The headmaster decided to leave as soon as Harry’s food was in front of him. He left saying that he had a meeting with a Ministry Official. Harry looked at his food, but all of 5 seconds is what it took for him to push the plate away. What had happened to Snape? he needed to know! But before Harry could get a word in Snape started to speak in a hoarse voice.

“It seems that I must thank you, Potter, for saving my life. Black told Dumbledore who in turn told me what happened to you last night, and how it was your idea to send Kreacher. If it was up to Black, I would have been dead now for many hours. So, thank you, it was resourceful and an intelligent fast decision that you made.” Harry not believing what he was hearing, decided to ask whether the professor was ok. Snape waving Harry off said.

“I’m always fine Potter, the house however…. I got a message from Gringotts today that the library books and potions supplies safely made their way to my vault. You see, in the event of a fire, those objects alone will trigger and get sent to my vault. However, everything else will have been burnt to a crisp. I’m sorry Potter, but all of your belongings are gone, your bird, you sent her to deliver letters, didn’t you?”

“Yes sir” Harry said sounding slightly stunned. He was shocked beyond words; all of his belongings were burnt. Snape stood up and told Harry that he was going to lay down due to a migraine. His first trunk, his Firebolt, his journal; was in the house.

Harry forgot his meal and trudged upstairs. His belongings were only those that were on his back or in his rucksack. He looked at the desk and looked at all of his belongings. An empty envelope, 1 piece of parchment, a quill, socks and some toiletries. He then looked on his nightstand which contained quidditch through the ages; his father’s book that he had stolen. 

Nothing mattered at this moment because Harry for the first time this morning felt relief. Harry picked up the book and flipped to page 26 ‘Our Chasers Aren’t Cheating!’. Sinking into the bed, Harry sighed in content and looked down at the pages. Inside was not 1, nor 2 but 3 letters. Nothing else mattered besides determining the content of each letter. 

There was a knock at the door, Snape walked in looking bleary-eyed. Harry immediately shut the book and stood up from the bed. “Potter, Dumbledore has got us a portkey, we must leave now; gather your belongings.” Within 2 minutes Harry had gathered all his things and was now bidding a grumpy Sirius goodbye.

“Looks like I won’t be seeing you for a while kiddo, take care of yourself” Sirius hugged Harry goodbye, and left the room immediately.

Harry and Snape took hold of a yellow frisbee and were instantly transported by the portkey. As they landed, Harry took in the environment. They were definitely still in England; however the whereabouts Harry did not know. The streets were paved with cobblestones, and he could hear water coming most likely from a creek. Harry was looking at the style of each house when Severus grabbed Harry’s arm and pulled him along with him up the street.

“The only way to get to this house is through the front door. Dumbledore, when he went to the Ministry, got someone to secretly set up the network” Snape said after applying a silencing, and see me not charm around them. Severus stopped in front of an empty plot of land, Harry looked at his teacher then at the land. Snape was muttering something to himself, that Harry could not understand until suddenly, a house appeared. As soon as Snape dragged them both onto the plot of land, Harry felt the shields of the property sizzle.

“Luckily, no death eaters know about this house” Snape grumbled under his breath.

“Sir, where are we?” Harry asked whilst looking at the dust-covered home.

“Welcome to Spinners End” Snape revealed to Harry.