"Right here Harry," Lupin said. The man helped Harry sit up. "What happened?"

Harry frowned. "I'm not sure. It was- different somehow this time."

"Different how?"

"I usually see something else when we practice... when the dementors get me. But it was different this time."

"What do you usually see?" he asked.

"Erm- I'm not sure you want to know."

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't." He pulled Harry to his feet and helped him into a chair. He pushed the box of chocolates towards him and Harry took a round chocolate with a soft center.

"I don't actually see anything but the green light," Harry said, "but I can hear, feel, taste and smell everything."

"The green light?" Lupin asked quietly, and Harry noted his face had paled.

"I said you probably didn't want to hear about it."

"Go on."

"Every time the dementors got me I had a piece more of it. After five or six times I had all of it, the whole thing... the night my parents died. I even have the words Voldemort said to me."

"Don't say his name," Lupin reminded him quietly, and Harry nodded. "You saw it every time? Even with the boggart?" Lupin asked.

"Every time until just now."

"And what did you see now?"

Harry hugged his arms and looked down at the table. "Just- stuff. Nothing about Vol- about him and that night." He'd seen his uncle giving him a beating the first summer he'd returned and stuffing him into his cupboard to lock him in for several days even though there was no cot or blankets in there. He had been stuffed in with the mop bucket and broom. It wasn't even one of his worst experiences at the Dursleys, so he didn't know why he'd had a full vision of it now. Unlike the vision of the night his parents died, Harry could see everything clearly, from the angry look on his uncle's face to the spiderwebs in the cupboard.

"Harry, have another piece of chocolate," Lupin said.

Harry took another piece, this one chocolate and mint. "My mind is a lot more foggy now, like if an actual dementor got me."

"I'm sorry you have to experience those memories Harry," Lupin said gently. "Let's try again to come up with a powerful good memory and give it another go before we end for the day. It needs to be a memory that warms you, like chocolate after a dementor attack. Something that fills you with happiness."

Harry had tried everything from memories of flying, to sitting in the common room playing games with his friends. He'd tried going to tea with the Headmaster, being hugged by Mrs. Ginger the day the rebuilding of the orphanage had started, and various memories of his vacation to the beach. Nothing had worked so far in three weeks of lessons with Professor Lupin and Harry was beginning to wonder if he had a strong enough memory.

"I don't think I have one," Harry finally told him.

"We must come up with one," Lupin said. "I don't want to see you in danger any more Harry."

"Me either," he said.

"Was there truly never a time when you felt filled up and overjoyed?"

"I tried all of my best memories." He sat and thought for a moment and remembered the Headmaster telling him he was the most important thing to him. Would that be good enough? He'd felt uncertain about it at the time, but he thought of it often, especially each time the Headmaster made room in his schedule to have a meal with Harry or to check on him after a dementor attack or to take him out for the day.

"I have one to try," Harry said.

They stood up and when Harry was ready with his wand out, Lupin opened the box with the boggart inside. A dementor floated out and Harry shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" a silvery blue wisp came out of his wand. This had never happened before, but Harry still ended up on the ground. It wasn't enough to keep the boggart dementor away, or the vision of the beating and the cupboard under the stairs. Why this memory? What was it about this one?

Lupin lifted Harry up and put him back in the chair.

"That was better Harry," he praised. "You got the start of a patronus out. It may mean you need more practice using that memory, or that you need an even stronger one, perhaps along the same lines as the one you used?"

"I'll have to think about it," Harry told him. He ate two more pieces of chocolate and then Lupin told him to think on it, rest, and come back Thursday after dinner. Harry thanked him and made his way towards the Great Hall. He didn't feel like going back to the common room just yet. He knew Hermione wanted to study Transfiguration with him because of an upcoming test, but he wasn't in a good mood.

His uncle had beaten him down time and again over the years. So had his cousin, and his aunt wasn't afraid to come after him with a broom or a pan or anything else. He'd been hurt worse and locked away for longer than this time he was reliving with the dementors. Harry shook himself and went into the Great Hall. He was hoping there might be a way to ask the elves for some hot tea or something, but the dark hall was empty. He eyed the door to the staff room behind the staff table. There were always pastries, biscuits, tea and coffee in there. He didn't have permission to go into the staff room like he had before though. It was after eight and Harry wondered if staff would be using the staff room this late. They had their own quarters, and from what Dumbledore had said, a much larger staff lounge up on the first floor.

He looked around and then hopped up onto the staff platform. He put his ear to the staff door and listened, but he couldn't hear anything from inside. Pushing the door open an inch, he didn't see anyone. The fire was going, but wasn't it always?

Harry pushed the door open the rest of the way and went inside, making a beeline for the table with the tea. Then a throat cleared behind him. Harry paused, cringed, and refused to turn around. He could tell by the way the man had cleared his throat that it was Snape.

"Potter," he said, coming around to face Harry.

"Sir?"

"Is there a particular reason you are sneaking into the staff lounge with only a few minutes left until curfew?"

"Not a good one sir."

"Explain yourself."

Harry thought it was nice of the man to let him explain. Usually he didn't and went straight to shouting at him and giving him detention.

Harry shrugged. "I didn't want to go back to the common room with everybody right away. I was hoping for something hot to drink."

"The reason being?"

Harry mumbled and Severus said, "Speak up. Mice mumble, boys speak clearly."

"I just got out of defense tutoring with Professor Lupin."

"I see," Snape said. Harry was waiting for him to start yelling, but he didn't. "Get a cup of tea and sit by the fire. Did Lupin at least have the sense to give you chocolate?"

"Yes sir."

Harry felt awkward as he quickly poured himself a cup of tea and then turned to find Snape sitting in one of the chairs. He had picked up a book with a bookmark and Harry wondered where he had been hiding when Harry had first looked inside.

"Sit."

Harry sat down by the fire and shivered once as he sipped the hot peppermint tea. He didn't need chocolate because he wasn't foggy, he just needed something to warm him up while he had a chance to think on things in peace. He'd even take sitting in a dark corridor if he had to.

"How are the lessons going?" Snape asked after a few minutes, turning a page in his book.

"I got a wisp out today."

"Is there a particular reason you're struggling to learn the Patronus spell?"

"I just- don't have a good enough memory to pull from."

"I see."

Harry finished his tea and thought for a few more minutes, and then stood and said, "Thank you for letting me sit sir. What time do I have detention tomorrow?"

"You do not."

"But I broke into the staff lounge."

"Which I will discourage you from doing again. In the future should you wish solitude and tea you may seek me out in my quarters or go to the Headmaster."

"To your quarters sir?"

"That is what I said."

Harry nodded and told him goodnight and went back to the tower, making it just a minute before curfew. Hermione was waiting for him, and while he was still in a bad mood, Harry was better off for studying with her as he got an E on his Transfiguration test the next day.

* * *

Harry had tried all evening Thursday to cast a patronus with the memory he'd chosen of Dumbledore, but still only produced a wisp each time. He still found himself beaten and thrown in the cupboard in a vision each time he failed to produce a full patronus too.

"I think it's safe to say Harry you will need to find a different memory. That one just doesn't have strong enough feelings attached to it," Lupin told him sadly.

"Yes sir."

"You're doing well, and I do believe you're trying, we just need to come up with another memory. Think on it some more and come back Tuesday evening."

Lupin gave him an extra piece of chocolate as he left. Once again he found himself not wanting to go straight back to the tower. There was something seriously wrong with him, he had decided. What kind of kid couldn't come up with a good enough memory for a patronus? Even Fred and George had begun to get a ghostly shape to come from their wands now when they cast, even if the shape wasn't fully corporeal. Ron and Hermione had been practicing with the twins too and had both gotten wisps out of their wands. Harry worried they would all have it figured out before he could even come up with a good memory. All of the memories Harry had with strong emotions attached were bad ones.

When he looked up from his musings he found himself in one of the Dungeon corridors near Snape's quarters. He hadn't meant to come down here, even though he'd been told he could. He never chose to see Snape on his own if he could help it. Suddenly Harry remembered the box of fine Honeydukes chocolate bars Snape had sent him though and how he had felt about that. Would that be a good enough memory to use?

A few moments later Harry raised an uncertain fist and knocked on Snape's door. Was he even home, or was he in the staff room again? He had an answer a moment later when the door opened and revealed Snape.

"Come in," he said, and Harry stepped inside.

"Tea is on the coffee table by the fire," he said.

"What kind?" Harry asked. There were several kinds he liked, and a black tea they served at breakfast that he didn't care for but would drink if he wanted to wake up.

Snape only raised his brows. "What kind would you like Potter?"

"Oh no," Harry backpedaled. "I didn't mean I expected you to make something special sir. I was just wondering. I'll drink anything."

"Calm yourself. It's Earl Grey."

"Thank you sir."

Harry sat on the couch and poured himself a cup, wishing he hadn't come down here, but after a few moments and a few sips of tea he relaxed, sinking into the comfortable cushions of the couch even further and staring into the flames. Snape never wanted to talk to him and almost never asked him questions. While it was uncomfortable being around him sometimes, it was also sort of... soothing. It was a quiet space where he could work through his jumbled up thoughts and the events of the day. It had been when he'd first come back after the trial too. Maybe Snape liked the quiet as well.

It was strange because when he spent time with Dumbledore he felt safe, and comforted, and when he spent time with Snape he felt uncomfortable, but also soothed. So long as the man wasn't yelling at him or Harry wasn't getting detention, then spending time with Snape wasn't too anxiety inducing. But then Harry realized that it had been a long time since Snape had yelled at him or given him detention, even when Harry had deserved it. His eyes flitted up to the dark eyed man across the couch, who was drinking his own cup of tea and reading a book. He seemed to sense eyes on him and looked up, but Harry looked away and back into the dancing flames in the grate.

* * *

Harry had tried the memory of receiving the chocolates from Snape, and realizing they were meant just for him, not for the Weasleys or anyone else. That memory had produced a ghostly shape like Fred and George had been getting, and Harry wanted to whoop with glee at catching up to them.

"Very good Harry," Lupin said. "What memory did you use?"

"Erm-" Harry fidgeted with his fingers. "Someone gave something to me... a gift. It was something I really appreciated."

"And it had a strong emotion attached to it?"

Harry nodded.

"Think back to other things involving that person. Find a good memory with strong emotions attached. You're so close to producing a full patronus Harry. I think you could cast one tonight. You only need the right memory to do it."

"I might have one," Harry said, though he really wasn't sure.

"Try it," Lupin said. "Gather it to yourself, as if you were re-living it. Nod when you're ready."

Harry nodded a moment later and Professor Lupin opened the box. He stared down the boggart dementor and tried his best to remember burying his face in Snape's robes after he'd lost the trial. He remembered wanting Mrs. Ginger, and thinking nothing would ever be all right again, but then he'd bumped into Snape, and when Snape hadn't pushed him away, shoved him to the ground and yelled at him, Harry had buried his face in the man's robes and held on for dear life. And Snape had let him. Harry had been terrified, and sad and angry and hopeless all at once, but for a moment he'd had darkness, and safety, and comfort. "Expecto Patronum!"

A stag burst out of his wand, but only for a moment before the boggart dementor overwhelmed it. Harry's faith in the memory faltered and the dementor came down on him, suffocating him in darkness. Harry found himself being beaten on the floor outside his cupboard by his uncle, and suddenly Harry understood why it was this memory that kept haunting him. Why it was this beating, and this imprisonment in his cupboard. It was because he'd had a taste of freedom during his first year at Hogwarts. He'd had his first taste of hope, and of being valued. While he had been away making friends and learning spells and winning against Quirril, he'd forgotten who he really was. He'd forgotten what it meant to live at Four Privet Drive. Then he'd gone home and he supposed he'd been too happy, or smiled too much, because his uncle had decided to punish him. So Harry lay on the floor being beaten, remembering who he really was, and that hope was a fickle thing. And then he'd spent days in his cupboard trying to remember the good things that had happened to him at Hogwarts, telling himself it hadn't all been a dream, that he was a wizard and that magic was real and that he had friends. When his uncle had opened the cupboard days later and let him out of the stifling darkness, he had told him, "You remember who you are boy. You won't go away to school and get all uppity and forget."

"Yes uncle." And Harry had never forgotten since then.

"Harry! Harry!" Lupin was shaking his shoulder but Harry was having difficulty pulling himself out of the nightmare. As the defense classroom swam before him, his uncle's angry face lingered in the fog. Harry turned away from Lupin and threw up.

"It's ok," Lupin said calmly. "Up you get." He lifted Harry into a chair and banished the mess. "It's ok, you're going to be ok." Harry bit his lip and stifled the tears that wanted to come out as Lupin instructed him to eat chocolate and to breathe.

"Harry, what are you seeing in the dementor driven nightmares?"

He shook his head.

"You can tell me." But Harry only shook his head again and stuffed a piece of chocolate in his mouth to prevent himself from having to tell.

"All right Harry, I think that's enough for tonight. You did well. Would you like me to take you to see Madam Pomfrey?"

"No sir," Harry said. His eyes remained dry and he was determined they would. He saw himself out a minute later and didn't think twice about heading to the dungeons. He wanted the comfort he had needed to remember to cast the patronus, but knew he wouldn't get it. A boy who lived under the stairs wasn't meant for that sort of thing. He knocked on Snape's door a few minutes later nonetheless and didn't wait to be invited in. He went in and sat on the couch by the fire without a word.

Severus took in the shaken appearance of the thirteen year old. His hands were shaking slightly and he looked upset, but not pale and far away.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"It does not look like nothing."

"Lesson just went bad's all," Harry said. Snape seemed to leave it at that for a few minutes as he left the room. He came back soon with a cup of tea which he handed to Harry. Harry looked up and accepted it and sipped the hot liquid slowly.

"How did the lesson go bad?" Snape asked, sitting across from him on the other couch.

Harry didn't answer for long moments. "I cast a patronus but only for a second. Then it- the boggart dementor got me."

"I was under the impression the boggart dementor did not affect you as severely as the real thing."

"The vision changed."

"The vision?"

Harry really didn't want to describe it to him. When he didn't say anything Snape said, "What do you mean a vision Potter?"

"When the dementor gets me and I pass out."

"People do not report having visions. They report feeling cold and hopeless, depressed, sometimes even suicidal. Some remember horrible things that have happened to them, but not a vision."

"For a long time, it was a vision of that night... when Voldemort killed her... them."

Snape's face went pale and he looked unsettled like Lupin had when Harry had told him. "I could hear her screaming, and him laughing. And the green light. All of it."

"And the vision changed to something else?" He wanted to ask if there was a worse thing than Volemort killing Lily for the boy to remember, but he didn't think there could be.

"Different, the same, doesn't matter," Harry said. His hands were still shaking.

"It matters to me."

Harry's eyes snapped up to his. "Why?"

"Because you need someone to tell Potter."

"That's not a reason," Harry said, suddenly angry.

"It is reason enough."

Then Harry gave a hollow laugh and said, "Aren't you going to pat me on the head and tell me it will all be ok? Push some chocolate on me? Tell me I'm a good boy and tuck me in bed?" It's what Lupin and Dumbledore had done, would have done.

"Is that what you want?" Snape's voice was serious and Harry swallowed. Yes, it was what he wanted. He wanted to be comforted and told he would be ok. He wanted to forget the cupboard and his uncle and not to feel like he was still there. He wanted to be tucked into bed and to feel like he was loved before he fell asleep at night instead of only pretending he was.

Harry stood up. "Thank you for the tea sir," he said, despite that he hadn't had any of the tea on the table, and left. Snape would never give him those things, and he wasn't sure why he kept going down to see him.

* * *

Harry still felt miserable over the next few days, but the more he thought over things, the more embarrassed he felt for the way he'd acted in front of Snape. He felt even more embarrassed that the memory he had used to cast the patronus was burying his face in Snape's robes after the trial. It hadn't been a good memory, so why had it worked, even if only for a second?

He would have liked to forget all about it, but he was still having tutoring with Lupin two evenings a week, and still trying to cast a patronus that stayed corporeal for more than a moment. He'd tried a few other memories, but nothing was working and Lupin had encouraged him to go back to the memory that had conjured the corporeal patronus. So two nights a week Harry had to take himself back to that moment outside the courtroom with Snape. Back again to the despair he felt and that brief moment of comfort he'd had. Every time he thought about it he felt more embarrassed at how he'd reacted after the trial and that Snape had been there to see it all.

What Harry needed was something business related to throw himself into. When he was doing things on the Alley's, planning and setting up bazaars, he lost himself and his problems to that work. He had nothing to work on though. It was midway through one of the tutoring sessions with Lupin that a new idea for something to work on presented itself as Harry sat daydreaming waiting for Lupin to come back from his office to try casting a patronus again.

"What are you thinking about Harry? You look so deep in thought."

Harry looked up as Professor Lupin came back from his office and sat down in the chair by the box that held the boggart.

"At the bazaar, why do you think Honeyduke had bloodpops for sale? That's a treat for vampires isn't it?"

"There's a vampire that lives in Hogsmeade and he carries them for him."

"But he only carries bloodpops, nothing else Fae like to eat? I wonder where other Fae buy their sweets and what they like."

He looked over to find Remus giving him a look as though he were trying to figure Harry out. Harry knew why Honeyduke and Tilly didn't carry Fae items, since Fae weren't welcome in very many wizarding establishments. Though it only made him wonder more why Honeyduke carried the bloodpops. "Why does he carry the bloodpops when wizards don't want Fae around their businesses?"

"I suppose it's Gerrin's way of thumbing his nose at authority because he doesn't agree with the Ministry of Magic."

Harry tilted his head a little as he thought about it. "He just doesn't agree about how Fae people are treated?"

"I'm not certain he cares about Fae at all... more of that he disagrees in principle with the Ministry of Magic on a lot of things."

"Hm."

The Professor had Harry try to cast a patronus several more times that evening, and Harry used the memory of Snape at the Ministry, though he didn't want to. Each time his stag patronus came out, but flickered out of existence almost immediately while the boggart dementor overwhelmed him.

By the end of the lesson Harry was really ready to think of anything else than Dementors, his uncle, or Snape. As he headed back to the common room his mind drifted back to the Fae and what kind of treats they liked to eat. Where did they shop for sweets?

Harry would have asked Dumbledore, but he didn't think the man knew. Most wizards didn't seem to know much about Fae. There were books on them in the library and they learned about Fae in Defense Against The Dark Arts, but Harry wasn't certain all of what he read sometimes was true when it came to werewolves, goblins, vampires and other Fae if the books were being written by people who didn't like them. Just look at the lies Rita Skeeter wrote about him in the Prophet.

Instead Harry ended up writing to Bellamy to ask him where Fae purchased sweets and what kinds of things they liked to eat. When Bellamy wrote back a few days later he told him there was no specific place sweets and deserts were made for Fae, and that each kind of Fae liked their own types of things. He said sometimes Fae establishments like the Inn on Payne Alley made a few of their own little treats for customers, but not with regularity.

Harry eagerly dipped his quill in the ink pot and was too eager to write back to pull out a new piece of parchment. On the back of the letter Bellamy had sent Harry wrote, ‘What if a new sweet shop opened up on Knockturn specializing in Fae sweets? Is that something people would want?'

He didn't wait for Bellamy's response to start thinking about starting a new business. He didn't have time to run a business himself, and he wasn't interested in making candy. It was more that he saw an opportunity to keep himself occupied and his thoughts off of his own day to day stresses and give the Fae a place to shop. There were already other sweet stores, but there was a gap when it concerned Fae, so Harry was certain the shop would be well liked and visited by Fae customers.

He had already found a good spot for a new shop on Knocturn. When perusing his map of the alleys he'd found an empty shop between Burniss Boots and Bartizan Group. He didn't own that building, but wondered if he could buy it as it looked like Munroe McGlaggen owned it. Harry had no idea how much a building that size would cost to buy.

The evening after sending Hedwig off with his letter to Bellamy, she returned with his response.

‘Of course people will want that. There's hardly anything available for us and we're not allowed to open up new businesses. The Ministry always steps in when someone tries. You're opening up a can of worms if you try. Keep in mind a lot of Fae don't trust wizards. They'll be sure to come in if it's owned by Fae, but might not if it's owned by a wizard. A lot of Fae don't even have the funds to start a business anyhow.'

Harry's response was simple, ‘Find me a business partner. I'll fund half, which will make me half owner. Whoever I partner with can run the shop as they want. For as long as I own half, I'll get half the profit, but as the shop starts to make money, my partner can start buying me out until it's 100% owned by them. My half of the funding will go to getting us a building to open up in.'

Hedwig was tired so Harry used a school owl to send the reply off. He also used another owl to send off a letter to Munroe McGlaggen asking how much the building between Burniss Boots and Bartizan group was worth and if he'd be willing to sell it. He wasn't sure what he was going to do if Munro didn't want to sell. Maybe buy a Muggle building somewhere.

As it turned out Munro was willing to sell for 200 thousand galleons. ‘What do you have in the works? Do I want to be part of it?'

Harry wrote back and told him it was a new shop but that it wouldn't be competing with his shops and that it was an ‘interesting venture' but risky.

Within a week Harry had been sent papers to sign by Silver to purchase the building with funds from his account. Bellamy had sent him a note that simply told Harry he was crazy, but had yet to send him anything about a potential future business partner, and faster than Harry could comprehend, he was the owner of a new building on Knocturn Alley.

* * *

Harry really liked Professor Lupin, but was coming to dread seeing him Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Thursday night he'd had a particularly rough session, where he'd failed to produce a patronus at all and spent a lot of time passed out on the floor and feeling fuzzy afterwards. When he returned to Gryffindor tower after tutoring, feeling ready to go to sleep, an owl was waiting on the window ledge of his dorm with Bellamy's recommendation for a business partner.

‘Zachary West. We have the funding together. 200 thousand galleons. Owl me with the date you want to meet in Payne Alley. Daytime is fine, he's a Lycan.'

Note in hand Harry stood up and left Gryffindor. He was going to have to get someone to take him to Diagonalley. He worried about pestering the Headmaster though, and his mind flitted to Snape as he stood in the dark corridor just outside Gryffindor tower. He needed to get down Payne Alley and the man had been very angry he'd gone alone last time. He also didn't think Snape would take him though. Would he let Harry go alone on a weekend if he just told him he was going to conduct business on Knocturn?

Harry turned towards the Dungeons. He hadn't been down there since he'd gotten angry at Snape two weeks before, and wondered if the man would even be interested in talking to him now.

Snape didn't sneer at him when he opened the door however. He took in the hopeful look on Harry's face and the bags beneath his eyes.

"Come in."

Harry moved past him but didn't go to sit on the couch by the fire. It looked like he'd interrupted Snape while he was grading assignments at his desk by the front door.

"I'm sorry to bother you sir," Harry said. "I know I'm supposed to be focusing on school during the term, but I have something to take care of on the alleys and I need to be there in person."

"Surely the Flourishes can do without you until December?"

"It's not that sir. I have a business meeting with a business partner coming up and they're asking me to pick a day and time."

"Which business? Are you going to take a tour of the broom company?"

Harry had nearly forgotten about the broom company and wondered if Snape or Dumbledore would let him get away with setting a tour up with them and Ron.

"A new business with a new business partner. We're opening up a new shop. I provided the building which makes me a 50% owner. My partner," (Harry knew better than to think he had only one partner with the way the Fae community supported each other and came up with funds for one thing or another), "is funding the supplies and other necessities for the business and will run it. The plan is for them to buy my shares as the business becomes profitable."

"I see."

"I know you're busy because it's during the term sir. I don't expect you to have to take me, and I didn't want to bother the Headmaster to take me either. If no one's available, I can go on my own if that's allowed. Silver is going to be there at the meeting with more paperwork and contracts with the details so we can file for a new business license with the Ministry."

"Where exactly will this meeting be taking place?"

Harry paused. He didn't want to lie and lose his opportunity to go back to the alleys alone in the future. Since he'd been asked directly he supposed he really should tell him, though he feared the man's response.

"It's on Payne Alley sir. In the daytime."

Snape narrowed his eyes at him. "Who exactly is this business partner Potter?"

"Zachary West."

"And what is he?"

"A person sir."

"With a tail or fangs?"

"Both?" Harry asked.

Snape strode past him without a word and into the kitchen. Harry heard him banging pots and pans around and wondered if he was looking for something to hit him with. He followed warily and found Snape making tea.

When Snape spotted him there, he said, "Tell me Potter, exactly what you think will happen when it gets out that you're helping a werewolf open up a new business. I have a feeling you're already aware of the ramifications of having dealings with Fae."

"The ramifications," Harry said slowly, trying to wrap his mouth around the big word, "are that I'm helping a new business come into the Fae community when they're not allowed to open one on their own. It's not fair. They're not even allowed to open one on the Muggle streets. They have the few they have and that's it, and no one will carry items they want or need or even let them come into their shops most of the time if they know they're Fae."

"That is not what I was referring to."

"I'm opening a can of worms sir," Harry said, repeating Bellamy's warning and hoping that was enough to satisfy him.

"That is an understatement. You recall how the community reacts to change, and how the papers continue to slander you today."

"I know," Harry said, feeling exasperated. "And I could get taxed more, and people will hate me in the papers, but I want to try this. If I fail I'm out the cost of a building. If this business fails then the Fae are out another opportunity to be accepted by people."

"As of now there is no business," Snape said. "The Ministry won't even allow it to get off the ground."

"Then what's the problem with me going and wasting a couple hours at the meeting?"

Severus surveyed Harry's hopeful and earnest expression. The problem was that the boy cared far too much. He said he knew what he was getting himself into, but he couldn't have any idea because he'd never seen this happen before. Severus had. Lupin had. He wondered then if the boy knew his Defense Professor was a werewolf, though Lupin kept that information close to the chest. If it got out he'd lose his job as soon as parents caught wind of it. The problem with letting Harry go was that he was too hopeful that it would work out after all. It couldn't work, wouldn't work, and Severus would be left to pick up the pieces after it all fell apart. But with another look at the bags under the child's eyes, and the paleness of his face after what must have been another rough tutoring session with Lupin, and the hopeful look he wore, Severus didn't want to say no to him. He should, but he didn't want to.

"Sit down."

Harry sat at the table and Severus brought two cups of tea over and sat across from him.

"Be quiet and listen to me," he warned him, giving him a serious look. "I will take you to the meeting." Harry's face lit up but Severus gave him a stern look to remind him to keeep silent for a moment. "But you cannot get your hopes up. I am telling you now, this will fail. Not because you won't try hard, or for lack of customers or lack of funding, or lack of need or want, but because the cards are stacked against you in an impossible way. You say that you know what the ramifications are, but you do not. The Ministry will come down on you like a hammer. They will attack you because you should know better and because they want to make an example out of you to others. I have seen it happen before. It will be nothing like what you experienced this summer repairing Knockturn."

"Then why are you taking me to the meeting?"

"I am foolish for doing so. I do not want you trying to sneak out to attend this meeting on your own down Payne Alley, or trying to arrange a clandestine meeting on school grounds or in Hogsmeade with the Dementors on the prowl. I am aware of how persistent you are and that if the meeting does not occur as planned that you will attempt to set it up over the holidays or during the summer."

"Thank you sir. When can we go?"

Snape gave him another stern look.

"Saturday morning."

"I'll owl Bellamy back and let him know. He'll set the time and location."

Harry got up and tried not to skip to the front door. Before he got all the way there Snape said, "At least tell me what business you are trying to open so I know what to expect Saturday."

"A sweet shop," Harry said.

"A sweet store?"

"With Acid Pops, Grasshopper Brittle, Butterbeer Fudge and other things people want."

"Be gone. Return when you know what time the meeting will take place."

Harry did skip out the front door then, closing it loudly. Severus was going to have to tell Albus about this, and he really didn't want to.

* * *

Zachary West was a young man. Not as young as Harry, but he was only twenty two and greeted Harry and Severus with a big smile when they met him and Bellamy Saturday morning inside the back office of the Lighthouse.

"Zach," he said as he greeted Harry with a handshake. "I've been wanting to start up my own business for some time. Been thinking of moving to America because they don't regulate Were's there."

"Nice to meet you," Harry said, trying to shake his hand firmly. The four of them sat around a little table in the back office. The curtains were drawn, but Harry knew they would be as it was daylight and Bellamy was in attendance.

"Two hundred thousand galleons," Bellamy said, pushing a statement from Gringotts across the table. Harry noted on the statement that there had been hundreds of small deposits into the account over the last two weeks.

"Where are we setting up shop?" Zach asked eagerly.

"On Knockturn," Harry said. "I own an empty building by Burniss Boots."

"We have a list of things to make and sell," Bellamy said, pulling out another sheet of parchment and giving it to Harry.

‘For vampires: blood pops, blood truffles in three flavors, blood pasties, buns with raw meat inside, exotic blood gummies, blood donuts.
For goblins: cockroach clusters (a goblin favorite), acid pops, grasshopper brittle, sweet pickled toads, cockroach donuts, ice mice.
For Elves: Fairydust candyfloss, watermelon gummies, assorted candied flowers and dried fruits (in a mix).'

"Add butterbeer fudge to the list," Harry said.

"For who?" Zach asked, wanting to know which category to put it under.

"I was thinking for anybody. Tilly and Honeyduke don't carry it. It might open us up to more people. Something for everyone, you know?"

Zach added it to the list under a new heading: ‘Specialty'.

They talked over details about where they would buy supplies, utensils to make the goods, a till, and the hours of the shop (four pm to midnight daily). After forty minutes Snape spoke and startled Harry, who had almost forgotten he was there, despite that he was sitting at the same small table with his arms crossed.

"Do you have any business experience Mr. West?"

"I worked in retail for a while with Muggles. I was a manager of a grocery store over in Dover for two years."

"Do you know how to make these items?"

Bellamy brought the list back out again and set it between them so they could all see. "The owners of Payne Inn are going to teach him how to make the vampire sweets," Bellamy said. "The manager of Gobledegook is going to give him the recipe for cockroach clusters, acid pops, sweet pickled toads and cockroach donuts," he ended, giving Snape a hard look.

"And I already know how to make the assorted candied flowers and dried fruits from the village gran when I was a kid," Zach said.

"What about the rest?" Harry asked. "We could probably pay Tilly to help us with recipes for all of the other stuff. I don't think she'll mind so long as we promise not to make anything she makes and sells. The shops will practically be across the street and she won't want the competition."

"And what are your plans when the Ministry comes down on you?" Severus asked. Harry stilled. He really wasn't sure what to say about that. For all he'd thought about how to start the business, and even knowing he was opening this can of worms with the Ministry, he had no idea how to deal with it all.

"We chose Zach because he's not registered," Bellamy said. "Wasn't turned til a few years ago. He's not even on the Ministry's radar. Grew up in that coven way up north and was schooled there."

"The coven on the Burn of Skaw?" Severus asked, leaning forward. Harry thought he looked impressed.

"That's the one," Zach said. "They mostly ignore us since we're so far north and rarely venture out. My parents were Were's that were accepted into the coven. There's a few others like us up there."

"You're a mage," Severus said.

"Nah, got a wand," Zach said, pulling his wand out. "Wood of Hornbeam and a core of Firedrake scales."

"Why would they make wands out of dragon scales?"

"I had to make it myself," Zach said proudly. "I made it with Firedrake scales because that was the only drake in the coven I could sneak up on to get them from."

Harry wondered just how many drakes the coven had. Even with just one he thought Hagrid would probably like it there.

"The point is," Bellamy said, irritated with Snape, "that the Ministry doesn't know he's Fae. They won't think twice about him starting up a business."

"But they will think twice about Harry doing so," Severus said.

All three of them looked at Severus.

"They are watching his every move to see where they can catch him in some wrongdoing because of the changes he has been making. Every lie the papers print, the Ministry checks to see if it's true. Every business venture he starts, they will go over with a fine tooth comb. Even if they don't initially find your connection to the Fae, they will penalize you for serving a mostly Fae clientele."

Bellamy glared at Snape and Harry wondered how the two would have gotten along if Bellamy had attended Hogwarts. But then his glare softened and he fidgeted with his fingers, reminding Harry he was only 17. Just a couple years older than Fred and George.

"We'll have to add more candy wizards will like," Zachary said then, thinking the problem over. "Make it seem as though we're serving wizards, but some of our specialty items are attracting Fae."

"Your hours make it clear your customers are predominantly Fae," Snape said.

"We'll come up with another employee that can't be traced to being Fae," Bellamy said, though he still hadn't looked back up at Snape yet. "To work earlier hours."

"It may be best if you had an owl order business. Then you won't have to have regular hours and your products can be mailed to customers."

Bellamy did look back up, anger written across his face. "We won't hide in the shadows just because your kind don't like us!"

Snape's jaw was clenched as Harry looked back and forth between his Professor and his friend. He wasn't sure if that was the look Snape got when he was working up something good to shout at Bellamy or if he was trying to hold back from shouting at him.

Before it could escalate any more Harry said softly, "We don't expect you to." Bellamy slowly tore his eyes away from Snape to look at Harry. "I think he's just trying to postpone the Ministry coming after us for as long as possible so we can get the business up and going."

"Oh is that all," Bellamy said, letting out a little unhappy huff.

Zach didn't seem to be upset by any of this Harry noted. He seemed to be easy going, and Harry really hoped he was and would be able to deal with the occasional unhappy customer or annoying Ministry official.

Snape stayed quiet for the rest of the meeting because Silver had come in the door a few minutes later with contracts and paperwork to fill out.

The contract stated that the running of the business and responsibility of it was on Zach, that Harry was essentially to be a financial backer in that he had provided the building and that was all. It stated that until Harry's shares were bought, he would be getting 50% of the profit, if there was a profit, and after all shares were bought, if there was such a time, then the rent for the building would be 400 galleons a month. Zach and Harry signed and they went on to filling out the forms for the business license which Silver would file with the Ministry on Monday morning.

"Once it's filed you have permission to start conducting business right away," Silver said. "Aproximately a week after it's filed you should be receiving a visit from MOBA, the Ministry Office of Business Affairs to inspect the building which is standard procedure. If you've started production of the consumable products, they'll inspect the work and food storage areas and cases for cleanliness. All of this is standard procedure. If they begin asking questions about your background," he advised Zach, "or anything beyond inspecting the building or food areas for safety, refer them to me."

"Just like that?" Zach asked.

"Hold yourself with confidence," Silver instructed, "as though you're too busy to deal with them at the moment and haven't a care in the world or time to even think about what they want from you. Tell them you're busy and they can direct the rest of their questions to Harrison Silver, who is managing Mr. Potter's financial interests in the business venture."

"Will do," Zach said.

"With any luck they won't look into things too much," Silver said, though Harry noted he didn't sound as though he believed they would be lucky.

"Owl me with whatever comes up," Harry told Zach. "I'm going to talk to Tilly on my way out."

"You can't," Silver said.

"Why not?"

"Not about this business. The contract you signed was clear and will hopefully keep your hands clean once the Ministry gets involved. It will also hopefully make them think you're not as involved as you are and make them stay away from the shop. Mr. West will have to approach Tilly about any kind of help or partnership, though there is nothing in the contract to prevent the two of you from communicating about the business, as that's in your best interest as an investor, even a silent one," he gave a pointed look to Harry, "to know what's going on with your money."

Harry sighed. He guessed his planning was over. That also meant a return to not having anything to take his mind off of his issues at school.

"Until next time," Zach said, holding out his hand to shake Harry's again.

"Good luck," Harry said.

As they left, Harry heard Snape ask Silver, "You know the trouble this will cause him, and you allow it?"

"I advise him. That's all either of us can do."

Silver strode away then back towards Diagonalley and his office, and Snape gripped Harry's arm and apparated him back to the castle gates.

They were quiet as they walked up towards the castle, and Harry stuck as close to Snape's side as he thought the man would allow given that Dementors were visible at the gates as they passed and were watching them until they were out of sight.

Before they went inside the great oak front doors, Harry said quietly, "Thank you... for taking me. I know you don't think it's going to work out, but it's the right thing to do."

Snape didn't say anything but watched Harry as he went inside and then up the stairs towards the upper castle and Gryffindor tower. Like most young people, he believed he could right the world's wrongs by himself. Snape wished it were true, but knew otherwise.

* * *

Harry had been happy over the next few weeks. He'd been sleeping well, his mind was clear because it was frequently on the new shop and the regular letters Zach was sending him about their progress, and because the Ministry had approved the safety of the building and food prep areas. It was all going so smoothly.

Tilly had agreed to help Zach when he'd dropped Harry's name to her and agreed not to sell anything she did for as long as his business was on the alleys. She had even given him some ideas of other sweets to make and didn't seem to have a problem with him making cockroach clusters and blood flavoried candies for Fae. The week after the Ministry had visited, Zach had opened up shop and reported to Harry a profit of two hundred galleons for their opening week, which wasn't bad considdering the cost of ingredients they'd had to shell out just for that first week.

So far the Ministry hadn't suspected a thing, or so Harry hoped given he hadn't received any letters from the Office Of Business Affairs or from Silver about it. It was in the fourth week where things began to fall apart in an irreversible way.

Wanting to spread the wealth to as many Fae as possible, especially given how much money the community had invested in this venture, Zach had begun to buy the shop's cockroach supply from Gobledegooks. And he was purchasing blood for blood pastries and pops from The Aether, the vampire bar on Payne Alley. This was when Harry saw just how closely the Ministry was monitoring them.

They made two more visits to the shop and questioned Zach on his purchases.

"You can purchase cockroaches from any reputable apothecary," the Ministry official told Zach. "Why do you get them from Gobledegooks?"

"They give me the best price. I'd like to make as much profit as I can."

"And the blood?" the officials asked him. "Most wizards in need of such a thing get that from the Muggle blood banks or pay a wizard to take blood replenishing potion and get the blood that way."

"The Aether pays wizards to take those potions and to give blood," Zach said. "Dreadful business that, I'd rather not get involved in blood collection at all."

"Then why do you serve such foods?"

"The more clients I'm open to the more profits I'll get, don't you think? You'd rather have The Aether and Gobledegooks run me out of business selling this stuff to all the clients I could have?"

They had been smart answers, but the Ministry had seen through them. This was when Harry received a letter, not through Silver but via an official Ministry owl bearing the crest of the Business Affairs Office.

It declared Harry in severe violation of health and safety codes, for creating and selling sweets and foods with cockroaches and human blood, and cited the possibility for contamination of other items that could possibly be consumed by humans. The word humans was all in bold lettering he noted. There was nothing specific about him working with or selling to Fae, but shortly after the letter from the Ministry Harry received a letter from Zach telling him what had happened.

Harry made a copy of the letter and sent it off to Silver right away and then took the original to Snape's office and gave it to him.

After he read over it silently he began to read it a second time and said, "A 50 Galleon a week fine and weekly inspection of the premimses until all ingredients containing cockroaches or human blood are removed. That's steep."

"I know," Harry said. He could pay it, he was certain, but it ate into the profits of the shop.

"Pray this is all they fine you for," Severus said. "They can make up any violation they want until you are so far in debt your great great grandchildren will still be paying it off."

That wasn't what Harry wanted to hear, but he accepted it for what it was.

The next day another letter appeared, and again he sent off a copy to Silver and then took the original to Snape.

"They're fining you for purchasing ingredients from unsanitary conditions. It lists cockroaches from Gobledegooks and blood from The Aether."

"I haven't been in there," Harry said, "but Bellamy said The Aether is spotless." He had described it as all decked out in a futuristic decor with neon lights, and in pristine shape.

"It does not matter. It's a 50 Galleon fine for each purchase made from either. And they are fining you for the previous purchase from each, which is 100 Galleons."

"Zach has to purchase from them every week. That's 100 Galleons a week. Unless," Harry said, thinking, "he can make one big purchase to last for several weeks."

"The ingredients will go bad, which is why he must purchase every week."

"That's 150 Galleons a week and he's only making a 200 Galleon a week profit," Harry said. Split between the two of them it was only a 25 Galleon a week profit for each.

That night Harry received a new edition of the Lighthouse. The front page story was about the new fines the Ministry was imposing on the new sweet shop and it urged people to buy more to cover the fines. There was also a note to Harry telling him that Gobledegooks and The Aether would now be ‘giving away' the ingredients to ‘anyone' who wanted them.

But two days later Harry received an updated citation from the Ministry stating he would be fined for each instance of the shop ‘obtaining' ingredients from The Aether and Gobledegook, ‘free or otherwise'.

"Are you ok mate?" Ron asked as Harry let his head fall forward and bang into the table in the Great Hall.

"Just fine," Harry practically growled.

"Not the dementors again?"

"Just business stuff with the Ministry. We'll work it out," Harry said, pulling his head up and striding out of the Great Hall with the latest letter to find Snape. Snape was keeping a stack of them now in a folder. Harry had been dreading the moment Snape would look him dead in the eyes and say, ‘I told you so'. With each new citation he was sure that would be the day it would happen. But it hadn't happened yet and didn't this day either.

After two weeks and 300 Galleons of citations, Harry was used to getting almost daily owls from the Ministry about the new shop. He wasn't expecting to start getting citations for his other businesses however until one morning he received three.

He set his regular citation for the new candy shop aside and opened one that was for the Magical Menagerie. What could they possibly be citing me for here? Harry wondered with exasperation.

‘Dear Mr. Potter, we are writing to inform you that your business the Magical Menagerie is in violation of Biz. Wiz. Code 51C - The Need For Properly Trained Employees. Upon routine inspection of the Magical Menagerie it was discovered that your employee Iolrath Thebalar is not trained sufficiently to handle magical creatures and that the animals in the establishment are frequently stressed and in distress in his presence. You have one week to find a new employee, and two weeks to properly train said employee. Non-compliance will result in a 100 Galleon fine for every day of non-compliance.'

"What!?" Harry shouted at the breakfast table. Iolrath was an elf and was one of the employees Harry had recommended the manager at the Menagerie hire. They were going to make him fire Iolrath or be fined daily.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, and Harry looked up, realizing for the first time that a lot of people were staring at him, including some of the staff from the head table.

Harry was so angry his hands were shaking as he ignored her and ripped open the third letter.

‘Dear Mr. Potter, we are writing to inform you that you are in violation of Biz. Wiz. Code 51C and Biz. Wiz. Code 72.4D.

Biz. Wiz. Code 72.4D states you may not run a business without submitting a business license to the Business Affairs Office. We find you in violation for your janitorial cleaning business, where you currently have three employees and one manager employed cleaning Diagon and Knockturn Alleys.

Biz. Wiz. Code 51C - The Need For Properly Trained Employees, states all employees must be properly trained to do the job which they are employed in. Since the job they are employed in is not legally recognized as a business, they are not legally employed and trained and you are in violation of this wizarding statute.

You have one week to file for a business license for this business, or else be fined 100 Galleons per week until one is filed. You have one week to find and hire new employees and train them or else be fined 100 Galleons a day after that, per employee, for non-compliance.'

Breakfast was ending but Harry hadn't eaten anything yet. He let his head fall to the table and left it there as people got up around him. Ron and Hermione had stayed in the common room opting to skip breakfast to help Ron cram for a Herbology test, so it was only Ginny there to prompt Harry to get up. He ignored her again though so she gave him a last worried look and left for class.

"Erm- you crying Harry?" came Justin's concerned voice a minute later.

"No, go away please," Harry told him.

Justin sat down beside him instead. "Mrs. Ginger would be pretty upset with me if I left a friend who looked like you do right now."

When Harry didn't respond Justin stayed quiet but didn't move.

It was only a few moments however that someone else had come down to see why Harry hadn't left for class yet and Harry was forced to move.

"Get up," Snape said, lifting Harry from under the arm until he stood. He hadn't snapped it at him though, so there was that. "On your way to class Mr. Finchfletchy."

"Yes sir."

Once Harry was up he saw that the Great Hall was empty as Justin left, aside from he and Snape.

"Follow me," Snape instructed him, and waited until Harry started to move.

"Sir-" Harry choked, not realizing he was going to get choked up the moment he spoke to him. "I can't do detention right now." Harry knew it wasn't the wisest thing to say when he was in trouble, but it was the truth. He just- couldn't. He couldn't be in trouble on top of all the fines, on top of finding out he would have to fire all of his Fae employees and send them back to looking for a job where they weren't allowed to be hired, and to losing the first ever business he'd started. He could handle loss... had handled loss. But to the people he would have to fire, losing a job meant losing food and housing and other basic necessities of life. It wasn't fair, none of it. He wanted to shout at Snape as he followed him to the dungeons, or punch a wall, or sink to the floor right there and disolve into tears, even if he did it in front of Draco Malfoy or Voldemort himself.

Snape didn't take him to his office for detention. Instead Harry found himself in the man's quarters again. Wasn't he going to be late to teach his Potion's class?

"Tell me," Snape simply said behind Harry once the door was closed and they were in the quiet room. Harry couldn't though. He couldn't explain. The injustice was too much to take in. Instead he did the only thing he could think to do, because he'd been re-living the memory for weeks in tutoring with Lupin, and he turned and buried his face in Snape's robes, searching for whatever little comfort it would offer in Sirius' absence. And he cried quietly as he gripped the man's robe, getting tears and snot all down the front. Surely the man would be angry that he would have to change before classes, but Harry pushed that from his mind and just drank in the comforting darkness of the robes.

"You can't take on every injustice in the world," Snape told him quietly, arms angled slightly so he wasn't touching Harry, because it was awkward for him and he didn't know what to do with his arms. "You cannot right every wrong."

"Watch me," Harry murmured into Snape's robes. Snape waited for the boy to rant or rage about the injustice of what the Ministry was doing to him and his financial holdings, but it appeared he had no more to say on the matter, only, ‘watch me'.

Snape put his arms around the distraught child when he felt the boy shaking in anger, fists clenching his robes tight. "Then you must fight this."