"No dogs," said the pimply bus attendant Stan Shunpike. Harry frowned and turned around to stare at the dog behind him that had been responsible for his rear end smarting.

"It's not mine," Harry said.

"Well," said Stan, "in that case, welcome aboard. What's yer name and where are yeh off teh?"

"Harry P-" he paused. Would it be wise to use his last name? Once Hermione had warned him about reporters and Harry didn't want anybody to know where he was going, wherever that was. "Pierce," Harry finished, "and I don't know exactly where to go."

"Yeh don' know-" Stan started, "Ernie! ‘Ee don't know where teh go!"

The decrepit elderly bus driver climbed down off his seat and came to the door to stare down at Harry who was still standing on the pavement with his trunk staring up at them.

"Hogwarts student or deaged Potions Apprentice?" Ernie asked.

"What?"

At Harry's befuddled look Ernie said, "Hogwarts student then. What are yeh, a second year? Third?"

"Third," Harry said, adding silently to himself, almost.

"And what did yeh fight with yer parents about?"

"I didn't!" Harry said indignantly. "Look, I just need a place to stay."

"If yeh got a lot of coin," Stan said, though after another look at Harry's clothes and shoes, he looked as though he doubted Harry did, "then yeh can stay at the Purple Witch or the Hotel at Nimbus River."

"There's the Leaky Cauldron on Diagonalley and it won't break the bank," Ernie said more reasonably.

"That one," Harry said. "I'll go there."

"Yeah," said Ernie as he climbed back onto the bus, "That's where they all go."

Harry frowned as Stan grabbed one end of his trunk and helped him carry it up onto the bus. After the bus had taken off with a bang, Harry asked Stan quietly, "What does he mean that's where they all go?"

"Runaways," Stan said. "That's where the Ministry always finds ‘em too!" He grinned at Harry but Harry didn't smile back. He wasn't a runaway, not really. His aunt and Uncle had thrown him out. That wasn't the same thing. He had blown up Aunt Marge though, and he could get in trouble for using magic outside of school. He thought about all the possible punishments this could mean for him on the way to Diagonalley, but they were there before he could finish thinking over the possibilities.

"The Minister," Ernie muttered, and Harry looked out window as they pulled up in Muggle London outside the Leaky Cauldron.

"Minister?" Harry asked.

"Blimy Harry," Stan said in awe, "are yeh on the run from the law? I've never seen the Minister o' Magic turn up just fer a runaway!"

"I'm not a runaway," Harry repeated as the bus came to a stop. Harry stared anxiously out the window at the short portly man. It was just a coincidence that he was there, wasn't it? He had probably stopped in for a drink. That was it. But as Ernie opened the bus door and Stan began carrying Harry's trunk off the bus, the most horrible of the punishments Harry had thought up for himself came to the forefront of his mind.

"Is he on there?" The Minister asked.

"Who?" Ernie asked roughly, not leaving his seat. He sounded as though he didn't like the Minister very much.

"Harry Potter."

Ernie turned in his seat and raised a brow at Harry. Harry figured there was nothing for it now that his cover was blown. He stood up and made his way to the front of the bus and then down the steps.

"There you are," the Minister said. "Half the aurors have been searching the countryside for you!"

"Sir?" Harry asked.

"Come inside, quickly. Your trunk has already been taken in." He ushered Harry into the Leaky Cauldron and into a private back room that had a table and two cushy brown leather armchairs by a glowing fire.

"Sit Harry, yes, that's right, just there. Tom? Firebrandy and pumpkin juice." Tom, the owner disappeared before Harry had been fully aware that he'd been standing behind them at the door.

Finally the Minister sat down across from Harry and looked him up and down, eyes lingering briefly on his black eye. "Not hurt? Are you hungry?"

Harry shook his head.

"I've been worried for the last few hours. It's good that you're not hurt."

Tom came back a moment later with two metal cups and set the pumpkin juice down in front of Harry. He left and the Minister took a drink of his Firebrandy before giving another look over Harry again.

"Sir-" Harry began. "How much trouble am I in?" He must have been in quite a lot if the Minster of Magic himself had turned up to yell at him.

"Trouble? For what- running away?"

"I didn't run away," Harry said. "My aunt and uncle kicked me out."

"Yes, well, from what I understand they were quite upset about your uncle's sister. But I can't see punishing a bit of accidental magic. As I understand it you didn't have your wand on you at the time. You didn't mean to blow her up did you?"

"No-" Harry began, but was cut off.

"See then, all is well since you didn't mean to do it. We're just glad you're safe."

"Ernie and Stan said the Minister doesn't usually come out for this sort of thing though."

He gave Harry a calculating look before taking another drink of Firebrandy. "You're not just an ordinary runaway Harry, and you can't be too careful with a murderer on the loose."

"I didn't run away," he reminded him again, before asking, "What Murderer?"

"Hm, that's right, you're probably too young to be interested in the Prophet, aren't you? Sirius Black."

"I saw him on the Muggle news." He'd only been back at Privet Drive for a few days, but the news had been running reports about an escaped murderer every night after dinner on the telly. Aunt Petunia had made uncle Vernon install extra locks on all the doors and windows.

"We have alerts out everywhere. He's a dangerous man Harry, quite mad. He's killed before and he'll kill again." He looked like he wanted to say something else to Harry but didn't. "You'll stay here at the Leaky Cauldron for a few days until it can be decided what's best for you Harry. I can have Tom look after you. His father was Minister once you know."

"What do you mean what's best for me?"

"It may take a few days to sort out if you're going back to your aunt and uncle's house and if not where you will go. I'll have to speak to your relatives, Dumbledore, and the Wizarding Welfare office at the Ministry."

"Do I get a say?" Harry asked. He really wanted to spend the summer with the Weasleys or go back to Hogwarts.

"I'm afraid even I don't have much of a say," he said. He stood up and drained the last of his Firebrandy. "Don't go out into Muggle London Harry. Either a Ministry Official or someone from Hogwarts should be along to collect you in the next few days. If you need anything, tell Tom."

Harry stood up too but the Minister had already shaken Harry's hand and was out the door before Harry could ask more questions or protest. What did the Minister mean he didn't have a say? And why couldn't he choose where he wanted to go? It was his life wasn't it? He definitely didn't want to return to the Dursleys.

Tom appeared in the door again and beckoned for Harry to follow. As they made their way up a set of steep wooden steps, Tom said, "The Minister wants me to send three meals a day up to your room, but I'll send up snacks too. Is there anything in particular you'd like Mr. Potter?"

"No sir," Harry said. "Anything will be fine." Tom used a gold key to open the door to a single room with a large four-poster bed and a wardrobe. It had a window but it was too dark to see if it looked out over Diagonalley or Muggle London. "I can't leave the room?" Harry asked.

"I wasn't given orders to keep you here," Tom said, "just to provide your meals in your room and make sure you didn't go to Muggle London. If I had to venture a guess I'd say the Minister did want you to stay up here, but I wasn't given orders for it."

"So-" Harry said cautiously, testing the waters, "If I went out on the alley tomorrow, you wouldn't try to stop me?"

"No," said Tom with a smile as he handed Harry the key and backed out the door, "I don't suppose I would."

When he was gone and the door had been closed Harry sighed and flopped backwards onto the bed, staring at the depressing gray canopy. This was some mess he'd gotten himself into. If they sent him back to the Dursleys now he'd have the worst summer ever. He might not even make it back to Hogwarts. They'd build a secret room the Weasleys and their flying car couldn't find and lock Harry up in it forever. It was depressing really. He couldn't even imagine another option of anywhere they could think to send him to stay for the rest of the summer. If he really thought about it he couldn't go to the Weasley's either. Ron had told him on the train a few days ago that he'd only be home for a few days before his family left for Egypt to see his brother.

But he should have some choice of where to stay, shouldn't he? He was almost 13 after all. He'd beaten Quirril, Tom Riddle's ghost, and a giant Basilisk. Those things should count for something shouldn't they? He could take care of himself.

Harry lay awake for hours thinking about things before he finally drifted off to sleep, though when he woke early the next morning to the smell of food he felt like he hadn't slept at all. His eyes roamed the room and found a tray with a plate on it. It had eggs, bangers, mash, and tomatoes. Feeling depressed Harry brought the plate over to the bed and began eating. It was good, but he wasn't that hungry and left most of it on the plate. Changing clothes quickly and rummaging through his trunk for his vault key, Harry took the plate full of food and went back down the steep stairs in search of Tom.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Harry asked when he found him.

"Wasn't it good?" Tom asked.

"It was, I'm just not hungry," Harry said. "I just wondered where the sink was to wash it."

"Here." He held out his hand and Harry handed the plate to him. Tom snapped his fingers and the plate was clean. "No need. Guests don't do dishes unless they default on their rent payment."

"How much do I owe you for rent?" Harry asked.

"It's 16 Sickles a night. The Minister told me to deduct it out of your Gringotts account on your behalf."

Harry sighed. That wasn't very fair was it? He did suppose that he had to stay somewhere, but it would have been nice if he'd at least been told that they were going to get into his account instead of just doing it without his knowledge.

"Problem Mr. Potter?"

Harry shook his head. "No sir. I was just wishing I had some say over things in my life..." he trailed off in thought as Tom prepared food for another hungry guest. "Tom- what are you supposed to do when you don't have any control over things?"

Tom looked at him thoughtfully. "I suppose when a wizard feels like things are out of his control, he hires a barrister if he can afford one."

"A barrister?"

"They can advocate for you in court or figure if the laws are in your favor."

"How much do they cost?"

"Good ones can cost hundreds of Galleons per day."

Harry shuddered. He knew he had a pile of gold but he didn't want to blow through it all in just a few days.

"Are there Barristers on Diagonalley?"

"One just above Fortescue's. There's a couple down Knocturn."

"Thanks."

Harry left the kitchen and went out to the courtyard. He tapped the appropriate bricks and was granted entrance to Diagonalley. It was early and there weren't any shoppers about yet, only shopkeepers who were sweeping up in front of their stores, washing windows, and setting items out in front for sale.

Harry went straight to Fortescue's and found a door off to the side that he hadn't noticed before. In pristine silver lettering it read, "Harrison Silver, Barrister at Law." Harry tested the handle and found it unlocked. Beyond the door was a set of stairs and he climbed them to find another door at the top. He knocked and was told to enter the brightly lit office decorated in light greys. There was a woman at a shiny mahogany desk with neat stacks of paperwork all in a straight line along the edge of the desktop. She stared at him as he entered.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I need to talk to a Barrister."

"Try Knockturn," she said.

Harry frowned. "This is a Barrister's office isn't it?"

"Mr. Silver sees high profile clients exclusively. He's very busy."

"You won't even ask him?"

She looked at his shirt which was frayed at the bottom hem and starting to go gray from being worn so long and then shook her head.

Harry turned around and left the office without a word. Well this was a pickle wasn't it? He wasn't exactly allowed to go down Knocturn Alley was he? Mrs. Weasley had been upset when he'd ended up there using the floo last summer, and even Hagrid had seemed worried to find him there. Harry had to say he himself wasn't all that keen to venture down the dark dingy alley again. It had been a little frightening. Tom had mentioned there being barristers on Knockturn though. He wouldn't have mentioned it at all if Harry wasn't allowed to go.

He turned his feet towards Gringotts, thinking he should at least see how much gold he had available before he tried to talk to a Barrister again. He presented his key at the desk and asked if there was a statement he could see of what was in his account. The goblin disappeared for a few minutes and then came back with a parchment he handed to Harry. 1,509 Galleons, 16 Sickles, and 22 Knuts. "Thank you," Harry said, and left the bank. He folded up the parchment and stared at the entrance to Knocturn Alley. Knocturn and Diagon converged right at the very end of both of them just in front of Gringotts. From the front steps of Gringotts Harry had a unique view of both. Diagonalley was crooked but wide and full of life. Shops were painted bright cheerful colors, the cobbled lane was clean and free of debris, and a lot of light came into the alley from above. Knocturn Alley was narrow and empty, the cobbled lane was dingy and so were the buildings, the colors were drab and it was dark. Knocturn looked like it twisted and turned because Harry couldn't see very far down it before buildings blocked his view.

Making up his mind (he had to at least try to get himself somewhere better than the Dursleys), he steeled himself, pulled out his wand, and went towards the entrance to Knocturn Alley. He thought an adult would see him and try to stop him as there were shoppers out now, but no one did. He took an experimental step into the alley and when nothing happened he took another, and then another. As he continued walking he began looking at shop signs, trying to find a Barrister and hoping there was one not too far down this quiet, depressing street. It was almost like all the sounds were muffled somehow, and it made Harry feel like an intruder in this place because the sounds of his shoes scraping against the cobbled lane weren't muffled.

There were people here, he realized, but they stared out at him from their shop windows or hung back in the shadows.

Like on Diagonalley there was a bookstore, an apothecary, and a sweet shop, only instead of ice cream this sweet shop sold candy and other treats. The windows of the shop were dingy and covered in a gray film though and Harry didn't think he'd ever want to set foot in it.

"What're you doin' down Knocturn?"

Harry turned and was surprised to find Justin Finch-Fletchley. "Justin?" Harry asked. He'd never really talked that much to the Hufflepuff, but he knew who he was and who his friends were. Hermione was friends with Justin's friend Hannah Abbot so sometimes they crossed paths. "I'm looking for a Barrister," Harry said. "What are you doing here?"

Justin turned and pointed behind him to a tall depressing gray brick building, but his eyes didn't leave Harry's. Harry's eyes scanned the building and found a sign that read, ‘Peverell's Orphanage.'

Harry let his eyes fall back on Justin.

"Not all of us are lucky," Justin said, seeming irritated.

Harry frowned. "Lucky?"

"To have relatives to go back to," he said. "Barrister's over there." He pointed at a door across from the orphanage and then disappeared into a tiny alley that seemed to go right under the second floor of the orphanage. He'd had no idea that Justin was an orphan and felt bad that he apparently had to go back to an orphanage every summer.

Harry had never supposed he'd been ‘lucky' to be placed with the Dursleys, but staring again at the depressing gray orphanage in the middle of Knocturn Alley, he supposed he might have had it a lot better than Justin. He could have ended up here as Justin's roommate. He tried to imagine what that would be like for a moment, but then turned towards the Barrister's office Justin had indicated.

Like the other Barrister's this door was unlocked and Harry went in. He could tell immediately that this was different from the other office. There was no secretary. It was a single small room with a worn wooden desk piled high with haphazard stacks of parchment that leaned precariously to the side, ready to topple at any moment.

"Yes?" came a grouchy voice, and a man appeared from behind the many tall stacks of paper. His hair was slightly less wild than Harry's, but Harry eyed the man warily anyway.

"I'm looking for a Barrister," Harry said quietly.

"What for? If you're from that orphanage to pester me for donations again I'll turn you into a toad and sell you to the apothecary to get the money."

"I'm not from the orphanage," Harry said, and thought about being Justin's roommate again. Maybe Harry had been lucky.

"Well what's your legal trouble then? Sit there in the chair. Don't mind the piles of paperwork, there are spells to keep them standing."

Harry eyed the nearest pile and wondered how strong the spells were. "Er..."

"Spit it out. I've got court in twenty minutes and I'm due in Malton after that. I'll be lucky if I get a break at all today."

"The Minister of Magic wants to send me back to my aunt and uncle's house," Harry said, not certain he was making any sense to the man. "Or to somewhere, but he doesn't know yet. He said I don't really get a choice of where I go and neither does he."

The Barrister appeared from behind the towering stacks again to stare at Harry, open mouthed. "The Minister of Magic? What's he want with you? What's your name?"

"Harry Potter."

The man's eyes travelled predictably up to his scar which was covered by hair, and then to his black eye and tattered clothes.

"You're Harry Potter?"

"Yes sir."

"Why aren't you over at Silver's? He's the Potter Barrister."

"Harrison Silver? I went over there. The secretary wouldn't let me see him. What do you mean Potter Barrister?"

"Have you been living under a rock?" the irritable man asked. He was a lot like Professor Snape, only he seemed wilder and more willing to say whatever popped into his mind. It looked like he'd had as little sleep as Harry.

"Let's assume I have," Harry said.

"The Potter's have always used the Silver's as their Barristers. I imagine he's on retainer for your legal troubles. Go back and tell them your name."

Harry thought about the snotty attitude of the secretary though and how she'd implied that he wasn't good enough for them to spend their time to help him. "I don't want Silver, I want to choose my own Barrister."

The man sighed and pulled out a new piece of parchment from a drawer and a quill. He scribbled something down and then looked up at Harry expectantly. "Well? What do you want me to do as your Barrister? What's this about the Minister and your aunt and uncle's house?"

Harry went into the story about blowing up Aunt Marge, being chased out of the house by Uncle Vernon, tripping over the dog, the Knight Bus, the visit from the Minster, and how he wanted to choose where to live since he was almost 13.

"Wizarding majority isn't until 17. Wizard law doesn't allow emancipation until 16, and in very rare cases, 15."

"I don't know if I want to be emancipated," Harry said, not even certain what that was, "but it's not fair that I don't have any choice of where I get to live."

"Hardly any child has a choice in where they live," the man said.

Harry pointed to his black eye and then lifted up the front of his shirt to show the bruises that were hidden. "Most children aren't being told they'll have to go back to this either," Harry said. "This kind of thing isn't allowed in the Muggle world... is it allowed in this one?"

"No," the barrister agreed. He glanced up at a clock behind Harry and then pulled a briefcase out of somewhere behind the desk and his piles of papers. "I have court. I have to go now or I'll be late. Come back tomorrow at nine. I'll have to do some research about law and about you."

"About me?" Harry asked as he was ushered back out the door and onto the dingy alley.

"Yes you. I have to know who has actual custody of you and about how and why you were placed where you were if I'm to represent your case to the Ministry or in mediation."

"I don't even know your name yet," Harry said as the man rushed off, leaving him there alone in the alley.

"Theodore Podmore, Barrister," he said, and then he was gone around a corner. Harry sighed and then began walking back towards Gringotts. He gave a last look up at the orphanage and saw a child looking down at him from the second story window. The child waved and Harry waved back. "Lucky," he repeated to himself again, not certain if he was or wasn't.

"What do you mean pictures?" Harry asked.

"Bruises fade," Podmore said, "pictures last forever. Now hold up the Prophet with the date like I told you and stay still."

Harry did as he was told, but was being chastised by Podmore a moment later. "No no, don't smile," he said, and Harry could sense the exasperation coming off of him like one could sense dark magic. "Look sullen and unhappy. We're not taking class photos, we're documenting evidence."

After one photo Harry lifted his shirt and another was taken of his chest and then of his back. Then they sat down and Harry spent ten uncomfortable minutes describing his life at the Dursleys to the Barrister including every injury he could remember receiving there.

"Have you told anyone about your treatment there?" Podmore asked.

"Last year my friend Ron Weasley and his brothers broke me out of my room with their flying car. Uncle Vernon fell out the window trying to stop them from taking me. They had to bust the bars out of my window, so I suppose they know. And the last two years before summer I asked the Headmaster if I could stay at school over the summer because I didn't like it at home."

"Albus Dumbledore?" Podmore asked, and when Harry nodded he scribbled something down. Harry wasn't sure if he was pleased or not that Podmore had started a new pile of papers just for Harry. It wasn't tall yet, but he wondered if it would be eventually.

"What exactly did you say to him?"

"I said the Dursleys didn't like me and that I was hungry a lot during the summer, and that Dudley and his friends liked to go ‘Harry hunting.'

"Harry hunting?"

Harry turned red. "They chase me down every day and hit me. Sometimes I get away."

"Did you tell the Headmaster what Harry hunting is?"

"No, he didn't ask. He just said the same as the year before, that there's magic on my aunt and uncle's house and I have to stay there for the magic to protect me... I think he called the magic a ward."

"What about the Minister? Did you tell him how they treat you?"

"No," Harry said, "just that they threw me out. He didn't give me much of a chance to say anything."

A question suddenly popped into Harry's head and he asked, "What do you suppose the Minister meant that he didn't have a say in where I went? He's the Minister right? Doesn't he have the final say in everything?"

"Not when it comes to custody of children," Podmore said. "He knows that Albus Dumbledore has custody of you."

"The Headmaster?" Harry asked.

"I looked into things a little last night. Apparently when your parents died and it became clear that your Godfather wasn't a suitable choice to take you, the Headmaster petitioned the Wizengamot for custody of you and then took you from the orphanage and placed you with your relatives."

Harry's mind felt sluggish for a few moments as he tried to process everything Podmore had told him. "What Godfather," he asked, and then, "I was in the orphanage? The one across the street?"

"For less than 24 hours you resided at the orphanage," Podmore said. "And your Godfather is Sirius Black."

"The murderer that's on the loose?" Harry asked, feeling sick and like his eyes were going to pop out of his head at the same time.

"The same," he told Harry, watching the color drain from his client's face. "You don't know the story?"

"That must have been what the Minister was keeping from me," Harry said weakly.

Podmore muttered something inaudible but Harry was sure there were choice words in there, and then began rummaging in one of his many desk drawers for something. A few moments later he came out with an article from the Daily Prophet and handed it to Harry. It was a few weeks old and Sirius Black's mugshot, the same one that was plastered all over Diagon and Knockturn Alley, was on the front page. Harry began devouring the words as they recounted the sordid details of how 12 years prior Sirius Black had betrayed his best friends James and Lily Potter to the Dark Lord and then murdered his other friend Peter Pettigrew before going completely insane as aurors hauled him away to Azkaban. The article said he had recently escaped but gave few details.

"He's coming after me to finish the job isn't he?" Harry asked himself, "That's why the Minister had aurors out looking for me the night I blew up Aunt Marge."

"It's likely that that's what the Ministry believes," Podmore said. "I'd bet my Galleons that Black has fled the country and will never return. Even one night in Azkaban would be enough to make any person want to run and never return."

Harry sighed. "I wish people would just tell me these things. I didn't even know I was a wizard or how my parents died until after I got my Hogwarts letter and Hagrid had to track us down to give it to me." Podmore made Harry recount this story as well as he scribbled down notes.

"I think we have a case," Podmore said after almost two hours of writing down details of Harry's life and dilemma. "I think I can get you removed from Albus Dumbledore's custody if he's unwilling to provide you a safe place to live and insists you go back to the Dursleys. The problem is where you will go after that. Anything involving you is likely to be politically charged."

"What do you mean?"

"You said you wanted to live with the Weasleys. Let's just say they agreed to take you. The Wizarding Welfare office would likely approve it, but the Minister or other Ministry officials would put their foot down and tie the Wizarding Welfare office up with legal red tape and paperwork to prevent you from going to them. You'd likely end up in the orphanage again."

"I don't understand," Harry said, trying to work over what Podmore had said. "Why wouldn't they want the Weasley's to take me? They're nice to me."

"It wouldn't be about them being nice, it would be about their political views. When a child grows up in a home they often grow up to have the same political views as those who raised them. If the Weasleys have a different set of political views than the Minister, or than other interested Ministry officials, then they would stop you from going there. They may end up suggesting other places for you to go that would suit their agendas better, but would be worse for you than living with your relatives."

"All of this over me?" Harry asked for confirmation. He wasn't anybody important. He knew he was the Boy-Who-Lived, but to him it hadn't ever really meant anything.

"Beyond being the Boy-Who-Lived you are also a Potter, one of the top 10 wealthy and influential wizarding families in the isles."

Harry frowned. "I don't have that much gold in my vault. Not even 2,000 Galleons," Harry said.

Podmore frowned. "That's doubtful."

Harry pulled the parchment from Gringotts out of his pocket and handed it to Podmore.

"This is an account in just your name. If you ask for an accounting of all of the Potter family assets, the Goblins will show you your family's fortune."

Harry sighed. "I don't want to go to the orphanage. There's got to be something we can figure out."

Podmore met Harry's eyes. "I'm still going over the law looking for a loophole. Even if we were able to get you emancipated, or perhaps partially emancipated, in order to do that we'd have to show that you're capable of taking care of yourself. Look at your clothes and hair... you look rough. You don't have a job even though you have a fortune to your name, you don't have a set place to live, and no, the Leaky Cauldron doesn't count."

"This," Harry pulled at his dingy shirt, "is what my relatives gave me to wear. It's all I've got. I don't usually buy myself clothes because I didn't think I had enough money to do that and keep buying books and robes for school. I'm also not allowed to go out into Muggle London for clothing."

Theodore Podmore looked like he was thinking through something for a moment. "Let's get one thing straight Mr. Potter," he said carefully. "I'm nobody's keeper. Do you understand? I'm not meant to be watching after thirteen year old children."

"I'm not asking you to."

"Good, just remember that. I'll tell you where to get clothes and get your hair cut because it's in the best interest of winning the case if you look more put together, but that's it. If we make it to court over this and end up going after emancipation or even just for your right to choose, you'll have to prove you can take care of yourself or make good decisions for yourself, so it's also in the best interest of this case that I help you as little as possible in personal matters."

"But in legal matters?" Harry asked, just to be certain he was clear.

"In legal matters you'd do well to heed my advice."

Harry nodded.

"Good. Now go back to Gringotts and get an accounting of all Potter assets. Down on the end of Knockturn there's a clothing store with two entrances. One entrance is here, the other is on the other side of the building out in Muggle London. Only wizards can pass through the barrier into Knocturn. There are no places to get your hair cut on either alley, but there is one straight across the road from the clothing store."

"The Minister told me not to go out with the Muggles," Harry said.

"The Minister isn't in charge of you," Podmore said. "If we're going to make a case for you being able to care for yourself, we'll have to show a history of good decision making on your part. I'll leave it up to you whether or not you want to go out, but I'll say that you should get your hair cut."

Harry nodded. "Yes sir."

"It's Theodore or Podmore. I work for you, you don't need to call me sir. Technically I'm the one who's supposed to call you sir."

Harry frowned. He didn't think he liked that at all. "Ok," he said uneasily.

He stood up to head to Gringotts, but before he made the door Podmore told him, "Don't throw your old clothes out when you get new things. Bring them to me and I'll keep them for evidence."

"Ok- Mr. Podmore."

"Just- go to Gringotts," he said, clearly irritated with his newest client.

Harry grinned at him and exited back out onto the alley. It was nearly lunch and his stomach was starting to rumble.

At Gringotts, the Goblins took his key to confirm his identity and told him to wait at the counter, but he was left waiting for almost fifteen minutes before a manager came out with the teller and looked down his crooked nose at him.

"Why are you asking to see the Potter family holdings?"

"I need to see what's in the accounts," Harry said.

"At this time we are unable to comply with the request."

Harry frowned. "Why not?"

"You are heir to the accounts and assets but there's a hold blocking you from accessing the accounts."

"What hold?"

The goblin handed Harry a piece of parchment and his eyes scanned down it. It looked like Dumbledore had been listed as Conservator of the account.

"What's a conservator?" Harry asked. He had a feeling he knew but wanted to be sure.

"Your account conservator may move funds between your accounts, choose when and if you have access to your accounts until you come of majority, and use funds from within your accounts for your care and keeping."

"Can he take money out of the accounts for other reasons?" Harry asked.

"He may not."

"What counts as care and keeping?"

"There is no definition."

"Can I see a list of what he's done in the accounts?"

"No. The Conservator has placed a hold."

Harry handed the parchment back to the Goblin manager. "Thanks," he said, but he didn't feel very thankful. He withdrew a few Galleons from his personal account and then put them in his pocket and left the bank. He'd have to talk to Podmore about the accounts. It wasn't that Harry really wanted access to the accounts, but Podmore must have wanted to know what was in them for a reason. Also, Harry hadn't discussed Podmore's fees yet and would have to find out soon if he'd have enough from the one account he did have access to to pay him.

Harry spotted Justin outside the orphanage as he walked back down the alley. He was sitting on a crumbling ledge looking bored.

"Hey," Harry said.

"Hey." Justin seemed irritated to see him.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"Wasting away, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Do you want to go with me to the clothing store? I'm not sure where it is."

"So I can watch you buy clothes for yourself?" he asked.

Harry shrugged and pulled at his shirt. "I don't have much. You don't have to come, you just looked bored spending your day wasting away."

"Fine," Justin said, and stood to follow Harry. Justin, Harry noticed, was wearing clothes that didn't look bad. He had a striped blue and gray shirt on and jeans that were a little frayed down near his shoes, but were otherwise ok.

"Why are you wearing those rags anyway?" Justin asked as they walked down the twisting alley.

"It's all I've got."

"Your family doesn't have money for nice clothes?"

"I'm sure they do," Harry said, "just never for me. I always get my cousin's hand-me-downs. They're nice when he gets them, but by the time I get them they're like this."

"Hm."

Justin stopped as the end of the alley came in sight and pointed to a door at the end. "There it is," he said.

Harry moved forward but Justin didn't, and Harry stopped. "You're not coming?"

"We're not friends Potter, and I'd rather be bored than watch you buying a new wardrobe." He turned and went back down the alley, looking miffed. Harry sighed and turned back to the door and went inside. It was a fairly regular looking clothing store and across the store Harry could see the front was a glass wall looking out onto a Muggle street in London.

"Yes?" a young man asked when he'd spotted Harry standing near the back. Harry turned and noticed the door he'd come out of read, ‘Staff Only.'

"Do you only take Muggle money?" he asked. He hoped not because he didn't want to have to go all the way back to Gringotts to exchange his coins for bills.

The man took a shirt off the rack and lifted the price tag up for Harry to see. There was a price in Muggle money in black ink, and below that a shimmering price in wizarding currency. Harry was sure only wizards would be able to see the shimmering ink.

"Thanks," Harry said.

"We don't size things up or down for you, so be sure whatever you get fits. There's no returns if you mess the clothes up with a spell or potions." He left Harry to browse and Harry felt like a kid in a candy store with all the possibilities. He chose a few pairs of jeans, a new pair of pajama bottoms, several t-shirts, new socks and underwear, and a crimson zip up hoodie.

"Excuse me?"

The young man was helping a customer, but a second store clerk had come out of a store room and came over to Harry.

"How can I help you?"

"What would I buy if I wanted to look nice in court?"

Her eyes flickered predictably up to his scar, and she asked, "At the Ministry?"

He nodded.

"You'll need dress robes. You can buy them at Madam Malkin's. You should wear dark slacks and probably a polo shirt under that. You'll also need dress shoes but we don't carry them." She led him to two racks of polo shirts and advised him not to pick out a flashy color, and then pointed out the dress slacks against the wall. Harry thanked her and picked out a pale green shirt and black slacks. His purchases were the exact amount that he had in his pocket, and Harry felt fortunate that he had enough.

The male clerk bagged up Harry's purchase and Harry left the way he'd come in, through the back and into Knocturn Alley. He passed Justin on his way back towards Diagon. Justin still looked irritated and Harry wished he knew why. As far as he knew, he'd never done anything to Justin or said anything rude to him. Instead of passing him Harry decided to turn and go back into the barrister's office. Podmore was inside packing things into his briefcase and looked like he was just getting ready to leave.

"I have less than five minutes to apparate to court, make it quick."

"There's a Conservator on the accounts. It's Professor Dumbledore. I'm not allowed to see any of the holdings."

Podmore shook his head and made a noise of disgust. "I'll have to contact Harrison Silver. He's the one we'll need to get access to those accounts."

"I don't want to work with him," Harry reminded him.

"You don't have a choice. He's the barrister for the Potter accounts. He knows the ins and outs of the accounts and holdings and until you gain full control over them you won't be able to change who represents the accounts."

"I don't know if I can pay him," Harry said. "I don't even know if I can pay you."

"Trust me," Podmore said. "You can."

He ushered Harry back out of the office and hurried down the street, leaving Harry standing there alone. Justin was still watching him.

"What are you so angry about?" Harry asked him, but Justin ignored him and turned around to go into the orphanage. Maybe if Harry had grown up in the orphanage he'd be angry too, but then again, he couldn't say he was entirely happy about how things were going for him just at the moment.

"Harry, this is Harrison Silver."

The man was tall and lean with short, neatly trimmed grey hair. He was wearing a dark grey suit and light gray shirt, and had a green and silver striped tie. He looked a lot different than Theodore Podmore, who's hair was a little wild and whose brown suit looked a little worn.

"Mr. Potter, I'm glad to make your acquaintance." He held out his hand and Harry took it reluctantly in a shake. Harry handed the bag of clothes to Podmore and then sat down in a chair.

"As I'm sure Mr. Podmore has told you, I am on retainer to take care of all legal issues facing the Potter family."

"I have a barrister," Harry said plainly. "When I went to your office a few days ago, I was turned away at the door because my clothes weren't up to par."

Silver seemed to take what he said in good stride and didn't seem perturbed. "Ah yes, I'm afraid I'm sorry about the misunderstanding you encountered with my legal aide."

"It wasn't a misunderstanding," Harry said. "She thought I was poor and wouldn't set an appointment."

"She will be giving you a full written apology as well as a verbal one." He sat down and Podmore sat in his own chair behind the desk.

"Let's get started," Podmore said, looking like he wanted to avoid the rest of Harry's argument and move on. "Albus Dumbledore is currently Harry's guardian, and has been awarded conservator over his accounts and holdings, as I'm sure you already know."

"Yes, unfortunately," Silver said. "I fought against it but the Ministry agreed that his guardian should have the right to move money for his care as needed and gave him full conservatorship."

"Is there any way we can get the accounts back under Harry's control?"

Silver turned to Harry and said, "Is there a reason you want to be back in control?"

"They're my accounts," Harry said, but Podmore cleared his throat to draw attention back to himself.

"I'm making a case to have Dumbledore removed as Harry's guardian. Right now I'm looking for a way to pursue emancipation but it needs to appear as though Harry is managing his own affairs."

"There's no case law to support someone his age coming of majority early," Silver said.

"I know, but it's Harry Potter, he's one of very few wizarding children ever to be placed with Muggle custodians who aren't parents, and we could have an opportunity to make case law."

Silver eyed Podmore critically. "It would be a high profile case," he said. "Are you sure you're up for that? With Albus Dumbledore having access to all of the Potter accounts, he could hire a team of barristers to stop you."

"That's not fair," Harry said, "it's not his money."

"But he does have the right to use it as he sees fit in your care and keeping," Silver said. "He can make a case that it's in your best interest that he remain your guardian, and therefore should use the money to see that it stays that way."

Harry sighed. Things were looking bleak. Maybe his case was bound to end before it even started. "Isn't there any way? I'm not even allowed to look at the accounts and holdings."

Silver opened his briefcase, which was a lot larger on the inside than it was on the outside. It looked as though he had stacks of parchments just like Podmore, but they were all tucked away instead of out in the room. After a few moments, he pulled out a tidy stack and handed it to Harry.

"The Goblins aren't allowed to show you the accounts and holdings, but as the barrister for the accounts I am to be kept apprised of all changes, and I am allowed to show you, since I am on retainer for the Potter family, not Albus Dumbledore."

Harry looked over the first parchment. It was all numbers and figures he didn't understand. He didn't know what to do with it. Finally he looked up and handed it to Podmore to look over. "Can you explain it to me?" he asked.

Podmore was busy looking through the stack though, so Silver cleared his throat and answered instead. Harry was interested to see that he didn't look perturbed or irritated in the slightest that Harry didn't seem to want to deal with him. He just kept going as if everything was going smoothly and it was business as usual. "Let me see page seventeen Theodore." He held out his hand and Podmore rifled through to page seventeen and handed it to him. Silver turned it around so it was facing Harry and said, "These are the Potter holdings, accounts, and properties."

"What's holdings?"

"The businesses you're invested in or own."

It was a long list and Harry let his eyes scan down it. It almost looked like he owned Diagonalley as well as several other properties in places he'd never heard of.

"This- these are businesses on Diagonalley."

"And Knockturn."

"All of them?"

"All but the Leaky Cauldron and Double Lane clothing." That was the store Harry had shopped in yesterday.

"I own both alleys?"

"Technically the Ministry owns the alleys," Podmore said. "But you own the buildings the businesses rent. The McGlaggen's own most of the actual businesses but you own a few outright."

Podmore rifled through the stack again and handed Harry several sheets of parchment. "See, this is this month's rent." Harry felt like his eyes were going to pop right out of his head. If this was what went into the accounts monthly from rent, he bet he was richer than Draco Malfoy.

"There are also profit shares," Silver said. "Your great, great grandfather invested in several businesses that are still around today. A portion of each month's profits goes into the accounts."

Harry looked over another paper they gave him and saw that there was a broom company listed. It was the same company that made the Nimbus 2000 and the new Firebolt he'd seen in the window of the Quidditch shop the other day. It looked as though the share he got from that company's profits were higher than the rest.

"This is a lot of money," Harry said.

"The entirety of the Potter holdings and assets makes the Potter family, or more appropriately, you, the fifth wealthiest in the aisles," Silver told him.

"But I can't use any of it to fight for myself in court," Harry said.

Silver frowned and looked to Podmore for an explanation.

"He only has access to his personal account," Podmore said, handing over the paper Harry had brought back from Gringotts the other day. "It looks like it's an account Dumbledore set up outside of the Potter accounts just for Harry to use for school books and other supplies. It's a lot for a young person, enough to get through school and still have spending money, but not enough to pay a barrister."

Silver took one of the papers back from Harry and pointed at a line. "This account is not under Dumbledore's control as it's the one set aside to pay for legal fees and must remain accessible so that a barrister can continue to be on retainer for the Potters. Your grandfather set the account up so that a percentage of all profit shares and rent would go into it each month. That is what my fees come out of. You can also tell the Goblins to add Theodore Podmore's fees to the list to be taken out."

"There's enough to cover it?" Harry asked skeptically.

"More than enough. Your grandfather was concerned about the possibility of future legal battles over holdings and profit shares and wanted to be certain there would be money to win any lengthy court battles."

Harry's head was starting to hurt trying to make sense of everything they'd shown him.

"Can I keep these to look over?" Harry asked, and Silver nodded.

"I have copies. If you have questions I'm at your disposal. My legal aide knows she is not to turn you away."

"What about others?" Harry asked.

"Others?"

"She can still turn others away."

"As it stands, I take no new clients as my time is taken dealing with the ones I already have."

"Hm," Harry said. He still wasn't happy about how he'd been treated, but so far Silver had treated him with respect and spoken to him like an adult. Harry didn't know if he could make sense of everything he'd been told, but he liked being spoken to like he could.

"So how are we going to get everything back in my control?" Harry asked. He watched as Silver and Podmore's eyes met for a moment and they shared a look.

"We're not," Silver said.

"But I have to."

"Until you've made majority, the accounts will remain under the control of Dumbledore."

"And you need those accounts in your name and under your control to prove you have the means of supporting yourself, and can manage the accounts wisely, so we can make a case for you coming of majority," Podmore said. It was a catch 22 and it made Harry's brain hurt more just thinking about it.

They spoke for a few more minutes, just long enough for Harry to make it clear once again that whilst Silver was representing his business interests, Podmore was representing Harry, and then Harry took his stack of financial accountings and went back to his room in the Leaky Cauldron to lay down. There was a letter waiting for him when he got back. It was from the Headmaster, telling Harry to stay put for a few more days until things could be sorted out with his family so he could return to Privet Drive. Harry huffed in irritation and laid down to take a nap.

Later that evening he spent hours looking over the many sheets of parchment, underlining and circling things, and writing down questions he had for Silver and Podmore. He had an idea, but he wasn't sure how to make it work or if it was even possible.

* * *

"I got this last night," Harry said, handing the letter from the Headmaster to Podmore. Silver was back again at Harry's request. He'd sent a letter off that morning asking for another meeting with both.

"At least we have a few more days," Podmore said.

"But then they'll send me back."

"I'm going to file for a hearing tomorrow afternoon just before the documents office closes. It will take them at least a day to file it, and up to a week to schedule an initial hearing. When I file I'm going to include that until the hearing is concluded you've asked to stay where you are."

"Will that work?"

"At least until the initial hearing, which is when the council will decide if there's to be a full court hearing over the case or not. And since I'll be filing right before the office closes, Dumbledore will have to wait a full day to intervene once he's notified. By that time the paperwork will be too far along for him to stop it."

Harry wasn't sure he fully understood, but Podmore seemed hopeful. With that being taken care of, Harry turned his attention to Silver, who had been listening as he waited patiently.

"You represent the business accounts," Harry said.

"Yes."

"What does that mean?"

"When your grandfather was alive he oversaw all business decisions. When he died, your father chose to pursue a career at the Ministry and wanted nothing to do with the Potter holdings, so he asked me to oversee things. I make sure rent continues to be sent to the accounts, I pay an accountant out of the legal fee account to make sure all the numbers are correct, if there are legal issues regarding Potter family holdings I see to them. In short, I make sure things are running as smoothly as they can."

"So you basically have say over the businesses?"

"Ultimately that is up to you."

"I'm 13."

"And the heir to all Potter holdings. Wizarding majority matters little in the business world Harry."

"So what if I wanted to open a new bank account? Would the Headmaster automatically get control over that since he's my guardian?"

Silver and Podmore looked at each other and Silver said, "Since the account will have been opened solely by you, goblin banking code states it is strictly under your name. Goblin banking code does not care for wizarding majority."

"So he can't put a hold on a new account if I open it?"

"He can't."

"Do you have the power to start sending all future money from the rent and profit shares to new accounts?"

Podmore chuckled and Harry looked over at him. "This is why wizarding majority doesn't matter in business," he said. "I love it Harry."

"You want to stop money from going into the old accounts, and open your own," Silver said. "That's an interesting idea. It would put future moneys under your control and help prove you're able to manage your own affairs. I can do it, but it will take the better part of a week to work out."

"Good," Harry said.

"How would you like the accounts set up?"

Harry frowned. He hadn't thought about it and supposed he didn't really care. "Can you just set them up like they are now? Continue sending however much to the legal fund account and open up new accounts only under my name."

"You're the only one who can open the accounts. We can set a meeting with the accounts manager at Gringotts and I can go in with you. That will take most of the day to open up that many accounts. Getting the funds to start transferring to those accounts is what will take the most time."

Harry felt light when he left the office late that morning. He had at least another week before he might have to return to the Dursleys (or so he hoped), and he felt like things were being set in motion.

Something brushed up against his leg in the dingy alley and Harry startled before he looked down and realized the same mangy black dog that he'd tripped over days before was standing there staring up at him.

"Hey, you're the one who tripped me," Harry said. The dog whined a little and wagged its tail. He knelt down in front of it. "How'd you make your way here huh?" Harry looked the dog over. Patches of fur were falling out and he could see the dog's ribs. "You look hungry." More accurately he looked half starved Harry thought. "Come on then, maybe I can find a place to hose you off before I take you back to the Leaky Cauldron." Harry looked around but didn't see a hose.

"Where'd you get him?"

Harry looked up and found Justin standing with a couple of younger kids. There was a girl and a boy that looked about eight or nine.

"I think he followed me."

"Is he nice?" the girl asked.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I've only known him for a few minutes."

"Looks mangy," Justin commented, coming over.

"I know, I'm gonna wash him but I gotta find a hose. Then I was gonna give him something to eat."

"We have a hose," the younger boy said, looking eagerly at the dog. He reached forward to see if the dog would growl, and when it didn't, came the rest of the way over and started petting him.

"We're not supposed to bring people in," Justin reminded the younger kids, but the boy began to whine.

"Aww come on Justin. He's got a dog. Look at him! We should help clean him up."

"Fine," Justin sighed. "Hurry up then. I'm gonna be mad at both of you if I get in trouble."

Harry and the dog followed the three into an opening in the building that went under the second story. It was an outdoor corridor that led to a dingy courtyard, spotted with brightly colored red and purple flowers hanging from a series of dilapidated window boxes.

"You both live here?" Harry asked of the younger girl and boy.

"Uh huh," the girl nodded.

"I used to live here," Harry said.

"Yeah right Potter," Justin said.

"I did. Mr. Podmore showed me on a paper. Not for very long though, just for a day."

"You're like us then," the girl said.

"I guess," Harry agreed.

There was no hose, but there was a water spigot, and the younger boy turned it on and began splashing water on the dog. Justin disappeared through a door that led inside and came back with a bar of soap. They used it to soap up the dog's fur and then the younger boy took the bar of soap back inside so it wouldn't be found missing.

"He's starting to smell better," the girl said. "Can we keep him Justin?"

"It's not ours Violet. It's Harry's dog."

"Not mine," Harry said. "I don't know if Tom will let me keep a dog in the room."

"You're staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, until they can figure out what to do with me."

"Whaddya mean?" the boy asked.

"I accidentally blew up my aunt marge and my family kicked me out. I caught the Knight Bus and came here."

"Is that why you're in and out of the Barrister's office?" Justin asked.

"I'm trying to find a better place to stay. I don't want to go back."

"Stupid," Justin said, and Harry frowned and looked up at him.

"What?"

"You're stupid. You have a place to go back to and you're just gonna to waste it."

Harry didn't know what to say to him. He didn't want to tell him what it was really like there, so he chose to keep his mouth shut.

The door that led inside opened and a woman in her early twenties stuck her head out and looked around. "I knew someone had to be hiding a dog," she said, coming out the rest of the way and putting her hands on her hips. "Justin, you know better."

"We're not keeping him," he said, "we're just washing him."

"I can tell," she said, pulling the hairy bar of soap out of her apron pocket. "Next time wash the bar of soap at least. Lunch is ready and when kids started coming out of the bathroom covered in black fur I knew someone was trying to hide a dog again."

Violet and the little boy giggled.

"Inside, wash up. Come on." She ushered Violet and the boy past, both still giggling, and then looked over Justin, Harry, and the sopping wet dog. Harry and Justin were equally as wet as the dog was.

"What's lunch?" Justin asked.

"Ham and cheese sandwiches and soup. If your friend is going to eat with us you'd better hurry and wash up before the food's gone."

"He's not my friend," Justin said. "And I hate ham."

"Stupid," Harry muttered, and Justin turned on him.

"What did you say?"

"Well," Harry said, standing straight and wiping his furry hands off on his new jeans, "if you can call me stupid I can call you stupid. You have food to eat and you act like you'd rather skip a meal."

"So? You're over there at the Leaky Cauldron eating whatever you want."

"At least I'm getting a meal. Not like I was before. And maybe if you would have asked me why I was working with Podmore to find a better place to stay, I would have told you that." Well, that wasn't quite true. Harry wasn't sure he would have told him that he hadn't eaten much in the few days he'd spent at the Dursleys between Hogwarts and coming here. He barely knew Justin and he was starting to get irritated with his attitude.

"Justin, go inside and ask Mrs. Ginger for leftovers from dinner after you wash." Justin stalked past her and into the building, leaving Harry alone with the dog and the young woman.

"Well, are you coming? If Justin isn't going to eat his ham sandwich, you can have it."

"I'm allowed? Justin's right, I could go back to the Leaky Cauldron."

"It's lunch time now. You might as well come in. But the dog stays outside."

Harry turned and grinned at the dog, who sat down as if he understood that he wasn't going to be allowed in, and then followed the woman. There were over a dozen children inside, mostly between the ages of five and 12, though Harry noted that there were several older Hogwarts students he didn't know the name of. He recognized one from Slytherin and a few from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Justin was the only one in his year. Younger children giggled and played as they ate their lunch at a long table in a cramped room, and the older kids talked quietly amongst themselves or read as they ate. Justin was nowhere in sight.

"You didn't even leave one extra did you?" the woman said upon seeing the empty plate that had once been piled high with sandwiches. She didn't seem angry though.

"I ate Justin's ‘cause he said he wasn't gonna," the little boy who had helped with the dog said. Some of the kids looked at Harry as he followed the woman into the kitchen in the next room, but no one said anything. Justin sneered at him as he entered, but didn't say anything in favor of eating his lunch.

"Are there any more leftovers from dinner?" the woman asked. "Justin has a guest."

"A guest?" the other woman in the kitchen said, turning around.

"He's not my guest," Justin insisted, but didn't say anything else at the look both women gave him.

This woman was older, probably in her fifties, and had short, curly gray hair. She was only a few inches taller than Harry, and a little round about the middle. She took a step back, looked Harry up and down, and said, "I remember every child who has been through these doors since I've been here."

Harry and Justin looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment and she continued, "I just didn't think I'd see you come back through them again."

"You know him?" the young woman asked.

"Of course I do! This is young Harry. He was only a baby when I saw him last, but here he is, nearly grown now." She stepped forward and had Harry in a tight hug before he could protest, but had him released just as quickly.

"What are you doing back?" She looked up at his black eye and tangle of hair.

"Well, we were washing a dog in your courtyard."

"You're the one," she said.

"I'll bring you a new bar of soap," Harry promised, but she waved him away.

"It wouldn't be the first time children tried to smuggle pets into this house. Dogs, cats, mice, owls!" At the last she looked at Justin, and his cheeks colored red so he turned away to finish his lunch in peace at the counter.

"Here, have something to eat," she said and pushed a bowl of hot leftover noodles into his hands.

"Thank you," he said.

"I hope you haven't been fighting one of mine," she said, pointing to Harry's black eye.

He swallowed a bite of noodles quickly and shook his head. "No maam."

"Good. We don't hold with disagreements getting physical here."

Harry finished his bowl of noodle soup quickly and then moved to the sink to wash his dish, feeling like he should so he wouldn't be a burden.

"Give it here child," the woman said, taking it out of Harry's hands. She cast a spell and the dish was sparkling clean in seconds. "The orphanage may look a sight, but we're not stuck in the dark ages."

Harry looked around the kitchen then, from the cracks running up the gray walls, to the dingy paint and wood floor which looked like it had seen several spills and grease fires. It was clean, but like Harry, sometimes being clean just wasn't enough to make you look presentable.

"I didn't even realize there was an orphanage on Knockturn," he said.

"Oh, Peverell has been here for two hundred and fifty years. About as long as the alley itself."

"Are there alot of kids here?"

"Seventeen. We don't get as many as we used to now that You-Know-Who is gone. Justin, why don't you show Harry around, but make sure you come back here before you leave young man."

"Maam?"

"Your hair looks as poor as my orphanage and I'm going to cut it whether you like it or not." She raised her brows as if daring Harry to fight her on the point, but he knew he needed a haircut so he nodded and told her, "Ok."

Justin grudgingly led Harry out of the kitchen, through the dining room, which had mostly cleared out (Harry could hear a lot of laughter coming from outside and guessed the kids had gone out to play with the dog), and into a long dark hall.

"Bathrooms and laundry are down here," he said, pointing at closed doors as they went. "Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava live down that hall. Boys five and under in that room, girls five and under in that room." The doors to the bedrooms were open and Harry saw that only a few of the beds were made up in the younger boys room and only one in the younger girls room.

Justin led him back down the hall and up the steps to the second floor quickly. It seemed like he was in a hurry to finish Harry's tour and send him on his way.

"Boys six to eight there, girls six to eight there." There was also a room for boys 9-12 and a girls room for 9-12 years old, and the last two bedrooms were for girls ages 13-17 and for boys ages 13-17. Justin seemed to share a room at the end of the hall with four or five other boys. "And that's the schoolroom." Harry looked inside. It was a cramped room with four tables and blackboards on three of the four walls. There were windows on one wall but they looked like they only looked out to the back of a brick building that was close enough you could touch it if the window was open.

"School room?" Harry asked.

"The kids go to school here before they're old enough to go to Hogwarts. Miss Ava is the teacher. Mrs. Ginger runs everything else."

"What's up there?" Harry asked, pointing to another set of stairs at the end of the hall leading up to a third floor.

"No one's allowed up there because it's falling apart. There's spells keeping kids out and keeping water up there from leaking down through the ceiling."

"Is it just more rooms and stuff?" Harry asked.

"I haven't seen it," Justin said. "I heard it was a couple of big rooms with windows looking out over Muggle London."

"Huh."

Harry let Justin lead him back down to the kitchen where Mrs. Ginger was waiting for him with a pair of scissors. "Sit down Harry." He did as he was told, and was surprised that she was done with his hair in a few short minutes. It appeared she had practice. She handed Harry a mirror and he admired how trimmed and neat his hair looked.

"Can I expect to see you again Harry?" Mrs. Ginger asked.

"I- I don't know," he admitted. He supposed his future wasn't certain and he could be spirited away any day if Dumbledore got the idea to do so.

"Well, if I don't see you, I love you Harry."

Harry frowned.

"Don't give me that look young man. I take care of all the children here, that makes them practically mine. You might have only been here for a day and night, but I've thought about you a lot over the years and wondered how you'd made out for yourself."

"Thanks," Harry said, feeling uncertain over her proclaimed affections. "And for the haircut and lunch."

When he finally made it back out to the courtyard, the dog was completely dry and looked exhausted from the ten children running around, chasing it, petting it, and, Harry noted with amusement, trying to get it to stand up on its hind legs and dance.

"All right, come here boy," Harry said, and the dog didn't need telling twice. Some of the kids made noises of discontent, but allowed Harry and the dog to leave.

"You gonna bring him back Harry?" the little boy who had helped wash him earlier asked, following Harry out onto the alley.

"Maybe," Harry said. The boy waved goodbye and Harry returned the gesture. He looked up at the tall orphanage and wasn't sure how to feel about the kids that lived there. On the one hand, he thought he might have done all right if he'd grown up there. The two women who ran it seemed to be nice and care about the kids that lived there. On the other hand, he felt sorry for the kids. At least Harry had grown up in a nice house, even if he had spent most of his time there living in a cupboard under the stairs. The orphanage almost looked held together by magic, and definitely needed repairs. A fresh coat of paint wouldn't hurt either, but Harry also didn't dismiss the idea that the entire building would be better torn down and a new one built in its place.

"There you are Mr. Potter. I must advise you, if you want to appear able to handle your own affairs, it would be wise to show up to meetings on time."

"You said nine," Harry pointed out.

"I said our meeting was at nine. That means we should have been inside starting the meeting already. It's always wise to show up to a meeting early."

"I'm sorry," Harry said as they climbed the steps together.

Silver looked over Harry's attire and new hair cut and said, "At least you look presentable today." Harry had made sure to scrub his hair clean last night, wanting it to look as good as he could with his new haircut, and was wearing his new slacks and polo shirt.

A goblin was waiting for them when they came in. He looked at his watch, but didn't say anything about their tardiness as he led them to an office and told them to sit down.

Silver had been right. It had taken several hours to get the new accounts in order. He'd questioned Harry about an extra account he opened with no title but Harry had only told him he wanted an extra account to hold monies he might need to use. When they left the meeting with the goblin in charge of new accounts, Harry told Silver, "About how much would four percent of the monthly rent and profit be?"

"Almost a hundred Galleons."

"I'd like four percent to go into the unnamed account then. Don't pull anything from the legal funds account though."

"May I ask what the unnamed account is going to be used for?"

"I'm not sure yet," Harry admitted. He didn't really need the money since he still had plenty of funds in his personal account, but he wanted an account he could spend out of if he needed it.

"I'll arrange it," Silver said, trying to hide the doubt in his voice about Harry suddenly being involved in the Potter family holdings as he now was.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid with the money," Harry told him.

"I would never suggest such a thing," Silver said, though he looked as though that was exactly what had been running through his mind.

* * *

"You there."

Harry had just stepped away from Podmore's door when a hushed voice beckoned to him. He turned, looking for the source, and finally found a hunched witch with the crookedest nose he had ever seen staring at him. She was half hidden behind the open door to the sweet shop with dirty windows.

"Me?" Harry asked.

"You."

Harry frowned and looked around. Aside from the two of them, they were all alone in the dingy alley. Not even Justin or the other kids were out sitting in front of the orphanage. Aware that Knockturn was known for all types of dark wizards and creatures, Harry cautiously took a few steps towards the open door, but didn't go close enough for her to grab him if she had designs on kidnapping him or chopping him up to use for ingredients in her treats.

"You're a client of Podmore's?"

"Yes."

"You have money then."

"I suppose," Harry said. If she was thinking about robbing him, he thought it would hardly be worth it. He only had a handful of Sickles and Knuts in his pocket.

"Come in and look at what I have to sell."

She stepped back and opened the door the rest of the way, causing the bell to jingle over her head.

"Er."

"Buy some treats to take to the orphanage," she said, trying to convince him to come in. Harry thought he wouldn't mind buying some things to take to the kids, though he wasn't sure he wanted to buy candy from a shop with such dirty windows and cobwebs in the corners. Keeping his hand on his wand in his back pocket, Harry went inside. The floor was dirty and there were several dried leaves he crunched over as the door closed behind him. He turned, but the witch wasn't there, and when he spun around, wand out, he found her suddenly behind the glass display case.

"I sell sweets, I don't eat children," she said, cackling.

Harry put his wand away, but was aware that she had muttered, "very often." When he gave her an uncertain look, she cackled again.

"Look, the prices are cheap," she said, indicating the sweets behind the glass.

Harry moved forward to look. Despite the fact that the rest of the shop was dirty, the glass display case was clean and the candies inside looked like they were all handmade.

"I don't know what most of these are," he said.

"Charm Chocolate, Chocolate Skeletons, Crystallised pineapple, Glacial Snow Flakes, Jelly Slugs in five flavors, Peppermint imps, Fizzes in twelve flavors, Licorice wands..." there was more, but she stopped listing things off. Harry had seen some of these things on the trolley on the Hogwarts Express, but he hadn't tried many of them.

"I don't know what to buy," he admitted.

"Haven't you eaten any of these on the Hogwarts Express?"

He frowned. "Not much."

"The woman that runs the trolley is my sister. She buys all her candy from me."

Harry raised his brows. He wondered what Ron and Hermione would think if they knew the candy they ate came from a shop on Knocturn Alley.

Looking over the prices Harry said, "A handful of all the flavors of fizzes, and a pound of crystallized pineapple."

She looked like Christmas had come early, but she paused before moving to fill his order. "Aaand?"

Harry frowned. The prices were cheap and he certainly had enough money to buy more. "And 17 peppermint imps," he said, "but that's it. I'm not spending all my money on candy."

She cackled with glee and began measuring things out into clear plastic bags.

"Try one," she said, offering Harry a free Glacial Snowflake. It was a delicate, thin white snowflake the size of a cookie. Harry took it carefully, afraid it would crumble at his touch. When the candy touched his tongue, it melted instantly, giving a refreshing cooling sensation and a mixture of flavors he wasn't sure were tropical or something else. It was good, and he wondered that he'd never tried one before now.

"That's brilliant," Harry said, unable to keep the smile from his face.

"I know. I'm the only one who makes them. It's too bad no one buys them."

Harry frowned, looked around the dingy shop again, and then kept his mouth closed.

"Yes, I know it's dirty," she said. "I'm too old to clean it. I get up every morning at four to come in and make candy, and when I'm finished I have barely enough energy to tend the shop."

"If it were cleaner-"

"It wouldn't matter," she said. "Children don't come down Knockturn alley. There are a few who do, but business is always slow. The sales from the Hogwarts Express are what keep me going."

Harry handed her the money for his purchase and then turned to leave, but he stopped at the door, thought a moment, and then turned back around.

"Why don't you sell on Diagonalley?"

"Rent is expensive there and there aren't any open spaces."

He frowned. "I have five sickles left, how many of those Glacial Flakes will that get me?"

"Fifteen."

"They're worth a lot more than that," Harry voiced aloud as he returned to the counter.

"You're haggling in the wrong direction," she said, putting fifteen glacial flakes in a bag. Harry handed her the money, and then left the shop, turning once he was outside again to look once more upon the dingy windows. The dirt and grime was so thick you could barely see inside.

Trying to push the shop from his mind for the moment, he crossed the alley to the Orphanage to deliver some of the treats he'd purchased.

* * *

Justin seemed to have accepted Harry's peace offering of candy. Harry had given every child in the orphanage a fizz of their choice, a large piece of crystalized pineapple, and a peppermint imp. They had all been delighted, and Mrs. Ginger had explained that the younger children frequently stood outside the sweet shop and pressed their faces to the glass to stare in at the candy they could not afford. Once a year on their birthday Miss Ava took each child to the sweet shop and allowed them to pick out just one item as a birthday present.

The day after he'd given the children the bulk of his candy purchase, Harry found Justin waiting for him on Diagonalley just outside the Leaky Cauldron.

"There you are," he said grumpily. "I thought you would sleep all morning."

"I was doing homework," Harry said, surprised that the boy who seemed to dislike him had been waiting around for him.

"D'you want to do something?" Justin asked.

"I have plans. If you want to help I'll give you a sickle."

He raised his brows. "You think just because I'm an orphan I want your money? Or your candy?"

"I don't think you want either," Harry said, pulling the bag of Glacial Snowflakes out of his ratty backpack. "I'm going to sell these and if you help I figured you'd like a cut of the profit."

"Oh," Justin said, deflating.

"If you hate me so much, why were you waiting for me?"

"Better than wasting away on Knockturn," he said.

Harry and Justin went to the steps in front of Gringotts and stood front and center so they could see both alleys.

"I haven't had one of those before," Justin said.

Harry pulled one out and broke off a tiny piece. When Justin's face lit up at the taste, Harry said, "The sweet shop on Knocturn sells them."

Harry tried approaching a woman and her child to ask if they wanted to buy one, but they seemed to be in a hurry and passed him by without giving him a second look.

"Dumb," Justin said, and Harry turned to glare at him. "That's not how you do it," he said.

"Well you try then."

Justin took the bag and began shouting at the top of his lungs to anyone who would hear. "Rare delightful treat straight from the arctic circle! Made by angels! Incredible taste you've never dreamed of!"

Harry was surprised when several children ran over, followed by their parents soon after. Justin turned and gave Harry a smug look but Harry didn't care since it looked like they were going to sell all of the treats within just a few minutes. Harry had gotten three Glacial flakes for a sickle, but was now selling one for three sickles. Barely twenty minutes had passed before they were gone and Harry and Justin were counting out 45 sickles.

Harry tried to give Justin the one sickle he'd promised but Justin didn't take it. "That's not fair," Justin said. "I sold most of them."

"I'm not keeping the money," Harry said, "except the five I spent on these. And I promised you one sickle."

Justin frowned at him. "Where's the rest of the money going to then?"

Harry motioned for him to follow and led him down Knockturn Alley to ‘Tantalizing Sweets' where he'd bought the candy. The witch looked surprised to see Harry return.

"Yes?" she asked, eager to have not one, but two customers in her shop now.

"I bought fifteen glacial flakes yesterday for five sickles."

"Yes?" her voice lowered like she was wary that Harry wanted his money back. Instead of asking for his money back however Harry pulled out the 45 sickles.

"We sold the glacial flakes for three sickles each out in front of Gringotts. Harry pulled out a sickle and handed it to Justin again, who took it this time. "Justin did all the selling so he gets some of the profit. Harry removed five more and put them in his pocket. "These are the five I paid for the candy to start." Then he handed the other 39 sickles to the shop owner, whose eyes went wide.

"You're giving them to me?"

"It's your product. I told you you were selling them for too little. They're amazing. They should be at least three a piece."

"No one comes to buy them," she said.

"Well maybe they will now that some people have tasted how amazing they are."

She looked skeptical.

"She's right," Justin said. "No one's coming down here. The only chance is to sell out there. It's not like Fortescue is going to complain. He only sells ice cream and pastries."

"I'm far too old to walk up and down the alley selling," the witch said.

Harry turned and looked at Justin, who was flipping his Sickle back and forth between his fingers.

"Justin will sell them," Harry said, "but one sickle for all that work isn't enough. He's only got one now because that's all I promised him."

"You would sell them for me?" the woman asked Justin. Justin looked uncertain but after a moment Harry realized the boy was just thinking things over.

"How much would you give me?" he asked.

The woman opened the money pouch and handed Justin four more Sickles. "If you can sell 45 Sickles worth, I'll give you five."

Harry was pleased as he watched Justin and the shop owner (Tilly Tupper) work out the details, and by the time Harry left with Justin they'd decided that Justin would come every morning and pick up 30 Glacial Flakes and a few bags of Jelly Slugs in the hopes of making himself 11 sickles a day.

"I want brand new robes for school this year," Justin said. "Every year we get hand-me-downs from the older kids. Just for once I want something brand new that's just mine."

Harry nodded, understanding completely as he was walking around for the first time in his remembrance in clothes that were just his and not hand-me-downs from Dudley.

"They'll run 10 Galleons," Harry said.

"Then I'd better sell a lot of candy."

"You should ask her tomorrow if you can earn an extra sickle cleaning her shop," Harry told him. "It's pretty gross in there."

"Yeah," Justin acknowledged.

* * *

Justin clearly had a gift for selling things, and when Harry checked in with him the next day was happy to find that he'd sold out of the items Tilly had sent him to sell on the steps of Gringotts.

Justin was outside the orphanage eating his lunch when Harry found him and told him all about it.

"She was so happy she sent me away with my Sickles and an extra bag of Jelly Slugs," he said. "I gave them to the other kids."

"How come I don't see the other kids out much?" Harry asked. Sometimes he saw kids on Knockturn but hardly ever out on Diagonalley.

"If you're under eight you can't leave the courtyard without an adult. Kids nine to 12 can go out on Knockturn but only from there- to there." He pointed between Tantalizing Sweets and a shop on the other side of the Barrister's office. "The rest of us can go down the rest of the alley and down Diagon if we tell Mrs. Ginger or Miss Ava where we're going, what we're doing, and when we'll be back. If we cause any trouble though our privileges get revoked and we have to hang back in the courtyard."

Harry nodded, taking in the new information.

"So they know you got a job?"

"Yes."

After Justin finished with his sandwich, he invited Harry inside and Harry followed him up to the older boy's room on the second floor. Justin showed him a hole in the wall by his bed where he planned on hiding his money.

"You think it'll get stolen?" Harry asked. "You could open a Gringott's account."

"Those accounts cost money. You have to put in at least a hundred Galleons to open one."

"Oh," Harry said. "I didn't know that."

"No one's going to steal it, but better safe than sorry."

Harry looked around the room and noted there were many holes in the walls, some clearly caused by rough housing and others caused by the pure state of decay the building was in.

After Justin put his money in the wall for safekeeping he and Harry went back out to the second floor landing and sat with their feet hanging over the edge between the railing spindles. Harry thought it was rather boring but didn't mind sitting with someone his own age for a while. All of his homework was finished, he didn't have any questions for the Barristers or appointments with them, and he had nothing better to do to keep himself occupied.

Harry found that sitting on the landing wasn't as dull as he thought it was going to be however. He'd barely been sitting there for ten minutes when he heard a familiar voice from down below.

"Is that-"

"Professor Snape," Justin said, but Harry didn't need his confirmation because a moment later Snape came into view carrying a cardboard box that looked like it had books and robes in it. Snape began talking to Miss Ava, and when he glanced up at the second floor landing, Harry laid back quickly so only his feet and legs were visible dangling over the edge.

Justin didn't point him out and after a few moments it sounded as though Miss Ava and the Professor had walked into the dining room.

"What's he doing here?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"Why'd you disappear?" Justin asked.

They stared at each other. "I didn't fancy being shouted at til' my ears bled," Harry said.

"Snape used to live here," Justin said. "His mum died when he was 15 so he lived here until he was 17. He brings stuff by sometimes. Sometimes people lose robes and books and stuff like that at Hogwarts and he brings the stuff here if it doesn't have a name on it. That's how we get half our school robes."

Harry felt guilty then. He had two used sets of school robes sitting in his trunk at the Leaky Cauldron. Perhaps he should donate them as well. Justin was taller than him so he wouldn't have to wear Harry's used robes, which he was sure Justin wouldn't appreciate, but maybe a younger boy could wear them. They didn't have holes or stains in them anyhow.

When they heard Snape approaching the downstairs hall again, Harry laid back on the floor one more time and listened.

"The school funds are set for the next year," Snape said.

"I'm glad the Headmaster gives free entrance to our children," Ava said. "We wouldn't be able to send anyone without his gesture."

"My vegetable garden is nearly ready for its first harvest. Within a week I should have tomatoes, cucumbers, and a few other things to bring by."

"You're very generous Professor," she said, though Harry could tell her voice had changed somehow.

Snape cleared his throat, said goodbye, and Harry listened to the sounds of his receding footfalls.

"What was that about?" Harry asked.

"She fancies him," Justin said. "I think he might like her too but it's strange ‘cause he won't give her the time of day."

"And he comes by a lot?" Harry asked.

"Depends on when he has stuff to bring by."

Well that was the end of Harry hanging around the orphanage, he thought. He would very much like a Snape-free summer.

After a few minutes Justin was called downstairs to do chores so Harry left and decided to see if Mr. Podmore was available. He was, as it turned out, but he was irritated to see that Harry had just come to see him without having business to attend to.

"I'm busy Potter. I'm your barrister, not your babysitter."

"I don't need babysitting," Harry said.

"Yet here you are pestering me. You're nearly as bad as the children at the orphanage. Find something to keep yourself occupied until I have news for you or paperwork to fill out." When Harry didn't move, Podmore looked up from the form he was filling out and said, "something that's not in my office. I have court in half an hour anyway."

Harry sighed and left the office, but wished he'd stayed inside just a little longer as he found Professor Snape passing by outside.

"Potter-" Snape sneered as soon as he caught sight of him. His lip curled up in disgust and Harry wished, not for the first time, that he could figure out just what was so disgusting about himself so he could change it.

"What would you be doing down Knockturn Alley when I know for a fact your sorry carcass is supposed to be in a room above the Leaky Cauldron?"

Harry held in a sigh and tried to fight the urge to say something sarcastic. Snape acted as though Harry had done something wrong to land himself in this position. He motioned to the sweet shop next door to the barrister and said, "I was going to the sweet shop." It wasn't true of course, but he didn't know if Dumbledore knew that he had a barrister yet and didn't want Snape to tell him. Snape's eyes didn't move to the sweet shop though, and instead flickered to the door Harry had just come out of.

"Yet you were in the barrister's office."

Harry shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention. I guess I walked into the wrong door." He turned to go into the sweet shop, but Snape moved to step in front of him.

"It is... surprising to see the famous Harry Potter down Knocturn Alley. One might think you are up to no good, especially since you are supposed to remain at the Leaky Cauldron."

"The Minister of Magic only told me not to go out into Muggle London," Harry said. "And Professor Dumbledore just told me to wait here until I was collected. I was never told I couldn't go out."

"I am telling you," Snape said.

Harry opened his mouth, but then closed it. He didn't want to push his luck. Technically Snape had no authority over him outside of school, but he could easily go to the Headmaster and tell him, and Dumbledore did have authority over him. He might not be able to send Harry back to the Dursleys for another couple of weeks until court, but he could insist that Harry stay in the Leaky Cauldron.

"I'll go back there now," Harry said, being careful not to promise the man he would stay there when he intended to spend the majority of his time on Diagon and Knocturn.

Snape narrowed his eyes. "See that you do."

Harry turned promptly and walked back down Knockturn away from Snape, and afraid that Snape would check that he'd gone back to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry went back to his room. He'd have to be more careful going out if he didn't want to run into Snape. It was naive to think his teachers spent all their vacation time at Hogwarts, and if Snape was going to bring supplies to the orphanage throughout the summer he would have to make himself scarce.

Harry wrote a letter to Podmore asking if Dumbledore could make him stay at the Leaky Cauldron since he was his guardian, and detailed his encounter with Professor Snape, and sent it off with Hedwig. He didn't get a reply until after dinner. It was a short note attached to an official looking document. The note told Harry to keep the document on him at all times and to present it to Snape or Dumbledore or any other person claiming Harry would have to stay at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry had to read the document several times before it sunk in as it was mostly legal jargon.

WIZ 24729, SUBSECTION B17, AMENDMENT 147

Pertaining to minors or adults under guardianship of a non-parent (defined by WIZ 24729, SUBSECTION B16):

Persons as defined above who are not being legally detained by Wizarding Auror Authority are to be permitted access to the following: place of work or apprenticeship during scheduled work hours, facilities administering medical treatment, educational facilities during scheduled educational hours or terms, Gringotts, offices of legal aide, and routes leading to and from aforementioned locations for purpose of traveling to and from aforementioned locations.

Guardians must make a reasonable effort to allow access to the aforementioned locations. Guardian's not allowing access to the aforementioned locations must prove to the Wizarding Welfare Authority that it would be unsafe for the ward to travel to or from these locations, or to be present at these locations. If safety is proven to be an issue, the guardian must cooperate with Wizarding Welfare Authority to provide safe access.

When Harry finally understood what the law said, he laughed out loud. Dumbledore couldn't prevent Harry from going to school, the hospital, the bank, the barrister or anywhere that he worked, even if he could convince someone it wasn't safe.

He used his wand to make two copies and tucked two of them away in his trunk before folding the other copy up and sticking it in his pocket. He had a feeling if he showed this to Snape the man would rip it up and then laugh at him. Even with extra copies however Harry didn't want to run into the man again and spent the rest of the evening thinking about places he could hide on Diagon and Knockturn if he happened to see Snape again.

The other issue was that he wasn't going to school, the hospital, or work. He supposed he could say he was traveling to and from Gringotts, but he couldn't be going to and from Gringotts all day. The same could be said of the barrister's office. Podmore had already made it clear that he didn't want Harry hanging around his office all day, and Harry thought the same might be true of Mr. Silver. His eyes scanned the law document again. He supposed if he could get a job like Justin he would have reason to be out on Diagon and Knocturn throughout the day. Having a job might give him something to do as well.

* * *

Harry was frustrated. He'd spent an entire day going up and down Diagon looking for work. The problem was, no one wanted to hire a boy who was under 16. Harry had found that the apothecary on Diagon was looking for an apprentice, but they'd learned about apprenticeships at school and Harry didn't want to be bound to a 2 year contract. If he entered into an apprenticeship the master he was bound to would be his legal guardian and could insist that Harry stay there to learn their trade instead of going to school.

He could have gone to shops down Knockturn, but was afraid to do so. The more he went to Podmore's, the orphanage or Tantalizing Sweets, the more he saw unsavory looking characters hanging back in the shadows and around the corners of Knockturn Alley. He thought there must be several shops dedicated solely to dark artifacts as well, and didn't want to be employed by any of those, let alone risk stepping foot inside one of them.

"Mr. Potter."

Harry turned from where he'd been sitting at a table outside Fortescue's and found Mr. Silver.

"Sir."

"I have been going over the ledgers. Profits from one of the shops has gone up this month."

"Tantalizing Sweets?" Harry asked.

"How did you know?"

"Tilly hired a Hufflepuff to sell candy out on the steps of Gringotts. They've been selling a lot the last few days." He'd seen Justin out selling every day this week and he always seemed to sell out of whatever Tilly sent him out with. It had only been four days since he'd been hired, but Harry had a feeling it had been a big boost in sales for the witch.

"They made an extra 6 Galleons."

"They'd make more if people went down Knocturn. I'd ask her to hire me but I don't want to take sales away from Justin."

"Hire you?"

"I need a place to work," Harry said. "I've been looking all day."

"Why would you need to work?"

Harry pulled out the legal document and showed him. "When Professor Dumbledore finds out I'm not at the Leaky Cauldron he's going to insist I stay inside. I need a place to work to give me reason not to be locked away all day."

"Am I correct in assuming you are in part responsible for the increase in sales at Tantalizing Sweets?"

"Yes," Harry said. "So?"

"You own 10 shares in that business, meaning you get 10% of profit, and you collect rent on that building. Technically you are conducting business by traveling to the shop. As owner of the buildings, and as a business man having interest to see profit go up so you can collect more profit shares, both alleys are your place of business."

"That's brilliant," Harry said. "I didn't think of that."

"If you make wise decisions and follow wise counsel on your business holdings, you will never have to work. Your financial needs would be met for life and you would leave your descendants a substantial inheritance as was left for you."

"You don't have to worry about me," Harry said. "I'm not going to mess things up. I don't know enough about business to do anything anyway."

"That is what some may find worrying."

Harry raised his eyes. "By some you mean you."

"I wouldn't presume to-"

Harry stood up and waited for him to finish, but he didn't.

"Presume," Harry said. "You said you've been dealing with all the family holdings and businesses, so you know more about it than anyone else. You have to care because it's your job and because your pay is coming from the profits, and if I mess that up you make less money. It's ok," Harry said. "If I do something idiotic you should say something. I'm just a kid, remember?"

"In that case," Silver said, "the fact that you know so little about business is worrying. If you step in and begin changing things without being aware of the intricacies of running a profitable business, you could do more damage than good. The livelihoods of every shop owner on the alleys is at stake. If you make the wrong changes you could cause them to lose everything. That affects your profits, my pay, and their entire family."

"So I did the wrong thing with Tilly's shop?" Harry said. In truth he hadn't even been thinking about him owning shares in her shop or the building she paid rent on. He just knew her candies were worth more than she was selling them for and wanted to prove it to her, and ended up wanting to help Justin out along the way.

"I wouldn't pre-" Silver paused, remembering that Harry had told him to speak what he thought. "Just be careful Mr. Potter," he said. "Small changes can have lasting effects."

Harry nodded. Silver went through the door leading to his office above Fortescue's and Harry sat back down at the outdoor table to think. Podmore had talked a lot about proving things. Everything seemed to need proof. Dumbledore would have to prove it was unsafe for Harry to be on the alley or that it was unsafe for him to live anywhere but 4 Privet Drive. Harry would have to prove he could take care of himself if he was going to reach majority early. That probably extended to his use of the alleys as well. He'd have to prove he was conducting business if he wanted to be out and about, but Silver seemed worried that he'd mess everything up. Harry was worried about that too. He really didn't know anything about business. If this were Ron's problem he would ask his dad. Harry didn't have that luxury though. If Hermione were having to deal with this she'd find a book. There was a bookstore on Diagon and a used bookstore on Knocturn, and he supposed it wouldn't hurt to spend a little money on books if he was going to learn something from them.

He rose and headed towards Flourish and Blotts, but was stopped before he made it halfway down Diagon. Albus Dumbledore was heading towards him, and even if he wanted to hide he knew he wouldn't be able to hide forever since the man knew what room he was staying in.

"Harry my boy," Dumbledore said when he spotted him, giving him a warm smile.

"Sir," he said.

"I trust you have been enjoying your stay in the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Yes sir," Harry said. "You didn't say I couldn't go out though..."

The Headmaster held up his hand and motioned for him to move to the side of the alley to a less crowded spot near a wall where they could talk without having to shout to be heard.

"I expected you to stretch your legs," he said. "One couldn't expect a youngster such as yourself to stay cooped up inside on warm summer days. I trust you haven't spent all of your money on ice cream though?" Clearly he'd seen Harry sitting at the table outside Fortescue's.

"No sir," Harry said. Dumbledore had a way of speaking that made him feel calm, but he wasn't sure if he should feel calm or on edge since the Headmaster was probably there to collect him and take him back to Privet Drive.

"Good, though one couldn't blame you if you had."

"When I saw Professor Snape he said I had to stay inside the Leaky Cauldron," Harry said.

"Yes, he did mention he saw you coming from Mr. Podmore's office on Knocturn Alley. One must be careful Harry, as Knocturn Alley is not the safest place for a young man to be, especially after dark."

"Yes sir," Harry said. He knew the man was trying to pry information, but if he wanted it, he'd have to come straight out and ask.

"I was made aware of a petition to the court for you to not return to your aunt and uncle's house. I spoke to Harrison Silver but he said you had not approached him about your case. I did not imagine you had gone to Mr. Podmore for legal aide."

Harry didn't say anything and wondered if Dumbledore would keep talking to fill the silence. He did. "I must ask why you did not come to me about this first before approaching a barrister."

"I didn't even know you were my guardian until the barrister told me," Harry said. "I didn't know I had to tell you."

"Ah," the Headmaster said, looking uncomfortable for the first time in Harry's remembrance. "In order to get you out of the orphanage and into your family's home, someone had to take custody of you."

"I think I would rather have lived at the orphanage sir."

"Now dear boy, your family means well."

Harry frowned up at him and then pointed at his black eye. "I don't want to go back there sir. I don't think they mean well. They don't even like me. I keep telling you I don't want to go back and you keep making me go back."

"I only want what's best for you Harry," he said, eyeing Harry's eye, which it appeared he'd been ignoring up to that point.

"There's got to be someplace else," Harry said. "Stick me back in the orphanage."

"I don't believe that would benefit you. My goal is to keep you safe."

Harry's mind flickered to the legal document in his pocket. Dumbledore had mentioned wards on the Dursley's home before, and protection, but Harry had never understood how he could be safe under aunt Petunia's strict rules and uncle Vernon's iron fist. "So you're going to make me go back."

"I'm afraid it's for the best Harry."

Sarcasm was clawing Harry's insides trying to make its way out. He wanted to bite Dumbledore's head off, but the sad look in the man's eyes quelled the urge. He did seem to care, but Harry couldn't understand how he could send him back to the Dursley's if he cared. Ron had always claimed Dumbledore was barmy, and he'd heard Draco and a few others say similar things. Maybe that was the problem.

In as respectful a tone as he could muster, Harry said quietly, "The court will have to decide then."

"I would rather not have to drag the issue through court," Dumbledore said. "Any damage you may have been subjected to at home will be aired before the entire court as well as the media."

"Find me someplace else to live then," Harry said. "Anybody who cares about me wouldn't put me back in a house where this kind of thing happens." He couldn't help but let his feelings seep through his tone when he was upset like this. As the Headmaster's sad blue eyes traveled back to Harry's black eye, Harry felt like he was completely alone in this. Dumbledore had been the only person to ever say he cared about him, but it certainly didn't feel like he cared. Harry walked away, leaving Dumbledore staring after him in the busy alley. Instead of going back to his room, he found a quiet place outside the robe shop and settled himself down on the ground in the shade with his back against the cold stone wall. Podmore and Silver had to care about what he wanted and his case because he was their client and he could fire them if they didn't. It didn't sting then when Podmore told Harry not to hang around or ask him for too much advice, or when Silver acted like his servant and spoke carefully around him. The encounter with Dumbledore on the other hand bit at him like an icy wind. What Dumbledore said confused him more than ever. I care, but not enough to keep you safe. I don't want your injuries aired in front of everybody, but I want to send you back to keep getting beat up. Harry thought about it until his head hurt and tried to figure it out, but he couldn't. The nearest he could figure was that what Dumbledore was saying would be like if Ron kept pushing him down and kicking him, but then saying they were still friends when his actions weren't friendly at all. As far as Harry was concerned, actions spoke louder than words.

"You've been looking over those for a long time," Basil Flourish said. He was one of the two brothers who ran the store.

Harry looked up at him from his spot on the floor. He'd been there all morning.

"These all look impossible to understand," Harry said, "but I need to figure out which ones to buy because I need to understand." He couldn't help the desperate tone from coming through in his voice.

"Why?" Basil asked. "Wouldn't you rather read the newest Hailey Porter book?"

Harry spared a glare for the thirty something year old who had a smirk on his face. "Not funny," Harry said. He'd only found out last year that there were adventure novels based off of his own life being written and sold as young adult novels. Instead of being about a boy in Gryffindor though, it was about a girl named Haily Porter who was in Ravenclaw. She was sharp-witted and always did battle with the evil wizard Magmaport. She was severely disliked by the Transfiguration teacher, who was the Hufflepuff head of house, and who always gave her detention for every little offense. On the previous occasions Harry had come into Flourish and Blotts over his two week stay on Diagon, Basil had always tried to get Harry to buy a copy, and Harry always told him no. It had become a ritual, and Harry thought that one day he might buy a copy and burn it in front of Basil's eyes just to get a rise out of him. In the newest book Haily Porter had flown a yellow schoolbus to school and at the end of the year done battle with a giant tusked pig in the school basement in order to save her best friend's brother. The more he thought about it, the more he did want to burn a copy, or all of the copies. He wondered who was reporting to the author about the things he did.

"C'mon," Harry said, clearly not amused. "I need help. Which one of these do I buy?"

"What exactly do you need to know?"

"I need to know about running a business."

"You want to start a business?"

"No I want to know about running a business in general. I just found out a couple weeks ago that my family owns several businesses and I've been told that I need to learn or I'll mess everything up."

"Well all of these books will help you," Basil said, "but only if you have some experience to equate the knowledge to."

"Meaning?"

"You need real-world experience."

Harry gave him another unamused look. "Well I already asked you for a job," he said. Basil's brother Bennett had been the one to tell Harry they wouldn't hire him.

"At 13 you're a liability. You would need to get a parental consent form signed to work here, and we'd have to buy extra insurance in case you got hurt or royally messed up the till or anything else."

"I get it," Harry said, still irritated.

"But I don't see why you couldn't come in for a few days a week and help out without pay. As a volunteer we wouldn't have to insure you or anything."

"You'd teach me?" Harry asked.

"Sure. Besides, you're Harry Potter, you'd be good for business. Even Bennet would agree to that."

"And if I read something in one of these books and don't understand-"

"Don't worry about it Harry. We'll get you sorted out."

Harry stood up and picked up all five books he'd been looking through and took them to the counter to pay for them, and then Basil led him into the back to talk to Bennet.

"He's not really a volunteer," Bennet said. "You know he has shares here and owns the building."

"He wants to learn," Basil said.

Bennet gave Harry a close looking over. "You're just a kid, understand? We own the business. It's not for you to come in and tell us what to do."

Harry raised his brows. "I don't want to run your business. I don't know anything about business, that's why I want to learn. I only just found out that I owned anything of value at all. Mr. Silver told me I'd screw things up if I didn't learn what running a business is all about."

"Silver," Bennet said, sounding irritated, as though he had some beef with the man.

"You don't like him?" Harry asked.

"Nevermind," Basil said, cutting in. "Let's take him on Bennet. You know if people start seeing The Harry Potter around the store they're going to come in and buy more."

"More business never hurt anyone," Bennet said, thinking it over.

They worked out a schedule and Harry took a copy of it with him. Basil told him to read his new books as often as possible and write down any questions he had so he could ask them when he came in. Harry was supposed to come in from 7 am to noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He was looking forward to it if for no other reason than to have something to do.

When Harry left the shop he wondered if anybody else would be willing to let him see how their businesses were run, but the only other shop owner he had really talked to was Tilly, so he went down Knocturn Alley and into her shop. Justin was inside sweeping the floor and Tilly was relaxing behind the counter on a chair and looked like she was enjoying herself.

"Harry!" she said. Justin looked up from the dust he was sweeping up. "Come to buy sweets?"

"Not today," he said.

She looked disappointed but he walked up to the counter anyway. "I'm going to be learning about how to run a business at Flourish and Blotts, and I wondered if I could learn a little from you as well. Not a job... no pay, just, teach me a little about how your business works."

"No pay?" she asked.

He shook his head. She didn't make that much and he didn't want to take away from Justin's earnings. He was really hoping Justin would be able to earn enough for his new robes by the end of summer.

"Well-" she said, "you have helped me sell more, and you found Justin for me."

"So it's a yes?" he asked brightly.

"I suppose. I've been running this business for fifty seven years you know. I suppose I should impart some of my knowledge on to young people like you."

"And me," Justin said, coming over with his broom. "I want to learn too."

"I'm not going to pay you to learn," she said, eying him.

"I'll learn on my own time," he said.

"All right then."

"Afternoon or morning?" Harry asked.

"I teach Justin how to make candy in the mornings," she said. Harry looked over at the boy and thought that for only having worked for her for 6 days he seemed to be doing alright for himself. He wondered how much she was paying him to help make the candy.

"Afternoon then."

Harry pulled out his schedule from Flourish and Blotts and marked down 1-3 pm on Mondays. He'd have just enough time to eat lunch on Mondays between Flourish and Blotts and the sweet shop, and he'd still have plenty of free time during the rest of the week to write to his friends and read his new books. Harry pulled one of the books out of his bag and handed it to Justin.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I bought business books," he said. "I'll read the ones I have, and you can read that one, and when we're done we can swap."

Justin scratched the back of his head and looked uncomfortable.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I have a hard time remembering what I read unless I can mark in the book."

"Mark in it then," Harry said. "Whatever you find interesting enough to mark will probably be helpful to me later when we swap books anyway."

"Thanks," he said, looking relieved.

Harry left and went back to his room in the Leaky Cauldron to settle down for an afternoon of reading. By dinner he had barely made it through a few pages of the first book he opened however. Nothing made sense and the book was clearly written for an adult or someone who was already running their own business. There was a lot of terminology Harry didn't understand and he spent most of his time writing questions down on a piece of parchment to take to Flourish and Blotts in the morning.

At seven the next morning, Basil seemed ready for Harry's questions however.

"What do you have for me?" Basil asked. Harry handed over his list and pointed to the first few words he didn't understand. "What's the difference between Oligopoly and Monopoly?" Basil read aloud. He spent over an hour explaining things to Harry while Harry took notes, and in the end he had to re-explain several items Harry was confused about, but when they were finished with Harry's questions, he thought he understood. Basil had Harry carry boxes out to stock shelves for a few hours as well as clean the windows of the shop front (Harry suspected this was to bring in customers who would see Harry from the alley since his scar was fully visible now with his new haircut. An hour before lunch, Bennet called Harry into the back and started showing Harry how to calculate the stock they had on hand and look at what they had sold that month and what they expected to sell in the coming month as Hogwarts students would begin to pour in to buy textbooks. Harry's brain felt like mush by the time he left at noon to get lunch and he decided to skip reading through his business book that afternoon in favor of a nap.

He spent the next morning trying to read but failing to understand, before giving up for the second part of the day so he could reply to letters sent by his friends and then go out on the alleys for some fresh air. He'd barely stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron and through the brick wall onto the alley when Snape's voice sounded by his ear.

"Potter. You were told to stay in your room."

Harry decided it was best not to open his mouth and start a fight, and instead pulled out the document Podmore had given him and handed it to Snape. The man snatched it from him and let his eyes scan down it briefly before thrusting it back into his hands. Harry scrambled to grab at the fluttering parchment before it fell to the ground.

"Nothing on that paper gives you permission to be out of your room."

"I'm not a prisoner," Harry said. "I'm aloud to be out for work and school."

"You have neither a job or a school in session to attend."

"The Headmaster never told me I couldn't be out on either alley, and I do have work and school."

Snape raised his brows, as if inviting Harry to explain, but Harry knew better than to think Snape would take his word at anything. He was waiting to mock Harry or shout at him, or perhaps both for any answer Harry gave. He ploughed on anyway hoping to avoid a confrontation all the same.

"Flourish and Blotts took me on to learn about business."

"And why pray tell would you need to know about such a thing?"

"Because I was told I would ruin things if I didn't know." The answer didn't seem to appease Snape however, so Harry continued. "If I'm to someday manage the businesses my family own, I have to know what I'm doing."

"Yes," Snape sneered, "I wondered when you would begin to flaunt your family fortune to anyone who would hear."

Harry bit down on his tongue. He wasn't flaunting anything. "You asked."

Snape sneered at him and turned on his heel to stalk away. Harry shook himself, trying to rid himself of the notion that he'd somehow put his foot in his mouth or caused the man to be angry with him in some way, but in the end decided that he'd never really done anything to earn Snape's wrath and that it would come at him full force whether he was respectful or not.

* * *

After Harry earned himself another headache on Friday trying to figure out business jargon and terminology at Flourish and Blotts, he ran into Justin on the steps of Gringotts. Justin had just finished selling candy and was getting ready to take a bag full of Sickles and Knuts back to the sweet shop.

"How's the reading been going?" Harry asked, wondering if Justin had been faring better than he had.

"I read the entire book, but I didn't understand any of it. Miss Ava tried to help me, and I think I figured a few things out, but I'm not sure."

"Me too," Harry said. He pulled out the notebook he'd been keeping notes in and handed it to Justin. "I'll make a copy if you want. Basil and Bennett have been trying to explain things to me."

Justin took the notebook and flipped through it for a moment and then handed it back to Harry. "We need a shared diary."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "A what?"

"Two journals linked together. When one person writes in their copy, the words appear in the other person's copy. Then we could share notes."

"That would be good," Harry said. "If you had questions you could write them down and when I go to Flourish and Blotts they could answer both of our questions and I could share the answers with you."

"Shared diaries are expensive," Justin said.

"Do they sell them here?" Harry asked.

"Flourish's should sell them."

"Hm." Harry went to the orphanage with Justin after he dropped the money off to Tilly and was paid his five sickles for selling that morning. Mrs. Ginger gave Harry and Justin both a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple and they ate it in the kitchen.

"I'm proud of you two," she told them as they finished their lunch. "No one will hand anything to you. You've got to make opportunities for yourselves in this world."

"That's not true," Justin said. "Harry's got all he needs."

"Hush," Mrs. Ginger said, but Harry didn't think Justin had said it like he was irritated. He didn't seem to mind Harry's company as much as he had when Harry had first turned up on Knockturn Alley.

"Well he does," Justin said. "He owns practically everything on both alleys."

"Yet he still turned up with almost nothing," Mrs. Ginger reminded him. "He has what he does today because he went looking to change the opportunities he had, and by the looks of it he took you with him despite your sour attitude."

Justin grunted to acknowledge that he'd heard but didn't want to take part in the conversation anymore. Justin took his apple and left the kitchen, leaving Harry and Mrs. Ginger alone.

"Don't mind him Harry. He's had a rough go of things. He's lucky to have a place to live, but he's unlucky in some ways too. It's easier in some ways for the children that don't remember having anything else, but he remembers. His parents died when he was six, and he and his sister had to leave a nice home to come here. So he knows what he's missing out on."

"Doesn't seem like it's so bad here," Harry said quietly, remembering that he'd told Dumbledore he'd rather live here than the Dursleys. He wouldn't be missing out on anything by coming here. In fact, he'd be gaining an awful lot. Three meals a day, a bed, the ability to go out on the alleys, and two adults who seemed like they cared for the children in their charge.

"No," she said, looking at Harry's eye, which had nearly healed now. It had gone from black, to blue, to mottled yellow and brown. "I don't suppose it is."

As Harry left the orphanage that afternoon, he tried to put himself in Justin's shoes. He wondered if Justin's house had been nice, and if he'd had a nice yard to play in, and nice clothes before his parents had died. Losing parents was hard enough. Losing everything you knew would be even harder on top of that. He wished the orphanage was nicer, not just for Justin but for the kids that knew nothing else aside from the orphanage.

* * *

As cool evening air came in through the open second story window, Harry lay on his bed petting the mangy stray dog that had stuck with him since he'd turned up two weeks ago. The dog rarely went out with Harry unless it was one of his days off (and Harry wondered how the dog knew it was his day off, but he did), and spent most his time sleeping on the end of Harry's bed or eating the leftovers from the meals Tom delivered.

Harry scratched behind the dog's ears as he looked over the copy of the holdings that Silver had given him. Right in the middle of the long list, Harry's eyes found Peverell's Orphanage. He couldn't tell whether he owned it, or whether he owned the building they were renting. He didn't think an orphanage should have to pay rent, especially on a building in such poor repair. He scratched down several questions and then went to bed. He had a long day tomorrow as it was his first day of going to both Flourish and Blotts and the sweet shop. He had designs on going to see Mr. Silver after he spent his time with Tilly and Justin, and aside from lunch he figured he wouldn't get a break at all until dinner.

* * *

"Here," Harry said, handing a black journal to Justin as he entered the sweet shop.

"What's this?"

"Dual diary," Harry said. Justin's eyes grew big.

"You bought one? It must have cost a fortune!"

"25 Galleons," Harry said. "I paid extra to get the extra large one. Hopefully it'll last us through the summer. Write small if you can but make sure I can read it. I figure if you write in blue ink and I write in black ink then we can tell who wrote what. I'll copy everything over out of my other notebook into the journal tonight."

Tilly listened to the boys conversation for a few moments, and when they were done talking about the journal, beckoned them over to the counter. She had a large, ancient looking book open.

"This is every sale I've ever made since opening," she said. Harry and Justin looked over the most recent page that showed that week's sales. There were columns listing confectionary items, the price they sold for, and the number sold. There was also a column in red ink with a number.

"What's this one?" Justin asked, pointing at the red column.

"That's the cost of making the candy. I spent 10 Sickles making jelly slugs last week, and I sold 20 Sickles worth of jelly slugs last week, meaning I had a 10 sickle profit." There was a green column for profit next to the red column.

She moved down the page to a line showing cauldron cakes. "I didn't make any profit on those last week. I spent 15 Sickles making them, and I didn't sell any, so that's a 15 Sickle loss."

She showed them several more numbers and columns on the page and then gave each boy a piece of paper and a quill.

"Harry, open up to the first month of sales and calculate profit, expenditures and loss and the types of items that were sold, and Justin you do the same for the last month of profit. Then compare."

They set to work, awkwardly trying to share the book by holding the vast number of heavy pages in the middle straight up so they could look at both the front and back of the book simultaneously, and began taking notes. Tilly scolded them both several times for writing incorrect numbers down and for not keeping their notes organized in columns like she had laid out on the pages of the book. When they were both done she asked them to explain what they found to her, and talk about why the sales from the two compared months were so different. They discussed it until three, and then Harry and Justin left together.

"She can't read," Justin said. "I don't think she was teaching us anything. She just wanted us to look at numbers and tell them to her so she could figure out what was going on with her money."

"What do you mean she can't read?"

"She's half blind," Justin said. "When she shows me how make candy in the mornings I always have to read the recipe cards to her."

"But she must be able to," Harry said, "she writes everything down in that ledger."

Justin shook his head as he stepped away from Harry to go back to the orphanage as Harry continued towards Gringotts. "It's all a charm," he said. "When she makes a sale a quill pops out and starts writing numbers in the book in different colors of ink."

Harry frowned as he parted ways with Justin and left Knockturn. Even if Tilly had been wanting them to go over things for her benefit, he still felt like he'd learned something. Basil had gone over the Flourish and Blotts ledger with him, and it looked a lot different than Tilly's. It had some of the same things like expenditures and inventory numbers, but the Flourish and Blott's ledger was more consistent with high earnings. From what Harry had seen in Tilly's ledger, she used to be a wealthy woman and used to sell a lot more sweets. Now, even with the items Justin was helping her sell, she was barely making enough to cover rent on the building.

Harry went up to Mr. Silver's office and asked if he could see him. This time the secretary didn't turn him away and looked flustered that he was there at all. Harry couldn't decide if it was because she had been so rude to him before, or if it was because he was The-Boy-Who-Lived. He hoped it was the former, because he hated being treated different just because of the scar on his forehead.

"Mr. Potter," Silver said when Harry appeared in his office door. "Come in."

"I had a question," Harry said, sitting in a modern black leather chair in the pristine, brightly lit office.

"Of course."

"On the list of holdings you gave me, the orphanage is listed. Do I own it, or just the building and they're paying rent?"

"You own the building, and they do not pay rent."

"The building is in such bad shape though."

"It is. I have not been over there for some years, but I can imagine it is worse now than it was before."

"Where does the orphanage get its money? It doesn't look like they have much to feed the kids or to give them. A professor brings lost Hogwarts robes to them so the kids can have something to wear to school."

Silver pulled out a stack of parchment and flipped to a page pertaining to the orphanage. "Your great, great grandfather, Percival Peverell started the orphanage. Your grandfather was the last to adjust funds going into their account." He slid the parchment across his desk to Harry and pointed at a number next to a date. "20 Galleons a month?" Harry asked. "That's barely anything. They have 17 kids over there and the two women who run it live there full time too."

"Yes," Silver said. He seemed to be more interested in Harry's reactions than to the news that the orphanage didn't have enough money to provide for themselves. "They're surviving off of donated food from a Professor's garden," Harry said.

"Did you have another question?"

Harry huffed in irritation. His family owned the orphanage and it was in such bad shape. It didn't sit right with him. "Why aren't they getting more?"

"As I said before, your father was not interested in managing family holdings. At the time your grandfather set the funds, 20 Galleons a month was more than enough to provide for the orphanage."

"How much should they be getting today?"

"That would not be something for me to decide."

"But you oversee the accounts."

"Oversee, not make changes to, at least not without authorization."

"What would you estimate they might need?"

Silver seemed to be considering him. "Theodore told you to make decisions on your own, yes?"

"Yeah but-"

"And his reasoning for that?"

"If we have to make a case for majority I have to prove I can take care of myself."

"More than that, you have to prove yourself... in all ways."

"So-"

"Any of your dealings with either myself or Mr. Podmore are likely to be called up in court to be questioned given the nature of your case and the claims Theodore is going to make on your behalf."

"So you're not going to give me advice."

"I can, but it wouldn't be in the interest of your case."

"You're not on my case though, you're managing the holdings."

"I'm still the Potter barrister," he said. "Even if Theodore represents a specific case for you, and even if you assert you don't want my advice on that case, it's still in your interest if I take an interest in your other legal dealings."

Harry tried to work over what he'd said. Podmore had made it clear he wasn't going to give him advice, and now Silver was making the same decision.

"You said if I did anything stupid you would say something."

"Asking me for advice about what to do with the orphanage would be a mistake," he said. "That is information you are able to learn on your own by asking the right questions to the right people. From the answers you get, I would expect that a smart up-and-coming entrepreneur such as yourself would be able to make a wise decision for himself on what to do with his family holdings."

Harry felt irritated, and stood up a moment later to leave.

"And Mr. Potter-"

Harry turned back around to the man who wore an irritatingly relaxed smile. "What you've been doing at Flourish and Blotts and Tantalizing Sweets-"

"Yeah?"

"I would keep doing more of what you're already doing."

Harry nodded and left the office. At least the man approved of something. He must have heard from someone that Harry had been learning from the Flourish brothers and Tilly.

As Harry entered the Leaky Cauldron a few minutes later, Tom caught sight of him and asked, "What would you like for dinner tonight Mr. Potter?"

"Whatever you have is fine," Harry said.

"You're too easy to please," Tom said with a smile. Harry didn't bother going up to his room and instead followed Tom into the kitchen. Tom pulled out leftovers from lunch and served up a large helping of vegetables and a pork chop and handed the plate to Harry. "Do you have any scraps of meat left?" Harry asked.

"Cooked or uncooked?"

"Whatever you have," Harry said. Tom pulled out a bowl and put all of his leftover meat and fat scraps into it. "Thanks," Harry told him, and he took the food up to his room. The dog was ready for him and nearly knocked Harry over when he came in the door with dinner.

"Ok ok, calm down," Harry said, putting the bowl of meat scraps on the floor and then sitting at the desk to eat his own dinner.

"What would you do about the orphanage?" Harry asked the dog, not expecting an answer. "Silver won't tell me what to do since I'm supposed to prove myself. He said ask the right people the right questions." He speared the entire porkchop with his fork and then took a bite without bothering to cut the meat up. "I know the right question, how much do they need? Who am I supposed to ask though? I don't know how much one person needs to live a month, how am I supposed to figure out how much 19 people need?"

The dog barked and Harry looked down at him. "What? You want my porkchop too? Here, have broccoli."

Harry threw a scrap of broccoli on the floor, and the dog nosed it, but didn't take a bite. "Well that was a waste, wasn't it?" Harry lamented. He was hungry. "You can't have my porkchop."

The dog barked again and then put his paws up on Harry's lap.

"No," he said, and stuffed the entire porkchop in his mouth. When he had finished chewing it up and swallowed, nearly choking, he stared at the dog, who still had his paws on Harry's lap.

"You're no help if all you want to do is eat my food." All he got was another bark in response.

"I wonder if Basil would know. Maybe Bennett, he seems like he runs all the finances," Harry thought out loud, mind still on the orphanage.

The dog dropped to the floor and then went to a stack of papers on Harry's desk and pulled one off onto the floor and barked again.

"What's with you? You gotta go out or something?" The dog nosed the paper in response and smeared it's wet nose across it. Harry grabbed at it, irritated, and looked at the large wet spot the dog's nose had left right over the word orphanage. Ignoring the dog, because chastising him hadn't worked so far, Harry took the parchment and went to lay on his back on the bed. He stared at the wet spot, going over possibilities of how to figure things out in his head. After nearly ten minutes his eyes came into focus again on the paper. The wet spot had nearly dried.

"The orphanage," Harry said aloud. The dog barked, causing Harry to startle and meet its eyes as it was staring at him. "You want me to ask the orphanage?" Another bark.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you weren't a normal dog. Are you magic then? Hedwig is smarter than a normal owl, and Neville swears Trevor helps him with his homework... that's his toad."

The dog finally seemed to settle down and jumped up on the foot of Harry's bed and curled into a ball, tucking its tail under its chin.

If anyone would know what the orphanage needed it would be Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava.

* * *

"Can I see what's on the third floor?" Harry asked Mrs. Ginger the next day at lunch.

"No one has been up there in years. There's charms holding the roof up."

"Don't the charms have to be renewed sometimes?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Professor Snape comes and renews them."

"He's due in today isn't he?" Harry asked. Normally he would try to avoid Snape, but he wanted to see what kind of shape the third floor was in. He'd heard Justin mention Snape the day before when they were looking at Tilly's ledger.

"Yes-"

"Maybe he could renew the charms today then."

"Why do you want to see what's up there?"

Harry thought about it. "You know Justin and I are learning about business."

"Yes."

"It has something to do with making opportunities."

"Hm. I suppose."

"You'll ask him then?" Harry was surprised she wasn't going to question him more about it.

"It is about that time that the charms will have to be renewed."

"Do you think you could ask him if I could go with him?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Professor Snape doesn't like me."

She gave him a hard look but in the end seemed like she believed him. "If any other child said that to me, I might not believe them."

"How come you believe me?"

She didn't answer and Harry wrinkled his nose. "Is it because I'm me? I don't want to be treated different just because of the scar."

"You're just Harry to me," she said. "I haven't treated you any differently so far, have I?"

"No."

"Ok then. And to answer your question, I'll ask him for you."

He grinned at her. "Thanks. I have more questions though."

"Yes?"

Harry pulled out a folded piece of parchment from his back pocket and a Muggle pen. "How much does it cost for a person to live for one month?"

"Oh, let's see," she said. Harry thought the question sounded innocuous enough that she might not suspect what he was really up to. Since he was learning about business and finances, it made sense that he'd need to know how much a person needed in a month.

"There's food, and if a person is thrifty with what they buy they can stretch their budget quite a bit farther than normal. Housing expenses cost a lot, and then there's other necessities like clothes, heat in the winter, and things of that nature. Then if a person has wants those things cost too." She thought about it for a moment and then said, "I'd imagine a thrifty person who didn't spend on any wants could get by with about 15 Galleons a month."

"So a family of five," Harry asked, doing the math in his head, "would be 75 Galleons a month?"

"I'd imagine so. Remember, if there are children going to Hogwarts they'll need all sorts of school supplies. Some people buy them all at once so one month in the summer has a much larger cost, and others spread out their purchases."

"285," Harry said, and Mrs. Ginger looked over at him. "That's how much you'd need here," Harry said, "just for the necessities, not for wants."

"I suppose that would be about right," she said. "We've gotten along for so long on only 25 Galleons a month though that I'm not sure what we'd do with 285 a month."

"Well where do you get all your food? I mean, I know Professor Snape brings some, but-"

"He's not the only one. I'd like to have a garden myself but there's no room. Fortescue brings food every week from his garden. He keeps a greenhouse so he grows year round, and the Lovegoods bring food by once a month, and so do the McGlaggens."

"But-" Harry said, "it doesn't seem like enough... and I'm eating your food sometimes now and I shouldn't be."

"Psh," she waved him away. "An extra sandwich two or three days a week is nothing Harry."

"Aren't the kids hungry though?" He was often still hungry after eating lunch at the orphanage and went back to the Leaky Cauldron to get some fruit or another sandwich.

"Sometimes, but we get by."

Harry looked at the crumbling paint on the walls again, and the scorched wooden floor in the kitchen. "This place needs a lot of work." When he looked back at her she was watching him. "I didn't mean it to be rude," he said. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I say things without thinking."

"No, it does need work."

"That'd cost a lot wouldn't it."

"Several thousand Galleons," she said.

"Do you ever wish the orphanage was just in another place? Somewhere with a big yard or something?"

"The children wish that."

"But not you?"

"Sometimes I wish that too. Living on Knockturn Alley makes a lot of the teenagers ashamed to tell others where they live. There's a stigma to this place, but having shops nearby where they can find work however has proven a good thing in the past. Just like Justin working for Tilly."

"Because he can buy his own things?"

"Because he can learn skills he'll be able to use to support himself when he leaves the orphanage."

Harry had more questions, but Professor Snape appeared in the doorway to the kitchen then and cleared his throat. Harry turned to look at him and found himself facing one of Snape's nastier glares.

"Severus," Mrs. Ginger said. "Harry and I were just talking about you a few minutes ago. I was thinking it might be time to renew the charms on the third floor and Harry was wanting to watch."

"I prefer to work alone."

"Surely he won't get in your way," she said.

He grumbled something under his breath and then gave a stiff nod. Mrs. Ginger smiled and Harry got off the stool he'd been sitting on and followed Snape out. Snape didn't say anything until they were headed up the stairs between the second and third floor.

"What are you doing here Potter?"

"I was having lunch."

"Stealing from those less fortunate, how very alike your father you are."

Harry bit his tongue again until he tasted a hint of blood. Snape was trying to goad him into arguing so he could send him away, but Harry wasn't going to fall for it. He wanted to at least get a glimpse of the third floor. When Harry didn't answer, Snape turned and glared at him and then unlocked the door on the third floor and stepped inside.

"You are to remain in the doorframe," he bit out at Harry. "It is far too dangerous and I will not be responsible for you falling through the floorboards and injuring yourself."

Harry gave a very quiet, "Yes sir," and waited where he'd been told. Snape moved inside, choosing his steps carefully and Harry looked around the large open space. The ceiling had gaping holes where he could see daylight, the walls, floor and ceiling were all stained from water and covered in dirt and mold, and the floorboards were warped. Two of the windows along the back wall were broken out and there was glass beneath them.

"What is your sudden interest in charms Potter? I do not recall you getting stellar grades in the subject."

"I was curious," Harry said, trying not to gag at the overwhelming smell of mold, mildew, and rotting wood. He thought aunt Petunia might have fainted at the state of the place and the uncleanliness of it.

"Yes, and we all know Mr. Potter's curiosity must be satisfied at all costs, even to his own safety."

Harry sighed and Snape's head whipped around to him. "I think you've seen quite enough. Be gone." When Harry didn't move, Snape flicked his wand and the door snapped shut so fast that it hit Harry's nose and forced him backwards onto the small landing. He caught himself just before he fell backwards down the stairs. Grumbling as he rubbed his nose, he turned and went back downstairs.

"Well?" Mrs. Ginger asked.

"He threw me out."

"I see. How did it look up there?"

"Pretty bad," Harry said. "There were holes in the roof and windows were broken."

"It was the same before."

"Oh," Harry said. Remembering a lesson from primary about heat rising, Harry asked, "doesn't all the heat escape in the winter?"

"It does get cold, but we manage."

Harry thanked her for convincing Professor Snape and for feeding him lunch and then left. He wanted to go and ask Mr. Silver questions about construction costs, but remembered that he wouldn't be giving him advice either. Instead he went to Diagon and into Flourish and Blotts to ask Bennet and Basil.

"Construction?" Bennet asked. "Why do you need to know?"

"The orphanage is falling apart," Harry said. "I own the building. It's my responsibility to make sure it doesn't fall down around them."

"It's in that bad of shape?" Basil asked.

"There's holes in the roof and walls and the entire third floor is being held up by charms."

The two brothers looked at each other and then Bennet went to a filing cabinet and pulled out a folder. "We had to hire a company to build new shelves for the books last year." He made a copy of the parchment and handed it to Harry. "They did a good job and they were the most reasonably priced when I researched the available options."

"I figure it'll be thousands of galleons," Harry said.

"Are you going to raise rent on everyone to pay for it?"

Harry raised his brows. "Why would I do that?"

The brothers shared a look again and Harry wondered if they were somehow communicating telepathically, though Harry didn't know if such a thing were possible.

"It's our duty to teach him if we're going to teach him about business at all," Basil said, and though he didn't look happy about it, Bennet waved his hand at him in agreement.

"Since you own most of the alley, it would be smart to slightly raise rent on everybody for a short time to pay for the cost of maintaining your other buildings. There are risks associated with it however. You risk making shop owners angry, and some may move out."

"On the other hand," Bennett said, "Diagonalley is prime real-estate. Space rarely becomes available, and any successful business would be barmy to give up their space. It could happen if you raised rent too high for too long however."

"What do you pay for rent now?" Harry asked.

"100 Galleons a month."

Harry nodded. Tilly paid 25 a month. "Is it based on location?"

"Yes," Bennet said. "Certain spaces on Diagon cost more. The highest paying shops are those at the very end in front of Gringotts. Everyone has to go to Gringotts and when they come out with their pockets full of money the first thing they see are those shops."

Harry found it all interesting. "If rent were raised on every shop by one Galleon a month it would only raise about 35 Galleons a month. Or 70 a month if it were raised by two. That's not nearly enough for all the repairs at the orphanage."

"You could get away with two a month," Basil said. "Rent goes up periodically anyway."

"Thanks for your help," Harry said. He left the shop, and left the two brothers giving each other another telepathic look.

* * *

"Have you made a decision?" Harrison Silver watched as Harry sat down in his office several days later.

"I have."

"And what would that be?"

"We're fixing the orphanage. I looked at the third floor. It has holes in the ceiling and busted out windows and the entire floor is covered in mold and mildew. The kids are gonna get sick living there. I'm surprised the third floor hasn't collapsed already."

"It will be costly."

"I know." Harry handed over one of the parchments he'd brought in with him. "I contacted Bartizan Group and described the repairs. They pulled an old layout for the building and gave an estimate."

"That's a hefty sum Harry. Five thousand Galleons."

"I know."

"Are you certain this is what you want?"

"It's not what I want, it's what's right. If I own the building and it collapses and kills somebody I'm responsible, aren't I?"

"You are."

Harry had been learning a lot about business insurance from Basil in the last few days.

"And I'd feel awful. It's kids living in there."

"How do you intend on covering the cost?"

"I thought about raising rent. If I raise it too high I risk people taking their businesses elsewhere though. If I keep the rent raise low, it will only raise 30-60 Galleons a month. That's not nearly enough to cover costs. I'm going to cover the cost out of the accounts."

"Because you're worried about losing businesses?"

"No," Harry said. "That's part of it I guess, but not really." He stared Silver in the eyes and said, "I figured out they should have been getting 285 Galleons a month to cover basic living costs. They've only been getting 25. If we had been giving them 285 a month that would have been over 6,000 Galleons in just two years. If they'd had that, they probably would have made the repairs already. We owe it to them to make the building safe at the very least."

Silver smiled. He hadn't told Harry he was being stupid yet, so at least that was something. "This is why age doesn't matter in business."

"You and Podmore keep saying that."

"Because it's true. Your great great grandfather was only 15 when he took over the family businesses. That is why the Potter's are known for making rash, bold business decisions. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but when it does work, it's seen as genius. Generally older more seasoned businessmen don't make such bold choices."

"I'm not a businessman," Harry said.

"But you are a Potter. I imagine that sooner rather than later you will make a poor business choice based on feeling and I will have to call you out on it."

"Probably." Harry felt unsure of himself in anything business related. He still didn't understand most of the things he read or half the things Basil and Bennet told him, but he was sure about this. It wasn't right to let people live in those conditions when he had the money sitting in accounts to fix the problem. He had countless thousands of Galleons sitting in the accounts Dumbledore controlled, and almost ten thousand just from that month in the accounts he controlled.

"Set up an account to pay the construction company," Harry said. "Put 7,000 galleons in. Don't take it from the legal fund." The last thing he wanted to do was to run out of money to pay the only two men on his side against Dumbledore. Without them he'd be sent straight back to the Dursleys. "I also want you to work it out so that 300 Galleons a month go to Peverell's."

"Which account should that come out of?"

"Take everything out of the unnamed account I opened. From now on the four percent that was going into that goes to Peverell's."

"And the rest?"

"What would you suggest?"

Silver considered his question and Harry was glad that he decided to give him an answer. "The newly opened accounts will be nearly empty after you pay the construction cost. The only untouched account will be the legal fund."

"Will there be anything in it if you take the rest for the month to go to Peverell's?"

"Two hundred Galleons."

"Take it from there this month and then leave the legal account alone. Next month the rest of the accounts will have several thousand Galleons again won't they?"

"Yes."

"Take the money to replenish the legal account from one of them then, whichever one you think is best."

"As you wish."

Harry asked Silver to show him all of what they'd decided on paper before he left so he could get it clear in his head, and then went to send another owl to the construction firm. He wanted them to start work as soon as possible.

Harry turned from the spectacle of fifteen men raising ladders and scaffolding against the front of the orphanage to stare at Podmore with a satisfied grin. He'd come out of his office, hair looking wilder than ever, to see what was going on on the normally quiet alley. Even those who normally hung back in the shadows had come out to see what was going on and why there were so many people around. Harry had been on his way to an early morning meeting Podmore had owled him about the night before when he'd come upon the scene of the work getting started, and decided that he had to stop and watch.

"Looks like repairs," Harry said. Podmore narrowed his eyes at Harry. "You're the cause of this racket? How am I supposed to get any work done?"

"Silencing charm?" Harry asked.

Podmore grumbled and then told Harry to come inside before he was late for their meeting.

Once they were inside, Podmore cast two silencing charms at the window and doors facing the alley, and then a third one at the other walls just to be sure, and turned to Harry.

"How much is that going to cost?" he asked, nodding towards the alley.

Harry shrugged.

"I'm trying to make a case for you being responsible enough to handle your own affairs and you're spending willy nilly."

"It's not willy nilly," Harry said. "Silver told me if I did something stupid with the accounts he'd tell me."

"He's a kappa kisser. He won't tell you anything you don't want to hear."

"A what?"

Podmore stared at him. "Nevermind."

Harry made a mental note to ask Justin what a kappa kisser was later, and sat in the chair in front of Podmore's desk.

"The initial hearing is in three days. Friday morning, nine am sharp."

"Where?" Harry asked.

"The Ministry. You're to be outside my office at eight. No delaying. You need to look respectable as well."

"I have slacks and a polo shirt. I don't have nice shoes because they don't sell them at Double Lane."

"Hire someone to get them for you," Podmore said. "You should be showered and clean as well, and make sure you smell good."

"I shower," Harry said defensively, but Podmore ignored him and kept speaking as if Harry hadn't said anything at all.

"Go to Madam Malkins and buy dress robes. Don't get anything flashy. In fact, wear your nice clothes when you go over there and they'll tell you what to get. Exchange some of your money at Gringotts for Muggle bills so you can buy lunch."

"What's going to happen at the hearing?"

"I was getting to that," Podmore said, sounding irritated. Harry wasn't sure if it was because a particularly loud noise from the construction across the alley had made it through the silencing charms, or if it was because he had a lot to get through and wanted Harry to just be quiet and listen.

"The initial hearing will involve at least two representatives from the Wizarding Welfare office, Albus Dumbledore and his Barrister, or team of Barristers if he has them, myself, yourself, and Silver. Likely the Minister will be present as well seeing as you are who you are and he's going to have a vested interest in where you end up."

"But Mr. Silver isn't involved in-"

"He might as well be," Podmore said. "Even if he's not involved in this particular case he'll be called upon in court to discuss the willy-nilly financial decisions you've been making with your family funds."

"Necessary, not willy-nilly," Harry snapped, causing Podmore to look up at him.

"I work for you, and whilst I don't appreciate being snapped at by any client, I'll ignore it," Podmore said, making a point to give Harry an unhappy look. Harry felt properly chastised for the look too, realizing that he'd been disrespectful. "I would suggest you learn to control yourself and not have any such outbursts in front of ministry officials, inside or outside of court. It will go against the case we're trying to make on your behalf. Now if you're ready to listen, I'd like to get on with this. I have paperwork I still need to go over for your case and it's going to take the better part of the next few days."

"I'm sorry," Harry said.

"You're not," Podmore said.

"I am," Harry insisted, but Podmore held up his hand.

"You are Harry Potter, a young man who is ready to act like an adult and take on his future. You are not sorry for your outburst. You are however ready to continue."

Harry wasn't sure what Podmore was trying to tell him, but then it snapped into place. He was teaching him how to speak like he wasn't thirteen.

"We can- continue," Harry said.

Podmore gave a nod, seeming satisfied. It occured to Harry then, that what he'd just said seemed very Draco-ish. Perhaps what Harry had always assumed was a pompous attitude (acting as though he was allowing others to carry on), was something Draco had been taught to do as a matter of decorum. Harry was still trying to wrap his mind around that when Podmore started speaking again.

"The Child Welfare Office will take your side from the start. They don't look kindly on any abuse, so that's in our favor. Their interest doesn't lie with politics. Their only concern is that you end up in a safe environment where all your needs will be met. They will not however, care much for what you want or where you want to go. They aren't known to take children's wants into account, only their needs. In the end they may decide to put you somewhere you don't want to end up."

"Huh," Harry said.

"Before we go into court, I need to know where those places may be aside from the Dursleys."

"The Malfoys," Harry said, Draco fresh on his mind. Not that they would ever take him in, but he had just released their house elf a few weeks ago and Lucius might want to exact revenge by making life miserable for Harry.

"Why? They're an affluent family. All your needs would be met."

"Except safety," Harry said. "Lucius Malfoy doesn't like me, especially not when I just foiled his plot to bring Voldemort back and I set his house elf free on purpose."

Podmore made Harry explain, and he frowned more and more as the story of Harry's second year went on.

"That is something that would have been important to know before going to court," he said irritably. "That shows bad decision making skills on your part." Harry wanted to ask how but Podmore was busy scribbling down notes. He asked Harry a few minutes later if there were any other school exploits he should know about and Harry was forced to tell him about the Philosopher's Stone in his first year.

"Where else should you not go?"

Harry scratched the back of his head. "Crabbe and Goyle's house. Pansy Parkinson's house."

"Slytherins?"

Harry nodded.

"Do you have something against Slytherins?"

"Why?"

"They'll ask you in court. Those are all affluent families that may come up."

"I don't have anything against Slytherins, just those ones. They constantly try to start arguments and fights with my friends and I. They're always trying to point out any little thing we do wrong to get us in trouble. Crabbe and Goyle have cornered me three or four times and roughed me up while Pansy and Draco watched and laughed."

Podmore made notes and went on to describe the initial hearing process. From what he'd said it would be short, and would be nothing more than deciding if there was a case or not. If the court decided there wasn't, then Harry would be sent back to the Dursleys immediately if that's what Dumbledore decided. Otherwise they would set a hearing date and Harry would be allowed to stay on Diagonalley, unless Dumbledore could give a valid reason why he shouldn't.

"I don't have to stay here," Harry said, "just so long as I don't go back to the Dursleys." Even as he said it though he thought he would rather stay in the Leaky Cauldron. Life was interesting and he was learning a lot, even if he was frequently confused. And for the first time in his life he felt like he'd made a really good decision in fixing up the orphanage. It was the first decision he'd really thought out and researched, and Silver seemed to approve of it, even if he hadn't said so. Harry had spent many endless nights envisioning how the lives of the kids at the orphanage would be improved with the increased funds and better living conditions.

"Harry. Harry." Harry's eyes snapped back to Podmore. Apparently he'd been staring out the window.

"Don't do that in court," he said. "If you let your attention wander our case for early majority will be over before it starts."

"I'm sorry-" he paused at the look Podmore gave him, and rephrased. "It won't happen again," he said.

"Better," Podmore mumbled.

It was noon before Podore released Harry. Harry wasn't sure if he was feeling nervous about the initial hearing or not, but his attention was quickly drawn away from his legal troubles and to the orphanage as Mrs. Ginger crossed the alley. She seemed to be waiting for him.

"Justin said he saw you go into the barrister's."

"Yes maam," Harry said. "I have court on Friday."

"I want to hear about it, but first I want to know if this is your doing." She motioned to the workers who were now up on the scaffolding repairing cracks in the walls and patching missing bricks. He couldn't tell from her expression and tone whether she was angry or not.

"Are you angry?" he asked.

Instead of answering, she pulled him into a suffocating hug before he knew what was happening. "Thank you Harry. Thank you, thank you."

"Er-"

She pulled away and Harry took a deep breath. "I don't know why or how but thank you."

"It should have been done a long time ago. I didn't even know I owned anything until a few weeks ago and I only found out last week I had the orphanage. I would have fixed it sooner if I'd known sooner."

"But where is the money coming from?"

"Don't worry about it," Harry said.

"People are saying you're raising the price of rent on both alleys."

"I'm not," Harry said. "Not for this and not right now."

"The foreman keeps asking me what I want." She had gone from looking uncertain and nervous to excited so suddenly that Harry wasn't sure what to make of her yet.

"I told them to fix anything that was wrong with the building and to do anything you wanted. I said you're in charge and to paint what colors you want and fix things up the way you want. You know what's best since you have to live here."

She looked overwhelmed and Harry could see tears at the corner of her eyes.

"I do have a suggestion though," Harry said, hoping to avoid another crushing hug. "They're supposed to be fixing the entire building... including the third floor. You should have a garden for food and I was thinking about putting it on the roof. It's up to you I mean, but there's enough money for them to do it if you want it. And I know the kids don't have a yard and was thinking about putting grass in the courtyard instead of the cobblestone that's there now. I don't know if they like it the way it is or not though."

"Grass," she said. "Everything is always so drab. It would be nice to have some green in our lives."

"Tell the foreman then. Maybe have them install window boxes under all the windows. Hey, you could grow food in all the window boxes!" Harry said brightly.

"That's a good idea." She did hug him again, but only briefly, and then she hurried off to find the foreman. Harry wanted to go with her, but wasn't sure if he'd be in the way of the workers or not. As it turned out, the foreman came and found him twenty minutes later as he was still outside watching the work progress.

"It's bad," the foreman told him. "The third floor is going to have to come off and be re-built entirely. Nothing up there is salvageable."

Harry didn't doubt it. "Do it," Harry said.

"It'll take at least two days to get the third floor torn down, and we can't have people living in the orphanage while we do it. As soon as it's off they can come back."

"I'm not sure where they can go," Harry said. The Leaky Cauldron didn't have enough rooms to hold everyone and that would cost a lot of money Harry didn't have access to at the moment to pay for the rooms in any case.

"You don't have to make a decision right away," the foreman said. "We have a few days of work outside and on the first two floors that we can take care of, and we don't work on weekends anyway."

"But by Monday?" Harry asked.

He nodded. "We'll be ready to start on the third floor Monday. We shouldn't delay longer than that because there's other things we can't take care of until the new third floor is at least framed in."

"Do you know what you're doing for the new third floor?" Harry asked.

"Ginger gave us detailed instructions. We're re-arranging a few walls on the first two floors as well. It's going to be like a new building."

"How is this gonna affect the budget?" Harry asked.

"We're on track," he said. "I'll let you know before any decisions are made that would increase the budget."

As the foreman walked away, Harry noticed that there were several more people on the alley then there were that morning. The usual suspects had retreated back into the shadows and doorways, but many shop owners from Diagon had come over during their lunch hour to see what was going on. Harry walked down towards Gringotts to where Bennet was standing and watching the construction work.

"You weren't kidding when you said it needed work," Bennet said.

"They're gonna have to rip the whole third floor down and build it from scratch. I gotta find a place to move the kids to overnight by Monday so they can start work. They're not gonna fit at the Leaky Cauldron and I can't afford that anyway."

"You can't afford it?"

"I spent the entire last month's earnings just on this," Harry said. "My accounts are empty."

"But you're one of the richest wizards in Britain."

"Who doesn't have access to all that money until he's 17," Harry said. He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not, because if Harry had a choice he would have spent the entire family fortune to buy a piece of land and build a mansion for a new orphanage.

Fortescue hurried up to Harry and Bennet then and when he had Harry's attention said quickly, "Harry, what's this going to cost us? They're saying you're raising rent by almost twenty Galleons a month to cover it! I can't afford that!"

Before Harry could answer, the Apothecary from Diagon and several other shop owners came to him to hear the answer as well.

Harry wanted to ask them who had been spreading rumors, but he knew it didn't matter in the end. "I'm not raising rent for this. This is all paid for." He wanted to say he wasn't raising rent at all, but he didn't know if he should make promises he might have reason to break in the future.

"But you are raising rent?" the Apothecary asked.

"I didn't plan to, no," Harry said. "Look, I can't make promises that your rent will never increase, but I'm not planning to raise rent right now. I was told things were fine the way they were and that I should learn as much as I could before deciding anything about any businesses my family has part in."

There were murmurs of agreement and relief at Harry's statement, and Harry wondered then just what other kinds of rumors had been going around about him.

"Look, Peverell's was falling apart," Harry said. "There's people living there. Kids living there. The third floor is falling down and there's holes and cracks in practically every wall... it wasn't safe. If I would have known I had the power to change it sooner I would have. I didn't even know there was an orphanage down Knockturn until a few weeks ago let alone that I could do something to make things better. If we have the power to help someone, shouldn't we?"

"Just so long as you're not raising our rent to make your improvements," a shop owner Harry had never spoken to before said. Harry wanted to snap at the man about being selfish, but didn't, remembering Podmore's words about his temper. Court was in three days and he figured he'd gotten enough practice with Snape so far in the last two weeks that he might as well keep practicing until court was over and done with.

When the crowd began to disperse, Harry followed Bennet back towards Gringotts and Diagon Alley. "I need Friday off," Harry said. "I have court."

Bennet nodded. He seemed to be waiting for Harry to say something else, but Harry wasn't sure what was expected of him. Finally Bennet said, "When you have to skive off work for some reason, you're supposed to make up for it somehow."

"I can come in Thursday," Harry suggested, hoping this was the right answer.

"There you go."

"I may need a day off next week too. I'm not sure yet."

"For?"

Harry bit his lip, thinking about the kids at the orphanage and where they would go. "I've got to figure out where the kids at the orphanage are going to go Monday night." Come to think of it, he was going to have to talk to Mrs. Ginger to see if she was even ok with them moving out for two days and a night. "I've got to go back and talk to someone," Harry said. Bennet waved him away and Harry turned around to go back to the orphanage.

* * *

Friday morning found Harry heading down Knockturn Alley as the sun rose. He was an hour early for Podmore but he hadn't been able to sleep and figured an early start wouldn't hurt. He was dressed in his new clothes and his new dress robes, and Miss Ava had gone out with some money Harry had given her and bought him a new pair of dress shoes. He felt guilty even wearing them because they cost 30 pounds and he knew that the kids in the orphanage could all use new shoes instead of the used ones they all wore.

Harry had been up half the night going back and forth in his head between how court would play out and where the orphans were going to spend Monday night. Mrs. Ginger didn't have any ideas, and neither did Miss Ava. Harry had asked Podmore, who laughed and told Harry to get himself out of his own messes, and Mr. Silver had been reluctant to offer any advice at all with the upcoming initial court hearing. Basil and Bennett had also been unhelpful. Harry had even written to Hermione to ask for suggestions, but she hadn't written back, and he knew it was because she had gone on vacation and probably had not yet gotten the letter.

"You're early for once," Podmore said as he walked down Knockturn and to his office door.

"Silver said it was important to be early to meetings."

"Relax," Podmore said. "If I have to scrape you up off the cobblestone because of stress induced accidental magic, we'll be late to court. Did you bring Muggle money for lunch?"

Harry pulled twenty pounds out of his pocket.

"Go get more," Podmore said.

"But I never buy anything expensive for myself," Harry said.

"How often do I give you advice?" Podmore said as he unlocked his door.

"Not very?"

"Go to Gringotts and come back with at least a hundred pounds. You have time since you're early. Hurry now before you end up being late."

The uncertainty creeping in on him mixed with the anxiety he already had and made Harry feel like he wanted to throw up. He walked down the alley in the crisp morning air to do as he was told however, and was back in twenty minutes with another hundred pounds in his pocket.

"What am I gonna buy with all this?" Harry asked. He'd had to exchange two Galleons for the hundred pound note.

"Lunch," Podmore said.

"But I thought we were trying to prove I wasn't spending ‘willy-nilly'."

"This is politics," Podmore said. "We're going out for lunch in Muggle London. You are going to graciously offer to buy lunch for yourself, myself, Silver, and the Minister."

"Fudge?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Minister for Magic Fudge," Podmore corrected. "Once he overhears us talking about lunch, you can expect him to invite himself. If he has any sway at all in court, I would rather it be in your favor."

"That's-" Harry didn't know what to say. It was playing dirty and he didn't like it.

"Politics," Podmore said. "You're the Boy-Who-Lived. You're going to be dragged into political matters occasionally whether you like it or not. There's Harrison," Podmore said as Silver came down the alley towards them.

"Ready Podmore?" Silver asked.

"As well as can be expected given the surprising exploits Harry told me about only days ago. I would have liked to have had more time to prepare."

"Did you know we're going to lunch?" Harry asked Silver as they walked down the alley towards Double Lane Clothing.

"Yes."

"But it's going to cost a lot," Harry said.

"Some costs are considered fair play. Taking the Minister to lunch will be seen as a political move on your part and show that you are mature enough to understand the game and enter it."

"But I didn't know about-"

"It was your idea Harry," Podmore said.

"My idea," Harry repeated dutifully, wishing he didn't have to. Why did things have to be so complicated? All he wanted was a safe place to live, and a bed of his own, and three meals a day. If Dumbledore would only give him that, then he could spend his summer worrying about normal things, like whether or not his Nimbus 2000 would be fast enough to beat the new Firebolt he hoped none of the other students could afford. Life on Diagon Alley wasn't boring, but it wasn't what he wanted either. He wanted to lay in the grass under the shade of a tree, and read Quidditch Magazines, and take naps. Not take the Minster for Magic out for lunch, dodge Snape, and have to go to court.

They crossed through Double Lane Clothing and out into Muggle London. Podmore hailed a taxi, and they drove a few miles to the strange street entrance to the Ministry. "Are you sure?" Harry asked as he stood in the toilet, but before he could be reassured Podmore pulled the handle and Harry was flushed away, popping out of a fireplace a moment later in the Ministry. His shoes were surprisingly dry and his clothes free of soot or other undesirable possibilities given what he'd just been standing in. Podmore and Silver appeared a moment later and Harry glared at Podmore for flushing him down the toilet.

They rode a lift to level nine and then had to take the stairs down to level ten where the courtrooms were. There was a desk with a secretary at the entrance to level ten.

"Case?" the male secretary asked, not bothering to look up at them.

"Preliminary hearing with Wizarding Welfare, Potter versus Dumbledore."

"Courtroom ten," the secretary said, glancing up at Harry's scar. Harry wished he could curse the scar off. No one ever looked at him first, just his scar.

"It's this one," Silver said, pointing to a door a few feet down the gray corridor. He pushed open the door and Harry and Podmore followed him in.

"Ah Harry." Harry had barely had time to register that the room was small and only had a long stone table in the center, when Fudge's voice greeted him. "Two barristers. Smart, very smart. I've been interested for weeks to see how this will play out."

"Sir," Harry greeted in return. Harry didn't sit since Podmore and Silver hadn't, and Fudge was also still standing. A few moments later the door opened to admit a middle aged man and woman wearing official looking robes.

"Minister," the woman greeted. "Mr. Silver. Mr. Podmore. Mr. Potter."

"Maam," Harry said, not certain who she was. Podmore and Silver had both cautioned him in the taxi ride over to be quiet until spoken to and to keep his answers as simple as possible.

The door opened again less than a minute later, and Albus Dumbledore came in with Severus Snape, and a man Harry didn't recognize. He was wearing robes like Podmore and Silver's though, so Harry surmised he was Dumbledore's barrister.

One final person came into the room before the door closed and was warded shut. It was an aging woman wearing a dark green robe that looked as though it was made of finer material than everyone else's. She greeted the Minister and the three Baristers, and then sat down at the head of the stone table. Everyone else made a move to sit, so Harry did as well, sitting directly to Podmore's left. Silver was on Podmore's other side. Dumbledore's party was on the other side of the table directly across from Harry, and the man and woman Harry didn't know sat on either side of the woman in green. Harry was vaguely aware that Fudge was sitting on his side of the table somewhere, but wasn't sure if it meant he had already taken Harry's side.

"I am Justice Araminta Abbott, hearing the preliminary arguments in the case of Potter Versus Dumbledore. Barristers, present your parties."

"Barrister Theodore Podore for Harry Potter." Harry turned to look at Podmore, startled that he'd spoken, and Podmore gave him a look. Harry could almost see in his eyes the word, ‘relax'.

"Harrison Silver for Harry Potter." Silver said.

Across the table the other Barrister said, "Nathanial Coombs for Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore." Harry watched as the man introduced himself and found Dumbledore giving Harry a serene smile. Next to him however Snape was giving Harry a sneer, which set him on edge more than it normally would. Why was Snape even there?

"Wizarding Welfare Authority?" the Justice asked.

"Iris Cooke, Case Investigator," the woman on the Justice's left said.

"Dane Conner," the man on the Justice's right said, "Case Supervisor."

The Justice looked around the room. "Other parties?"

"Severus Snape," Snape said calmly, not looking in Harry's direction.

"Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge."

Harry wasn't sure if he was supposed to introduce himself or not, but no one was looking at him, and Dumbledore didn't say anything so he figured he was covered in that his Barrister's had already introduced them as his legal aid.

The Justice seemed to be looking over several documents while everyone else in the room remained silent. Finally, without looking up, she said, "Barrister Podmore, you are the lead in this case?"

"Yes Justice," he said.

"Present the need for this to go to full trial."

Podmore stood up and began to speak. Everyone's eyes were on him, except those of the Justice, who was marking things down on her parchment.

"Mr. Potter would like to be found a new home instead of being returned to the home of his abusive Muggle relatives. If his current guardian, Albus Dumbledore cannot find a suitable home for Mr. Potter or refuses to, then our intention is to seek early wizarding majority."

The Justice finally looked up, first at Harry and then at Podmore. "You realize he is only twelve?"

"Thirteen in five days," Podmore said.

"Four years too young for majority," the Justice said slowly, as if Podmore was somehow unaware of the fact.

"We are aware, and are prepared to make the case for majority if a suitable home cannot be found," Podmore said calmly.

"Barrister Coombs?" she asked, noting something on her parchment.

Podmore sat down and Coombs stood across the table. Dumbledore gave Harry another serene smile. Harry didn't have time to wonder what his motives were for smiling however because the other barrister was talking.

"Because of the nature of Mr. Potter's encounter with an unnamed dark wizard, his guardian felt it would be best if he were protected from any of said dark wizard's followers who may wish to do him harm. Mr. Potter was placed under the care of his Muggle relatives, and a blood ward was established around their home. The magic maintaining the blood ward relies on his residence with his biological aunt, Petunia Dursley. The ward keeps any magical danger from coming to Harry whilst he is in residence there, and makes his home unplottable to any who do not already know of its existence. Currently the only people aware of the home's location are Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Rubeus Hagrid."

"Does Headmaster Dumbledore intend on moving Mr. Potter's residence now that allegations of abuse have been made?"

"No Justice," Coombs said. "Headmaster Dumbledore maintains that the safety of the wards must be maintained or they will fall and Mr. Potter's life will be at stake."

"Barrister Podmore, I assume you have evidence of abuse that would warrant a full hearing?"

Podmore stood up and walked a folder down the table to the Justice. She opened it, shuffled through several photos, and then handed the folder to the man from Wizarding Welfare. Podmore returned to his seat and sat down.

The Justice sighed and looked between Podmore and Dumbledore.

"I wish to see this case resolved immediately. Headmaster Dumbledore and Barrister Podmore, is there no chance of resolving this in mediation before it goes to a full hearing? Mr. Potter has clearly received a beating as evidenced by the photos provided by Mr. Podmore, and was tossed out by his relatives as documented in the notes of the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad."

"I'm prepared to put several charms in place on Harry's home to prevent any future physical mistreatment," Dumbledore said.

"Barrister Podmore?" the Justice asked.

"Upon a full investigation by the Wizarding Welfare Authority it will be revealed that the abuse of Mr. Potter goes far beyond the physical. No charms can protect against mental and emotional abuse or neglect. Mr. Potter cannot be placed back into such an environment."

"Headmaster Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore held up a hand to indicate that he had nothing further to say. He looked unsettled, but not angry.

"Barrister Coombs?"

Coombs stood and said, "We intend to prove that Mr. Potter is incapable at this age of making good decisions, managing his finances, and meeting his own needs, which are all required for early wizarding majority. If barristers Podmore and Silver intend on making a case for his removal from the custody of Headmaster Dumbledore, we intend to prove this will not be in Mr. Potter's best interests considering his political status."

"I see no other option than to declare a full hearing, presided over by myself. Case Investigator Cooke, how long will a full investigation take?"

"One week."

"The hearing is set nine days from today at nine am. This will not be a drawn out trial gentlemen," she warned the three barristers. "I want this case resolved immediately and Mr. Potter placed in a suitable home, whether that be back with his relatives or elsewhere. You will come prepared. I will not be granting trial extensions."

"Yes Justice," the three barristers said in unison.

The Justice stood, gathered her papers, and said, "Dismissed."

Snape leaned in to hear what Coombs was whispering about with Dumbledore, and Harry was nudged by Podmore to indicate that he should stand up and follow them out. Harry thought they'd been in the courtroom for less than half an hour. Even though Podmore had told him it would be short, he'd expected to be there much longer.

"Lunch Harrison?" Podmore asked loudly. Harry's eyes flickered to the Minster, who was clearly listening.

"Yes," Silver answered. "Harry?"

Harry looked up at Silver, and nodded. He noted that Snape and Dumbledore were also watching the exchange as they followed them out of the courtroom and into the oppressive gray corridor.

"Lunch gentlemen?" Fudge inquired, and Harry was surprised by how the two barristers had called the events that would play out.

When neither Silver nor Podmore answered, Harry said what they had practiced in the cab ride earlier, "We would enjoy your company Minister."

Harry heard Snape snort somewhere far behind them in the corridor, and a thought struck him. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, or if it would anger his barristers, but he turned and said directly to Dumbledore, "Perhaps you would also care to join us for lunch sir?"

Podmore and Silver both stopped, and Harry wondered what their expressions were, but didn't turn to judge what they thought of his suggestion.

"I would enjoy that dear boy," Dumbledore said, smiling warmly and leaving Snape and Coombs behind him.

"Wonderful suggestion Harry," Fudge said. It wasn't until they were on the lift that Harry caught the calculating look Podmore was giving him and the sly smile Silver wore as he stared at the lift door.

Podmore led them down the Muggle street to an expensive looking restaurant a block away, and they were seated at a large table outside on a patio that was set back from the sidewalk. Harry only hoped the hundred and twenty pounds he had in his pocket was enough to pay for all five of the meals.

A waiter took their order and Harry tried to calculate the cost of all the dishes as each man ordered. When the waiter left, Fudge began to babble about the excitement of a case involving early majority for the Harry Potter.

"What do you think Harry?" Fudge asked. "Where do you think this will end up when all is said and done? Where do you expect to be placed?"

Podmore and Silver seemed to be waiting for Harry's answer. They were sitting on either side of him, and Harry could feel the tension radiating off of them.

"My best hope would be to remain in the custody of the Headmaster, but be placed in a different home Minister."

"Is that so?" Fudge seemed surprised, but Harry was busy watching Dumbledore's reaction, though it was well masked. "Why is that?" Fudge asked a moment later.

Harry turned to look at him. "There's no one I respect or trust more Minister. I don't want a new guardian, just a new home." Harry didn't look back at the Headmaster, but was aware that Silver was staring straight at the man. Instead Harry took a drink of water and listened to Podmore, Silver, and the Minister discuss the Justice and other cases she had presided over, including a ruling on flight law and broom manufacturing.

Their lunch was served, and Harry was asked a few more questions by the Minister, such as what he wanted to do when he came of majority at seventeen. Harry said he wanted to play Quidditch Professionally, which caused the Minister to chuckle. When the meal was over, Harry asked for the check, as he'd been coached to do in the taxi that morning, and was pleased to find out lunch costed one hundred and ten pounds. Harry signed over the last ten pounds as a tip and they stood to leave.

"Thank you for inviting us to lunch Harry," the Minister said. "It was an enjoyable affair."

"Thank you for coming," Harry replied. He looked at Dumbledore, who gave him a smile, though Harry noted it was off. It was no longer serene, and somehow seemed uncomfortable, like it wasn't a true smile. "And thank you Headmaster," he said quietly, unsettled by the man's lack of a true smile.

"I was touched to be invited," he said.

They parted ways, Dumbledore walking away with Fudge towards the Ministry, and Podmore hailing another taxi to take the three of them back to Double Lane Clothing. They were quiet on the ride back, and it wasn't until they were back on Knockturn and into Podmore's office that any of them uttered a sound. Silver began laughing as soon as the door to the office was closed, and Podmore slumped down in his chair.

"Reckless Potters, the lot of you," Podmore said.

"Reckless... it was brilliant," Silver countered. "The look on Albus' face when Harry said he respected and trusted him more than anyone." He laughed again.

"What did he look like?" Harry asked curiously.

"I thought the man was going to cry," Silver said.

"You should have stuck to the plan," Podmore grumbled, irritated. "The Minister was accounted for, not the Headmaster." Harry thought he heard the man mumble, "willy nilly," but couldn't be sure. "What did you intend to accomplish?"

Before Harry could answer, Silver sat down in one of the two client chairs and said, "It doesn't matter what he meant to accomplish. He showed respect and restraint when he invited his adversary, and proclaimed his respect for the man to the Minister of Magic. This will get back around to the Justice straight from the Minister's mouth."

"I didn't do it for that," Harry said.

"No, you were making a play at Dumbledore's heart strings," Podmore said. "It was reckless. He's already made his decision. You haven't been able to sway him before and you won't be able to now. With the questions the Minister was asking at lunch, you could have let slip an important detail that we don't want revealed until the hearing."

"You're both wrong," Harry said. He hadn't been trying to prove he was respectful and he hadn't been trying to play Dumbledore (at least not initially, it had only occurred to him after they were seated at the restaurant).

"What then?" Silver asked.

"You won't like it."

"It's too late for that," Podmore said.

"Snape snorted at me in the hall outside the courtroom."

Both men stared at Harry. "Severus Snape?" Silver asked.

"When I invited the Minister. He snorted like I was being all high and mighty and playing dirty. That's just what he was thinking too. So I invited the Headmaster to piss him off. The Headmaster and Minister were invited, but he wasn't." Harry felt smug to finally admit his real reasons. There was no victory in it if he was the only one who knew. Ron would have thought it was brilliant. Harry had, at the very least, enjoyed the shocked look Snape had given him as he walked away with the Headmaster and Minister in tow.

"You almost ruined the plan, and put the hearing in jeopardy because your Professor snorted at you?" Podmore looked faint but Silver began laughing again.

"Go-" Podmore said faintly, and gave a shooing motion with his hands towards Harry, looking like he might be sick and didn't want Harry around to witness the event, or make it a certainty.

Harry got up and moved for the door. Before it closed behind him though he heard Silver say with mirth, "He's only a boy Theo. He did better than expected, and that snort worked out in our favor in any case." The door closed and Harry huffed in irritation. They wanted to pretend he was old enough to have majority but shoo him away like a child? He couldn't be irritated with them for long however because Dumbledore's smile kept coming to mind. He'd looked disheartened is what Harry had decided. Before long thoughts of the orphans and the third floor chased even the thoughts of Dumbledore away however, and Harry went back to his room to be stressed out over the upcoming event in private.

"Harry," he said quietly.

Harry stepped aside and the Headmaster came into the room. As the man's eyes scanned the furniture and floor, Harry was glad he'd cleaned up that morning when he'd first woken up and put all of his belongings back in his trunk. He hadn't been certain upon waking that the initial hearing would go in his favor, and if it hadn't he knew he'd be leaving the Leaky Cauldron directly afterward. Harry closed the door and offered the desk chair to Dumbledore, who took it with another disheartened smile and sat down.

"Why did you ask me to lunch today dear boy?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sir?" He didn't sound like he was scheming. His smile looked too sad and his face too tired for that.

"While I appreciate being included, I would like to know why. Clearly lunch with the Minister was planned, and both Mr. Podmore and Mr. Silver looked surprised by your invitation."

Harry wasn't sure what he should say, or if he was allowed to say anything at all. Podmore had been irritated that he'd done it, but Silver had thought it had worked in their favor. If Harry told the truth, they may not be able to use what he'd done as they wanted. Feeling like the whole ordeal had been unfair in the first place, Harry decided on the truth, whether his barrister's liked it or not.

"Professor Snape snorted at me."

Dumbledore looked confused for a moment, and then surprised. "Professor Snape?"

"Podmore and Silver wanted to have the Minister for lunch and they wanted me to pay. And when he invited himself to lunch, Snape snorted at me in the corridor. Like he thought I was just having a big head associating with the Minister and like it wasn't playing fair. I don't like that this has to be political, or that I have to try to get the Minister on my side just so I can have a safe place to live."

"You invited me to make things fair?" Dumbledore asked for clarity. Maybe that was a part of it, but Harry hadn't thought of it that way hours before when telling Podmore and Silver about his last minute decision.

"No, I invited you to see the look on Snape's face as I walked away with the Minister and the Headmaster."

"Was it a good look?" Dumbledore asked, smile looking genuine again and mirth in his eyes.

"Yes," Harry said, suddenly feeling childish for his behavior even though he hadn't earlier. Dumbledore put his hand up over his mouth to cover his smile for a moment and it made Harry feel even more childish.

"You never disappoint dear boy."

"I didn't mean to be childish," he said.

"You deserve to be childish in what remains of your youth, for youth is fleeting."

Dumbledore stood as though he was going to leave, and Harry reached out to stop him, pulling his hand back before he made contact. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Why can't I live at Hogwarts if I need to be kept safe from Death Eaters? Or with you?"

"I never imagined you would want to live with an old man Harry. Years are not guaranteed and old age slips away even faster than youth."

"You don't know what it's like to not have anyone at all," Harry said quietly. "You can put charms up to make them stop hitting me and breaking my bones, but that's not gonna stop them." Harry thought that words were just as effective as breaking bones, though he didn't say so.

"I'm afraid Harry, that I cannot protect you from hurtful words. I cannot protect you from everything. I must however do what I can to protect you from death and torture."

Harry sat down on the edge of his bed and stared at the floor. It wasn't fair. Ron, Hermione, Justin, even Draco. They were allowed to live with people who cared. That was all he wanted.

"I am sorry Harry," he said. He opened the door, but paused before leaving the room. "Was there anything else?"

Harry shook his head and still staring at the floor said glumly, "Not unless you know where 17 orphans and two women can stay the night Monday."

"Hogwarts has room I believe."

Harry looked up. "They can go to Hogwarts?"

"I believe something can be arranged. An overnight tour perhaps."

Harry visibly relaxed and felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"I believe you to be fair," Dumbledore said before exiting the room, and shutting the door quietly behind him.

Harry frowned, trying to work out what they'd talked about regarding fairness, before remembering the snort in the Ministry corridor. The dog came out from under the bed between Harry's feet and jumped up to lay next to him. It laid it's head on Harry's lap, as if sensing his sadness.

"At least the orphans have a place to go," Harry told the dog. "Now I just gotta find a good place for me."

* * *

"Are you ever gonna name that mutt?" Justin asked Harry the next morning. He'd been waiting outside the Leaky Cauldron for him. The dog barked at Justin's question.

"He has a name," Harry said, "I just don't know what it is yet."

"Well make one up."

"Like what, Spot?"

"Whoa," Justin said, "I swear the mutt just glared at me."

Harry looked at the dog who stared back at him with the same expression he always wore. "I don't like Spot anyway. He doesn't have spots on him."

"Nah, name him something fierce. He looks like a scrapper."

It was true, Harry thought, the dog did have several scars on his back, sides, and chest.

"What's a fierce name though?" Voldemort flashed to mind, but Harry didn't think anyone would appreciate him calling the dog that.

"Eh... Grindewald?"

Harry frowned.

"C'mon, he's the evil wizard before You-Know-Who."

"No thanks."

"Ok, a fierce animal name then."

"You want me to name the dog after another animal? Come here little hippopotamus," Harry joked. The dog turned and glared at him though, causing Harry to stand up straight and raise his brows.

"Told you," Justin laughed. "He's got to be magic, right? ‘Cause regular dogs don't glare?"

"I don't think they do," Harry agreed. He was surprised the dog could even contort his face to remotely look like a glare. Harry would even have classified the look as ‘not amused' if it had been a person. He'd seen Snape wear the same look on a regular basis.

"Hippo's out," Justin said. "That's not a fierce animal anyway."

"Sirius Black," Harry said suddenly, spotting one of the many wanted posters along Diagon Alley. The dog immediately barked, stopped walking, and sat staring up at Harry. Harry hadn't really been suggesting the name, only thinking out loud. Knowing now that the man had been responsible for his parent's deaths, and that he was probably out looking for Harry, Harry's mind frequently floated to Black because of the wanted posters he was constantly surrounded with.

"Sirius Black?" Justin said, and the dog barked twice more, causing the Saturday shoppers to turn and stare. "How mad d'you think people will be about Sirius Black roaming Diagon?"

Harry shrugged. "Er... Maybe I'll just call him Sirius. That's not too rare a name is it?" He noted the dog's tail was wagging. "C'mon then." They walked up and down the alley for almost an hour before Justin went back to the orphanage for lunch and Harry took Sirius back up to the room.

"Siri maybe?" Harry asked the dog as he gave him scraps from lunch. "Calling you the other name is a little weird," Harry said. "Cause that other guy sold my parents out and all. If he comes to kill me in my sleep, and the newspapers get hold of the fact that we were calling a dog that slept with me Sirius Black, it could get confusing."

The dog stared at Harry and whined, but Harry wasn't sure why. He often did that or barked or acted as though he was conversing with Harry, but Harry wasn't certain that it wasn't normal behavior for a dog, aside from the frowning.

* * *

"Harry Potter?"

Harry paused at the steps leading up to the second floor of the Leaky Cauldron. He'd just been getting ready to take his dinner upstairs, but both of the people from the Wizarding Welfare Office that had been at the trial were standing there.

"Yes?" he asked, his stomach choosing that exact moment to give a particularly loud growl.

"Dane Conner," the man said, holding out his hand for Harry to shake. "We met yesterday. I'm your Case Supervisor. May we talk in private?"

Harry nodded and invited them up to his room. He wasn't looking forward to this ‘investigation,' but knew he had to cooperate. Podmore had told Harry to tell the investigators what he'd told him about life at the Dursleys.

Inside his room, Harry shut his door and set his tray of food on the bed. Mr. Conner conjured a chair, and the woman with him, Iris, sat in Harry's desk chair.

"Go ahead and eat," Dane told Harry. "We have a lot of things to go over with you. We'll try to be brief but it's likely this will continue tomorrow and possibly even on Monday. Do you remember Iris Cooke from court as well? She's the assigned case investigator."

Harry held out his hand to shake Iris' hand and then sat on his bed and took a bite of his green beans. When he swallowed he asked, "What's a case supervisor do?"

Dane smiled. "It's my decision on what the final recommendation to the court will be after the investigation is complete."

"What happens in the investigation?"

Iris spoke up and said, "We have a list of questions for you about living with your family, about school, about what you've been doing since you've been here, and just about you in general. We'll also be speaking to Albus Dumbledore about the decisions he's made about you in the past, especially regarding your living situation. At some point this week we'll also have questions for the Dursley's. We also may end up speaking to your teachers and other people you interact with."

"Do you have to tell everybody why you're asking questions?" Harry asked.

"No, and in fact Albus has asked us not to," Dane said, and Harry nodded.

"So how are you doing Harry?" Iris asked after Harry swallowed a large bite of mashed potatoes and gravy.

He shrugged. "Ok. I mean, better here than at home, but I don't fancy living on Diagonalley forever."

"Why not?" Iris asked.

"It's ok here," Harry repeated, "there's things to do to keep me busy, and I have a friend that lives over at the orphanage that I hang around with, but I'd rather live in a home. It'd be nice to be able to go outside and lay in the grass in the shade or take a walk without there being dozens of people around."

Dane made notes as Iris asked questions, but by this point Harry was so used to the barristers making notes about him that he hardly noticed.

They dove into questions about the Dursleys fairly quickly and Harry described as much as he could, with as much detail. He told them to look for the cupboard under the stairs with his old broken toys and the broken down cot. He told them to look for the cat flap in his upstairs room door and for the bars on the windows. They asked a lot about his punishments, but seemed to pay special attention to the kinds of things the Dursleys said to him, the kinds of chores that were required of him, and what they fed Harry and how often.

"Thank you for telling us Harry," Iris said, looking at her watch. Harry looked at his as well. It was nearing eight o'clock.

"Do you keep a bedtime here?" Dane asked.

"We can keep going if you want," Harry said.

"We're going to pick up tomorrow morning," Iris said, trying to give Harry a reassuring smile.

"Ok."

"What time do you normally go to sleep here Harry?" Dane asked again.

He shrugged. "I come back to my room at dinner and I stay up here after that. I have books I have to get through and notes and stuff to work on. I can't stay up too late because I have work three mornings a week. I get in bed probably around nine, but I don't always fall asleep right away, and it's hard to sleep through the night."

"Why can't you fall asleep?" Dane asked.

"I can't shut my mind off sometimes. I just lay in the dark and think about things. It's worse if I'm stressed out or something, like about the hearing."

"What about sleeping through the night?"

Harry bit his lip. He had nightmares, but it felt childish to admit that he did.

"Harry?"

"Yeah? Oh... well I have nightmares sometimes. I try to go back to sleep but sometimes I wake really early around three or four and I can't go back to sleep even when I try."

"What are the nightmares about?"

"Home," Harry said. "It's worse if I'm hungry, because it's hard to feel anything good when you're hungry. That's not really a problem here though." He'd already told them about frequently being punished with not being fed.

"Can you give us something specific you have nightmares about, or are there no specific things you dream about?"

"About being locked up, and being hungry, or about Dudley hunting me through the neighborhood or being locked in the cupboard and having to get out to use the loo." He dreamed about a lot more than that, but he still felt foolish for having been so afraid of his nightmares that he couldn't sleep.

"Thank you for taking the time to talk with us Harry," Iris said as she and Dane got up. "We'll be back in the morning. Will you be here?"

"I might be out on the alley, but I could be here at a certain time."

"How about we come out on the alley with you?" Dane asked.

Harry nodded. "I usually go out around six thirty before all the shoppers turn up."

"We'll meet you behind the Leaky Cauldron at six thirty then."

They bade him goodbye, and Harry pulled out one of his books to take notes in his shared journal, and then he laid in bed for what seemed like hours before falling asleep. He had strange dreams of being locked up at Ron's house in the hot, sticky attic while Dane and Iris sat on brooms outside the window talking to him through bars, asking him why he couldn't sleep or hadn't been fed.

Harry had designs on going to the orphanage in the morning to see what progress had been made on Friday. He hadn't gotten to see it at all beyond passing it on his way to Podmore's office, and he hadn't gone down Knockturn on Saturday.

As promised, Dane and Iris were waiting for him out back. "So where do you like to go when you go out?" Iris asked.

Harry shrugged. "Well I have work three days a week at Flourish and Blotts and one day a week at Tantalizing Sweets. I visit the orphanage, and I end up at Podmore's and Silver's a lot. Sometimes I go to other shops to talk to the shop owners." He was fond of eating lunch at Fortescue's and listening to the man talk about mundane things going on in his life, such as his garden at home, his grandchildren who were almost old enough to attend Hogwarts, and the treehouse he was building for them in his back garden. He was glad to see they weren't carrying around clipboards or paper and parchment to take notes today, and instead seemed content to just ask questions as they walked.

"What do you do at Flourish and Blotts?" Dane asked. Harry described volunteering there for the experience and the things the brothers were teaching him, and about how he read at night and then asked his questions in the morning. He also talked about Justin and what the two of them did with Tilly, learning about ledgers and trends in sales.

"You have an interest in business?" Dane asked.

He shrugged. "It's something to do. No one told me that my family owned anything until I turned up here this summer. Mr. Silver says if I'm to take things over someday it would be better if I knew about business so I don't mess things up."

"But to learn at such a young age is remarkable," Iris said. "Wouldn't you rather be spending your summer doing other things?"

"Yes," Harry said. "This is fun too, but it'd be nice to have time off of school."

Harry waved to Fortescue and greeted him as he passed by, and then when they came out in the plaza in front of Gringotts, Harry turned and headed straight for Knocturn Alley.

"Harry," Iris said.

"Yeah?"

"You're going down Knockturn?"

"The orphanage is there, and so is Podmore's office and the sweet shop where I work once a week."

"It's dangerous," Dane said.

Harry frowned up at him. It wasn't nearly as dangerous as he had previously been led to believe. Dane definitely seemed uncomfortable with Harry's choice of route.

"No it's not," Harry said. "The orphanage kids live here. They're back and forth down the alley all day."

"Do you associate with the business owners on Knockturn like you do with the ones on Diagon?"

"Not really," Harry said. "Just Tilly at the sweet shop and Mr. Podmore." He told them about initially trying to find a barrister at Silver's office and being turned away, and having no other choice but to try down Knocturn Alley. He also told them about getting Justin a job at the sweet shop, and buying his clothes at Double Lane at the far end of Knockturn.

"So you haven't been into any of the other shops?"

"Some of them are dark," Harry commented. "Why would I go into them?"

"Do you ever have encounters with some of the... ah... questionable people on Knockturn?"

Harry shook his head. "People seem creepy until you realize they seem afraid of you and never come away from their shop doors. Tilly was like that at first too."

They came up to the orphanage, and Harry was pleased to see that the bricks and cracks had been patched, and that the front had a new coat of dark, muted blue paint. It was dark enough that at first glance you might think it was black, but once you really looked it was an eye catching blue. Harry admired it. Already the orphanage looked like the nicest building on Knockturn. It also looked like the crew had built all the new window boxes and hung them under the windows, though they didn't yet have dirt in them to plant flowers or other vegetation. Harry was really hoping they were going to plant things like carrots and lettuce.

"I didn't realize the orphanage was so well kept," Iris said, eyebrows raised. She was startled at Harry's sudden laughter then.

"What?" Dane asked.

"It's in terrible shape," Harry said, and described to them how it looked before, finding out that he owned it, hiring a company to make repairs, and about how the orphanage was going to empty out early Monday morning and how it's residents would stay at Hogwarts, not to return until late Tuesday afternoon so the third floor could be torn off and rebuilt. Harry couldn't wait until lunch hour on Monday when he'd have time to come watch them take the third floor off.

"You did this?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, well I mean, I didn't choose the paint colors or anything. I told them to repair everything, paint it, and otherwise listen to Mrs. Ginger. She runs the place."

"Yes," Iris said. "She's frequently present at decision hearings at the Ministry."

Justin came out of the courtyard from the outside corridor and spotted Harry. He made a beeline for him and Harry greeted him with a wave.

"This is Justin," Harry said.

"Nice to meet you," Dane said, holding out his hand.

Justin took it, but looked uncomfortable. "The notes you made last night didn't make any sense."

"We can go over it later if you want."

Justin nodded. "I'm all packed and ready to go. The Headmaster is putting us up in Hufflepuff and Miss Ava said we're allowed to use school brooms while we're there. They said something about a tour for the younger kids, but I think I'll skip it."

"Wish I could come," Harry said. "It would be nice to get out and fly."

"I already told Tilly I wouldn't be in Monday," Justin said. "Too bad I'll lose out on the seven sickles."

"Maybe she'll let you make it up by selling in the afternoon and the morning one day next week."

"Maybe."

Justin gave another uncomfortable look at the two adults with Harry and ended up bidding him goodbye to go back into the orphanage.

"We won't keep you all day Harry," Dane said. "Would it be ok if we came back in the morning to see you work at Flourish and Blotts?"

"If it's ok with Basil and Bennet," Harry told them.

They nodded and said they'd stop in for a while tomorrow morning to just watch, and said they would keep questions to a minimum until Harry was done with work for the day. They seemed uncomfortable leaving Harry alone on Knockturn, but Harry assured them he was going into the orphanage to spend time with Justin, so they left. As soon as they did, Podmore's office door opened and he beckoned Harry to come in. Harry was surprised he was there on a Sunday.

"Well?" Podmore asked. Harry gave him a run down of the types of things he'd been asked and said they were coming back the next day.

"We need to go over all of the things you've spent money on so far," Podmore said. "They said during the hearing they intended to prove you were irresponsible with your money."

Harry tried to think of every single thing he'd spent money on, but couldn't remember it all. Podmore said he'd get an accounting from Silver on Monday of the big expenditures and the new accounts Harry had opened, and then released Harry so he could get some lunch, which he ended up doing at the orphanage.

"I'm glad you ditched them," Justin said as he and Harry sat in the courtyard and ate oranges and sandwiches.

"Why?"

"I don't like that lady... Iris Cooke. She's the one responsible for my sister and I ending up here."

"What do you mean?"

"After my dad died and it was just us the Ministry sent us to Wizarding Welfare. She investigated. We had a grandmother who wanted to take us but that woman said she wasn't capable of looking after us because she was too old. So we ended up here instead." Justin looked angry. He balled and unballed his fist and ended up punching his leg. "Grandma's fine. She lives in a huge house out in the country and has two house elves that take care of her. There was no reason we couldn't have gone there."

"Do you get to see her?" Harry asked.

"Not really. She sends us each a gift at Christmas and tries to send some money sometimes so we can buy shoes and stuff, but that's it. She doesn't have a lot of money."

"I'm sorry," Harry said. The more he got to know Justin, the more he understood why he was so bitter about certain things.

"Just watch out," he cautioned Harry. "They're gonna act like they're on your side, but they're not."

* * *

Iris and Dane had stopped by for an hour Monday morning to watch Harry work. They listened to the questions Harry was asking Bennet and watched him taking notes, and then watched for a few minutes as Basil had Harry fill out an order for 6th year Potions textbooks they wanted in by next week. They didn't ask Harry any questions, and left before the end of his shift.

Harry bought a sandwich on Diagonalley and then took it to Knockturn to watch the reconstruction efforts at the orphanage. Half of the third floor was off by the time he got there, and Harry was disappointed to find that the men seemed to be on their own lunch break and weren't doing anything interesting at all.

"Enjoy your lunch Potter?" Snape's voice sneered. Harry turned and found Snape standing next to him. He was staring up at the third floor as the construction crew was starting to get back to work.

"Yes sir," Harry said with a smile. He knew Snape wasn't referring to the sandwich he just ate.

"You are more Slytherin than one would have imagined."

"Because of the Minister?" Harry asked.

Snape grunted in response.

"That wasn't my idea. Dumbledore was my idea."

Snape turned to give him a disgusted look, and then turned back to the building.

"Why are you doing this?" he motioned to the orphanage. "I have yet to see your name in the papers claiming credit for being the-savior-of-the-poor-orphans."

"You always think I have a hidden agenda," Harry said.

"You are a Gryffindor and a Potter. You do nothing unless it benefits you. You are selfish and-"

"Yeah, that's me," Harry cut in, earning a dirty look from the man for interrupting his tirade. "Selfish Harry who always wants something."

"Attention," Snape sneered. "Your over inflated ego has grown so used to the attention that with every action you seek it out."

"Eating a sandwich?" Harry challenged him. He couldn't see how he was asking for attention by eating a sandwich on his lunch break.

Snape's lip curled in a particularly unpleasant way. "Hiring a barrister, dragging the Headmaster to court, giving Ministry officials a sob story about how poorly The-Boy-Who-Lived has been treated, holding court with the Minister and Headmaster while you leave the commoners behind staring after you-"

Harry shook his head and started to walk away so he wouldn't be late to work at the sweet shop. "I'm just a kid," Harry said. Harry thought that it was ironic that he was accused of having a hidden agenda because he was a Gryffindor, when he had always thought the same about Slytherins.

Shaking himself mentally as he entered the sweet shop so he wouldn't accidentally start snapping at Tilly, Harry looked around the darkened room and tried to let his eyes adjust until he saw her.

"Justin is gone," Tilly said.

"I know, he'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"We're missing sales," she said.

"You want me to sell today?" Harry asked. He wasn't particularly good at selling things to people, but he knew Tilly needed the money.

"I've already got things packaged for you. 4 Knuts per jelly slug, 3 Sickles for the glacial flakes, and 3 Sickles for the roaring cupcakes."

"What do roaring cupcakes do?" Harry asked.

"It's a new product. Here, take a bite of one." She brought out an extra from behind the counter and when Harry took a bite he felt an uncontrollable urge to let loose a fierce roar. He sounded like a lion. It only lasted for a moment, and then it was over. Harry laughed despite himself.

"Good?" she asked.

"I bet you could sell a lot of these to Gryffindors," Harry said.

She gave him a sack full of coins so he could make change for people and Harry left the sweet shop with the large bag of sweets.

"Have you spent your entire vault on sugar?" Snape asked with a disgusted look. Harry wasn't sure if the man had been waiting outside for Harry to come out, or if he was still there to watch the construction.

"Yup," Harry said, still irritated with the earlier encounter he'd had with him. Harry passed him by and when his back was to him he stuffed the remainder of the roaring cupcake into his mouth and let out a mighty roar. He giggled the rest of the way down Knockturn and to the front steps of Gringotts.

"Candy made by the angels of heaven!" Harry began shouting. "Amazing cooling sensation!" He really disliked selling like this, but figured he could give the coins to Justin when he got back.

"Jelly Slugs in ten flavors! Gryffindor cupcakes that make you roar like a lion!"

Harry was involved exchanging money for several items with children and adults, and didn't see Snape leaning against a wall with his arms crossed at the start of Knockturn Alley, watching him from the shadows. He kept shouting about candy and accepting money from people coming in and out of the bank and was surprised with how fast the time flew by. It had been barely an hour and he had sold out of candy.

Trying to count sales in his head, Harry still didn't notice Snape leaning against the shadowed wall he passed, and startled when the man said something.

"Does the sweet shop owner know you are buying her wares and re-selling them at a higher price on Diagonalley?"

Harry wanted to say something just to make the man angry but figured he'd better not. He didn't want to risk Snape taking his money and dragging him down Knocturn to the sweet shop.

"I work for her," Harry said.

"The rich and famous Boy-Who-Lived?" Snape spat, giving a harsh laugh. "Peddling goods on the steps of Gringotts like a commoner?"

"You'd rather think I was cheating someone than working?" Harry was surprised though he felt he shouldn't be.

Snape looked like he was about to say something nasty, but Harry hurried down Knockturn before he could. He went back to the sweet shop and determined himself not to leave until dinner, or possibly even later. He didn't want to run into Snape yet again and hoped he could wait him out.

"You're sweeping too?" Tilly asked when Harry had not yet left after his allotted time.

"Justin sweeps," Harry said.

"He does," she agreed, and didn't question him more about it.

When Harry was done sweeping he also washed the inside of the front windows without being asked, and then the outside of the candy display cases. When he was done, Tilly held out her hand with seven sickles, but Harry didn't take it.

"Give it to Justin," he said as he went to put his cleaning supplies away.

"You're the one who worked today."

"I was just filling in."

She came over to him, took his hand, and put the coins in it. "Take the money Harry. I've never owed money to anyone and I'm not going to start now."

Harry took the coins and put them in his pocket. He felt uncomfortable being paid for just a couple hours of easy cleaning and selling. Tilly smiled at him though and told him to have a good evening, and Harry left not feeling sure if he should be happy to have some pocket money or uneasy about taking money from someone who clearly needed it. He had thousands and thousands of galleons and didn't need a few sickles, even if he couldn't access all of his money just then.

Harry watched as the construction crew cleaned up their tools so they could go home for the night. The foreman came over to Harry when he saw him watching, and asked what he thought of the progress.

"Got the third floor all framed in," he said. "It's gonna be the new school rooms and library."

"A library," Harry said. He quite liked the idea of them having a library, and wondered how many books they had. He'd seen several mismatched bookcases around the orphanage in different rooms overflowing with children's books and old Hogwarts textbooks. Certainly not enough to fill a library.

"We're on track to finish by Friday," the foreman said. "Unless there's anything else that needs added to the to-do list."

Harry frowned. There wasn't anything he could think of. He turned and looked at Tilly's shop behind him though and at the faded paint around the door and window, and on the sign.

"Do you have any paint I can use?" Harry asked.

"There's a few cans," the foreman said. "Just leftovers. We have to buy more to finish up."

"Can I have the leftovers? Is there a way to change the paint colors?"

The foreman led Harry into the orphanage courtyard where all of their tools and things like paint were stored and pulled out four cans, two of which were only half full. "Here's a couple brushes and a dropcloth," he said, but then scratched his head and asked, "What are you gonna do with it all though? We're already taking care of the painting so you don't need to worry about it."

"I want to paint across the street."

"Show me."

He and Harry each carried two cans across the alley and set them in front of Tilly's shop. The light was off inside now and Harry wondered if she had floo'd home.

"Paint's peeling and dirty," the foreman said. "You can't just paint over it or it won't adhere. You gotta sand it down first and then clean it off. If you're gonna paint the sign you need a smaller brush for the detail work."

"Do you have one?"

"I might."

He spent several minutes explaining to Harry how to sand the old paint smooth and clean it and about mixing the paint in the cans thoroughly, and also how to change colors with a charm.

"We can just add this to the work order," the foreman said after he'd gotten out sandpaper and a few other supplies for Harry.

"That's ok," Harry said, "I got it." If Tilly was going to pay him, he might as well do something to earn that pay. He was invested in her business emotionally now as well and wanted to see it do well. If she started getting more business, maybe Justin would also get a raise. Part of getting the business to do better would be to make it look more approachable. Not everyone knew Tilly and would be willing to go into her shop as it looked now, even with the newly cleaned windows.

"All right," the foreman said. "Just don't forget to do a second coat and then go back and touch up for a third."

Harry had painted the shed in the back garden for uncle Vernon several times before however and felt confident he could paint some trim around Tilly's door and large window. He thanked the foreman and set to work, wanting to get as much done as he could before it got dark in a few hours.

Several people watched Harry from the shadows as he painted. Harry was aware they were there, like they always were, but he'd gotten used to them now and didn't mind.

Harry painted the trim the same dark blue as the orphanage, and then changed the color of one of the half-empty cans of dark blue to light blue and painted wide diagonal stripes on all the trim to make it pop. He had to do several coats of the light blue before it looked good, but it was warm out and the paint dried quickly between coats. He suspected the paint had some kind of charm in it to help with drying time though.

When he was done it was eight o'clock and he set to work on the large sign. Harry carefully painted around the fading letters with the dark blue and then used the light blue to paint over the letters. The words really popped with the light blue on top of the dark blue sign. In the fading light, Harry looked back and forth between the sweet shop and the orphanage and thought that together they made this particular spot on the alley look very well-kept and approachable. If only the other shops all looked as good.

When he was done he dragged the ladder and supplies back across the alley and into the orphanage courtyard. On his way back out of the alley, he looked over and made eye contact with one of the shadowed figures, who for once held his gaze instead of retreating further into the shadows. Harry stood straight as he made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron, satisfied that he had finally earned those seven Sickles.

"It's so beautiful Harry," Mrs. Ginger said in tears as they went into the kitchen together. The other kids had all scattered to go look at their rooms, but Harry and Justin stayed with Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava. The kitchen had been painted a calming shade of green like sage, the beat up wooden counters had been replaced with smooth gray stone, and the floor had been replaced with large smooth slabs of dark gray stone with brown flecks. His eyes roamed over the aged stove and sink that were still in place, and he made a mental note to have those replaced at some point too. Even so, this was a kitchen even aunt Petunia would have been proud of.

"Let's go upstairs and see the third floor," Miss Ava said as Mrs. Ginger dabbed at her eyes and then blew her nose.

It took a moment to find their way to the stairs since the two women had had the work crew rearrange some walls, but they found them and made their way up, deciding to look at the second floor later and passing it by.

The third floor was no longer a picture of decay. Large windows along two walls flooded the classroom and library with light. One wall of windows looked over the rooftops of Knockturn Alley, and Harry noted that you could even see the front of the apothecary on Diagon. The shopkeep was sweeping the cobblestone out front before he closed up for the evening.

"I didn't realize the building was so tall," Justin said, looking out the windows on the other wall. Harry crossed the classroom, whose walls were such a light grey they could be mistaken for white in the bright afternoon light. You could see the tops of buildings on the Muggle street, and the smallest piece of sidewalk in the distance that bustled with Muggles as they left work or got in some last minute shopping.

"Brilliant," Harry said.

"They even built shelves in the library. Bless them," Mrs. Ginger said from the next room. Harry and Justin went through the door leading from the classroom to the library. The room was smaller than the classroom, but it had a table to study at and bookshelves lining two walls. It was just as brightly lit as the other room.

"Harry, you even bought us new books?" Mrs. Ginger couldn't contain herself any longer and had Harry in a crushing hug.

"No," Harry said, feeling like he couldn't breath. When she finally let go, he said, "I didn't buy any books. I don't know where they came from."

Justin pulled one off a shelf. "They're not exactly new." Harry went to look and saw that the cover was faded, but still in good shape. It was ‘Tales of Beedle The Bard,' but Harry hadn't heard of it before.

"I wonder who then..." Mrs. Ginger trailed off.

"Severus maybe? Or Headmaster Dumbledore?" Miss Ava suggested.

They wondered at it for a few more moments before they went down to the second floor to look at the improvements there.

"Since we were able to move the classroom to the third floor," Miss Ava told Harry, "we were able to add an extra living space to the first floor and enlarge all of the bedrooms to give everyone more space. They went into Justin's room and Harry went to a wall to inspect a built in dresser and shelves across from Justin's bed.

"It's Ace, isn't it?" Justin said, and Harry turned to stare at him. He'd never actually seen Justin with a smile like that before, like he was happy, but there he was smiling like a loon. "We had old wardrobes and dressers that were falling apart. One of the little kids told the construction crew they should build us new ones, and they put them in the walls. It gives us so much floor space now."

"We had them weave charms into the wood as well to keep them from breaking and falling apart. They should last for a long time," Mrs. Ginger said, pulling a dresser drawer forward to look at. It was empty since no one had had a chance to put their clothes in yet. "The same charms are woven into the walls to prevent holes from rough housing." She gave a pointed look at Justin, who pretended he hadn't seen.

As they toured Harry noted that the bedrooms had all been painted different colors and the wood doors leading to each room had all been stained to coordinate. The room Justin shared with other boys his age was a light earthy blue, while the younger boy's room down the hall was an earthy green.

Harry explored for a few more minutes, inspecting the work the construction crew had done, and then made to leave, but Miss Ava stopped him and sent him into the kitchen instead, where Mrs. Ginger was waiting for him alone.

"I wanted to talk to you Harry," she said, indicating he should have a seat on one of the two wooden stools.

"It's ok," Harry said. "Don't thank me anymore. All this should have been done before. If I would have realized-" She held up a hand to stall him.

"It should have been," she agreed. "But if it were another family that owned the building... another young heir, I doubt things ever would have gotten repaired."

Harry's cheeks heated up. He didn't like people thanking him. He wasn't used to being thanked for anything he'd done and it made him uncomfortable.

"I wanted to talk to you about the extra funding you've alloted for us."

Harry frowned.

"I received an owl from Harrison Silver last night while we were at Hogwarts. How long do you intend on giving us 300 Galleons a month?"

"Forever if I can," he said. Harry could tell she didn't believe him though. "It's what every person living here should have, right? Is it not enough?"

"It's more than enough," she said. "It's a lot of money though Harry."

"But it's my responsibility," Harry told her.

"You're barely 13. Any of the things you've done this summer are beyond the realm of what you should have had to be responsible for." Harry felt his cheeks heating up again.

She continued on in a gentle tone, "What do you want us to spend the money on?"

"Whatever you need," Harry said. "Food, building repairs, clothes, books, toys..."

"You want us to buy toys?"

"Well the kids have birthdays, and there's Christmas too right? Every kid should get a present." He knew what that was like to feel unloved and unwanted during holidays or on his birthday. "Maybe you could get each kid new clothes on their birthday and Christmas, and a toy and a book too. That would still leave enough for food right?"

Mrs. Ginger went to a drawer, opened it, closed it, went to another drawer and found what she was looking for. She came back with a notebook and a quill. She began drawing columns and labeling them. Harry watched as she marked down a column for building repairs, food, medical visits, clothes, school supplies, gifts, and emergencies. She also wrote the number 300 and then began doing math in her head and marking numbers down in the columns. Finally she turned the paper towards Harry. "We'll put 10 a month into a building repair fund, 100 a month into food, 50 for medical visits, 20 for school supplies, 60 for clothes, and 60 for gifts."

"What about the emergency fund?" Harry asked.

"As soon as we get school supplies for all the children going to Hogwarts we'll start funneling those funds into an emergency fund."

"Is 20 Galleons enough for supplies?" Harry asked. He thought there were at least 10 kids going to Hogwarts.

"We usually get by on five. We get everything used and re-use what we have. This year we should be able to get the children some new clothes at least. I like what you said about getting them new clothes for Christmas. That will let us buy new clothes now for those going to Hogwarts and new clothes in December for the kids who stay here."

"Don't buy any school supplies yet," Harry said, and Mrs. Ginger looked up at him. "I'll bring some things by in a few days."

"You don't have to do that Harry."

"I want to. At least the older students should get some new stuff, so they can go to school at least one year with brand new things."

She hugged him again without warning and mumbled something about him being a good boy.

When Harry left the orphanage that evening, it was nearly dark. Harry walked slowly back towards Gringotts, not worried about being out after dark now that he'd grown comfortable with Knocturn and it's shadowy residents. As the sun disappeared over the top of one of the taller buildings, laughter caught Harry's attention and he paused next to the entrance to Payne Alley. Harry had passed by the narrow dark alley so many times now that he didn't pay it any attention. It was near the start of Knocturn and it twisted right away so he couldn't see down it at all. It was so narrow that two people could hardly walk side by side down it. More laughter rang out and he wondered not for the first time what was down there. Knocturn still had enough natural light to see by, but Payne Alley was already completely dark. It took Harry several moments to realize that as he stared into the darkness, someone was staring back at him. A white pair of eyes was all he could see. The hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood up and he hurried on his way, uncomfortable being there for the first time in weeks.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he popped out into the Gringotts Plaza and made the turn to head back towards the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

Harry had gotten a hold of a current map of the Alley's. Silver had given it to him the next morning and after work at Flourish and Blott's, Harry had gone back to his room to spend the afternoon looking it over.

As his eyes moved over the parchment, he quickly picked out the shops he was familiar with. There were also several small scattered squares he figured must have been the stalls and booths that sold odds and ends as they were in the same location on the map as they were on the alleys. The one outside Potage's Cauldrons sold hot meat pastries Harry sometimes bought for breakfast, and the two at the start of Knocturn sold talismans and love potions. Harry had never stopped to look at their wares but he had read the signs as he passed daily.

The map fascinated him. He was able to see each individual building, as well as how larger buildings were divided. He also now had a good idea of what was down Payne Alley, though he wasn't sure what some of the shops were. There was another Barrister, a charm shop, a fortune teller and an inn, but Harry had no idea what kind of shops belonged to the names, The Aether, The Lighthouse, or Gobeldegook.

Several shops on Knocturn were labeled as ‘empty' and two had names but were labeled as ‘closed.' Harry was also finally able to see what some of the other shops on Knocturn sold as some of them didn't have signs in their windows or above their doors. The man who had watched him paint Tantalizing Sweets looked to be the owner of Barrow Books, and Harry wondered then if he had been the one to donate the books to the orphanage and why if there was no profit in it.

Harry pulled out some of the papers Silver had given him weeks before with numbers of monthly earnings on the shops he owned shares in or in rent paid for the buildings he owned. Barrow Books wasn't one of the shops on his list though. He let his eyes scan down the list and compared earnings of shops on Knocturn to the ones on Diagonalley. The shops he owned shares in on Knocturn made barely anything while the ones on Diagon all appeared to be successful.

Harry also noted on the map that there was a door marked as going out the back of Flourish and Blotts out into Knocturn Alley, and he wondered why he hadn't noticed it before.

As Harry fell asleep that night, he dreamt of secret passageways leading from building to building, tunnels under Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, and strangely, that the Owl Emporium had moved into the building the orphanage now occupied. When he woke at four am after dreaming that Uncle Vernon had moved into Diagonalley and was demanding Harry sell him all the buildings he owned for a pound each, he pulled out the map again and began looking over it as he petted Sirius on the bed beside him.

* * *

"James Potter's son."

Harry stilled and looked into the shadowed alcove of the front door of Barrow Books. The shop keep was staring at him again. Why hadn't he used his name if he wanted Harry to come over?

"Me?" Harry asked.

The man waved him over. "That's what I said isn't it?"

"I have a name."

"I'm aware," the man said. He looked towards the orphanage and then Tantalizing Sweets. "Why you fixing up Tilly's place?" he asked.

"It needed it," Harry said.

"I asked her," the man said. "She said the work crew must have done it in the night."

Harry had heard that too. He'd let her assume it was them. He didn't want her to pay him extra for nothing.

"Got nothing to say to that?" the man asked.

Harry shrugged.

"And you got that orphan boy a job with her. Justin?"

"He got the job for himself," Harry said.

"My building could use fixing up," the man said. He motioned with his hand to the peeling paint and crumbling bricks. There was also a long crack going corner to corner in the front window.

"I don't have any paint left," Harry said.

"Why don't you come inside and look at what I have to sell?"

Harry frowned, thinking the conversation had been strange so far and wondering if the man had designs on kidnapping him. He'd once thought that about Tilly too though, and had been proven wrong.

"You wouldn't know who donated a bunch of books to Peverell's, would you?" Harry asked.

"Wouldn't have a clue," the man said. He opened his shop door and went in. Harry followed him, hand on his wand in his pocket.

Unlike Tilly's shop, the inside of this one was very clean. Harry never would have guessed from the state of disrepair the outside of the building was in.

"You don't own this building," the man said.

"I know."

"Got no reason to fix it up then," the man said.

"Who does own it?"

"I do. A few shop owners own their own buildings. Not many though. I live upstairs."

All of the books sold in this store seemed to be used, and Harry felt sure that he had donated the books to the orphanage. He wasn't sure why he wouldn't admit to it though.

"No one comes down this alley any more. Not like Diagon. Only reason I don't have to close up shop is because I own it and don't have to pay up rent."

"When did Magic Mart and Troll Travel's go out of business?" Harry asked him.

"Magic Mart went out about five years ago. Couldn't afford rent anymore and they weren't selling anything. Troll Travel's got busted ten years back by the Portkey Authority for using unauthorized port keys to send tourists to other countries. Tilly's thought of closing up shop for years. Wasn't making any money except when the Hogwart's Express was hauling students around."

Harry walked up one row of books and then down another. "There's other empty shops. I don't own them either."

"The one on the corner by Peverell's used to be Grays Goods."

"The food store?" Harry asked. From what he knew, Mrs. Weasley did all her grocery shopping there.

"The same," the man said. "The one by Exotic Tea was Ollivanders. Both are family run. In their families for generations. They moved over to Diagon when it was built. Other shops went over there too and it wasn't long before Knocturn Alley became a ghost town."

Harry frowned. "Not much can be done about that now," he said.

"I figured you had big plans for Knocturn, coming in and fixing up Tilly's and Peverell's like you were."

"No plans," Harry said. He was just trying to do the right thing.

"Shame," the man said.

Harry frowned at him. What was he after? He didn't even know the man's name and Harry felt like their conversation had run in circles.

"Well, er, it's been nice talking to you," Harry lied, and made his way to the door. The man didn't stop him, and only stared after him as he left.

* * *

"Is this what you're looking for?" Basil asked, holding a book with a brown cover out to Harry.

Harry turned around from the shelf full of history books and took the book being offered to him, opening to a page in the middle.

"This is perfect," Harry said. "How'd you know what kind of book I wanted?"

"Bennet ordered it a couple weeks ago. We figured you'd want to know more about the alley's eventually with the interest you've taken in business."

"Thanks," Harry said. Basil took him to the register and rang up the book and Harry paid him four sickles and a knut.

"This is better than what I wanted," Harry murmured, browsing through the table of contents. It was a history of the four wizarding quarters in the aisles, detailing all the places wizards gathered and shopped. It looked like it was about fifty years old, but it was perfect for what he wanted.

"The owner of Barrow Books told me a little about how Knockturn started to lose business, but not much."

"Bartholomew Barrow," Bennet said, coming out from the store room. "Good bloke, but strange. Never comes straight out and says what he wants. I dislike when people beat around the bush."

Harry detailed his encounter with Barrow to Basil and Bennet, and Bennet said, "Sounds like he wants you to fix up all of Knockturn. Good luck with that."

Harry murmured his agreement, thanked the brothers, and left with his new book.

Harry read for the rest of the day and was fascinated by what he found. There was an entire chapter about Payne Alley and the many rebellions and uprisings that had been born there. Some of it had had learned in first year History of Magic, but Binns had made everything seem so boring.

Harry had his map of the alleys out and referenced it frequently when the book talked about events. On Payne Alley there were several businesses that weren't mentioned in the book and Harry figured they must have moved in after the book was written. The book did mention Payne Inn, The Aether, The Lighthouse and Gobeldegook however. Harry owned the buildings that Gobeldegook and Payne Inn were in along with a number of others. He didn't hold shares in either business though. He didn't hold shares in any of the businesses on Payne Alley.

According to the book, Gobeldegook was a pub that catered to Goblins, vampires, and other beings that normal wizarding society looked down upon. The Goblin uprising of 1712 was organized around the tables of Gobeldegook over mugs of Goblin whiskey, and for almost thirty years a black market for blood was run out of Payne Inn by vampires. Harry wondered if some of those vampires were still alive today.

The Lighthouse was a newsletter that published news for the lesser fae, and often printed things that incited rebellion. Harry suddenly wanted a subscription to the Lighthouse just to see what kinds of things they printed. The book didn't tell Harry what the Aether sold, but it was mentioned throughout the history of Payne and Knocturn Alleys.

In another chapter Harry found that much of what Barrow had said was true. Knockturn was the first alley built, followed by Payne Alley, and later Diagonalley. After Diagonalley was built and began to be visited more frequently, businesses left Knockturn alley and so did customers.

Harry looked over several papers detailing earnings for the last few months and was surprised to see that the businesses on Payne Alley paid a much higher rent than those on Knockturn. It wasn't quite as much as on Diagon, but nearly. That must mean they were doing good business.

Finally crawling into bed after midnight because he was too tired to keep his eyes open to read anymore, Harry fell asleep, mind made up that he wanted to go down Payne Alley and see for himself what was there that made it different from Knockturn.

* * *

"Silver," Harry greeted his barrister the next morning.

"Mr. Potter."

"I've been doing some research about the alleys. I own most of the buildings down Payne Alley, right?"

"Except the Lighthouse and The Aether."

"They pay higher rent than on Knocturn."

"They make significantly more money."

Harry bit his lip and wondered how what he had to say would be received. "I want to go down Payne Alley and see what's different."

"What's different is that it caters to people the rest of society doesn't want to see or think about," Silver said. "There are four wizarding quarters, yet only two places that cater to fae."

Harry nodded. "I understand," he said, "but I want to see it. I wanted to know if you would go with me."

Silver, who normally wore a smile and rarely ever looked as serious as Podmore, gave Harry a doubtful look.

"I wonder if you've considered how this will look for your upcoming hearing. You've already ventured down Knockturn."

"We both know Knocturn isn't what people think it is."

"Yes, we both know that. Most others don't see it that way though. Now imagine an alley where there is very real danger from vampires and other people who have been persecuted by wizards for centuries. That will look far worse for you than venturing down Knocturn where you have reason to be because your other Barrister is located there."

"I have an invisibility cloak," Harry said. "I could have gone on my own, but I know it's dangerous, which is why I came to you. You're my barrister and you can't tell if I ask you not to. You wanted me to learn about business and I've been trying." Harry pulled out the book he read most of the way through the night before. "I've seen all of my holdings on the alleys except for those on Payne Alley. I can't learn about business until I can see how those are run."

"You wanted me to tell you if you were doing something unwise."

Harry nodded. "Look, I know I'm just a kid, ok. I know Payne Alley isn't the place for me. I'm not looking for adventure though, I'm looking to learn. If you won't take me, I won't go, but I do want you to take me."

Silver fixed him with a scrutinizing look that made Harry feel like he was under a microscope. Finally Silver said, "Put your cloak on and meet me here in twenty minutes."

Harry flashed him a grin and left to get his cloak.

Thirty minutes later found Harry and Silver approaching Payne Alley. Harry was under his cloak and promised not to take it off until they were out of view of Knockturn completely, and Silver promised Harry he would help him for the next hour, at which point he'd have to leave for a meeting with another client.

Harry tried not to let the hairs on the back of his arms and neck raise as they went up the steps into the narrow Payne Alley, but couldn't help it. They passed Foxfish Fortunes and Pendragon Lucky Charms and then the Alley turned sharply to the right and they could no longer see Knockturn. It was much darker here than on Knockturn because the buildings were so close he could nearly touch the brick buildings on both sides of the alley if he held his arms out.

"You can take the cloak off now," Silver said. Harry did as he was told and folded it up and put it in his backpack, which he shrank down and put in his pocket.

"This one's The Lighthouse," Silver said at a door to their left. "The Aether is there."

"What is the Aether?" Harry asked.

"A bar for vampires."

"I don't think I want to go in there," Harry said.

"No," Silver agreed.

There were no alcoves here for people to hide in, and the alley was empty, though Harry did note that several people watched him from behind curtains in Payne Inn, and that a Goblin washing windows on the inside of Gobeldegook had stopped what he was doing to watch them.

"The Lighthouse first," Harry said, and Silver pushed the door open and led him inside. There was a counter by the door, several desks set at an angle like drafting tables, and a huge ancient looking printing press that was running on magic as it printed newsletters.

"Yes?" asked a boy about seventeen. He was immediately wary of the visitors, and his eyes flickered up to Harry's scar predictably.

"My name is Harry," Harry said, holding out his hand and wondering if it would be a welcomed gesture or not.

"I know who you are," the boy said. He took Harry's hand briefly in a firm shake but didn't say anything else.

"I know I don't own this building and I don't have any shares in your business," Harry said. "But I've been learning about the alley's and the businesses I do have shares in. I've just been learning about business in general. I wondered if I could ask you some questions about your business."

"Ask then," the boy said.

Harry thought it was odd that the boy hadn't introduced himself yet, but didn't push it.

"Do you have a lot of subscribers?" Harry asked.

"Little over four hundred," the boy said.

Harry nodded.

"And the rest of the businesses on Payne Alley seem to do well?"

"Well enough."

"The Alley is empty though."

"Most people turn out when the alley is completely dark around six thirty."

"Do any wizards come down here?"

"Not like you," the boy said. "Except Silver once a year."

Harry looked up at Silver, who said, "Businesses send rent money to the accounts at Gringotts by owl. I come once a year to view the buildings and to make sure they're in good repair."

"How much is a subscription?" Harry asked the boy.

"Seven sickles a week. Newsletter comes out on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday."

Harry pulled out his drawstring pouch and pulled out enough for several months. "I'd like a subscription please."

The boy eyed Harry and then looked down at his money. "What interest have you got in the news we write?"

"I'd like to know," Harry said.

The boy reached forward so suddenly that Harry wasn't sure if he was being attacked, and snatched the coins from Harry's hand. Harry flinched but didn't think Silver noticed, though the boy did. He wrote down Harry's name and Silver cleared his throat. "Perhaps the subscription should be registered to HP instead." The boy scratched the name out and wrote H.P. He went over to a stack of growing papers that had just come off the press and handed it to Harry. He also went to a shelf which seemed to have archived issues and pulled out two more and gave them to Harry.

"This week's newsletters," the boy said. He gave Harry a look as though asking if there was anything else.

"Thank you for talking to me," Harry said. The boy didn't reply so Harry and Silver left.

"I don't think he goes to Hogwarts," Harry said when they were back in the quiet, claustrophobic alley.

"He's not allowed to," Silver said.

"Why not?"

"He's a vampire."

"Him?" Harry asked.

Silver murmured.

"How old is he do you think?"

"Only seventeen. He was turned last year."

Harry frowned. "Did he go before?"

"That is something you would have to ask him, but I would gather not."

They went into Payne Inn, which was dark because all the curtains were closed. Harry expected it to be musty and cold inside, but it wasn't. Everything was clean, from the wood walls to the long shiny wood counter that ran the length of the entry room.

Silver introduced him to a man that looked an awful lot like Tom from the Leaky Cauldron and the man allowed Harry to ask his questions. Payne Inn was open to anybody, but regular wizards rarely ever came to stay, and only then if they were in trouble and hiding from the law. "Once," the manager told Harry, "Sirius Black came to stay the night before they caught him and took him to Azkaban." Goblins, werewolves, vampires, elves, and a number of others frequently stayed at the Payne Inn, which was a very profitable business, Harry was informed.

They went into Gobledegook after that where the Goblin behind the bar didn't question Harry's age and where four Goblins at a table in the back playing cards pretended to not be interested in Harry or his questions. Harry took note that the pub was in better shape on the inside than the Leaky Cauldron was, and was told it was full every evening after Gringotts closed.

"Payne Alley seems to be in good shape," Harry said when they left the pub.

"They take care of it," Silver said. "Many of the business owners live above or below their businesses. The apprentice at The Lighthouse is the son of the two vampires who own the newsletter. Before he started apprenticing there he was paid to sweep the alley every morning and wash windows. The owner of the Payne Inn has a son that goes to Hogwarts, and in the summer he's paid to keep all the buildings in good repair on the outside."

Harry raised his brows and wondered who this boy was and what house he was in, but before he could ask, the door to their left opened. No one came out or called out to them and they both stared at the door.

"What business is this?" Harry asked.

"Vlad Zurrie, Barrister."

"Are you coming in or not?" came a voice from inside, and Silver led the way in, closing the door as soon as Harry had come in behind him. As soon as they were in, the lights came on to reveal a posh office like Silver's only with a lot of dark stained wood that was so shiny Harry wondered if it was polished on a daily basis.

"Bellamy said Harry Potter was inspecting businesses up and down the alley. I figured I was next," said the man. He was a couple inches taller than Silver, skinny, and paler than the boy at The Lighthouse.

"Vlad Zurie," the man said, holding out his hand to Harry. Harry took it uncertainly and tried to return the strong grip, but wasn't able to match the strength of the man.

"Bellamy?" Harry asked.

"The apprentice at The Lighthouse."

Harry nodded, glad he at least knew the boy's name now.

"Well, what questions do you have for me?" Vlad asked, but Harry only had to ask one question (which he couldn't even remember later that day), before the barrister was off and running talking about how proud they were of their alley, about how many people frequented the businesses there, and about how it was a very tight knit community where people looked out for each other. Despite his expensive furniture and other office furnishings, Vlad explained that he often did work for free for those in the community that needed it. On the other hand, he told Harry, those that could afford his services often paid him extra so he could help the less fortunate.

"What I'm curious to know," Vlad finally asked, "is why you've taken an interest in our alley? Wizards are usually content to ignore us if we stay out of sight and mind our own affairs."

"Knocturn is so empty," Harry said. "No one's making any money, the orphanage was falling apart... but Payne Alley seems to be doing well."

"We're different than you," Vlad said. "Wizards find something new and forget the old. You got your Diagonalley and left Knocturn to fall apart. We on the other hand have no other place to go. We're not allowed to open up new businesses or build new alleys for our kind. This is what we have in this part of the country. We take care of it like we take care of each other. Like you took care of the orphanage."

Harry looked away from his shiny desk and into his eyes. "I would have done sooner if I'd known I could do anything about it. They don't have a choice of where to live."

"And the sweet shop?" Vlad asked.

"Well it needed help too."

"Yes, I suppose it did," Vlad told him.

Silver motioned to his watch to tell Harry their time was up and Harry thanked Vlad for his time. Silver opened the door and walked out onto the alley and Vlad backed into a shadowed part of his office. Before Harry walked out and closed the door however, he turned and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know who donated a bunch of books to Peverell's would you?"

"When a young heir turns up on Knocturn and brings with him a construction crew, people tend to come out to see what's going on," Vlad said. "People saw a wizard finally taking care of something that was old and forgotten... taking care of people that had been forgotten."

Harry frowned, not sure what he was saying. Vlad motioned towards the door behind Harry and said, "Bellamy saw what you'd done for the children at the orphanage. He wanted to be a part of it. He organized a drive to collect money, and then he went to Barrow Books and bought books he thought the children would like."

"Harry." Silver was calling to him impatiently.

Harry didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything at all, and backed out of the barrister's office, pulling the door closed behind him.

"Put the cloak back on," Silver said. When Harry was invisible, he led him back to his office.

"They bought books for the orphans," Harry said.

Silver looked up at him as he took his cloak off. "What are you talking about?"

"The people in Payne Alley wanted to help the orphans so they bought them a bunch of new books."

"That doesn't sound like the patrons of Payne Alley."

"Why not?"

"Vampires drunk on blood wine, goblins who gamble and drink all night long?"

Silver excused himself a moment later, telling Harry he had to hurry to meet a client, and Harry was left alone with his thoughts. Regular wizards didn't care about fae and the fae were certainly wary of wizards. And according to the people he'd spoken to, regular wizards didn't care about Knocturn Alley (which Harry knew was true). Yet the fae on Payne Alley had cared enough to help wizard kids at the orphanage. Because I cared, Harry thought to himself. They wouldn't have bought books if I hadn't paid to fix the place up. They cared because I cared. That was something to think about, and Harry really wasn't sure what to think about it, though he continued to do so in the days that followed.

There was an article about a famous Goblin who had visited Gobeldegook the week before, an interview with the manager of Payne Inn about a meeting that was to be held in a few weeks with elven dignitaries, and a section with ads advertising services or asking for things. One was a short blurb asking if anyone had found a lost golden locket and another a paragraph detailing a bachelor's traits and what he was looking for in a love interest.

In another issue Harry found a long article about the history of fae being denied entrance to magical schools and announcing a meeting at Payne Inn at the end of the week to talk about petitioning the Wizengamot about the issue again. Harry found the article very interesting and wondered why elves and vampires and werewolves wouldn't be allowed entrance to Hogwarts. Hagrid was half giant and he'd been allowed to go to school.

Harry also found an article about how a wizard had been found out to be a werewolf and had lost his job at the Ministry and was now looking for work if anyone knew of work to be had, and an article about how three vampires had been run out of York on Sunday and were now staying at the Payne Inn until they could find a friendlier place to live. This newsletter was also asking for people to donate funds to bail a werewolf out of a Muggle jail in Harrogate.

Harry wondered if Bellamy wrote these articles or if his parents or someone else had. Most of them revolved around people needing help or being treated unfairly. Harry couldn't wait for the next issue to be delivered to him to see what news it held.

Harry folded up the newsletter that was asking for donations to buy books for the orphans and put it in his back pocket and then headed out for the day. After stocking shelves with heavy Hogwart's textbooks at Flourish and Blotts for several hours, Harry made a beeline for Barrow Books, deciding to skip lunch until he could talk to Barrow.

As he passed Payne Alley he turned his head to look down it, no longer afraid of who he might find staring back at him and hoping to spot Bellamy so he could thank him for getting books for Peverell's. He saw no one though so he kept going. Several children waved to Harry and greeted him from in front of the orphanage as he passed, and he stopped for a moment to give them each a knut so they could go to Tilly's and buy a piece of candy. They all ran screaming across the alley as soon as they had their coins and Harry continued on, finally making it to the used book store. Barrow had been watching from inside apparently because as soon as Harry opened the door and came in, Barrow said, "Awful nice of you to buy them candy."

Harry shrugged and Barrow stared at him as if he was still trying to figure Harry out. Harry pulled out the newsletter and handed it to Barrow, but he didn't take it.

"You said you didn't know who donated books to Peverell's," Harry said.

"You didn't tell Tilly who painted her shop front."

Harry and Barrow stared at each other. "I know it was Bellamy," Harry said.

"You know him?" Barrow asked.

"Not exactly," Harry said. "I met him is all."

"That boy doesn't come out from Payne Alley more'n once or twice a year."

Harry pretended to be looking at a book instead of telling him he'd gone down Payne Alley. He didn't know this man aside from the brief chat he'd had with him a few days before and didn't know if he would tell someone and cause him trouble in court. "Why doesn't he come out?" Harry asked instead.

"Shy," Barrow said. "Wary. Lived his whole life on that alley and his parents didn't send him to Hogwarts knowing he was getting turned into one of them near majority. They don't trust wizards."

"Hm." That was too bad, Harry thought, because he loved Hogwarts and hated to think of anyone missing out on going if they could have.

"Was that all you came in here to say, is that you knew the books came from here?" Barrow asked.

Harry put the book down he was looking through and looked up. "No," Harry said. "I want to know what needs to be done to your shop."

Barrow narrowed his eyes for a moment and then motioned to the front window, still cracked corner to corner. "Window is too broken for repair by charm. Been charmed one too many times. The whole place needs new paint inside and out, and four or five bookshelves need fixing."

"Do you have money to hire some of the older kids from Peverells to fix the shelves and paint?"

"I might. Got no money for paint or a window though."

Harry walked up the aisle of books he was in and then rounded the corner and went down the next. "I'll pay for the window and the paint."

"Why?"

"I guess it would be good for business."

"Not for you," Barrow said with a snort.

"Why not?" Harry asked. "If your shop looks better it will draw people down the alley and into the other businesses I have shares in."

"You'd better have another think on that one boy," Barrow said. "I'll take your money for repairs and use it, don't get me wrong, but fixing up the shops won't save the businesses on the alley."

"Why not?"

"Since you've prettied up the orphanage and Tilly's, has anyone else come down the alley who wasn't already shopping here?"

Harry frowned. The alley was still as deserted as it was before, except for the kids at Peverell's and the people who stood in the shadowed alcoves watching.

"It'll take more than cosmetics to bring business back," Barrow said. "I sell my books by owl now because it's the only way I can make money. People are too afraid to come down Knocturn. They think everyone who comes down this alley is dark. The only reason Double Lane gets any business at all is because they have an entrance on the Muggle road."

"What do you think would bring business back then?" Harry asked.

Barrow snorted. "If I had the answers boy I would have brought business back already."

"Hm."

Harry turned to leave, but Barrow cleared his throat. "When can I expect my money for repairs?"

Harry turned to look at him. "When I hear you've hired three kids from the orphanage to help you."

Barrow grunted and Harry left. He hoped Podmore wouldn't jump on him about spending willy nilly. He also wondered if Silver would tell him he was making a bad decision spending money on a business he would get no profit from. It can't all be about profit though, Harry thought, can it?

* * *

Harry went back down Knocturn Alley near dark and leaned up against the wall outside Detect-A-Hex, hoping to catch Bellamy if he came near the entrance to Payne Alley. Harry kept his wand handy as several people came down Knocturn and turned up Payne and as he heard raucous laughter coming from down the alley, probably from Gobeldegooks. He didn't want to become a snack for a vampire while he was waiting.

People didn't seem to pay Harry any mind until several goblins came down Knockturn from Gringotts.

"This isn't the place for you," one of the goblins said. He didn't seem angry. It was more like he was warning Harry that he was in a dangerous place.

"I was hoping to talk to Bellamy," Harry said.

The goblin grunted and went down Payne Alley and out of sight with his friends. Almost half an hour passed and it was almost completely dark when a voice sounded next to Harry's ear, startling him. "Talk."

Harry turned and found Bellamy, and noticed that he hadn't stepped out of Payne Alley onto Knocturn. "I read the newsletters," Harry said. "Did you write them?"

"Some of the articles."

"They were good," Harry said. Bellamy stared at him, arms crossed.

"I wanted to thank you for getting money together for books for the kids at Peverell's. They really didn't have anything."

"I know."

The silence was awkward and the conversation not at all easy like it would have been with Ron or Justin. Harry wasn't sure if it was because Bellamy was older or if it was the look Bellamy had been giving him since they'd first met. It was a look like he wondered if Harry was going to pull out a wooden stake and drive it through his heart.

"Did you get enough money together to get the man out of jail in Harrogate?"

"Yes."

"What about the family at the Inn? Did they find another place to stay yet?"

"Why are you asking?" He seemed irritated.

Harry sighed. "I know I'm just a kid," he said, thinking maybe Bellamy just didn't want to deal with his silly questions, "but I care."

"They're not your kind," Bellamy said with a sneer. He uncrossed his arms and turned to walk back down Payne Alley, but Harry stepped forward into the alley after him and Bellamy stopped to stare at him.

"We're all just people," Harry said. "Maybe if my family believed that they wouldn't have treated me like they did just because I was a wizard. Maybe if everybody believed that things would be better."

"What do you mean because you're a wizard?"

"I live with my Muggle relatives. They hate me. That's why I ended up coming down Knocturn in the first place. I needed a barrister to help me get out of there."

Bellamy narrowed his eyes again.

"Yeah," Harry said, suddenly feeling lame. "I know it's not the same as what you go through. At least I still get to go to school."

Bellamy didn't say anything so Harry figured he was done talking to him. "Thanks anyway," Harry told him and walked away, hands in his pockets. He felt bad in a way he hadn't before. Things could have been a lot worse for him. He could have been stuck running from city to city if he was a vampire or werewolf. He could have everyone in the world looking down on him instead of just the Dursley's and Snape. For the first time since he'd appeared on the alley that summer, Harry wondered if he was doing the right thing taking Dumbledore to court. He didn't like living at the Dursleys, and he didn't get fed, but he did have a bed and a roof over his head and got to go to school.

As Harry walked back to the Leaky Cauldron in the dark, he remembered Snape telling him off for dragging the Headmaster to court. Harry continued to feel selfish until he got back into his room and Sirius jumped up on the bed to lay down at his feet. Harry ran his fingers through the dog's long hair.

"Am I selfish for wanting to live somewhere better?" Harry asked the dog. The dog just looked at him. Harry fell asleep sometime later with his arms wrapped around Siri, but woke up sweating not long after. Uncle Vernon had been angry about the way Harry had mowed the lawn and had hit Harry hard enough that he'd passed out. It couldn't be selfish to want to be safe he decided, and he told it to himself again several more times before Siri licked his face and Harry fell back to sleep.

* * *

Barrow had hired two seventh years and a sixth year from Peverell's to help him repair his shop. As soon as Harry got the news from Justin the next morning, he owled the construction foreman that had worked on the orphanage and asked him to send enough paint, brushes, and drop clothes to paint Barrow Books, and to come install a new window in the front. Harry also asked if he could pay for the supplies and work on the window in one week instead of on delivery. Harry didn't say it in the letter, but the rent wasn't due from his buildings for five more days, and until then the accounts were empty from all the work that had been done on the orphanage.

Harry went over to the orphanage to spend the day with Justin, and was pleased to find that it was only a few hours before the foreman showed up at Barrow books with twelve gallons of paint, painting supplies, and a new window, which he had installed with magic in under twenty minutes.

"I opened a charge account under your name with the firm," the foreman told Harry. "It's twenty Galleons for the window, and another seventy for the paint and supplies."

"Thank you," Harry said.

"Should we be expecting more business from you?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "I think so," he said.

The foreman looked up and down the alley and said, "This place needs a lot of work."

"I know. I don't even know where to start."

"What's the goal?"

"It's dark and dingy and half the buildings are falling apart," Harry said. "If it looks more inviting people might want to come down more often."

"Tilly's needs painted inside too," Justin said, and Harry looked at the Foreman.

"A couple gallons will do it," he said. "Want me to bring some by?" Harry nodded and the foreman said he'd add it to Harry's charge account with the firm. "What else?" the foreman asked.

"I really don't know. What would you suggest?"

The foreman gave another look and then looked at the front of the orphanage to admire his crew's work.

"Planters. Hanging flower baskets. New light boxes with light charms for the evenings. New paint on everything and repairs to the walls."

"How much will planters and hanging flower baskets run?"

"If we build them and buy the dirt and flowers, and you plant them all yourself, probably two hundred galleons."

Justin whistled.

"How many would that be?" Harry asked.

"A couple for every business. One on each side of every door. Harry pulled out a muggle pencil and paper out of his back pocket. He'd planned on sending a letter off to Ron as soon as Hedwig returned and had his letter ready, but decided to use it for scrap paper now. "Nothing for Double Lane right now," he said. "One for Luster Candles, two for Barrow Books, one for the sweet shop, one for Podmore's, two out front of Grimsby and Hull, one for the carts next to that and three out front of Borgin and Burkes..." Harry also decided on a few for in front of the businesses on the other side of the alley. "Fifteen," Harry said.

"A hundred galleons," the foreman said. "Because we'll have to get hardware to hang them on the walls and that accounts for labor too. It'll take my guys at least a day to get them all built and the hardware installed."

Harry nodded. "Ok. But I want to see what they're going to look like before you start."

The foreman told Harry he'd send him some photos to choose what kind of planters he wanted when he sent paint over for Tilly's shop and then left.

Harry went inside to tell Tilly her shop was going to get painted and to ask what color she wanted.

Tilly was delighted but also wary what it was going to cost her. "Just the price to pay Justin to paint," Harry said.

"Let's paint it a light color," Justin told her. "It'll make it look so much brighter and bigger in here."

Tilly nodded as she stared at the walls of her tiny shop. "Pink," she said. "With pale yellow, and brown accents."

Harry wasn't sure how that would look, but it was her business and he wanted her to be happy with it. Justin didn't hesitate to fake gag though. Tilly shot him a look and he shut his mouth quickly however and Harry tried to bite his tongue to keep from laughing.

* * *

Podmore had pulled Harry in off the alley several times on his trips up and down Knocturn over the last several days to get him ready for court. Unlike the initial hearing, Harry was going to be asked questions by the lawyers and judge this time around, and Podmore wanted to coach Harry on how to act and what to say.

"I got the report back from Wizarding Welfare. They're going to recommend that you not go back to the Dursleys. That doesn't mean our case is made though. I've seen it go the other way too many times. The other barrister just has to convince the judge that you're better off at the Dursleys than anywhere else and she'll ignore the recommendation by Wizarding Welfare."

Harry was thoroughly tired of answering questions about life at the Dursley's though, and he was sure Podmore was tired of asking him the same questions over and over and getting upset with him for the way he was deciding to answer. Harry was extremely happy to be released from Podmore's office around seven the evening after he'd made the deal with the Foreman to get paint for Tilly's shop and to find the Foreman and several of his crew out and installing black iron brackets to hang hanging flower baskets from.

"Your baskets are over there Harry," the foreman said, pointing to a pile of hanging flower baskets in front of an empty shop between Barrow Books and Tilly's. "Dirt and flowers too. You plant them and we'll come back tomorrow evening and put them up."

"Great," Harry said.

"They're self watering. Charm will last a couple years before it has to be renewed. You'll still have to plant them each spring though or get someone to do it."

Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava had already agreed to help Harry plant the hanging baskets, but he wanted to start right away and get one up to surprise Tilly in the morning.

"Can you leave a ladder when you leave?" Harry asked, and the foreman gave him a thumbs up. Harry set to work moving dirt from a wheelbarrow that looked like it was Hagrid's size into one of the hanging baskets and then planting pink and yellow flowers in it to match the way Justin would paint the inside of the shop in the morning.

Harry looked over at Barrow's newly painted outside trim and thought about what color flowers would go with it. The foreman set a ladder on the ground next to him and bade him goodnight and then apparated away with his crew for the evening. Harry planted bright blue flowers and hanging green vines in two planters to hang up in front of Barrow's and then set the ladder up and carefully carried one planter up at a time to hang on either side of the door. The planters were heavy and Harry was wary of dropping them and destroying his hard work, or of falling, so he made sure to go slowly and be careful. When he was done there he moved the ladder to Tilly's shop and got her pink and yellow flowers and carefully started up the ladder. He'd just hung the planter on the black metal hook when he felt the ladder start to slip out from under him. Head snapping down to the feet of the ladder, his heart began to race as he saw the feet slipping further and further away from the building. Before he could even think to climb down, he and the ladder came down with a loud crash, and Harry found himself on his back, unable to catch his breath.

It had been a long time since Harry had gotten the wind knocked out of him, and never because he'd fallen from a height. Tears sprang to his eyes and he felt panicked that he couldn't get a breath in. Someone came to his side and knelt down, and for a moment he thought the foreman had come back, but he was surprised to find that it was Snape. He must have been there visiting the orphanage.

"Calm down Potter," Snape said lazily. "You only got the wind knocked out of you."

It seemed like minutes had passed when it was only seconds, but Harry was finally able to take a breath in, and he sucked in several greedy breaths as quickly as he could. Harry sat up and furiously swiped at his eyes to wipe the tears away, but they kept coming and he couldn't stop them. His hands were shaking too, but he was more focused on not letting Snape see him cry. Thankfully Snape seemed like he had no desire to see Harry cry and was looking elsewhere. At least he hadn't been called a baby like Dudley or his uncle would have called him.

"Are you hurt?" Snape asked after Harry's breathing evened out a little and his tears had slowed down. He was eyeing Harry's shaking hands.

Harry took stock of himself and said quietly, "I think I broke a rib." He rubbed his arm across his eyes again and tried to push himself up off the ground but found that his legs were like jelly.

Without a word Snape lifted him from behind under both arms and got him on his feet. "I will take you to St. Mungos." He took a step forward and Harry tried to follow, but his knees buckled, forcing Snape to grab him before he fell. Without letting go, Snape apparated them to the St. Mungo's waiting room, causing Harry to gasp sharply at the pain the apparation had caused him.

"I'm ok," Harry was quick to say, but Snape didn't say a word.

Severus watched silently for the next forty five minutes as Harry waited quietly in the waiting room, now tear free, and as Harry saw a healer and got his two broken ribs healed. He was curious to know how Potter would explain his broken ribs to the healer, but he'd simply told him he'd been stupid and hadn't made sure the ladder was set safely before he'd climbed up so he and the ladder had fallen. He'd never heard Potter put himself down before and didn't think he would ever do that or admit that he was at fault. Then again he had never thought Potter would put himself to work with manual labor like painting or planting flowers or hanging them up. He couldn't deny that Knocturn looked better than it had ever looked in his remembrance, but he also couldn't figure out why Potter was doing these things. They had to benefit him in some way, and he wanted to know how.

When the healer was done with Harry, Severus apparated him back to Diagonalley behind the Leaky Cauldron. It was dark out now and he wanted to ensure Potter was going to go up and go to bed instead of going back to hang more flowers on Knocturn.

"Thank you sir," Harry said quietly after they appeared behind the Leaky Cauldron. Severus stared down at him.

"Go to bed Potter," he said. He wanted to question the boy on his motives but so far that had gotten him no answers and he didn't want to keep the boy there in the darkness. He looked tired and Severus had been disturbed earlier to see the normally stoic boy cry and wanted to retreat back to his own quarters. Harry nodded and went inside, leaving Severus to his thoughts.

He'd seen the boy after fighting Quirrell, he'd seen him after fighting the basilisk, and he'd seen him break an arm playing Quidditch and get hit in the stomach several times with a bludger. He'd never seen him cry before during any of those incidents though or look so shaken as when he'd heard the crash and come out of the orphanage courtyard to see him and the ladder lying on the ground. For just a moment he'd forgotten he was dealing with The-Brat-Who-Lived and it confused the hell out of him.

Trying to push the boy from his mind, Severus apparated back to the Hogwarts boundary and tried to set his mind on other things, but Potter and his trial invaded his dreams and ensured he had a restless sleep.

"Do you have something you want to tell me?"

Harry sat in Podmore's office and played with his fingers. "Not particularly." Podmore seemed ready to wait him out however so Harry sighed and said, "I have a reason for spending money on the alley. I'm doing what's good for business, ok?"

Podmore pointed out his window to the alley. "Do you have something to tell me aside from the overspending and mismanaging your funds?"

"What? No." Harry wasn't sure what he wanted to hear. Harry had come down the alley earlier than usual in the hopes of helping Justin paint before he had to go to work at Flourish and Blotts for the day, but Podmore had pulled him inside his office before he made it to the sweet shop. Harry assumed he was going to get on him about spending on the planters.

"I found the ladder on the ground this morning blocking my door. The work crew wouldn't have left it there so I can only assume it was you who fell off. How injured are you?"

Harry frowned at him and then played with his fingers some more. "I'm not," he said.

"So you didn't fall off a ladder?"

"I fell off the ladder," Harry said quietly. "I went to St. Mungo's last night and got my ribs healed."

"You went on your own?"

"Not exactly." Podmore didn't respond and Harry looked up. "Snape saw me fall I guess and took me."

"The same Severus Snape who is helping Albus Dumbledore put together a case to prove that you aren't responsible enough to earn early majority?"

"What do you want me to say?" Harry asked. "I was stupid and I fell. If he hadn't taken me I would have found someone else to."

"You're digging a hole for yourself you're not going to be able to get out of," Podmore said angrily. "I'm doing everything I can to get you what you want, and you're doing everything you can to get yourself put right back with your relatives."

"Well I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to do that am I?" Harry snarked, because he really wanted to tell the man he was sorry for wrecking his plans but couldn't because it was against the rules of decorum.

Podmore sighed and rubbed his forehead hard. "Instead of being sorry, tell me it won't happen again."

"It won't happen again," Harry said.

Podmore looked up and met Harry's eyes. "Why are you spending money on buildings you don't own?" He sounded tired like he hadn't slept, or maybe like he was already ready to be done with the day despite that it was only six thirty in the morning.

"I have a plan," Harry said. "The businesses I own shares in on Knockturn aren't earning much money, and I can't collect as much rent on businesses that aren't making any money. I need people to come down this alley to shop like they do the other alley. This alley is depressing and drab and run down. The first step is making it look like somewhere people want to shop."

"And the second step?" Podmore asked, as if he was afraid to hear the answer.

Harry began messing with his fingers again but then stilled them, remembering that adults didn't like it when he fidgeted. "I need some of the businesses from Diagon to move over here."

Podmore snorted.

"What?" Harry asked, feeling irritated.

"That's not going to happen. No one in their right mind would give up a profitable spot on Diagon to gamble on a plan that might make Knockturn profitable again. Silver had to have told you that."

"I haven't told him yet."

"Oh, well, by all means, go and tell him your plan. Maybe he can convince you to stop throwing your money and your case against Dumbledore away. Heaven knows I can't."

Harry waited for him to say more, but Podmore was busy shuffling through a stack of papers and seemed like he was done telling Harry off for the moment, so Harry got up and left.

He talked to Tilly for a few minutes as he helped Justin lay down drop cloths they'd borrowed from Barrow Books, and asked her what she thought of his plan.

"Theo is right," she said. "It would be very risky for businesses on Diagonalley to move over here. They could end up like the businesses that are already here struggling."

"So you think I shouldn't go through with it."

"You should try," Tilly said. "I'd like to start being profitable again, and if it worked out in the end you'd make a lot more profit having all of your businesses doing well."

Harry had to leave before he was finished with their conversation to go to Flourish and Blotts, but he came back when he was done working for the day. He found that all of his flowers and planters had been moved and went into the orphanage courtyard to see if they were in there. Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava were in the courtyard with half a dozen children filling the hanging baskets with dirt, flowers and vines.

"These are going to be beautiful Harry," Miss Ava told him. "And when our vegetables start growing in our flower boxes the alley will be so colorful."

"You're doing a wonderful job," Mrs. Ginger said. "Barrow's shop looks lovely now and Justin said Tilly is planning on making hers the most colorful shop on all three alleys."

"I'd like to get the whole alley done but I don't have the money right now."

"These things take time Harry. You can't expect to rush it."

Harry told Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava about his plan, and they encouraged him to do what he thought was best. They clearly had confidence in his decision making skills seeing the improvements he'd made to the orphanage already.

"You know we got a baby in yesterday," Mrs. Ginger said. "A little boy. He would have grown up in a run down old building, but now he'll have a real home, with fresh fruits and vegetables to eat and new books to learn from in a brand new school room."

"And birthday gifts!" a little girl said brightly. She was wearing a new yellow dress and Harry wondered if she'd just had a birthday. He smiled at her as he planted a bunch of dark purple flowers in a basket.

He was glad someone had confidence in him, because he felt like he needed it to boost his own confidence before he went to talk to Silver. They moved the hanging baskets out to the alley in front of the orphanage so the construction crew could hang them later that evening, and Harry went to find Silver.

* * *

"I think it would be unwise to risk lowering the profits from the businesses that are doing well now," Silver said.

"That's not the first time I've heard that today."

"My advice would be to leave things be. We can easily cover the three hundred galleons you spent on improvements in the last couple of days when rent comes in. Beyond that I think you should leave things as they are."

"So you won't support my decision?"

"You gave me a specific request to tell you if I thought you were making a mistake. I believe you are. If you do this you risk damaging a successful line of businesses your forefathers have already set up that are running smoothly."

"And if I don't do this we risk the rest of my businesses on Knockturn closing down and losing all the profit from those businesses."

"What you would be losing is trivial."

"But what they would be losing is their livelihoods."

"Theo was right Harry. You could really be doing some damage to your case with this."

"I don't want you to think about my case. That's Podmore's job. I want you to help me with this."

Silver sighed. "I'll do what you want, but I really believe you're making a mistake."

"Don't forget you told me that sometimes crazy business decisions can turn out."

"I don't think like a Potter. That is why the Potter's have always hired the Silver's as their barristers. We think differently and your forefather's have always considered that an asset."

Harry couldn't help but smiling as he said, "Maybe you can bail me out if I foul things up then."

"It is my greatest hope that I will not have to," Silver said solemnly.

* * *

Harry had personally gone to every business on Diagon Alley and Knockturn and then sent fliers to the businesses on Payne Alley asking all business owners or business managers to come to the plaza in front of Gringotts for a meeting that evening at seven after most of the businesses on the alleys had closed down for the day. Beyond that he avoided questions about the meeting, even from Basil and Bennet who wanted to know if he was raising rent.

"You'll have to come to the meeting to find out," Harry said. He could already tell the brothers were unhappy from the look they shared, but he hoped they'd be open minded at the meeting.

Harry sat at a table outside Fortescue's and ate his dinner while he waited for seven to roll around, and at six thirty Fortescue came out and joined him.

"What's this all about Harry? Everyone up and down the alley has been talking about this meeting all day."

"I have some things I need to talk to everyone about."

"Rent?" Fortescue asked.

Harry couldn't stand the look of fear on his face though and finally caved in and said, "It's not about rent. That's the only thing people seem to care about."

"This is our livelihoods Harry. Most of us don't own our businesses outright so we don't make 100 percent of the profit that comes in from them. If rent goes up that means we make even less."

"I'm not raising rent, at least not right now. I have no reason to."

Fortescue seemed relieved but still anxious about the meeting.

"I heard you've been doing more work on Knocturn Alley," he said, though Harry felt he was fishing for information more than trying to make small talk.

"Trying to make it look better," Harry said, "you know... plants, fresh paint, that sort of thing."

"But why?"

"There are businesses over there that need help."

Shop owners began to come down the street and gather in front of Gringotts, talking amongst themselves.

"Well, guess I'd better head over there," Harry said. Silver had just come down the stairs from his office above Fortescue's and Harry had spotted Podmore and Barrow come out from Knockturn.

Fortescue nodded and followed him over. Harry waited for a few more minutes until he assumed all of the shop owners and managers were present. There were quite a few people he didn't know and he wondered if managers had contacted business owners to come to the meeting.

"Hello everyone," Harry said, standing on the third step up to Gringotts so he was tall enough to see just over the heads of those in front. Harry could feel the nervous energy from the crowd and from Silver standing next to him with his folder full of papers. "I've heard people are worried about rent being raised and I want to tell you that's not happening."

"What are we here for then?" the apothecary owner asked impatiently.

"Business on Knockturn is almost nonexistent. People refuse to go down there because it's been dark and dingy for so long and there are rumors that only the worst kind of wizards go down there. I want to change that. Too many of the businesses down Knockturn are struggling. We've put some work into the alley to make it look nicer. It still needs a lot of work, but even after putting in that work it's not going to bring people back. That's why we're holding this meeting. I have a plan but I need help from some of you. In order to bring business back to Knockturn I need some of the businesses on Diagon to switch places with those on Knockturn."

A murmur went up from those gathered and several people made sounds of irritation and even outrage.

"Forget it!" the apothecary owner shouted. "Why should I give up my spot to move into an alley where I'll never get another customer?" Several people nodded or murmured in agreement, and a woman Harry didn't know said, "If we switch places and my business goes downhill, there's no way I'll get whoever moves into my building to switch back!"

Harry started to feel nervous suddenly as the crowd of more than thirty adults all seemed to agree with each other. Silver had warned him, but Harry just wanted people to understand and to want to help him.

"I want both alley's to be successful," Harry said. "I want everyone to make as much profit as they can. If some of you move to Knockturn people will have no choice but to go down Knockturn to get certain supplies there."

"They'll have choices Harry," Fortescue said. "If I move my ice cream parlour to the other alley, there's nothing stopping another from moving right into the spot I had before and opening up business."

"You also can't make any guarantees that any of this will work," the owner of Eeylops Owl Emporium said. "It's too risky for those of us who already have successful businesses."

Harry sighed. People were making good points he wished he'd thought about earlier, though Silver had told him it would be too much of a risk to take.

Harry listened to people bring up concerns for several more minutes before he thanked them for meeting and stepped back, effectively dismissing the meeting. He heard the apothecary owner muttering to people as he left about Harry being an ‘upstart' who was trying to change things instead of leaving them well enough alone.

"I'm sorry Harry," Basil said. "We care about the other businesses, but what you're asking is very risky. If you can do something to address the concerns brought up tonight, people might be more open to the idea."

"They're right though," Harry said. "I can't make any guarantees."

Basil and Bennet left and Harry turned to find Silver still waiting for him on the Gringotts steps. He'd yet to say a word since the meeting had started.

"You can say it," Harry told him.

"I wouldn't presume to do so," Silver said.

"But you were right."

"There's nothing to be gained from gloating or from seeing you fail."

"It's not a failure yet," Harry said. "I just have to figure out how to put everybody's mind at ease."

"That will be harder said than done," Silver said, and he left Harry to return on his own to his room at the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry had only been back in his room for a few moments and had barely had a chance to plop on his bed when there was a knock on the door. Wondering if it was Dumbledore again, Harry opened it and was surprised and wary to find a tall man with brown hair he'd never met.

"I'm Munroe McGlaggen," he said, holding out a hand, which Harry took in a shake even though he wasn't sure who he was talking to yet. "The McGlaggen's own most of the buildings on the alley's that you don't and we have shares in most of the businesses. May I have a word?"

Harry nodded and invited him in, (again very happy that he'd cleaned his room recently). Harry sat on the bed and offered the desk chair to McGlaggen.

"Well," the man said after he was seated, "what's the plan?"

Harry frowned. What did he mean? "Sir?"

He waved him away. "Munroe," he corrected. "You heard what the community was concerned about at the meeting. What's your plan to address their concerns and get Knockturn back on track?"

Harry raised his brows. He couldn't believe McGlaggen was asking him. It was like he was already taking Harry seriously as a businessman. More seriously than the shop owners took him at least.

"I don't know," Harry said. "I can't guarantee any of them that this will work out in their favor."

"They need incentive to move. Everyone has a price, you just have to find theirs. How many businesses do we really need to move over anyway? If we get Ollivander to move that will force all new parents to go down Knockturn for a wand, because no one wants a wand if it doesn't come from Ollivander's. And if we could get Quality Quidditch Supplies down Knockturn that'd bring a lot of kids."

"I'm sorry... Munroe, but I didn't think you'd be on board with this with how everyone else seems to feel about it."

He sighed. "I own six of the buildings on Knockturn," he said. "Some of them I haven't made a knut on rent in over five years, others for ten. That's just wasted property nobody wants to move into. I also own 50 percent of Grimsby and Hull, 50 percent of Luster Candles, 90 percent of Magic Mart (which we had to close down so I'm making zero profit there), 45 percent of Detect-A-Hex, 40 percent of Exotic Tea and 90 percent of Burniss Boots. Most of those businesses are doing less than half of the business they used to. That's not much profit at all. We've been losing money on Knockturn for too long."

Harry nodded, trying to review everything Munroe had just told him. Harry also held shares in some of the businesses he listed, but not as many as the McGlaggen's had.

"Ok," Harry said slowly. "So what kind of incentives will people want? The only thing I ever hear people talk about is rent."

"That's a good place to start. I'd be willing to offer lowered rent for a while to get people to move over."

"But how low and for how long?"

"I'll match whatever you offer on your buildings."

Harry pulled a piece of parchment out as well as his map of the current state of Knocturn. "What about free rent for a year so people can use that money to make repairs and remodel?"

Munroe nodded. "The alley still needs a lot of work."

"I know," Harry said, and then looked up at him. "Are you willing to put any money into making it better?"

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. If you can get two popular businesses to move over to Knocturn I'll also re-open Magic Mart for at least a year as a trial. We used to sell a lot of things Gray's Goods didn't. It was also my family's flagship business 150 years ago and we'd all like to see it re-open. It could use a remodel inside and out so I'll take care of that. I'll paint Burniss Boots, the empty building next to that and Exotic Tea as well. All three are already in good repair otherwise."

"Last week Tilly mentioned to me that there's enough room for seating at the end of Knocturn by Double Lane Clothing."

"Right between the door to Double Lane and the empty building on the corner with the big window displays?"

Harry nodded. "It would be a good place for people to sit and eat their goodies from Tilly's shop. That corner building you own is perfect for a little restaurant too," Harry said, "The thing is I don't have the funds to put into a seating area right now."

Munroe took the paper Harry was using and a quill and wrote some notes on it. "Seats and little square tables and some planters is something I can cover. Magic Mart had a little deli inside when it was open. Having some outdoor seating would be nice. There might even be room for a couple little tables and a few chairs right out in front between Magic Mart and the sweet shop up against the wall of windows."

"Is all of this going to be enough?" Harry asked. "One year's worth of free rent might not bring anyone over."

Munroe reached for the map and pointed at the building Troll Travels used to be in, and the large empty building in the corner between Magic Mart and Barrow Books. "Look at the size of those. Those are good size spaces. Some of the businesses on Diagon have been jammed into tiny buildings for years. People have been complaining for a long time about wanting larger spaces. A few years back the Ministry talked about expanding underground so people could have more space. They were going to make another alley directly under Diagon called Under Alley. The idea was nixed because there was no one to back it financially though and they were afraid too many vampires would start to gather there. If we target some of the businesses crammed into the smaller spaces on Diagon we just might get them to move over."

Harry pointed at Ollivander's, Quality Quidditch Supplies, and a few more businesses on the map that were very small. "This could work."

"Well I figured you believed in it when you stood on the steps this evening and withstood all the insults and muttering."

"I do," Harry said. He wanted to tell Munroe as he'd told so many others, that he was just a kid, but was reminded again just by Munroe's presence that this didn't seem to matter in business in the wizarding world.

"One more thing," Harry said as Munroe made a copy of their shared notes and stood up to leave. "Even if we get Ollivander's and some others to move over, we'll need to advertise their new locations and how nice Knockturn is, or people will never go down there. We could put up fliers."

"After we get some people to move over I'll pay for a couple week's worth of ads in the Daily Prophet. They're already writing an article you know. There was a reporter at tonight's meeting."

"We might also give away coupons," Harry said.

"Coupons? What's that?"

"It's something the Muggle's do. It's a piece of paper that says you get a discount on something at a certain store. Only, we could probably give coupons that are worth money at a store. We wouldn't have to give many away."

"How would that even work?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. "We'd print a limited number of coupons to each store on Knocturn and put charms on them so they couldn't be duplicated and so we could verify that they're real. Then we tell the business owners on Knocturn that we'll give them the money for each coupon that comes in. So if we issue five sickle coupons that are only good for Tilly's shop, and ten people use those coupons at Tilly's, she gives those to us and we give her fifty sickles. Then we destroy the coupons. It'd get people interested in coming down the alley. If we could get fifty people to come down the alley to buy things, those fifty people would each tell one or two people how nice the alley is, and they'd come down and then tell more people."

"Word of mouth can be very effective advertising. I'll have my people work on coupons. I'll cover coupons for the businesses on Knocturn that I own the majority of shares in, and you cover the coupons for the businesses you own the majority of shares in. If Barrow, Double Lane and Podmore want coupons they'll have to make their own since they're owned outright by themselves."

Harry told him he'd notify everyone of another meeting tomorrow evening and bade Munroe goodnight. He was excited and nervous at the same time to pitch their new plan to the community. He had a feeling this could really work and was happy Munroe had come to see him and had taken him seriously right off the bat.

Sirius nuzzled up next to Harry on the bed and stuck his wet cold nose in Harry's hand. Harry absentmindedly pet the dog as he imagined what Knockturn Alley might look like in a month, or even a year.

* * *

It was Sunday morning and Harry was surprised to find Podmore knocking on his door at seven am. Groggy, Harry let him inside and shut the door, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"That was something Potter, what you did last night." Harry raised his brows and sat back on his bed. "Here's the Prophet article, in case you were wondering just how exactly this would affect your case."

Harry took the newspaper being offered to him and read the Headline, ‘Potter Planning Big Changes For Diagon Alley: Ministry Officials Wary'.

"What are they wary about?" Harry asked.

"The Ministry gets taxes based on profit, and even if that weren't the case, you might have noticed that wizards don't like change."

"Ok," said Harry, "so they don't like what I'm doing. How does this affect my case?"

"Read the paper."

‘Last night at seven pm Harry Potter, heir to the Potter businesses and holdings announced to the business owners of Diagon and Knockturn alleys that he plans on moving several businesses off of Diagon Alley and to other locations.'

"That's bologna," Harry said. "They're making it sound like I'm moving businesses across the country."

"Keep reading."

‘"The businesses on Diagon Alley are a landmark of our society," said Minister For Magic Cornelius Fudge, "For hundreds of years children have come to Diagon to shop for school clothes and books, to get their wand and to buy their first familiar to take to school with them. I can't imagine these things happening elsewhere." The Minister expressed concern over Potter's plan saying, "I'm surprised Mr. Potter has decided to jump headfirst into business at such a young age."

‘With an upcoming trial in Potter's future (details not yet disclosed by the Ministry), we are left to wonder if the stress has become too much for the Boy-Who-Lived and is now causing him to make rash and unjustified decisions regarding our community's shopping and cultural heritage. Business owners up and down Diagon Alley expressed similar sentiments and concerns to Potter at the meeting.'

"Load of crap," Harry said, tossing the paper onto his desk. "That's not what happened at all. Even Munroe McGlaggen came over last night after the meeting and told me he'd help me get people moved over to Knockturn."

"Yet the Minister, who was on our side still expressed concern to the paper about your plans. We need his support and if he pulls it out from under us that's not going to bode well for the outcome of your trial. I told you this could affect your case and you didn't listen."

"This is going to work out just fine," Harry snarked. "And they'll see that when we go to court."

"Court starts tomorrow. How fast did you think these changes on the alleys would happen? Your case could very well end by tomorrow evening and you'd be pulled away and back at the Dursleys before you could do anything further here."

Harry hadn't thought of that. He'd known the trial was coming up on Monday morning, but he'd intentionally been trying to keep himself busy with business and planning so he didn't stress out over it. It had worked, but now he wasn't so sure it had been the best idea. What if he was sent back to the Dursleys before he could finish what he'd started? He couldn't do any of this by owl, and even if he could his aunt and uncle would never allow Hedwig to come and go as she pleased. If they caught him writing letters at all there would be another beating in it for him.

"Well?" Podmore asked seriously.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You have to make up your mind. This foolhardy stunt you've been pulling on the alleys or your case."

"I don't want to go back to the Dursleys. If I do, I might not make it back to Hogwarts."

"Then stop pursuing these changes on the alleys!"

Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You're right," Harry mumbled, because he knew he absolutely could not return to Privet Drive, but at the same time he felt the man was wholly wrong and that he had to finish what he started.

Tom brought breakfast up for Harry and coffee and a bagel up for Podmore and Podmore spent six hours walking Harry through last minute issues and questions that might come up in the courtroom. At lunchtime Silver showed up and Tom brought up three lunches and a tray of snacks, and Harry wondered if Podmore and Silver had asked him to before they'd come up. Silver joined in for another two hours as they rehearsed answers, went over decorum and how Harry should act, and finally charmed Harry's black dress robes and nice clothes to be clean, ironed and lint free.

"That's it then," Silver said. "We'll meet you downstairs at seven and we'll take a cab from out in front of The Leaky Cauldron. Court could go all day unless they call a recess or the justice grants an extension for evidence, which she already told us she wouldn't. After court we'll come back to Podmore's office and debrief."

Podmore left, but before Silver could leave, Harry told him about Munroe's visit and about his plan to host another meeting this evening at seven.

"Munroe told everyone on the alley to expect another meeting this evening. I heard people talking about it on my way over."

"I had a question. Munroe said his family owned a large percentage of a lot of the businesses on Knockturn. When I look at my shares I usually don't own more than fifty percent, except on a few businesses where I own 100 percent."

"And you want to know why he owns so much of so many different businesses on Knockturn?"

Harry nodded.

"As profit went down for the businesses on Knockturn they needed more and more help. Some sold extra shares to the McGlaggens so they could have money just to survive. That's how the McGlaggens went from owning just one business, (Magic Mart), to getting their foot in the door to so many. People started to need more and more help, and the McGlaggen family bought more and more shares. Burniss Boots for example used to be 100 percent owned by the Burniss family. They wanted money for a remodel though and the McGlaggens offered them money for 10% of the shares. Then business went downhill and they asked the McGlaggens to buy more shares. Now the Burniss family owns only 10% of the business." If anything this just made Harry feel like he needed to help Knockturn even more now, or else the Burniss family would lose their business completely one day to the McGlaggens.

"My family didn't do that?"

"The Potters often gave people money to start businesses, which is why you own 50 percent in a lot of businesses. The Potters would front a person 50 percent of the starting cost and occasionally would give them more money later on in exchange for a few more shares, but not often. There are a few businesses you own outright as you already know such as Magical Menagerie. Your family started that business from the ground up and hired people to manage it. You also fully own the company that makes the Cleansweep brooms and the Firebolt and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum." There were so many businesses listed on his various papers and so many figures and numbers that Harry still didn't have a handle on what all he owned, so it surprised him when he heard about the broom company. He'd been ogling over the new Firebolt through the window at the Quidditch store since he'd first come onto the alley that summer and never once thought that he might already own it.

"I forgot all about the Magical Menagerie," Harry said after a moment in thought. "I could just move that business over to Knockturn myself couldn't I?"

"You could. That is a very profitable business however and I would caution you to leave it where it is."

"Maybe," Harry said, though he didn't tell him he'd already made up his mind. Silver gave him a look that said he already knew however.

"I will see you at the meeting tonight," Silver said, and left Harry to his thoughts.

* * *

"We told you last night, we don't want to move," said the apothecary before Harry could even greet them to start the meeting.

Harry nodded. "You don't have to move. I won't force anyone to move if they don't want to. That's not my goal. Last night everyone told me how concerned they were and I listened. I talked to Munroe McGlaggen last night and we decided together to offer some incentives to any businesses that want to move over to Knockturn." There were no further outbursts and people seemed to be listening.

"For starters, anyone who moves over to Knockturn will get a year free of rent. This is partly so you can remodel the space you move into, and partly to cover any lost profits for the first few weeks after the move."

"That's not enough," Madam Malkin said.

"I'm not finished yet," Harry said calmly. "We have three fairly large spaces on Knockturn that are empty. Spaces that are bigger than what a lot of you currently have on Diagon Alley. It would be a good opportunity for some of you to move into a larger space where you can spread out or expand your inventory."

A few people murmured and Harry hoped it was a positive noise and not a negative one.

"We're also continuing to make improvements on the alleys, painting several buildings, repairing things, and putting out tables and chairs for people at the plaza on the end. Magic Mart is opening back up, we're going to be advertising the changes on the alley, and for the businesses on Knockturn we're going to be issuing coupons to random customers." Harry went on to explain what exactly a coupon was and how it worked and how it would hopefully draw people down the alleys.

"If anyone is interested in making a change in the location of your store on either alley come see me."

This time instead of dispersing, the crowd stayed and broke into small groups to talk. Ollivander came up to Harry and gave him a close looking over. "I gather you've been hoping for my support," he said.

"Yes," Harry told him honestly. "If you move to the other alley people will have to come down it."

"They could apparate directly into my shop and back out again."

"They could," Harry said, "but hopefully they won't."

Ollivander put his hands behind his back. "I went down Knockturn this morning. The changes look nice. My shop used to be down Knockturn but hasn't been since I was a boy."

"Would you be willing to move?"

"I would like to see the spaces available to me if I did."

Harry pulled out the map and showed it to him. "I can take you down there when we're done here and look at the spaces" Harry said. Ollivander nodded and then ignored Harry in favor of looking over the map. Other interested people looked over the elder man's shoulder to see the map as well. As soon as Harry turned from him he found the two friends that ran Quality Quidditch Supplies waiting to talk to him. Harry often stopped in to talk to them and they were on a first name basis.

"Harry," Jack said. "We don't want to move down Knockturn, but we do want to move into a new space."

"Ok," Harry said, not sure which space they planned on moving to if it wasn't down Knockturn. Jack pointed behind Harry to the building that stood directly between Diagon and Knockturn alleys and Oliver pulled out his own map.

"That's storage right now," Olliver said. "We've had our eye on it for years. Rent is the most expensive in that spot because it's right in front of Gringotts and it has windows on three sides. If we moved in there kids would automatically be drawn to the windows on all sides, including the side facing Knockturn."

"What's stopped you from moving in there before?"

"Rent. It's double what anyone else on the alleys pay."

"So you want me to lower it." Harry looked at the building and looked at the map.

"That's technically on both alleys. I did offer free rent for a year to people moving to Knockturn."

"Then the rent would be right back up to where it was before after a year," Jack said.

"Well I'm not making anything on it right now," Harry said. He turned to find that Silver was behind him and listening and asked if Silver had the papers on what everyone paid for rent currently and what that building was supposed to be renting for.

"200 Galleons a month," Harry read. "After a year free I could put it at 130 a year. That's only 30 more than what you're paying now and you should be getting more business since you're right in front of Gringotts and that means more profit."

"Will you put 130 in writing?" Oliver asked.

"I'll put in writing that for the first year you get rent free, and for a certain number of years after that I'll charge you only 30 Galleons more than what other people on the alley's are paying."

"That sounds like a very reasonable deal," Silver said.

Jack and Oliver talked for a moment and then nodded. "Ok," Jack said.

"Just one more thing," Harry said. "The door to that building is on Diagon Alley right now. I want that door taken out and moved to the center facing Gringotts. And you have to keep the best racing brooms displayed in the windows facing Knockturn for a couple years."

"Deal," Oliver said.

"I will write up the contract," Silver said, and made a few notes that he tucked into his folder.

After a few minutes Munroe came over and told Harry that Exotic Tea was moving into the big corner building that Munroe owned and was going to start serving tea instead of just selling it. Harry told him about the Quidditch store and that he'd made the decision to move Magical Menagerie to one of the buildings on Knockturn.

Silver went with Harry and Ollivander down Knockturn Alley after that and Silver let them into the old Troll Travel's building and then into the large empty building between Barrow books and Magic Mart.

"Mr. Potter," Ollivander said, "I believe I would like to move into the building next to Detect-A-Hex at the end of the alley." Harry grinned.

"That would be great," he told him. It was just far enough down the alley to draw people down but not so far that people wouldn't venture down to get a wand at all.

Silver told Ollivander he would draw up a new contract for him as well and that he could begin the move in the morning.

"I'm kind of surprised no one from Knockturn asked to move to Diagon Alley," Harry told Silver as they made their way back to Diagon Alley alone a few minutes later.

"With all the changes you are making to Knockturn and the rent already low on Knockturn as it is, it makes sense that they would want to stay for now."

Finally back in his room and feeling exhausted from the day's events, first going over the hearing for hours on end and then trying to convince people to move shop, Harry fell into his bed. It only took a few minutes before his mind began to go into overdrive with worry and fear over the court case however. Despite the barrister's best efforts to prepare him for the case he couldn't help but feeling dread. To take his mind off of it, Harry pulled the map out and stared at it and the changes that had been marked on it. His eyes eventually found their way to Flourish and Blotts and he remembered the door he'd seen in the back of their shop. He wondered if he could convince them to have an entrance on both alleys. It would be a quick and easy way for people to get from Diagon to Ollivander's on Knockturn and would bring a bunch of people through Flourish and Blotts on a regular basis. He was sure Bennett would love that, and made a mental note to remind himself to ask him in the morning. He remembered again about having court in the morning however and spent the next hour in bed worrying, until he fell into an uncomfortable and fitful sleep.

"You'll wear a hole in the floor," Silver said, coming to sit beside Harry on the bench outside the courtroom. They were meeting in the same room they'd held the preliminary hearing in.

"Sorry," Harry said, stilling his leg, though it only lasted a moment before his other leg began to bounce nervously.

"Were you this nervous when you got up in front of all those people the other day to tell them you plan on changing how both alleys work?"

"That was different," Harry said, wiping his sweaty hands on the sides of his brand new dress robes.

"How?"

"If I messed up that was all on me. I was in control of that. I don't get a choice in any of this. I could end up back at the Dursleys by dinner tonight and not get a say at all."

"Even if things don't go our way today you're guaranteed to stay on Diagon Alley until at least Friday."

"It won't all be over today?" Harry asked looking up.

"Since we're bringing the case, we get to present first. Theodore will open with what we're asking for, in this case for the court to mandate you be moved to a new home or be emancipated so you can make that decision yourself. Then he'll present all of our facts, interview you and wizarding welfare, and if he can get through it all today, deliver a closing argument. We have four hours today for court. If he can't get through it all today he gets the floor tomorrow to start. When he's done, Dumbledore's barrister, Coombs, gets to present his case in the same way. All of that will take at least two days, if not three or even four. After both sides get to present, then there's a day, or even two for both barristers to go back and refute what the other said and re-interview witnesses to make their points. Then the Justice gets to make a decision, and that can take up to a week, though Justice Abbott is known for making quick decisions, so I wouldn't count on it taking more than a couple of hours. My guess would be that we'll wrap up on Friday afternoon, so you'll have until then."

Harry sighed. He wasn't sure if that made things any better, but knowing it wasn't all going to end today made him feel as though he could relax marginally.

"Just remember what we went over yesterday. Answer as best and honestly as you can, try not to have a poor attitude and trust that Theodore knows what he's doing."

"I do," Harry said. The truth was he was feeling uncertain though, but he couldn't put his finger on what he was uncertain about.

The lift at the end of the hall came down from a higher floor and Dumbledore stepped off with Coombs and Snape. Snape went into the courtroom with Coombs without so much as a glance at Harry, but Dumbledore stopped in front of him and looked down at him with a smile.

"And how are you this morning my boy?" he asked. He seemed far too chipper for such a nerve wracking occasion, Harry thought.

Harry wiped his sweaty hands on his dress robes again and said, "Well sir, and you?" He felt anything but well though.

"Quite well," Dumbledore said. Podmore chose that moment to reappear and motioned for Harry to follow him into the courtroom, so Harry did, leaving Dumbledore to follow and then head to his own side of the table.

"Don't throw up in the courtroom," Podmore said quietly as he sat down next to Harry and took in his pale appearance. Harry nodded and swallowed and caught a glance at Snape who seemed to have heard what had been said. Snape sneered as if disgusted and turned away to listen to something Coombs was whispering to Dumbledore.

"The Minister seems to be absent," Silver commented, and Podmore grunted as though he'd noticed already and wasn't happy about it.

It wasn't long before the case investigator and supervisor from Wizarding Welfare came into the room and took seats at the far end of the table, and a moment later the Justice came in. Everybody stood until she sat down and then took their seats and Harry tried to swallow down his anxiety and the nausea that went with it.

The Justice set a parchment and quill down on the table in front of her and the quill stood up on end as if a ghost was holding it.

"I am Justice Araminta Abbot hearing the formal arguments in the case of Potter Versus Dumbledore," she said, and the quill began scribbling down what Harry could only assume were her words. "Barristers, present your parties."

"Barrister Theodore Podmore for Harry Potter," Podmore said, followed quickly by Silver who said calmly, "Harrison Silver for Harry Potter."

Across the table the other barrister said, "Barrister Nathanial Coombs for Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore." The magic quill scribbled all of this down, and Harry wondered what charm had been used on it and if it knew how to spell all of what it was writing down.

"Other parties?" the Justice asked, and Snape and the case supervisor and case investigator said their names and titles. Harry couldn't help but wondering again why Snape was there. If anything he would have expected Professor McGonagall since she was his head of house and the deputy Headmistress. It didn't make any sense for Snape to be there.

"As previously discussed in the preliminary hearing, there will be no extensions granted in this case," the Justice said. "Barristers, present your case on behalf of Mr. Harry James Potter."

Podmore waved his wand and copies of a single parchment appeared in front of every person in the room. "I intend to prove that there is no option other than the removal of Harry James Potter from the care of his Muggle relatives Vernon and Petunia Dursley. If Mr. Potter's current guardian Albus Dumbledore does not agree to remove him from the unsatisfactory and hazardous care of his muggle relatives, I intend to make a case for early majority for Mr. Potter so he can make his own choice of where to live."

Podmore waved his wand again and several enlarged photos of Harry's initial injuries that summer appeared against the wall at the far end of the table where everyone could see. With the photos blown up like that Harry thought his injuries really did look gruesome. He hadn't really looked that bad at the start of the summer had he? One eye was black and blue and swollen nearly closed, there was a bruise on his chin and another on his neck, and several large purple areas across his chest and back.

"As we intend to prove, Mr. Potter was physically, mentally, and emotionally abused at the hands of his Muggle relatives, not just the one time but over the course of his entire stay with them, from age one to age twelve and a half. These photos show the most recent injuries he received. I call Mr. Potter to answer questions."

Harry looked at Podmore, who gave him a look to relax. Harry shifted in his chair and tried to remember all the questions and responses they'd already gone over in the last several days.

"Mr. Potter, tell us how and when you received the injuries sustained in the photos."

"A few days after I got home from Hogwarts aunt Marge, uncle Vernon's sister, came to visit. Aunt Petunia told me to bring her things inside and make dinner. I was in the kitchen washing dishes after I made dinner while they were eating and aunt Marge started calling my mum names. It upset me and I said she was wrong about my mum. Before I knew what was happening aunt Marge started to get bigger. I mean, like a balloon, she was blowing up and floating towards the ceiling. The door was open out to the patio and she floated out and then she floated away. My aunt and uncle were angry with me. They told me to undo the magic and bring her back and I told them I couldn't, that it was an accident. Then uncle Vernon hit me in the eye and in the stomach a couple of times and said I had better bring her back or I was going to spend the summer locked in my cupboard. I told him again I didn't know how to undo the magic and he hit me three or four more times and threw me on the floor. That's when I got up and ran to my cupboard. I broke open the door and grabbed my trunk and wand and ran out the door."

"What names was Marge calling your mother?"

"She called her a-" Harry paused. This hadn't been one of the questions they'd gone over, and he really didn't want to say what she'd been called. For one he didn't want anyone to think of Lily that way and for another he wasn't used to using that kind of language.

"Go on Mr. Potter. You won't be in any kind of trouble for using that language to answer questions in court."

"She called her a bitch," Harry said. "She was talking about how my father was a no-good drunk and then she called my mum that- name. She said if there was something wrong with the bitch there was something wrong with the pup and that's just the way it was with dogs too. She said those pups should always be drowned." Harry was surprised he'd remembered much of any of that conversation because he'd been so mad he thought he was going to see red while it was going on.

"Did you mean to blow up Marge?" Podmore asked.

"No. I was upset and angry she was talking about my parents like that. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her though. I just wanted it to stop. I wasn't allowed to leave and she just kept going on about it."

"Mr. Potter, you said your uncle struck you several times. Can you show us how he did so?"

Harry held up his fist and swung it.

"Was this the first time it happened?"

"No. Usually something happens right after I go home and he gets me."

"Only when you first return home for summer holiday?"

"Usually whenever the bruises start to heal he gets me again. Then when it gets close to time to go back to school he stops."

"Does it always happen because of accidental magic?"

"It used to happen when I did magic before I started Hogwarts. But after I started Hogwarts I stopped doing accidental magic until the one time this summer. Usually he gets mad my chores weren't done how he wanted them or my cousin makes something up and I get in trouble and he gets me."

"What kinds of things does your cousin make up?"

"Dudley broke one of aunt Petunia's vases playing a game with his friend and blamed it on me."

"And your uncle struck you for that?"

"He pushed me up against the wall and got me in the gut a couple times."

"When did this happen?"

"Last summer a couple weeks before I went back to school for my second year."

"Mr. Potter, you said your uncle threatened to lock you in the cupboard for the summer, what cupboard is this?"

"My cupboard. The cupboard under the stairs."

"Please explain what you mean when you say ‘your cupboard.'"

"Before I got my first Hogwarts letter I didn't have a bedroom. I slept in the cupboard under the stairs."

"Is this cupboard big?"

"No, just a broom cupboard."

"But you had a bed in there? A wardrobe? Toys?"

"No, well I mean I had a couple broken toys that used to belong to Dudley that I got out of the trash when he threw them out, and I had a cot and pillow and blanket, but that was it."

"What is a cot?"

"It's like a camping bed. A metal frame with a piece of fabric stretched around the metal and four legs that go to the floor."

"Was this comfortable to sleep in like a bed?"

"No," Harry said. "I never slept in a bed until I went to Hogwarts and got to sleep in Gryffindor tower."

"But you have a bedroom at the Dursleys now?"

Harry explained how his uncle had grown paranoid after his Hogwarts letter had come addressed to the cupboard under the stairs and moved him to Dudley's second bedroom, though his cot had gone to the bedroom with him since there wasn't a bed in there.

"You enjoyed having a bedroom?"

"Yes," Harry said. "Until summer before my second year."

"What happened that made the bedroom unenjoyable?"

It took Harry several minutes to describe the bars on the window and the cat flap in the door, and what a cat flap was and how that worked, as well as how often he was let out for bathroom breaks and how his friends had broken him out with a flying car and how his uncle had fallen out the window trying to keep him captive there.

"You described having to break into your cupboard before you left the house this summer. Why did you break into the cupboard?"

"My school things are kept locked in there when I'm back on holiday."

"What school things? Your robes and wand?"

"Everything. My books and summer homework and my photo album of my parents. Anything that has to do with magic except my owl. I usually send her to stay with my friend for the summer."

"When do you get to do your summer homework?"

"On the train ride to school."

"Wouldn't you rather spend the train ride to school catching up with your friends?"

"Yes, but I have to get my homework done. If I didn't get it done on the train I'd have to stay up late after the feast to do it."

Podmore spent an hour asking Harry about the kinds of chores he had to do at the Dursleys, the things he was allowed to eat and how often he was allowed to eat, what he did for fun at the Dursleys, about how Dudley treated him, and about primary school.

"I have here a copy of the last several years of Mr. Potter's primary school report cards. He had failing grades in all subjects that required him to turn in homework. As he told us earlier, he was not allowed to do homework. In all subjects that he was allowed to do solely at school he received passing or excelling grades such as in reading, science and vocabulary."

When he was finally done asking Harry questions after nearly an hour and a half, he called on the case supervisor for Wizarding Welfare to answer questions.

"In your opinion, did you have time to thoroughly investigate Mr. Potter's case? If so, can you describe that investigation to us?"

"Of course," the case supervisor said. "We had ample time to investigate. We spoke to Mr. Potter and observed him for a day and a half in his normal routine on the alleys, both with and without his knowledge. We spoke to his cousin Dudley, his aunt and uncle Petunia and Vernon Dursley, Vernon's sister Marge, to several of his professors at Hogwarts and by owl to Harry's friend Ronald Weasley."

"Do you feel any more investigation needs to be done to get a clear picture of Mr. Potter's circumstances or abilities as they stand now?"

"No."

"From your investigation, please tell us what you learned about Harry's home life with the Dursleys."

"Vernon said he was strict with the boy and admitted that this included physical punishment, though he said he never left marks on Mr. Potter. His direct words to us were, ‘If I don't keep the boy in check there would be chaos. If it were up to me he'd be at a boarding school for other criminals and mischief makers like him.' Petunia said it was necessary to keep Mr. Potter so occupied with chores that he was tired out at the end of the day or else he would find mischief to get up to. When we asked what he was fed and how often, both his aunt and uncle seemed flustered by the question and took long moments to come up with an appropriate answer. When asked about the cupboard neither would answer us. We saw the cupboard and it is small. The cot was in there and the cupboard was barely big enough to hold the cot. A small child would be unable to stand up straight in the cupboard and there was a lock on the outside of the door that was inaccessible from the inside. There was evidence a child had stayed inside at some point as there were crayon drawings and scribbles on the walls. The smallest bedroom upstairs did have a cat flap in the door and bars on the windows and Ronald Weasley confirmed that he and two of his brothers rescued Harry midway through last summer and that he had been locked in the room with bars. Harry shared many of the details he shared today with us, and we also discovered he has trouble sleeping most nights because of nightmares about his time with his relatives."

"In your opinion, should Harry return to the Dursleys, and under what circumstances should he be returned to their care?"

"Under no circumstances should he be returned to their care."

"Under none at all? What if charms were put in place to protect him whilst there?"

"There are no charms that can protect against the mental and emotional abuse he would be under if returned to their care. No child deserves to be put down and called names or be told they're worthless. We were appalled to learn that a child under the authority of wizarding welfare had been subject to that, and even more so to find he was subjected to that for this many years. Such treatment can have a lasting impact on a person's self esteem as they grow as well as on their outlook on life and in all situations they encounter in life."

"Tell us what you observed when you observed Harry during his time living at the Leaky Cauldron," Podmore said.

"The first thing that struck us is how serious Harry appears to be about his education. We were surprised to find that he had set up his own educational opportunities and that it had been his idea in the first place. He set up two internships with businesses, bought and studied several business books no thirteen year old would normally be interested in, and was sharing notes with a friend who was also doing a work internship at a local business. Harry asked thoughtful questions during his internships, he showed up to his internships on time, and in general seemed serious about following through on the educational commitments he'd made for himself."

"What about the rest of his routine? His ability to care for his day to day needs?"

"He seemed capable of getting himself up and ready for the day. From what we observed he ate balanced meals three times a day and at regular times. He was back in his room at a reasonable hour for his age and kept a regular bedtime. He also appeared clean and well kept. His room at the Leaky Cauldron was also tidy and well ordered when we visited."

"If Harry were to remain under his own care for an extended period, for a year let's say, what would you say would be the outcome?"

"Harry would likely continue on as he has, getting himself ready for the day, feeding himself, seeing to his education and remaining studious, showing up for appointments on time and possibly even setting up more educational opportunities for himself."

The case supervisor looked like he wanted to say more, but Podmore smiled and said, "Thank you." Conner looked perturbed but kept his mouth closed.

To Harry's surprise, Podmore asked Dumbledore about Harry's performance at Hogwarts and Dumbledore told him that Harry did quite well in the majority of his classes and was very studious in the subjects that interested him. Dumbledore smiled at Harry while he spoke and Harry squirmed, feeling uncomfortable with the attention. It didn't make sense for Dumbledore to say nice things about him when he was against him in court.

Podmore asked Harry a dozen more questions about his routine. He asked things like where and how did Harry get his clothes, what did he eat and when, how and why he set up his ‘internships' with Flourish and Blotts and Tantalizing Sweets, and even how he summoned the Knight Bus and why he decided to go to Diagon Alley.

"I asked where was cheapest to stay and the bus driver told me the Leaky Cauldron," Harry told him.

It was nearing one o'clock and Harry's stomach was beginning to rumble uncomfortably when Podmore decided to make his final argument.

"As we've learned today, it would be unsafe to return Mr. Potter to such unsuitable living conditions as those he endured at the hands of his Muggle relatives, and we would not expect any person, whether they'd reached majority or not to live in those conditions. It would do Harry great harm to return him to the care of the Dursleys, if not physically than mentally and emotionally. If Headmaster Dumbledore is unwilling to move Harry to a more suitable living arrangement than he is an unfit guardian and Harry is more fit to look after his own needs and affairs. Mr. Potter has shown himself in the past month and a half to be a responsible young man, ready to look after himself and his family's business interests. He seeks out legal aid when he feels he needs it, sets up his own educational opportunities and gets himself to and from those opportunities. He pays for his own meals, buys his own clothes, and takes care of his personal hygiene, all without being told to by an adult or being supervised. He's able to communicate with adults to set up business deals, secure opportunities, and exchange services. He does decently in school with an O in Defense, an E in Charms, an A in Herbology, an A in Transfiguration and an A in Astronomy. And in case of emergency, such as being thrown out of his home by his abusive relatives, he was able to secure transportation for himself to a safe place where he could reside until a more permanent solution could be found. In the eyes of The Wizarding Welfare Authority he is more capable at 13 of taking care of himself than his adult guardian and muggle relatives and could continue to take care of himself if necessary."

It seemed that Podmore was done and Harry tried to keep himself from squirming in his seat as his stomach rumbled again.

"Is your final argument concluded?" the Justice asked, and Podmore told her it was.

"Court is adjourned for the day," the Justice said. "Court will resume at nine tomorrow morning with an opening statement from Barrister Coombs on behalf of Albus Dumbledore."

The Justice rose and everyone stood until she'd left the room with her magic quill and the stack of papers the quill had been scribbling madly over for hours.

Harry glanced at Dumbledore's side of the table as they moved to leave. Snape narrowed his eyes at Harry as he exited and Dumbledore seemed... disturbed. It wasn't quite the same as when the sparkle had gone out of his eyes before when they'd gone to lunch. He'd been upset then, but this was different. Harry couldn't put his finger on how but it was.

"That went well," Podmore said happily as they took a separate lift up through the Ministry a few minutes later.

"Dumbledore looked strange," Harry commented.

"What was said in court today was disturbing," Silver said. "No one could hear that and think you should return to the Dursleys. It really is a shame we can't bring charges against them as they're Muggles and can't be held accountable in our world."

They took a cab to a restaurant where Podmore paid for lunch and then took Harry back to Knockturn Alley.

"Get some rest," Podmore told Harry. "Tomorrow's not going to go well for us."

"It's not?" Harry asked.

"It's their day. They'll try to paint an ugly picture of you and your shenanigans at school and paint a lovely picture of the Dursleys. Luckily there will be a day for rebuttal."

Harry tried to imagine what that would look like, but couldn't and left his two barristers at Podmore's office. He'd barely made it around the corner and into Gringotts Plaza and down Diagon a few minutes later when someone called out his name. Harry turned and found Draco Malfoy strutting down the alley towards him.

"Potter," Draco sneered. "Imagine finding you here. I didn't think you'd be able to scrape enough knuts together to even come to Diagon Alley."

Harry was about to tell Draco to bugger off because he wasn't in the mood when Ollivander came up to him. Ollivander ignored Draco and said to Harry, "I want to move by the end of the week. The window in the new building is far too small. I want floor to ceiling windows but I need permission to put them in."

"Are you going to have a construction firm do it?" Harry asked.

Ollivander handed Harry a piece of parchment with the name of the same firm Harry had used at the Orphanage. It looked like a work estimate and had things listed like new shelves, windows, counters, and a back room that Ollivander wanted built as well as installation of a new fireplace to be connected to the floo.

"It needs a signature," Ollivander said, and handed Harry a quill. Harry took it and signed it, and Ollivander thanked him and hurried off as fast as his aging legs could carry him.

Harry had almost forgot Draco was there until he turned and found the boy slack mouthed and staring.

"What was that?" Draco asked.

"Paperwork," Harry said. He was about to walk away but Silver had come up behind him now and seemed to want Harry's attention too.

"Relax," Silver said, "this isn't about tomorrow. I barely made it out of Knocturn because of the number of people that wanted my attention for approval of building orders."

"Send them to me," Harry said. "I just signed off on changes to Ollivander's new building."

"Here," Silver said, and handed Harry several parchments. "Bring them up to my office when you've looked them over and signed them. Look over them carefully, there are some outlandish things people are asking to do. I would advise against allowing a third floor that extends all the way across the alley. That would have to be held up by charms and if those fail you're liable for damages and injuries."

"Thanks," Harry said, and Silver hurried off.

"What have you got to do with a barrister like Silver?" Draco asked, pushing towards Harry before anyone else could demand his attention. "Even we aren't represented by Harrison Silver! He's the Minister's barrister!"

Harry almost laughed at the look on Draco's face. Draco had never taken such an interest in him before and now he was practically demanding Harry's attention and answers.

"I'm renovating Knockturn Alley. A few businesses are moving over there."

"What do you mean you're renovating Knockturn Alley?"

"I own most of the buildings on Knockturn and Diagon. And a few on Payne," Harry added as an afterthought.

Lucius Malfoy came to stand beside Draco at that moment, and instead of calling Harry a liar Draco turned to his father and said, "Potter says he owns the alleys."

"We don't speak of such business matters in polite company Draco." He sneered down at Harry and then beckoned for Draco to follow him. Draco turned back just as Basil came up to Harry to ask him a question, and Harry remembered he wanted to ask him about the door that led out the back of his shop to Knockturn Alley. Harry couldn't deny that he enjoyed the look on Draco's face as he was called on to keep up with his father. It was the only positive part of his day.

"We just feel so bad for him," Vernon told the Justice. "He just needs a firmer hand, that's all, don't be too hard on him-"

Harry woke in a cold sweat and found Sirius' cold nose against his cheek.

"Thanks," Harry said. The dog sometimes woke him when he was having a nightmare. The dog whined a little but then quieted down and Harry gripped the dog's fur and then ran his hand down the dog's back for comfort. He looked at the clock on his nightstand and saw it was nearing six. He might as well get up for the day, he thought. There was no use going back to sleep just to slip into another nightmare about court or the Dursleys. Earlier that night he'd dreamt the Dursleys had shown up on Diagon Alley and demanded he have a cupboard built for himself to live in between Podmore's office and Tantalizing Sweets. They wanted him to have a window put in too so he could see across the street to the orphanage when he was locked in to remind him that they'd taken him in and saved him from the fate of living there. Harry for his part thought this wasn't so bad because maybe Justin could sneak him sandwiches through the window...

He shook himself mentally and went to take a shower and get dressed in his dress robes again for the day.

"Wish me luck," Harry said to the dog. "It's their day to say what a poor excuse I am for a person."

The dog whined and stuck his cold wet nose in the palm of Harry's hand. Harry got on his hands and knees and hugged the dog and then left.

"You're supposed to look presentable Potter," Podmore said with an eye roll when Harry entered his office ten minutes later. He motioned to Harry's robes and Harry saw the dog hair there. Podmore cast a cleaning spell at Harry and the hair vanished.

Silver came into the office a few minutes later and they headed for Double Lane so they could get to the Muggle Street. Harry noted that more people than usual were out early this morning, including Ollivander, who was giving orders to a small work crew on how he wanted the outside of his new shop painted. Harry was pleased to note several small round tables and chairs had appeared outside Double Lane in the tiny plaza at the end of Knockturn Alley, but he barely had time to look before he was being ushered into Double Lane.

Twenty minutes later Harry found himself sitting on the bench outside the courtroom by himself. Silver had gone to find a bathroom and Podmore had gone to speak to the Minister, who had shown up today. There was still almost fifteen minutes until they had to be in the courtroom and Harry wondered when others would start to turn up. His question was answered a minute later when the lift at the end of the hall opened to reveal Snape. Snape's lip curled as he saw Harry sitting by himself in the corridor and came to stand outside the courtroom.

After several moments of silence, Harry was hoping the man would keep to himself, but those hopes were dashed when Snape said smoothly, "Your barrister paints a pretty picture Potter." Harry looked up at him to find the man with his usual sneer. "The abused orphan who is able to rise from the ashes to care for himself since his nasty guardian isn't willing to."

Harry looked down at his shoes and swallowed. "It's not nice to make fun of me," he said. It had taken a lot to tell a room full of people how the Dursleys treated him, and for Snape to make fun of him for it just wasn't playing fair.

"Make fun Potter?" Snape sounded angry but he didn't get to say anything else as the lift at the end of the hall opened again and Podmore stepped out with barrister Coombs and Dumbledore.

Harry chanced a look up at Snape, who narrowed his eyes one last time at Harry and then swept into the courtroom with Dumbledore and Coombs. Dumbledore didn't look at Harry at all before he entered, though Harry wished he would have. Podmore motioned for Harry to follow him in and after they'd seated themselves Silver came in, followed by the Minister and the case supervisor and case investigator. After the Justice came in a few minutes later and they were all seated and everyone in the room had been introduced and announced, Coombs gave his opening argument.

"We do not intend to prove that Mr. Potter has received adequate care at the hands of his relatives as it has already been proven that he has not. We intend to prove that despite the inadequate care he has received, he would be best served if placed back with his Muggle relations and that it would be unwise to grant him early majority."

Coombs called the case supervisor to be questioned and said, "Yesterday you indicated that Mr. Potter would likely be able to care for himself. Do you still hold this opinion?"

"Yes," the case supervisor said.

"So he could look after himself?" Coombs asked again.

"Yes."

"Should he?" Coombs asked.

"No," Conner said.

"Would you mind explaining why he could look after himself but should not?"

"By his own admission he would rather not be caring for himself and managing a business so young. He told us he would rather be living in a home where he is looked after and can focus on things a boy his age would focus on, such as reading for fun and playing Quidditch. Beyond his desire to not step into majority so early, Harry suffers from nightmares as we discussed yesterday. His inability to sleep concerns us as sleep is necessary to function well and as sleep disturbances of this kind can be frightening for children his age. Also, while Harry seems to be able to manage his family's business, we're concerned he may overwork himself and eventually become too stressed to cope and will have no one to fall back on to help him if he is emancipated early. Children of this age still require a strong support system and ties to adults who can help them problem solve through things they don't have experience with, which is why emancipation never happens before 16 years of age. Harry could look after himself and it's our opinion that he likely has been looking after himself for a number of years, but if granted early majority now he'll be put under too much stress for a boy of 13. It would be unfair to take him from childhood so early and throw him into the adult world. All of this could have serious repercussions on his adult life. He needs a solid foundation to build his adult life and future relationships upon and he hasn't received that to this point."

A knot began to grow in Harry's stomach as barrister Coombs thanked the case supervisor and said to the Justice, "Mr. Potter's barrister describes all of the responsible and admirable things he has done over the past several weeks. We must ask ourselves however, if Mr. Potter has really matured to such a level that he can care for himself when his track record of irresponsible behavior stretches back several years. Is six weeks really enough time to mature to such a level?"

Coombs called on Snape to answer questions and the knot in Harry's stomach grew.

"Please describe Mr. Potter's academic career thus far during his time at Hogwarts."

Harry was interested to see that Snape wasn't sneering as he answered. "Mr. Potter squanders his educational opportunities at school."

"What do you mean by ‘squanders'?" Coombs asked.

"He consistently gets a P in potions which is not passing, and is barely passing in Herbology, Transfiguration and Astronomy. He puts forth a minimal amount of effort in subjects that do not interest him. It's obvious from the essays he turns in in Potions that he barely grasps the concepts being taught."

"Aside from academics, how would you classify his Hogwarts career?"

"Bumbling and hazardous," Snape said silkily without even a glance at Hary. Harry wondered if he was intentionally not looking at him to keep himself from sneering.

"Would you please elaborate on that?" Coombs asked.

"He and his friends bumble their way from one dangerous situation to the next with no understanding of the danger they placed themselves in or of potential consequences to their own well being or of the well being of those around them. Potter is frequently to be seen dueling those he does not get along with in school even though dueling without staff supervision is forbidden. He is frequently caught out of bounds and given detention for his... indiscretions. Despite frequent detentions he never seems to learn his lesson." Snape's last few words were punctuated and Harry had a feeling there was a sneer hidden underneath them somewhere just for him.

"Can you give us examples of the times he's been caught out of bounds during the term?"

"At the end of the first year he and two of his friends went to a forbidden third floor corridor where they spent the night breaking through several protections the school had placed on a priceless artifact. This artifact was being protected from He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. At the end of the night Potter faced down the dark lord on his own and nearly lost his life. Near the end of his second year Potter and one of his friends went out of bounds to save his friend's younger sister, again from He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and a giant basilisk. During both incidents he and his friends never thought to seek the help of a teacher."

Harry wanted to jump out of his seat and yell that it wasn't true, that they had tried to get the help of teachers, but was reminded by a nudge from Podmore that he wasn't supposed to have any emotional ‘outbursts' in court and clamped his mouth down tight.

"Thank you Professor," Coombs said. Then he turned towards the Justice and said, "I'd also like to remind the court that Mr. Potter has been up and down Knockturn Alley without an adult throughout the summer, though we recognize an exception must be made as his barrister's office is located there. It goes to show a pattern of lack of thought to his own safety."

Harry thought the barrister would call on him to answer questions and was ready to defend himself, but Coombs never called him. Instead he called on Dumbledore and asked him why it was so important that Harry return to the Dursleys for several months of the year.

"We have already seen Voldemort try to return twice in the last two years and have seen the danger this has posed to Harry. Tom Riddle still has many loyal followers who would be ready to do his bidding at a moment's notice, even if this means killing or torturing a child. When Harry was taken from the orphanage and placed with his mother's sister, it was with good reason. His mother's sacrifice cast a powerful protection charm on Harry, but in order for that charm to work he must reside with one of Lily Potter's close relatives. This charm makes it so that when one of Voldemort's true followers tries to attack him, they are unable. This was demonstrated clearly at the end of Harry's second year when one of Voldemort's still loyal followers tried to kill Harry with an unforgivable at school but was stopped by his own house elf from doing so. This was also demonstrated when Harry faced down Voldemort in his first and second year at school. At the last minute something unbelievable always pulls Harry back from the brink of death. This is a powerful protection for Harry until reaches majority and is able and learned enough to protect himself."

Harry shook his head and his stomach began to bubble with upset. His mother had cast a charm on him as she'd died? The circumstances around his last couple of years were incredible but he'd always thought himself lucky or himself and his friends skilled enough that they'd escaped with their lives.

Coombs was talking again and Harry forced himself to listen. It sounded like he was giving his closing argument.

"Mr. Potter must be returned to live with his aunt and uncle as Lily Potter has no other living relatives. When Mr. Potter is residing with his Muggle relatives Headmaster Dumbledore will check in on Harry weekly by owl and monthly in person. Harry will be given a shared journal to communicate with Dumbledore at all times should he ever be in need of immediate assistance. New charms will be placed on the Dursley household to ensure Harry is fed three nutritious meals a day and snacks in between. New charms will also ensure no physical punishments are carried out against him at the residence. Headmaster Dumbledore will provide clothing for Harry three times a year: at the start of summer, at the start of school, and during winter. Harry will not have to return during short holidays, only during the summer and only until he reaches majority at 17. The argument has been made that Mr. Potter could take care of himself, though Wizarding Welfare believes he shouldn't at this age, and his academic career thus far supports that he isn't yet ready to do so. With such strong protections in place on his relatives home, it's imperative that he be returned there immediately so such protections can be kept in place."

"Is your final argument concluded?" the Justice asked.

"It is," Coombs said.

The Justice sighed heavily and shuffled several papers around before looking up at Coombs and Dumbledore and then at Podmore.

"I am not pleased gentlemen. Nothing about this pleases me. Young Mr. Potter has been placed in deplorable living conditions that he must somehow return to for his own safety, yet he cannot return to for his own safety. While the new protections, food and clothing being offered to Mr. Potter are a start, it leads me to wonder why these safeties and basic necessities of life were never set up in the first place. It seems to me it would be a gross injustice to send Mr. Potter back to the care of the Dursleys despite any protections you may put into place yet I am not yet convinced that Mr. Potter could do better on his own, especially given who he is and his status as the Boy-Who-Lived." It seemed she had more to say, but she closed her mouth.

"Court is adjourned for the day. We will resume tomorrow morning at nine am. Gentlemen, I suggest you come prepared to give me better reasons for your positions during rebuttal. As it stands now, neither of you have made your case. If neither of you can convince me of your case I may be left no choice but to remove Mr. Potter from the care of his current guardian and place him into the care of Wizarding Welfare, which is also unsuitable given his status and the dangers that come with that status, but which may be my only recourse."

The Justice stood and left and everyone else stood until she was out of the room. Snape took his chance to sneer fully at Harry now that the Justice was gone, and Dumbledore was giving Harry a funny look. Harry wasn't sure if Dumbledore was sad or sorry or curious about something.

Silver and Podmore took Harry back to Podmore's office and the three sat in silence for several minutes.

"I don't like it," Silver finally said. "I don't think there's anything we can bring against that type of protective charm."

"And Coombs knows it," Podmore said.

"What do you mean?" Harry said, heart feeling like it was up in his throat.

"It's ancient magic. That type of magic can't be cast, so there's nothing we can offer up to rival the protection you're being offered if you return to the Dursleys, especially if it's protecting you while you're at home and school."

"Protecting me from Voldemort but not the Dursleys. You think a charm on their house will stop them? They'll take me down the street to beat the tar outta me! They'll take me on vacation and dump me somewhere without my wand or any journal. What kind of charm are they gonna place that will keep them from locking my stuff up or from forcing me to write what Dumbledore wants to hear each week? What about that food charm? Unless the food gets charmed right into my stomach they'll find a way to keep me away from the food or give it to Dudley." Harry wanted to tell them there was so much more the Dursleys could do to him if they chose to but his stomach already felt sick and he didn't want to think about this case any more. He wanted to go ride his broom or to talk to Ron or Hermione to settle his nerves, but knew none of those things were possible at the moment.

Podmore and Silver didn't seem to have anything to say to him to calm his nerves either so Harry got up and left. Mrs. Ginger caught sight of him as soon as he stepped out onto Knockturn Alley and called over to him. Having nowhere else to go because he didn't want to go back to his room to be upset by himself, Harry went into the orphanage with her.

"I caught sight of you before you went into Podmore's office," she said, handing him a cup of apple juice as soon as she led him into the kitchen. She shut and warded the two doors leading into the kitchen to ensure they were alone. Harry thought it was nice to have her undivided attention like this, especially when he knew there were so many other kids in the house who would likely be vying for it if the doors hadn't been warded shut. "The look on your face told me how court went for you today."

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Harry said, voicing for the first time that day how he felt.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They ripped me apart. They said I was irresponsible and Snape made fun of me before court and I found out that the only reason I'm even alive is because when my mum died some kind of magic went out of her and set a protection on me from getting killed but only if I return to the Dursleys. Even Podmore and Silver seem to think there's no more case. I'm going to have to go back. If I go back I might not even make it back to Hogwarts. You don't know them... my aunt and uncle. You don't know what it's like there and what they'll do now that wizards have been around asking them questions about how they treat me. I'll just turn up missing and no one will know til Hogwarts starts and they'll never find my body."

Mrs. Ginger had Harry wrapped up in a hug before he could work himself up any further. He felt warm and safe if even only for that moment. "It's not gonna be all right," Harry said. "It's not," he insisted.

"Shh now," Mrs. Ginger said quietly. "I don't want you to think about it any more. There's no use making yourself sick over it when nothing is written in stone yet."

"But I can't stop thinking about it," Harry said.

"You're going to eat a sandwich and then take a nap," she told him, and Harry didn't argue. He'd been trying to figure things out and make decisions for himself for so long that it was nice to be told what to do by somebody he trusted just this once. She made him a sandwich, which he ate despite not feeling hungry, and then she led him to an unused bed in the new guest room downstairs and told him to lay down and take a nap. Harry suspected she must have put something in his juice because he didn't dream, but he wasn't sure what she must have dosed him with that could do that. When he woke up, he found Justin sitting on the end of the bed reading a magazine.

"You musta been tired. Dinner's already passed."

Harry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"You're gonna yell at me for saying so, but you're lucky," Harry said glumly.

Justin eyed him carefully for a moment and went back to his magazine. "I know," he said, for once not arguing. He pulled an apple from a bag on the floor and handed it to Harry and when Harry was done eating it he said, "I got permission to walk you back to the Leaky Cauldron even though it'll be dark soon. Mrs. Ginger said I could stay the night with you."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"She said you could probably use a friend."

"I gotta be up early for court."

"I won't keep you up."

Justin picked up his bag which looked like it had already been packed for him to go with Harry and led Harry out onto Knockturn Alley.

"New window is in at Ollivander's," Justin pointed out as they walked down the mostly deserted alley. "Looks nice."

Harry looked as they passed. The building had been given a new coat of light gray paint and it did look nice with the new larger window. Harry could see new shelves were half built inside and wondered what it would look like when all the boxes of wands were put in. No counter had been built inside yet and the back room was barely framed in.

"He's excited for a shop twice as big. It'll be so much less cramped in there now."

"Yeah," Harry said, but he didn't feel like talking about it anymore. He and Justin went back to the Leaky Cauldron and up to Harry's room. Tom brought up two dinners and two deserts but Harry skipped his desert and gave it to Justin instead. Justin handed Harry a Quidditch magazine and insisted he read it before bed. "Mrs. Ginger said you weren't to think about court at all tonight so you might as well read something interesting."

Harry read but he only took in half of the words. In the end he fell asleep with his head on Sirius and a hand fisted in the fur on the dog's back. When he was certain Harry was asleep Justin unrolled his sleeping bag and cast a cushioning charm on the floor. He took one of the pillows off Harry's bed and lay down in his sleeping bag with another magazine. He was glad Mrs. Ginger had seemed to know just what Harry needed and that he could help since Harry had helped them so much.

"Did you sleep at all?" Justin asked, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Some," Harry mumbled.

"What are you doing in court today?" he asked.

"Podmore's supposed to be going over all the reasons the other side is wrong about what they said about me I think." Harry was still trying to imagine what rebuttals were going to be like but couldn't imagine how they were going to combat the things that had been said about him or the protection spell. After several long moments Harry said, "I think we're going to lose."

"What happens if you lose?" Justin asked.

"I get sent back to the Dursleys. I get beat up or they kill me and dump my body somewhere and I never get back to Hogwarts."

Justin huffed in irritation and Harry looked down to the floor where Justin still sat in his sleeping bag. "Adults are stupid's all," Justin said. "Can't see sense when it's staring them in the face."

"I don't know what I can do about it," Harry said. He'd already hired a barrister and gotten his case to court. He wasn't sure there was anything to do beyond that.

"There's only five weeks left ‘til Hogwarts," Justin said. "You could go on the run."

"Sirius Black is still on the loose," Harry said, and the dog whined at hearing his name.

"Yeah and we haven't seen hide nor hair of him all summer. It's pretty obvious where you're staying with the articles about you that have been running in the Prophet. If he was really after you he'd have found you already."

"So I just run away?" Harry asked.

"If the case doesn't go your way, why not? Just disappear and turn up at Hogwarts in a few weeks."

Harry looked around the room at the few things he owned. He supposed if he just took his bag with his wand and a blanket and some clothes he could find a place to lay low for a while.

"I'm not sure where I'd go."

"What about your friend Ron's house? He's out of country right? So it'd be deserted, at least for a little while."

"If things don't go my way in court there'll be no chance for me to pack up and run."

Justin looked at Harry's bag and got out of his sleeping bag to go pick it up. "We can pack you now, right? Pack your things up and have it ready to go. I can take your bag and the dog and bring them to you wherever you end up running off to."

"You're not allowed off the alleys."

"One time one of the older boys snuck out to Muggle London and was out all night. Took Miss Ava nine hours to find him after he ran off. I bet I could be out and back again before they even notice I'm gone, and if not I'll be grounded for the rest of summer, but that's not so bad."

"You'd do that?" Harry asked. "How am I supposed to tell you where I'm at?"

"The shared journals," Justin said. "I'll run back to my room and get mine and keep it with me with your bag and the dog."

Harry turned the plan over in his mind and then stood up and began throwing clothes into his bag. "Can you make sure my trunk gets back to Hogwarts?" he asked.

Justin nodded and said, "You'll have to steer clear of the Knight Bus, and don't do any magic or they can track you. Here." Justin rolled up the sleeping bag he'd been using and set it on the floor next to Harry's bag which Harry was still shoving clothing into. "Make up an excuse or something," Justin said. "Say you have to use the loo right away when you're on your way back to the alleys, or throw a fit that you're hungry. Adults always get rattled when a kid pitches a fit, especially when they're not used to one. One of the fourth years threw a tantrum last summer and Miss Ava and Mrs. Ginger gave him attention all afternoon for acting like a big baby."

"You'll be watching the journal?" Harry asked.

"Promise," Justin said.

The bag was packed and Harry had his journal and a Muggle pen. He supposed it would just look like he wanted to take notes on his case if he took it to court with him.

"Go with Justin and do what he says," Harry said to Siri, and the dog stared at him as if he knew exactly what was going on. Harry hugged the dog tight, gave a last look at Justin and nodded, and then headed for Podmore's office. It was a shaky plan and he didn't want to use it, but it was something and having something in place prior to going to court made Harry feel confident in a way he hadn't in the last two days. Something was finally under his control and it was a good feeling to have.

* * *

Severus narrowed his eyes at Potter as the boy sat across the table scribbling notes into a brown leather notebook as they waited for the Justice to appear and start the morning's proceedings. Somehow Potter had gotten Mrs. Ginger to show up on his behalf that morning, and he wondered if Potter's barristers would question her or if she was just there for moral support. The Minister was back again today, though Snape knew his eyes at least had finally been opened to Potter's brash nature and he was no longer on Potter's side. If Potter was granted early majority he'd be given free reign to change things as he wished on Diagon Alley and that didn't sit well with the Ministry. It was Potter's own foolish decision making that had lost him the Minister's backing. The boy obviously had no idea what was good for him or he didn't care.

Potter looked up and caught Severus staring, though he looked away and back to his notebook quickly without so much as a frown. What had the boy been thinking to request early majority? Surely his barristers had told him this wouldn't be possible. Severus couldn't quite figure what Potter was playing at. He clearly had plans for the Potter holdings, but he had already set things in motion there without being emancipated. Severus couldn't decide whether having early majority would grant Potter more pull over his family holdings or not. He imagined the boy doing something silly like using his family funds to buy new brooms for his entire Quidditch team or trying to buy a professional Quidditch team just to say he was the youngest owner of a team to date. He certainly would have the money if he could get out from under the Headmaster's custody and gain access to the funds that were currently locked up and out of his control. It seemed like an awful lot of work to go to for money however, to make up a story about being abused and drag the Headmaster to court. If this was all a manipulation, it was a masterful one to think up and would have had to have been planned out well in advance with his friends to corroborate his story. Severus wondered if Harry had paid a student on the train to beat him up before he returned to his relatives. Despite what Wizarding Welfare believed, Severus couldn't bring himself to believe that Potter had been abused his entire life. Potter was too full of himself. He swaggered too much when he walked down a corridor, just like his rich stuck up father had done. He had too many friends to have been abused. If any child had been abused as much as Potter was claiming, he would have serious emotional problems. Potter was anything but emotionally stunted.

Severus sneered as he turned things over in his mind. Potter had had the audacity to say Severus was making fun of him the day before. He wondered when Potter would bring that up in court and how he would try to use it to his advantage. When Severus had brought it up to Albus the day before, Albus had simply told him to let Harry be.

It bothered Severus that Potter was trying to pull the wool over people's eyes, but it bothered him even more that the Headmaster seemed to be buying it. Albus could hide his emotions when he wanted to, but in the last few days he'd seemed drawn out and worn thin. Beyond that he seemed sad and even disturbed by what Potter had reported in court. It was all lies and Severus wished the Headmaster would see that and stop blaming himself. Whether Albus liked to believe it or not he was aging and he didn't need to be put through the stress of a court hearing. Potter was playing right to his sympathies and it wasn't right.

Severus was of the opinion that if the little brat wanted to be emancipated he should be given enough rope to hang himself by. Let the whelp get himself into so much trouble he'd have no choice but to ask for help getting out. Let the brat see what it was like to live without Lily's protection. Unfortunately every time Severus thought this, he was reminded of the promise he'd made to Lily to protect her son, and of the promise he'd made to Albus years ago to uphold his first promise. He'd been sincere then. So sincere in fact that Albus had never questioned him on his loyalties since. If Potter was emancipated and got himself into trouble, Severus knew he would be the one to have to pull Potter back from the brink of self-destruction because that was the promise he'd made. No harm could come to Potter while he was his protector because he wouldn't let it. "Fool," Severus huffed to himself, though he looked up and noted that Potter had heard him and was looking at him. Severus gave him the nastiest glare he could muster and looked away, drumming his fingers on the table as he waited for the hearing to begin. He was a fool for making the promise in the first place. He'd never cared about the boy, only about Lily, and he should never have made the promise. Yet he had and had found himself in the predicament he was in now. He hoped Potter lost if for no other reason than it would give him more time to not have to deal with protecting the boy. If he was under the protection of Lily's charm it meant he didn't have to think about Potter at all outside of term. The brat. No thought at all to anybody but himself.

* * *

Anybody could ask witnesses questions today according to Silver. Any of the barristers in the room, or the Justice could ask Harry whatever they pleased and he'd have to answer. Harry nervously answered question after question as it seemed no one was interested in asking any of the other parties anything at all.

Harry had been made to explain why he felt it necessary to fix up the orphanage and how he had gone about doing so. He'd been made to go into detail about hiring a construction firm, making decisions for the orphanage, finding the orphans a place to stay while the third floor was torn off and rebuilt, and about the amount of money he had now allotted to go to the orphanage for the foreseeable future.

From there the questions had come at him from all sides about his plans for Knockturn Alley, his dealings with Munroe McGlaggen, and his reasoning behind it all. Harry felt thankful that he'd already discussed this a number of times with his barristers, Munroe and the people of Diagon Alley and felt well-rehearsed in his answers which helped him relax.

"Do you know how much money it takes for one person to live on their own Harry?" Coombs asked. "If you were to live on your own without an adult helping you for one month, what would the costs be?"

Harry glanced over at Mrs. Ginger and received an encouraging nod. He was thankful she had come today even though he hadn't asked her to. She was sitting next to the Minister who looked concerned with how proceedings were going. Harry wasn't sure if the Minister's look was something to be pleased about or not.

Harry reached back into his memory, trying to recall the conversation he'd had with Mrs. Ginger weeks ago about how much it cost for a person to live. "If a person is thrifty and knows how to stretch a budget," Harry said, trying to remember her words, "they could get by on 15 Galleons a month, but that's only if they take care of their needs, not any wants and if there's no emergencies that need to be paid for. A person needs to buy food, and housing costs a lot, especially if you're living in a place like the Leaky Cauldron instead of a flat or a place you own yourself. You have to pay for heat in the winter and cold air in the summer. You have to have clothes to wear and then there's things like medical expenses. If you want anything extra that costs. You'd have to save up for school supplies in advance or spread out that expense over months so it's not a big expense all at once. 15 Galleons a month would get you by but it'd be tight. There would be nothing to put away into an emergency fund or anything like that or into other savings for things you want to save up for."

Harry glanced at Snape and noted the odd look he was being given. For the first time Snape wasn't sneering at him but was looking at him with curiosity as if he was some sort of odd potions specimen he'd never seen before that needed study. Harry looked away and found Dumbledore looking at him. The man wasn't smiling but he wasn't frowning either. His face was quite blank and it unsettled Harry. He'd thought his answer was good but now he wasn't so sure.

The Justice asked Harry several questions in a row, such as what he would do if he ever got hurt or sick during holiday, where he would like to work on holiday or if he'd like to work at all if emancipated, and where he planned to live if emancipated. Harry told her he'd like to use his family funds to buy a little house outright so he wouldn't have to worry about rent and would always have a place to call home. He told her he'd like to work for a Quidditch team during holidays, perhaps with management and that he'd like to continue working with his family's holdings, and said if he ever got sick or injured he would take the floo or Knight Bus to St. Mungos.

No one disputed what Harry said when he answered questions and Podmore looked pleased with his answers. Harry was finally starting to feel as though things might be leaning in his favor and allowed himself a small smile.

Dumbledore leaned in to whisper something to Coombs, face still betraying none of his emotions, and Coombs straightened up and looked at Harry.

"Mr. Potter, is Sirius Black staying with you at the Leaky Cauldron?"

Harry froze and his smile faded away. "I have a dog," he said. "His name is Sirius Black."

"Can you describe the dog?"

"Scruffy, long black and brown hair. He was pretty skinny when I got him, and dirty. I cleaned him up and fed him and he's looking better now."

"And his name is Sirius Black? How did you come to name him this?"

Harry fidgeted for a moment. "I just call him Siri. We were calling him ‘the dog' and my friend said he needed a name. My friend said we should name him something fierce and every time we tried new names the dog didn't seem to like them. I looked up and saw a wanted poster for Black and said the name out loud and the dog barked. So we started calling him Siri."

"You are aware that Sirius Black recently escaped Azkaban and is after you?"

"No one told me that and I had to find it out on my own from my Barrister," Harry said, "but yes, I know what he did and that he's probably coming for me."

Dumbledore whispered something else in Coomb's ear and Coombs said, "And are you aware that Sirius Black is an Animagus that can take the form of a scruffy black dog?"

Harry felt the blood drain from his face. Animagus? McGonagall was an Animagus and could shapeshift at will into a cat and back. Sirius Black could do that? Sirius Black could turn into a dog? Harry had a dog that liked the name Sirius Black. A dog that seemed to understand what was going on. A dog that nosed legal papers when Harry had questions and who hid under the bed when Dumbledore came to visit...

Coombs was talking again but Harry only caught part of what he was saying. "It appears that Mr. Potter, in the absence of adult supervision has unwittingly been harboring the fugitive Sirius Black in his room at the Leaky Cauldron."

"And how would Headmaster Dumbledore know this?" the Justice asked, "and if he knew the boy was harboring a fugitive why did he not bring it to light earlier for Mr. Potter's safety?"

"I saw black fur on Harry's clothing yesterday," Dumbledore said quietly. "I did not put it together until now. I had heard that Harry had taken in a stray dog but it did not occur to me until I saw the long black hair that it may have been Black in disguise."

Harry leapt from the table and ran out of the room and down the hall, panic gripping his chest. He fumbled with his journal and pen to get it open but his hands were shaking too much and he dropped it. The door banged open a moment later and Snape came storming out.

"Running away are we Potter?" Snape spat angrily as if he'd come to chase Harry down.

"The dog!" Harry shouted, voice shaking. He couldn't keep his entire body from shaking. "Justin's with the dog! Right now! Justin's with Sirius Black!"

"Justin Finch-Fletchley?" Snape asked, stepping closer to Harry and growing suddenly serious.

"Yes!"

"Where?"

"I don't know. My room or maybe the orphanage or out on the alleys-" Snape swept away from him and to the lift and within moments was gone, hopefully to get Justin.

Harry fumbled with his journal again and finally got it open as Podmore and Silver came out.

‘The dog is the real Sirius Black! He's an animagus! Get out of there! Justin? JUSTIN!!'

Justin wasn't answering but Harry didn't have time to dwell on it because Podmore had gripped his arm and was dragging him into an unused courtroom and away from prying ears.

"Are you kidding me? Tell me this is a joke!" Podmore demanded, but Harry could do nothing but shake and continue glancing down at his journal waiting for any indication that Justin had gotten the message and was safe.

"Every time I try to pull this case together to get you what you've been asking for, you do something to tear it all apart. Every single time."

"I- I-" Harry stammered. How was he to know Sirius was an animagus? The dog had done nothing but comfort him. "Maybe it's just a dog," Harry tried.

"It's not just a dog Potter. You've been letting a convicted felon stay in your room! Sleep in your bed! It's amazing you're alive at all!"

"Don't be so harsh Theo," Silver said. "We both saw the dog and never gave it a second look."

"It's not just Black," Podmore went on, running a hand through his hair. "Every time I give you advice you do the opposite. You spend money where you want, you hold meetings against advice and end up with your name spread across the Prophet, you've made the Ministry more than upset with you, you jump up and run out of court. I can't win this case for you Harry. It's not possible with the way you conduct yourself on a day to day basis. At every turn I try to save the case and at every turn you are absentmindedly wrecking it."

"I'm sorry," Harry tried, feeling more panicky the longer Podmore went on.

"Sorry or not," Podmore said, "this is an unattainable goal. I'm recusing myself as your barrister. I don't believe you should be emancipated and I can't fight for something I don't believe in myself."

"But-"

"Good day Mr. Potter."

Podmore stormed out of the room, leaving Harry and Silver there alone.

"What does recuse mean?" Harry asked quietly, though he thought he knew.

"He quit," Silver said. Harry turned to him, a desperate look in his eyes.

Silver put his hand on Harry's shoulder and looked down at him. "I have always been the Potter Barrister and always will be. Win or lose I will never stop fighting for your right to be safe. I promise you that."

Harry looked down and away, ashamed that he'd made Podmore quit and that he seemed to need the comfort Silver was offering him. There was a knock on the door and the door opened to reveal Mrs. Ginger.

"Harry?" she asked. Silver motioned for her to come in and close the door.

"Theo quit the case," Silver told her and she sighed and shook her head.

"Things were going so well too. We were all very impressed with your answers Harry. Maybe it's not lost yet. You keep hoping. I want you to understand that hope is not lost so long as you keep it within your heart." She made him look up at her and rose her eyebrows until he nodded.

"Not lost," he mumbled, though he didn't believe it. How was it going to look to return to court after running out and without his barrister?

"The Justice called a recess since so many people left without permission. It picks back up in an hour."

"You should check on Justin," Harry said. "He was with the dog. I think Snape went after him."

"We already received word back. Black is gone and Justin is fine."

Harry let out a sigh of relief and began shaking again.

"Let's get him something to eat," Silver said quietly, and Harry allowed himself to be led from the room and up through the Ministry to what appeared to be a cafeteria. Silver brought him a sandwich which Harry took a single bite of before pushing the plate away from himself.

"Come now," Mrs. Ginger said, "can't go through a hearing on an empty stomach."

"It's not a hearing," Harry said, "it's a death sentence."

Harry had no idea that Snape had passed behind him just then, on his way to get something to eat himself before heading back downstairs to find the Headmaster and Coombs again. A death sentence? What was Potter on about? He mulled it over as he quickly bought and ate his own lunch and was still thinking about it as he rode the lift back down to level ten. A death sentence. Potter was surely being dramatic, but what was the point? The Justice was the one with the power to decide in his favor, and she had been nowhere in the vicinity when he'd said it. Mrs. Ginger and Harrison Silver had no power to help him if the Justice decided against him.

"Severus," Dumbledore greeted warily as Severus came back into the courtroom. They were alone for now.

"He was gone when I got there. Mr. Finch-Fletchley was unharmed. Apparently he and Potter have a shared journal and Potter had communicated to him the dog's true identity. Mr. Finch-Fletchley panicked and yelled at Black to get away from him and Black transformed in front of him and then disapparated. It caused quite the stir on Diagon Alley in front of Fortescue's to see Black appear."

"I can imagine. The Minister left to send Aurors after him."

The door opened and Harry came back in with Silver and Mrs. Ginger. They sat on either side of him and Harry put his head down on his arms on the table and refused to speak to anyone who tried to get his attention. Coombs came back a few minutes later followed by the Justice.

"The hearing will now resume," she said. "I trust there will be no more surprises or interruptions." Harry lifted his head and nodded mutely, though he noted that the statement hadn't been directed at him.

"Barrister Silver, where is Mr. Potter's lead Barrister?"

Silver cleared his throat and glanced across the table at Coombs. "I am now Mr. Potter's lead Barrister in this matter and all others."

"Very well," the Justice said. She shuffled through her papers and looked several things over for a few minutes before she set them down and looked up again at the room's occupants.

"I'm not pleased with the decision I've been forced to make this afternoon, nevertheless, a decision has been made. Headmaster Dumbledore, I find that your care of Mr. Potter has been unsatisfactory to this point. He never should have been placed in a situation where he would be forced to fend for himself, raise himself or sustain any kind of injuries from his caregivers, be they physical or emotional. Nevertheless, the fact that Sirius Black found his way to Mr. Potter in short order after escaping Azkaban has not escaped my attention and has underscored the fact that Mr. Potter has many enemies still intent on doing him harm and he must be protected. I'm ordering that Mr. Harry James Potter remain in the custody of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore until his majority. Headmaster Dumbledore, I am not pleased with your decision to send this young man back to his Muggle relatives, however I recognize your right to do so to ensure his safety. If it is your intention to send him back to his relaties, you will do as you have previously stated in setting up all charms and safeguards for him. These safeguards will be put in place before he returns to his relatives care and I will personally check to see that they have been implemented. On top of the safeguards you have promised, I'm mandating that if he be returned to his relatives care during holidays or at any time, or if he is out of your personal care at any home other than the Dursleys for any extended period of time, you are to personally collect him and spend one full day a week with him being the guardian that you should have been all along. If I check with Mr. Potter and find this has not been the case, that you have again neglected your duties to him as his guardian in any way, I will not hesitate to remove him from your care and remand his care to Wizarding Welfare Authority without a hearing. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Justice," the Headmaster said.

Harry had tried to listen to it all, but he had zoned out and was staring at the wall between the Headmaster and Coombs. He'd heard fragments such as that he was being returned to the Dursleys with safeguards, and something about the Headmaster collecting him, but that was all and he'd lost the context of it. It was over. He was going back to the Dursleys. Sirius Black may not have murdered him in his sleep, but he'd done as well as by wrecking his case and getting him sent back to the Dursleys. His uncle would murder him in his sleep. Harry felt it in his bones that if he returned now he would die.

Without warning Harry stood and left the room, hurrying down the corridor towards the lift, thoughts on running away as he and Justin had planned, but Snape had come up behind him then and said, "Not so fast Potter. Mr. Finch-Fletchley told me of your plan to abscond if the hearing did not turn out in your favor."

Shaking, Harry turned away from Snape and faced the wall so the man wouldn't see him cry. He'd already made fun of him for being abused, he didn't want to be made fun of for crying about having to go back.

"I require an answer when speaking to you Potter," Snape snapped, moving around to face Harry. Harry turned slightly away again but not before Severus saw the tears trailing down his cheeks and his shaking hands gripping his arms tight. Severus was certain the boy was gripping himself tight enough to leave bruises. Potter's breaths started coming in quick gasps and the boy put his forehead against the corridor wall.

"What you're doing," Silver said from down the hall as he came out of the room with Dumbledore and Coombs, "how you're allowing him to be treated, it's not right. He doesn't deserve that and you know it."

Severus wanted to hear how the Headmaster would respond but Harry's gasping breaths brought his attention back to the thirteen year old. His eyes couldn't leave Harry's gripping fingers which were still digging into his skin beneath his dress robes. Harry's words from an hour ago in the cafeteria came back to him then. ‘It's not a hearing, it's a death sentence.' What if Potter hadn't been being dramatic but making a plan. If things didn't go his way he was planning to end it permanently. That didn't match up with what Severus knew of the stubborn Gryffindor, but neither did the boy crying in the street when he'd fallen off a ladder, or intelligently answering questions about how much money it would take to live for a month or crying in a corridor and gripping his arms so hard it must have been painful for him to do so. If the case was over and decided, why was he being so dramatic now? Maybe it wasn't drama at all, but pure hopelessness in its truest form. He had to go back and there was nothing he could do about it.

Severus was aware that Dumbledore kept glancing down the corridor at the crying teen and that Silver and Coombs were talking in the background about the outcome of the case, but he wasn't fully paying attention. Potter had claimed he'd been making fun of him the other day. What had he said that made Potter think that? ‘The abused orphan who is able to rise from the ashes to care for himself...' if Potter really had been abused at the hands of his relatives, then Severus had been making fun of him, even if he hadn't known it at the time.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, finally coming down the corridor. Harry turned away from the Headmaster and straight into Severus' chest. Severus startled and so did Harry, but then the boy unexpectedly grabbed the front of Severus' robes and buried his wet face in his chest further, either trying to stem the flow of tears or keep anyone else from seeing. It was something Severus never expected the boy would do, especially given their past, but maybe Potter was beyond caring at this point. If he was beyond caring, then his words from the cafeteria about it being a death sentence really might be true. Severus couldn't see James Potter in that moment, or even Harry Potter. All he saw as the boy clutched his robes for dear life was a child who seemed unable to deal with the things that had been put upon him. He was in a mess too deep to dig himself out of...

"I will take him."

Harry didn't even hear the words because he'd blocked everything around him out aside from his crying and the warmth of Snape's robes. If he could just pretend it was Mrs. Ginger hugging him, giving him comfort, then maybe he could pretend for a moment it was all right. It wasn't Mrs. Ginger, and he wasn't being hugged though, and it was never going to be all right.

"What did you say?" Silver asked, but Dumbledore had turned at the quiet proclamation as well.

"You cannot send him back," Severus said quietly, "I will take him."

"Don't get his hopes up Severus," Silver said, irritated. "It's not right."

Dumbledore was ignoring Silver though. "Severus?" he asked.

Severus locked eyes with the Headmaster. "At Hogwarts, I will look after him in the summer and on holidays. If you send him back now, it will be the end of him. He said so himself earlier." Even Severus could see that the boy had experienced too much freedom to be locked away in the oppressive home of the Dursleys again, and for the first time he believed that what had been reported about the Dursleys was true. Potter was already coming undone. To be sent back once again would unravel him completely. If he went back to Privet Drive now, he would never return.

"You say that, but Lily's magic-" Dumbledore started, but Severus gave him a look as Harry clutched his robes tighter and almost knocked him off balance.

"The promise ties into that magic," Severus said, "as I suspect you know." At first he'd thought Dumbledore had dragged him to court to assassinate Harry's character in front of the Justice, which he had been all too happy to do, but now he wondered if Dumbledore hadn't brought him to somehow fulfil his promise to protect Harry. Because he'd made that promise to Lily out of love, he'd long suspected it might tie in with what had gone on that night that she had died to protect her son. Somehow his promise was one in the same as her magic. He could feel that it was.

"Take him back to the castle Severus," Dumbledore said quietly, looking on at Harry with saddened eyes.

Severus gripped Harry's shoulders gently and got him moving from the lift and away from the oppressive level ten.

"The headmaster retrieved your trunk Potter," Severus said, dragging the trunk into the room and setting it by the door. Harry didn't respond or look at him or give any indication that he'd heard however. He just continued to stare into space. If Severus were honest with himself, which he sometimes was, it was disturbing to see the boy sit and stare like that, as if he'd been given the dementor's kiss. Severus even thought back over the prior day in order to determine that that was not a possibility.

"Do you plan on eating breakfast here or in the Great Hall?" he asked, and got no response. Trying a different tact, Severus said sternly, "Breakfast is on the table Potter. Go eat."

Harry didn't look at him or say anything but he did get up and walked slowly into the dining room and sat at the table. A bowl of porridge and fruit appeared with a glass of orange juice, but Harry didn't touch any of it.

"It's time to cease this foolishness Potter," Severus said. "You will not be allowed to sit around all day and stare at the wall. The dramatics will end here and now." Harry didn't respond though and it perturbed Severus. Maybe he should have Poppy look at the boy just in case he'd been confunded somehow on their way out of the Ministry.

Poppy came and looked at him after breakfast, and she didn't find anything wrong.

"He's in good health," she said. "He should eat something though, he's looking a little peaky."

"I tried to get him to eat breakfast," Severus said. "He just sat there and stared."

"He'll eat when he gets hungry enough. If he doesn't eat by tomorrow morning let me know and I'll run another scan."

Poppy left and Severus was left with the abnormally silent boy who had yet to give any indication at all that he was aware of what was going on around him. It was a stark contrast to the boy who had sobbed into his robes the afternoon before. As soon as he'd gotten him back to Hogwarts and into the guest bedroom of his quarters, Harry had gone silent and hadn't made a sound since.

Deciding to work on the assumption that the boy could hear just fine, Severus stood in front of him at the dining table and laid down the rules.

"This is my home Potter. I would appreciate if it were kept clean and tidy. You may go into any room except for mine which is at the end of the hall. I expect you to go out during the day and return by third year curfew which is eight thirty pm. All areas that are normally out of bounds during term are still out of bounds. Do not attempt to leave the grounds without my knowledge as I will know if you have."

Severus waited for a response but there was none. "Do not sit here all day," he told the boy and then moved off, uncomfortable staying in the same room with the seemingly unconscious boy.

Harry had heard him it seemed as the boy left the quarters half an hour later and didn't return until 8:30 on the nose. Severus had no idea if the boy had eaten or not and when he questioned him about it Harry didn't answer. Things went on in this vein for several days. Severus would wake early to find Harry sitting at the dining room table fully dressed and not eating. Harry would disappear after breakfast and return at curfew and go to bed. Severus wasn't the only one uncomfortable with Harry's behavior as it turned out. Other staff who were still at the castle had noticed too.

"I haven't seen him eat yet," Minerva told Severus. "He turns up for lunch and dinner in the Great Hall and just sits there. I asked him why he doesn't eat and he said he's not hungry."

"He answered you?" Severus asked.

"Yes. He talks when I ask him things but otherwise he's silent. It's eerie."

"He has yet to answer me when I speak to him," Severus said, feeling irritated.

"When I asked he said he was staying with you temporarily until wards were placed on his relatives home."

"He is staying with me permanently," Severus said. "He will not be returning to his relatives."

"You might want to tell him that," she said. "If you ask me, he seems depressed. Has he been eating in your quarters?"

"He has not."

Dumbledore expressed his concern about Harry several times as well, though Severus didn't know what to tell him aside from that he was silent and didn't appear to be eating. Dumbledore told him Poppy had harassed Harry enough the day before that he had eaten something in the Hospital Wing, but that it was a minimal amount of food.

Feeling both helpless and fed up with Harry's behavior, Severus cornered Harry before bed on his fourth night at Hogwarts and said, "I know you've been speaking to others and are more than capable of responding to me Potter. This behavior has gone on long enough. You got what you wanted, there is no reason to mope around the castle for days on end about it."

Harry finally looked up at at Severus and met his eyes for the first time in days. "I never get what I want," he said.

"You are here instead of at your relatives house."

"When do I go back?" Harry asked. After so many days of silence and of not being acknowledged, it seemed awkward now to have Harry speaking to him.

"You are not going back Potter. You are here permanently."

"I'm only here until the Justice can verify the wards are in place."

"There will be no new wards Potter. After the fit you threw in the corridor at the Ministry the Headmaster has decided you will be staying with me."

Harry looked away, face tinging red and Severus suddenly felt bad for bringing up Harry's breakdown in the corridor. When Harry didn't say anything else, Severus left and went to his own room, feeling awkward.

Harry lay on his side on the borrowed guest bed in Snape's quarters and stared at the wall. He would never get what he wanted and that was really only one thing: someone who cared about him not because they had to but because they wanted to. Snape didn't care even though he'd taken Harry in. Harry was just there in his way. Some sort of promise... isn't that what he'd heard the Professor and Headmaster talking about in the Ministry corridor? Harry had no idea what this promise was or why it was more important than the protection Lily had somehow placed on him, though he wasn't sure he cared. It just meant he had to go to another place where he was despised and unwanted. Harry wished to be back in his room at the Leaky Cauldron then, with Sirius Black of all people. They said Sirius had murdered his friend and betrayed Harry's parents and wanted to kill him as well. But Sirius had found him that night he'd been thrown out and because of him Harry had tripped and summoned the Knight Bus and found his way to safety. Had Sirius tripped him on purpose? Then Sirius had followed him to Diagon Alley and stayed with him for a month without doing him any harm. He'd been there to listen to Harry without judgement (or at least none that Harry knew of), and to comfort him when he'd had nightmares. Why hadn't Sirius just killed him that first night he'd left Privet Drive? Harry didn't know, but as he turned it over in his mind, he wished Sirius was there to comfort him and answer his questions. If everyone was wrong about Sirius wanting to kill him, were they wrong about the other things Sirius had done as well?

* * *

Harry was having nightmares. That's what the case supervisor had reported to the court wasn't it? It certainly seemed true given that Severus had heard Harry wake three times in the last hour screaming or thrashing about. He'd had nightmares the night before as well and the night before that. What was he dreaming about that was so frightening? He doubted Harry would tell him. Harry wasn't staring at walls so intently anymore but he still stared off into space an awful lot and was still very withdrawn and quiet. Severus had seen him eat a few meals now but was convinced he was still only eating once or twice a day.

Severus heard the tap turn on in the bathroom down the hall and went to check on the boy. He certainly wasn't dramatic about his nightmares. He had them but never spoke of them, and as soon as he woke up the shouting and thrashing stopped.

Severus stood in the doorway to the bathroom and stared at Harry, who was gripping both sides of the sink tight, head hanging over the center and hair dripping. Clearly he'd splashed water on his face.

"Potter," he said warily.

Harry stiffened but didn't look up.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Harry shook his head, wiped a dry hand across his face to get excess water off, and stood up, not looking at himself in the mirror. He looked tired and Severus could see why if he wasn't able to get more than twenty minutes of sleep at a time.

"Have you slept at all?" Severus asked, and Harry looked over at him, eyes seeming lifeless. He shook his head.

"Do you want something to help you sleep?"

Harry frowned. "Is there something that makes you not dream?"

"Draught of Dreamless Sleep."

"I think Mrs. Ginger must have given some of that to me."

"It is an expensive potion, one they do not keep in stock."

Harry looked at his bare feet and then made to move past his Potion's Professor who let him by. It was a few minutes before the head of Slytherin appeared in his doorway with half a swallow of some sort of clear liquid.

"Dreamless Sleep," Snape supplied, and Harry took the small cup and drank its contents.

"It will not make you drowsy, but it will keep the dreams at bay while you sleep."

"Thanks," Harry said so quietly Severus almost didn't hear it. He laid down with his back to the man and pulled the covers up over his head. The boy seemed desperate for rest and Severus wondered for the hundredth time that week just what the boy was dreaming about.

As the boy fell asleep moments later and Severus stared at the steady rise and fall of his back, he also wondered what Harry didn't tell the court about living with the Dursleys. Severus was forced to admit that he should reassess his earlier thoughts about Harry not being abused because he wasn't emotionally damaged. It was clear now from his reaction to all of this that something had gone on. Maybe even all of what Harry had told the court was true. Severus wondered if there was anything else though and wondered if the boy would ever tell, or if he'd forever keep his nightmares to himself.

Over the next couple nights, Harry didn't ask for dreamless sleep, but Severus brought it to his room and left it on his nightstand anyway. It was always gone in the morning so he assumed Harry had taken it.

Before the week was out, Albus came down to Severus' quarters to take Harry out. "Harry," he said. Harry looked up at Dumbledore but didn't respond.

"I'm here for our day together."

"Sir?" Harry asked quietly.

Albus looked to Severus who raised his brows but otherwise offered no help. "From now on while you're staying with Professor Snape during holidays I'll be coming to take you out for one day every week."

"Why?" Harry asked, voice void of emotion.

"It's what was decided during the hearing." Harry looked up, a confused look on his face. "Don't you remember?" Albus asked, and Harry shook his head.

Severus told Harry to get up and go with him, so Harry followed the Headmaster out of the quarters. He and the Headmaster walked down to Hogsmeade together to get breakfast at Madam Pudifoots. It was a quiet affair despite the Headmaster's attempts to get Harry to engage in conversation about a variety of things such as the upcoming term, Gryffindor's chances to take the Quidditch cup this year, and upcoming Hogsmeade weekends.

"I have signed your permission slip, however I'm afraid I must insist myself or Professor Snape attend with you until Sirius Black is apprehended."

"Tell me about Sirius," Harry said, and since it was the first thing he'd responded to all morning, the Headmaster seemed willing to answer his questions.

"Sirius was James' best friend. They were also friends with two other boys, one of which was Peter Pettigrew. When your parents went into hiding they made Sirius their secret keeper. Only he knew where they were hiding and how to get ahold of them. Voldemort found out where they were staying and was able to attack them, and you that night. The only way for him to have found out was for Sirius to have told him. After that night Sirius attacked and killed Peter Pettigrew and they took Sirius to Azkaban, where he stayed until he escaped at the the start of this summer."

"Are you sure he was their secret keeper?"

"Quit sure. Why do you ask?"

Harry stirred his tea but didn't take a drink. He'd barely eaten anything during their breakfast that morning and had only had a few sips of his tea. "Sirius was with me all summer. He tripped me and made me call the Knight Bus when I got kicked out. He went with me to Diagon and stayed with me. He never tried to hurt me. He was the only one who was there for me all summer."

Instead of protesting as Harry expected and telling Harry he was being foolish, Dumbledore seemed to consider what he'd said seriously.

"No one understood why Sirius did what he did 12 years ago. He was adamantly against Voldemort and a fierce friend to your father. It was believed he had gone insane or had perhaps been tortured into insanity to give up your parents' location. Some insist that even then he would not have given it up."

"Maybe he wasn't their secret keeper," Harry said, finally taking a long drink of his tea.

"I want you to be careful Harry. Just because he did you no harm while he was hiding from the law doesn't mean he won't do you harm in the future."

Harry mumbled something and Dumbledore asked him if he could repeat it because he hadn't heard.

"That seems to go around," Harry said.

"I must apologize to you Harry. I should have been checking in on you, and I should have listened to you and taken you seriously when you tried to talk to me about your difficulties at home before."

"Doesn't matter," Harry mumbled.

"Why do you say that?" Albus asked.

"Never has before," Harry told him.

Perturbed, Albus paid for the meal and led Harry back to the grounds. Instead of taking him up to the castle however they paid a visit to Hagrid, where Harry remained quiet, though he seemed to be listening to Hagrid as he spoke about his summer and about the new class on Care of Magical Creatures he was going to be teaching this year. After that the Headmaster called a house elf to bring them lunch and they ate sandwiches as they walked slowly around one end of the lake and back towards the castle.

"You don't have to spend time with me," Harry said. "I'll just tell the Justice whatever she wants to hear."

"I want to spend time with you Harry, and I should have been before."

Harry doubted very much that the Hogwarts Headmaster had much of an interest at all in him though. He was probably busy and had things to do to prepare for the upcoming term.

Later that afternoon when little more than a few sentences were exchanged, Albus returned Harry to the dungeons. "I want you to know Harry, that despite how I have handled things in the past, I am here if you need anything. I want you to come to me if you are having difficulties."

Harry stared at him. The Headmaster had helped him find a place for the orphans to stay, but Harry wasn't sure if that was cancelled out by all the times he'd forced him to go back to the Dursleys or not.

Harry told him goodbye and went back into Snape's quarters. Snape was absent but there was a swallow of dreamless sleep on Harry's nightstand. There was also a copy of The Lighthouse waiting for him on his bed. It must have been delivered while he was out. Harry sat to read and was surprised to find an article about him losing his case against Dumbledore, though it didn't specify what the case was about and said the records of the case had been sealed. It also noted that Harry had been mysteriously absent from the alley's since he had lost his case.

Another article talked about Sirius Black and the incident in front of Fortescue's. Harry had not checked his journal since he'd first warned Justin and wondered if Justin had been writing to him since then. The paper described a boy (unnamed) shouting at a dog named Sirius to ‘get lost, they're on to you!' and the dog suddenly turning into Sirius Black the convicted murderer, who then apparated away with haste.

Harry set the newsletter down and dug in his trunk for his journal and flipped to the last page he'd written on.

"Sirius is gone," was written in Justin's hand. "He didn't even try to kill me. He looked thankful that I'd warned him and he apparated away."

On a new line it asked how Harry's hearing was going. On another new line it asked where Harry was and if he was coming back. "Dumbledore came and got your trunk and bag from me," Justin said on yet another new line. "I guess you're not coming back. Write me when you can."

Harry pulled out his Muggle pen and wrote, "I'm at Hogwarts. I lost the case. Thanks for warning Sirius. I'm glad you're ok."

While Harry sat and waited for a response in his journal, Dumbledore stood in the corridor outside the Great Hall and told Severus about his day with Harry.

"I wish Harry had not had to go through the hearing. It has obviously caused him a great deal of distress."

"Or he is simply being dramatic and milking it for all the attention it's worth."

"Severus," Albus said quietly, and Severus appeared appropriately chastised. He was having difficulty reconciling what he was seeing of Harry now with what he'd always believed about him before. "You said you would take him," Albus said.

"I did."

"Do not make the same mistake I did in taking on the responsibility and not following through with it."

Severus huffed and crossed his arms. "I will not take the responsibility lightly."

"That is all I ask. Harry needs a great deal more than he was given before. I wish I knew how to bring him out of the depression he seems to have fallen into."

"I do not know. He will not talk to me beyond single word responses most of the time." It had irritated Severus to no end over the last week. He hated disrespect and in his opinion the way Harry had responded to him fell under that category, though he did recognize the boy was struggling and had let some of it slide.

"He appeared to thrive on the alleys. Perhaps a trip back would be helpful."

"You want me to babysit him for a day while he wanders the alleys?"

"You chose this Severus," Albus reminded him and Severus narrowed his eyes. "Aside from that, I hardly think he needs direct supervision after being under his own supervision for so long. I would imagine you could attend to your own business while he visits whom he wishes and arrange a time and place to check in now and again."

"I will consider it," Severus said, though both men knew Severus was going to take Harry back to the alley's. That night when the dreamless sleep stopped working at the low dose Harry had been taking, and Harry woke screaming and tangled in his covers, it further helped Severus decide to get the boy out of the castle and back to where he had seemed to be in his element.

Harry was surprised the next morning when Snape stood in his door frame and told him to get dressed because they were going out.

"Where?" Harry asked, moving sluggishly to put his shoes on.

"Knockturn Alley. I have business to attend to. You may go to either alley for the morning provided you check in with me at lunch in front of Fortescue's at noon."

"You don't care where I go?" Harry asked.

"You are not to venture out to Muggle London. I will know if you have."

Snape apparated them twenty minutes later from the edge of the Hogwarts grounds to the yard behind the Leaky Cauldron.

"Noon," Snape reminded him. "If I am forced to come looking for you there will be consequences."

"Yes sir," Harry said dully. Snape moved off toward the apothecary and Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and walked slowly towards Flourish and Blotts, unaware that Snape was watching his slow pace and hunched shoulders.

Harry had barely made it inside Flourish and Blotts when Basil came up to him and asked where he'd been. "You've missed a week of work," he said. "I know you had court last week but you were supposed to come back to work when that was done with."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, staring at his shoes. "I didn't have a choice. I don't live here anymore."

"Owl next time," Bennet said, coming up to talk to him. "Half the alley's been looking for you."

Harry frowned. "Why?"

"You came in like a bolt of lightning saying you were going to make all these changes and then disappeared without signing half the paperwork people needed to carry out those changes. Like the door and windows in back. How are we supposed to put those in when you haven't signed off on it yet?" Basil hurried up to him with the paperwork as if Harry would disappear again in a flash and Harry stared down at it.

"This is what you asked us to do, isn't it?" Bennet asked. "A second entrance on Knockturn with windows and everything? We've already moved the counter to the side so people can pass through."

Harry looked up and took in the new appearance of the shop. The back was no longer an office and workspace and instead had been cleared and new shelves had been built so a second entrance could be put in on the back wall.

Harry accepted a quill and signed off on the work for the new windows and door.

"You were right about the door," Bennet said. "If you can really get Knockturn up and running again it will be beneficial to have an entrance on both. We'll be the only shop with a two entrances. People will pass through all the time to get to the other alley and that will put more eyes on our books. Believe it or not Barrow is all for a second entrance in our shop because he thinks it will lead people straight into his when they see the prices of our books compared to his used ones. He's banking on a thirty percent increase in profit over the next year."

Harry couldn't help as a spark of excitement lit in him. He'd been so preoccupied with his case and Sirius that he'd practically forgotten about the exciting changes he was making to the alleys.

"Have you been to Knockturn yet?" Basil asked. "Magic Mart did a bunch of work on their building and re-opened. Not too many customers yet but they're banking on more as people start to come in to do back to school shopping. They're offering a bunch of Muggle school supplies like pencils and notebooks and erasers trying to lure people in."

"I haven't been over there yet," Harry said.

"Go," Bennet said, waving him away. "Come back when you're done and you can help us stock the new shelves with school books. We're putting all the Hogwarts texts in back so people will have to come back and see the new entrance."

Harry left and headed straight for Gringotts Plaza. The new Quidditch store looked to be coming along and had a big sign that declared it would be opening next week. There was a work crew painting the outside and washing the large windows that wrapped all the way around. Harry was pleased to see that the new door had already been installed across from Gringotts and the old one removed from the Diagon Alley side.

"Hey Harry!" one of the Quidditch store owners called as Harry passed. "How's it looking?"

Harry gave him a thumbs up and didn't notice the smile he was wearing for the first time in almost two weeks.

Over on Knockturn Ollivander's looked to be finished, and Harry stuck his head inside to see the shelves all newly stocked with wand boxes from floor to ceiling. There was a couch inside for people to sit on while they waited and Harry noted several targets that had been installed behind the new counter. Perhaps Ollivander was hoping to avoid more broken chairs from new wand owners by putting in targets to test wands on.

Harry continued on past Podmore's and purposely didn't look at the office front, instead heading into Tantalizing sweets, which was newly painted inside with bright yellows and pinks.

"Harry!" Tilly hurried around the counter and immediately began pointing out all the flourishes Justin had painted around her shop as well as the stripes on the walls. She told Harry that several new children had been in recently and that she had had Justin wandering both alleys for the last couple days giving out the new coupons as well as free samples of candy and fliers with her shop address. Munroe must have seen Harry through the window because he stuck his head inside and told Tilly he was going to borrow Harry and took him next door to the new Magic Mart. Inside it had a tall ceiling and tall shelves with rolling ladders on rails. Several clerks wearing white aprons tied about their waists were on the ladders stocking shelves and Munroe hurried to show Harry around before he took Harry out to the small plaza at the end of Knockturn and showed him the new tables, and then took him into the newly opened tea shop which was now serving sandwiches and pastries as well as tea and coffee. There were several customers sitting at the small tables outside though Harry noted they were business owners from Knockturn and Diagonalley rather than new customers.

"The tables were a great idea," Munroe said. "I really think this is going to make people want to come have lunch here and stay a while, especially with all the planters. Harry took note that more had been put up since he left and thought Munroe must have paid for them.

"The alley is really shaping up!" Munroe beamed. "I can't wait til the back to school rush Harry. People will be shocked to see what we've done."

"I hope it's enough," Harry said. "There's still two empty businesses over there."

"Yeah, but those might fill in. Have you even been into Magical Menagerie yet?" He pointed to the corner building beside Magic Mart and Harry noted there was now a new sign and an open sign.

Harry thanked Munroe for showing him around and went in. This building was enormous compared to the size of the one Magical Menagerie had been in before.

"How does it look sir?" a young woman came up and asked him.

Harry frowned at her. He wasn't used to being called sir, but supposed she must have called him that since he owned the entire business.

"It looks really good," Harry said, eying the placement of all the cages of animals as well as the shelves of pet food, treats and other accessories. "Are you the one who runs it?"

"I'm the manager," she said proudly, "I have been for four years running."

"How many people are working here right now?"

"Just myself and a young fella straight outta Hogwarts."

"Is that enough to run a big shop like this?"

"We need to hire a couple more but I needed your approval before we did that."

"Hire a temporary person from the orphanage for the rest of the summer," Harry said.

"Most of the kids over there aren't 17."

"Find one of the fifteen or sixteen year olds and give them some part time work. Just make sure they're from the orphanage. I want to make sure they're getting a chance to work. You could train them right?"

She nodded. "And the other person?" she asked, though she didn't seem pleased about Harry's choice to hire someone who hadn't reached majority yet.

"I'll place an ad and send some people to you for interviews," Harry said. "I want you to hire someone from the list of people I send you though."

"Who will you be sending?" she asked curiously.

"I'll let you know. It'll be someone over 17 though." She seemed relieved at that and Harry didn't want to tell her he had in mind to advertise in the Lighthouse for a fae employee. Most places wouldn't hire them because they were considered dangerous or untrustworthy, and Harry wanted to give them a chance. He wondered if Munroe would be willing to do the same since he'd been so on board with everything else Harry had planned and wondered where else he could potentially offer employment to the fae community.

At a few minutes to one Harry bought himself an ice cream and sat outside Fortescue's waiting for Snape. Snape came to his table and sat down a few minutes later.

"You refuse to eat regular meals but will indulge in ice cream?" Snape asked, brow raised. He was relieved to see the boy eating but perturbed to see him eating sweets instead of real food.

"I wanted to eat lunch at the new tea place on Knockturn but you said to meet you here," Harry said.

"Ice cream is hardly lunch."

Harry didn't answer him though as he continued eating his ice cream.

"I have completed my business for the day."

Harry fidgeted for a moment and Severus narrowed his eyes. "Spit it out Potter."

"I'm supposed to go to work at Flourish and Blotts."

"You wish to continue working now that you are living away from the alley?"

"I got told off for missing work for the last week and they told me to come back and stock the new shelves in the back where the new entrance is going in."

"What new entrance?"

"We're putting in a second entrance in the back on Knockturn. Hopefully people will want to cut through their shop as a shortcut and will pass by all their merchandise."

"This was their idea?" Snape asked.

"No, I thought of it," Harry said.

"That is- an interesting way to bring in customers."

Harry wasn't sure if that was praise but figured it was as close as he was going to get to it from Snape. He finished his ice cream and Snape told him he could go stock shelves but that he was to be back outside Fortescue's in an hour and a half. Harry went and stocked the new shelves and was done with time to spare so he swept and then worked with Basil on paperwork for an order of some crazy new textbook for third years that supposedly needed a cage and not a shelf. Harry looked up just as he finished to find Snape coming in the front door of Flourish and Blotts.

"I didn't mean to be late," Harry said, coming up to him.

"You are not. I am early."

"Oh. I just finished."

Basil waved Harry away and asked if he was coming back tomorrow as they had more books to fill out paperwork for. Harry bit his lip but was surprised to hear Snape say, "He will return in the morning."

Harry looked up at him as Snape led him out.

"We're coming back?"

"It is my understanding that non-parental guardians must provide transportation to and from work, or allow access to work and educational opportunities." He gave Harry a look as he recited the paper Harry had once handed to him, and Harry's cheeks tinged red, though Harry was glad he was going to get to come back. That night Harry ate dinner in the Great Hall and finished at least half of it. It wasn't a return to his normal appetite, but it was something, and Albus told Severus later that evening that he should make an effort to get Harry back to Diagon Alley as much as possible before the term started.

Bennet released Harry at two and he wasn't supposed to meet Snape until three thirty so he headed to Knockturn, where he stood at the entrance of Payne Alley and stared down it. There was still plenty of light, though Payne Alley was shaded because of how narrow it was.

"You're not going down there are you?" Justin asked, coming up behind him with an armful of fliers and coupons.

Harry turned to look at him. "I was thinking about it. I already went down there with Silver once."

"Living with Sirius Black wasn't enough excitement for one summer?"

Harry looked at him carefully for a moment and then said, "I don't think he has it out for me. He would have killed me already if he did."

"Maybe, but you were a good hiding place. I mean, who would think to look for him in your room?"

"He could have killed me too many times."

"What do you want to go down Payne for anyway?"

"I want to place an ad."

"What? In the Lighthouse?"

"Yeah."

"What for?"

"I want to hire somebody."

"To assassinate Dumbledore? Good luck."

"No," Harry shoved him a little and Justin laughed. "To work in one of the businesses."

"Come on Harry, no one hires fae."

"I do. Besides, no one hires obnoxious thirteen year olds either but I got you a job didn't I?"

"Do what you want, but I didn't see you go down there. I know nothing about it."

Harry nodded. Good, that's what he wanted. The last thing he needed was Mrs. Ginger coming down the alley to drag him out by his ear.

"You're crazy!" Justin called after him as Harry stepped into Payne Alley and disappeared from sight, but Harry didn't feel as though he was crazy. He felt determined to do something right.

Harry stepped boldly into the Lighthouse office and as soon as the door was closed, Bellamy stepped out of the back room and frowned at him. "Where's Silver?" Bellamy asked.

"I came on my own," Harry said. "I want to place an ad."

"An ad? What for?" Bellamy took a quill from behind his ear and pulled out a sheet of parchment.

"I don't know how to word it," Harry said, "But I'd like to hire someone to work day shift at the Magical Menagerie."

"You're putting your ad in the wrong place," Bellamy said, not writing Harry's ad down.

"I want my ad here."

"Wizards don't read The Lighthouse, except you and a few others."

"I don't want a normal wizard. I want fae."

"Why?"

"I think it sucks that no one will hire fae. It's not right that people can't pay rent or have to go out into the Muggle world looking for work because they can't find work here."

Bellamy shook his head and began writing something down. "You're going to get yourself into trouble, you just don't know it yet."

"It's my business. I own it outright so I can hire who I want."

"The Ministry will do something like tax that business extra or make you have extra expensive insurance for hiring fae."

"I don't care."

"What are the qualifications for the job then?"

Harry frowned. He hadn't thought of that. He'd been into the Magical Menagerie to buy owl treats several times and had been in with Ron for rat supplies, but he'd never worked there. What would a worker need to be good at?

"It would be good if they've worked with animals before or worked in a shop before. They have to be good with animals. They have to be available to work the day shift."

"How do they submit an application?"

"Owl to me."

Harry waited patiently while Bellamy wrote down the ad, scratched several things out and re-worded them, and then read over it silently to be sure it looked right. Finally he read, "Help wanted at the Magical Menagerie. Open to fae. Qualifications: Must be good with animals. Prior experience in retail preferrable. Must be available to work the day shift. Owl applications to Mr. H. J. Potter."

"Great," Harry beamed, happy with Bellamy's skill at putting into words what Harry didn't know how to.

"Ten Knuts," Bellamy said, and Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the change to pay for the ad.

"I want to hire more than just one person, but only one is needed at the Magical Menagerie," Harry said. "I'm not sure where I can hire others though."

Bellamy looked at Harry steadily for a moment, as if he was trying to figure him out, and then said, "You're putting all this work into the alley, but who's going to maintain it once you go back to school?"

"I hadn't thought about it."

"You could hire a couple janitors to clean alleys at night. One for each alley. That's why Payne is so clean."

"Then shop owners wouldn't have to sweep in front of their own stores each day," Harry said thoughtfully.

"You'd probably need more than two in case someone can't come in or so people can have days off."

"Do you have a spare bit of parchment?" Harry asked.

Bellamy slid his notepad and quill over to him and Harry marked out all 7 days of the week.

"How would I do this so everyone gets equal hours?" Harry asked.

Bellamy took the quill from Harry and marked the letters A, B, C and D on the schedule. "Four shifts," he said. "Person A works Sunday to Wednesday, B works Monday to Thursday, C works Thursday to Sunday and person D works part time only on Friday's and Saturday's. If everybody works ten hour shifts that's full time work for shifts A, B and C, and person D can cover anyone who's sick on the other days to pick up more horus."

Harry nodded. He didn't know how to make a schedule and had never worked full time and was glad Bellamy knew what to do. "Can we add this to the advertisement or should I pay for another one?"

"We'll add it," Bellamy said, and after messing with the wording for a few minutes, he read aloud, "Four night custodians for the alley's wanted. Open to Fae. Three full time positions, one half time position. Must: be able to perform strenuous labor, have a good work ethic, be able to work unsupervised. One of these positions is for a supervisor, to be determined after one month of work."

Harry looked up at Bellamy. "Supervisor?"

"Unless you want to ask for permission to leave school and come check in on their work every week."

"One supervisor," Harry agreed.

"After a month you can choose one of the people to be supervisor over the other's work. That person would be responsible for making sure the alleys stay in good condition and would report to you on the other's work performance," Bellamy explained. "And you'd pay the supervisor extra. You could hand over scheduling responsibility to the supervisor in case someone has to call in sick. Then you wouldn't have to deal with it."

Harry nodded and after they read over the entire ad one more time, he thanked Bellamy for his help, received the smallest of smiles in return, and left the newsletter office, being sure Bellamy was in the back room before he opened the door and let the light in.

Feeling light and satisfied with how the ad and his plan to hire fae had turned out, Harry walked out of Payne Alley with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face, not taking notice of anyone around him. If he had been paying attention he would have seen Snape and the angry look he wore. Instead he was startled as Snape stalked up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the side of Knockturn Alley the moment he stepped out onto it.

"Payne Alley Potter? Have you no sense of self-preservation?"

Heart pounding from being grabbed so suddenly and dragged to the side, Harry stared up at Snape with wide eyes for a moment and stammered, "I- I went to talk to Bellamy."

"Bellamy-"

"My friend at the Lighthouse," Harry said quickly before his Professor could yell at him in front of anyone who might be passing by or wanting to listen in. "I went to place an ad. I've been down Payne before with Silver to see the businesses I have shares in and to see what state the buildings I own are in."

"You are aware there are vampires, goblins and werewolves down Payne Alley and that wizards are not generally welcome there?" Snape spat. Harry thought the man looked as though he was trying to recover from a heart attack.

"Bellamy is a vampire," Harry said. "And one of the barristers is too, and some of the people that work at the inn. And I met every business owner down the alley. And Bellamy is responsible for filling the orphanage library with books. Everyone down Payne Alley chipped in to buy them."

"Books?" Snape asked warily, letting go of Harry's arm.

"Bellamy wrote about me fixing up the orphanage and asked for donations for a book drive. They raised a lot of money and Bellamy bought all the books from Barrow."

Harry watched as Snape pinched the bridge of his nose and then rubbed his forehead hard.

"You are not to go down Payne Alley Potter."

Harry bit his lip, thought about saying something and opened his mouth to do so, and then closed it.

"You are not to go down Payne Alley," Snape repeated forcefully.

"Yes sir," Harry said quietly, wary of having his arm grabbed again. He thought Snape looked like he might want to shake sense into him, and Harry wanted to avoid that experience if at all possible. He knew that never worked when Uncle Vernon tried it.

* * *

Harry was certain Snape had told Dumbledore about his journey down Payne Alley, but Harry had yet to hear anymore about it. Dumbledore hadn't come to take him on another day out yet, but he had taken to sitting next to Harry at dinner if Harry ate dinner in the Great Hall, which he usually did. It had been several days since Harry had been caught coming out of Payne and he figured if Dumbledore hadn't said anything about it yet, he wasn't going to.

"What do you have there dear boy?" Dumbledore asked one evening at dinner as Harry sat reading over applications that had come in to him for the jobs he'd advertised for.

"Job applications," Harry said.

"I hope you are not advertising to replace myself and Professor Snape so soon." He'd meant it as a joke but Harry only smiled weakly. It was still a sore spot for him and Dumbledore seemed to realize it as he looked away and quickly busied himself preparing a cup of tea.

"I put an ad in for night janitors on the alleys and a position at the Magical Menagerie."

"May I see?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry slid the pile of applications for the Magical Menagerie over to him and said, "Those are for the store. I'm going to send them to the manager tonight. She's going to hire one of them."

After flipping through several of the applications Dumbledore said, "many of these people are werewolves and elves."

"I advertised in the Lighthouse," Harry said.

"I did not realize you knew of the publication."

Harry looked at the Headmaster sideways and tried not to look guilty.

"I know Professor Snape caught you coming out of Payne Alley."

"I went in the daytime," Harry said, hoping he wasn't in too much trouble. "I know all the shop owners. I just went to place an ad."

"I trust that Professor Snape has given you a suitably stern lecture on the dangers of going down that alley, so I see no need to give you another."

"Yes sir," Harry said.

"May I ask why you chose to place an advertisement seeking fae for employment?"

"No one will hire them. It's not fair. They don't have money for housing or food or legal representation. Did you know some of them aren't even fae? My friend Bellamy wasn't until he turned 17 and his parents turned him into a vampire. So there are regular wizard kids whose parents can't take care of them because they don't have the money."

"I did know that," Dumbledore said with a smile. Harry wondered what he was smiling about but didn't ask. "So you decided to hire a few?"

"Yeah but Bellamy said I'm going to get myself in trouble with the Ministry. He said they'll tax me extra or something."

"That is a possibility."

Harry slid the other stack of parchment over to Dumbledore and he looked through them. "Astor Baran was a very organized young man when he attended Hogwarts," Dumbledore commented.

"I thought fae couldn't attend school."

"A few have come in secret. I believe he was bitten by a werewolf during his first year as an auror apprentice however."

"Is there a school for fae?"

"There's one in Drunkerny, though most don't have the money to attend or to buy a wand or school supplies. It's only a day school."

The Headmaster commented on several other applicants and their strengths before he made mention of an upcoming Quidditch tournament and asked Harry if he'd like to go.

"You'll be too busy," Harry said quietly, picking up his many separate piles of parchment.

"I would not have asked you if I had planned on being busy Harry," Dumbledore chastised him gently.

Harry bit his lip and then nodded.

"I will tell Severus not to make plans with you for Saturday morning then," the Headmaster said happily, and bade Harry good evening as he stood up and left Gryffindor table where they'd been sitting and eating dinner with various other staff who pretended not to be listening in on their conversation.

* * *

Snape seemed to be in a mood with Harry over the next few days though Harry wasn't sure why. He took him back to Diagon Alley each day to work at Flourish and Blotts but only for a few hours each morning and Harry was no longer allowed to wander on his own it seemed. Harry wasn't sure if Snape was still mad at him for the Payne Alley thing or for something else entirely, but Harry was glad to be able to get out of the castle without him by the time Saturday morning rolled around.

Dumbledore came to the Dungeons to pick Harry up before breakfast and led him to the kitchens where the house elves had prepared a breakfast to go for both of them (mugs of hot chocolate and egg and sausage sandwiches with melted cheese on croissants). Harry and Dumbledore ate their sandwiches on the walk down to the front gates, and Dumbledore apparated them both to a secret location away from the prying eyes of Muggles on the other side of the country. Harry was surprised by the noise that greeted them when they reappeared. Even though it was barely eight in the morning, there was already a crowd of almost a hundred people. They'd appeared in the middle of an aisle of tent stands and booths selling Quidditch gear and team memorabilia as well as various foods.

Someone handed Harry a pamphlet as they walked and Harry opened it up. "Quidditch Stunt Expo," he read aloud. It had a list of teams underneath as well as times they'd be playing.

"We'll be here for the day," Dumbledore told him. "Pick which teams you'd like to see play." He handed Harry what looked like a Muggle pen and Harry circled several games. The Falmouth Falcons were set to face off with the Appleby Arrows at nine. The Chudley Cannons were going to be playing at nine against the Montrose Magpies, but Harry had never liked the Cannons like Ron had and preferred the Falcons. Harry also wanted to watch the Harpies square off against Puddlemere United at eleven. There were games going on at two and four as well that Harry wanted to see, but there was also some sort of stunt competition and skill expo at those times and Harry circled those on the pamphlet instead.

Dumbledore asked if Harry wanted anything from any of the stands, but Harry shook his head. They walked around for half an hour before finding the right Quidditch Pitch and sitting to watch the first game Harry had circled. People were selling snacks throughout the game and Dumbledore offered to buy him sweets several times, but Harry politely declined each time. At ten thirty, after the Falcons had won by only 50 points, they left the stands and Harry stretched, glad to be able to walk around for a few minutes before the next game.

"What did you think of the match?" Dumbledore asked.

"I like the Falcon's Chasers," Harry said. "They pass the ball so fast you can barely keep track of it. They'd all make good Seekers."

"Or perhaps Seekers would make good Chasers."

"I like Chasing," Harry said. "There's never any spots open on the Gryffindor team though. Once I got to stand in during practice for Alicia Spinnet because she had Dragon Pox."

"Did you score a goal?" Dumbledore asked.

"No but I didn't drop anything that got passed to me and Oliver said I could be a decent Chaser if I wasn't such a good Seeker."

Harry spotted a group of people around one of the Chudley Cannon's Beaters and asked if he could stand in line to get his autograph for Ron. Dumbledore nodded with a smile and waited patiently for Harry to get an autograph. They also stopped to get the autograph of the Falcon's Seeker for Harry on their way in to the next game, and after that game while they were waiting in line at a food cart to get fish and chips for lunch, Harry was able to get the Arrow's Keeper to sign a napkin. Harry felt bad for bothering the Keeper as she was standing in line waiting to get her own lunch, but she didn't seem to mind. Maybe she'd been expecting it considering the event they were at.

They took their lunch to the stands and waited for the stunt competition to start. Dumbledore pulled a box of Every Flavor Beans from seemingly nowhere and gave it to Harry as soon as Harry had finished his lunch.

"Thank you," he said quietly, but felt awkward taking it. The man had already spent enough money on him. The tickets to the event must have cost a fortune just by themselves.

The stunt competition started with Seekers from various teams going into daring dives that took them dangerously close to the ground in order to catch Snitches charmed to hover inches above the turf. Next Beaters showcased just how accurate they could be by batting Bludgers through hoops of fire barely bigger than the Bludgers themselves, as well as batting Bludgers through the legs of more than ten players lined up in mid air standing on their brooms. Chasers did fancy tricks with a Quaffle and tried to outdo each other and Keepers stopped balls from going into the hoops as they were fired in rapidly from eight Seekers at a time.

Later that afternoon they watched the skill expo, which was more about accuracy than the stunt competition was. Instead of players trying to outdo each other's wild stunts, they were all required to do the same tasks and see who could be more accurate or who could outperform the others. At the end of the skill expo each of the twenty players who had participated gave their brooms away to random audience members, and Harry was only a little jealous when the man two seats down from him received the broom from the Appleby Arrow's star Chaser.

There was one more match they could have gone to late that afternoon, but Harry and Dumbledore opted to walk around the many stalls instead. Dumbledore must have caught Harry eying a rack of Falmouth Falcon's shirts, because he asked if Harry would like one.

"No, that's ok," Harry said.

"Harry, I will be buying all of your clothing from now on. I thought a boy as interested as you are in Quidditch and who seems to like the Falcons as much as you do might like a new Falcons shirt and sweatshirt."

Harry eyed the dark blue and silver zip up hoodies longingly and reached out to run a thumb over the soft material and then pulled his hand away again.

"I insist Harry," Dumbledore said.

Harry bit his lip, but then shrugged. "I guess it's all coming out of my accounts anyway, so why not." Harry reached forward to grab the hoodie off the rack, but was surprised when Dumbledore's hand gently touched his wrist to stop him.

"I will not take anything from your accounts to provide you with necessities such as clothes or gifts."

Harry frowned for a moment. But Dumbledore had been paying the Dursleys a stipend to take care of him hadn't he? That had come out during the hearing. Harry assumed it was from his accounts. It was, wasn't it? So why was Dumbledore saying he wouldn't take money from his accounts now.

"Pick out a shirt and sweatshirt," Dumbledore said. Harry looked up at him and noted that his eyes looked sad. Harry didn't want to see the look on his face, especially since he didn't know why it was there, so he turned and began looking through the designs on the shirts. It was only a few minutes before Harry had picked out a blue t-shirt with the Falcon's symbol in shiny silver on the front, and a dark blue Falcon's zip up hoodie with light gray drawstrings and the logo painted in gray across the front. Dumbledore paid for the purchase and they moved on to other stalls where Harry was offered several other items such as posters, books and notebooks with team logos on them, and he politely declined each time.

At five Dumbledore took them back to the castle and asked if Harry had had a good time.

"Yes sir, thank you for taking me," he said.

"It was my pleasure dear boy."

Harry went down to the Dungeons with plans of putting on his new t-shirt right away. Snape was at his desk in the living room of his dungeon quarters when Harry got in and seemed to be in a snarky mood.

Snape threw a look at Harry and then at the two shirts in his hands and sneered before going back to whatever he was working on.

"Enjoy yourself Potter?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Harry said.

Maybe he should have toned down the happiness in his voice. Uncle Vernon never liked it when Harry was too happy, and it seemed like Snape was the same way because the next thing he said was, "You must enjoy asking for expensive items when you know the Headmaster has to buy them for you."

Severus scribbled several things down on his lesson plan angrily while he waited for Potter's response, and when none came after a moment he turned and found the boy looking stricken. Without warning Harry dropped both items of clothing on the floor and turned and walked quietly down the hall, presumably to his room. What was that about?

Severus huffed in irritation and turned back to the grading rubric for his incoming first years. The boy and his tantrum, and the telling off he was going to get for his disrespect would have to wait until he was done with what he was doing. Severus wasn't going to drop everything to cater to the boy and his mood swings, though he really wanted to jump up and tell the brat off now for being so dramatic and for leaving his things on the living room floor. Severus hated a mess and as far as he was concerned there was no room for Potter and his mess in his living room.

It wasn't long before Severus was done with his work for the evening, but his stomach was growling and he decided to put off chastising the boy until he'd had dinner, so he left for the Great Hall. When he came back, he noticed that Potter had gathered the discarded garments and taken them to his room.

Severus went down the hall and looked around the doorframe into the boy's room. Harry was sitting on the bed with his back to the door and running his thumb and forefinger over the soft fabric of the dark blue sweatshirt.

"It surprises me to see you looking at your belongings like that when you treated them so poorly only two hours ago."

Harry didn't respond, but he did still and pull the sweatshirt to his chest.

"I expect a response when I speak to you Potter. If I have to keep reminding you of that I may begin taking points before the term starts. I would hate to be the one to explain to my housemates why they are starting the year in the negatives."

Harry mumbled something Severus couldn't hear, which only made him more irritated. "Speak up Potter."

"I can't remember anyone buying clothes for me before."

"Your relatives-"

"I just got Dudley's old things." Severus thought Harry was done speaking to him and was ready to turn away and go back to his desk to work some more, not wanting to grow more irritated with Harry than he already was, when Harry said, "I know the Headmaster didn't buy me clothes because he cares about me. He only did it because the Justice said he had to." He turned suddenly and Snape was taken back to see wetness in Harry's eyes, though the tears hadn't fallen yet. "Maybe you could quit reminding me that I'm only here because people are forced to take care of me, not because they want me."

Harry turned back around and when he didn't say anything else, Severus backed out of the door. He didn't know what to say to that. He had only taken Harry because there was no other reasonable choice. It had been for Harry's own good, but not because Snape wanted to help him, it was because of the promise. Dumbledore on the other hand adored the boy. It was one of the things that irritated him to see how the old man doted on him.

Severus was unable to return to his work that evening and ended up going to bed early, though his sleep was broken (partly by Harry's nightmares waking him several times in the night and partly because he couldn't get the sad look of Harry's unshed tears out of his mind as he tried to fall asleep). Dumbledore took note of the circles under Severus' eyes the next morning at breakfast (a breakfast Harry was absent from).

"Did you sleep at all dear boy?" he asked

"Who needs sleep when there's coffee." Severus poured himself a cup and started drinking it before he decided to put anything on his plate. Suddenly he looked up and asked Dumbledore, "Why did you have to spoil him at the Quidditch Expo yesterday?"

"Spoil him?"

"He came back with an armful of expensive clothes."

"It's my job to provide him with clothing."

"You couldn't wait and take him to a clothing store? You had give in to his begging for expensive Quidditch memorabilia?"

"I believe you have the wrong impression about our outing Severus," Albus said. Severus looked at him like he doubted it very much but the Headmaster continued. "I offered to buy Harry many things yesterday, but he kept saying no. Candy, posters, toys... I had to convince him to get the two shirts, and that took several minutes to get him agree to take the two. I believe he only agreed to take them because he believes the funding was coming out of his vaults. I tried to tell him this was not the case, but I'm not sure I convinced him."

Severus sighed heavily and set his coffee down. Damn. "He believed you." Albus raised a brow and Severus said, "He told me it was the first time anyone had bought clothes for him. He made it clear he was well aware you were only doing it because you had to because the Justice ordered it."

Albus shook his head, looking dismayed. "Is he in your quarters?"

"I believe so."

Albus left the table without finishing his breakfast though Severus wished he wouldn't have. Now that he was alone he would have to wrestle with his guilt over how he'd snarked at the boy the night before. Clearly the boy believed he was unwanted and unloved. If the Headmaster had to convince him to get the clothes, then he must have seen Severus' comments to him as making fun of him. He was really, or he had been goading him. Damn. At some point he'd have to seek the boy out today as well and apologize to him. He hated apologizing.

* * *

There was a knock on the door and Harry left the kitchen table and his half peeled orange to answer it. It was the Headmaster. He wasn't coming to take Harry out for a second day was he?

"May I come in?" the Headmaster asked.

Harry turned to look to be certain Snape wasn't there and said, "I'm not sure. It's Professor Snape's quarters."

"They are your quarters now too," Dumbledore said, and Harry bit his lip to keep himself from saying, ‘just let Snape hear you say that'. Harry stood back to give Dumbledore room to come in and the aging headmaster sat down on one of the two couches as if it was his favorite seat and he'd sat there a dozen times before. Maybe he had, Harry thought, and went to sit nervously on the other sofa. He wasn't used to spending time in the living room. Snape was always in here and Harry tried to stay away from him as much as possible. Aside from that Harry really didn't think Snape wanted him in his home at all, so it seemed logical Harry should stay out of sight and out of mind. That principle had served him well at the Dursleys.

"Harry, Justice Araminta Abbot is a very caring and compassionate woman. Her disappointment in me and how I handled your care was a reminder of how I've failed you as your guardian. I chose to take guardianship of you and then did not honor those sacred duties. I am sorry it took her disappointment in me to remind me of what I should have been doing for you all along. I want you to know that I am not doing these things for you because I have to, because I should have been doing them before, but because I want to. I have always been fond of you. Fondness apparently does not negate foolishness however, and that is exactly what I have been: foolish."

Harry was looking at his hands and fidgeting with them.

"Do you believe me?"

Harry shrugged and didn't look up.

"Then I will make it my mission to prove to you that I care, and to make amends for how poorly I have shown you that care in the past."

"You've been real nice to me," Harry finally said.

"I want you to believe that I care about you and your wellbeing. I realize that will take time. If there is anything I can do to prove that to you, I want you to tell me."

Harry shook his head.

"Harry?"

"I want to believe you."

"In time perhaps dear boy."

Albus Dumbledore stood and gave another look at the forlorn looking Gryffindor, and wished not for the first time that time travel beyond a few days was possible. He would do things differently if given the chance. All he could do now was try to make things right now that circumstances had changed, and hope it was enough.

* * *

Harry had not been prepared for one apology that day, let alone two. He was still trying to figure out what Dumbledore was playing at, if he was playing at anything at all when Snape came to his bedroom door after lunch and asked Harry to come out to the kitchen to eat instead of going to the Great Hall.

As soup and sandwiches appeared on the table and the two sat down to eat together (a first in the two weeks Harry had been back at Hogwarts), Snape cleared his throat. Harry looked up and noted a strained look on the man's face. He frowned, wondering what that was about and then took a bite of his soup.

"I apologize for what I said to you last night. I did not know that you did not ask for the clothes. Even if you did, it is within your right to ask your guardian for the necessities of life. I am still learning to... readjust my thoughts and beliefs about you."

Harry was surprised to hear that the man was trying to readjust at all. After his first year he'd never thought to attempt to get on Snape's good side ever again. It just wasn't possible being a Gryffindor, and it wasn't possible for him especially. Everyone knew that Snape hated him above all others, though no one was really clear on why. It was just a fact Harry had accepted. It was a fact as much as Uncle Vernon being mean or Aunt Petunia being unable to smile when she looked at Harry. Snape hated him and was always going to be unfair. It was a fact, wasn't it?

"I-" he wasn't sure how to say what he wanted, or even if he should say it at all. Snape wouldn't want to hear it if he did say it. He'd just make fun of him. But he'd just apologized hadn't he? It wasn't a trick was it? Instead of trying to tell him all the jumbled up feelings he had about what Dumbledore had said to him earlier, Harry said, "I can pay the Headmaster back for the shirts... they were expensive."

"You should not have to," Snape said, feeling exasperated with the boy already despite it being the very beginning of the conversation. "I will try not to- misjudge your acquisition of items again. You should ask for things that you need."

Harry bit his lip and stirred his soup for a moment.

"Did you have something else you wished to add?"

Harry shook his head.

"Spit it out Potter."

Harry looked up and bit his lip again. He looked like he was debating whether or not to say anything and Severus tried to school his features to neutral so he didn't put the boy off when he'd been trying to pull words out of him for weeks already.

"I can't see very well. I know glasses are expensive though. I'll get money from my vault for new ones. I just wondered if, if you could tell me where to get new ones that might work better. I know you're busy... maybe I could get the Headmaster to take me on the next day he plans on taking me."

"You cannot see?"

"I couldn't see much of the Quidditch matches yesterday, and I can't see the blackboard unless I sit right up front. It's hard to take notes."

"When did you last get your eyes checked Potter?"

"I've never- Aunt Petunia brought these home from the grocery store."

"You did not go to an eye doctor?"

Harry shook his head.

"We will go to see Madam Pomfrey after lunch. New glasses will not cost you anything. She can change the lenses to whatever prescription you need and the frames can be transfigured to look how you wish."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

Severus finished his lunch, and as he did so, he thought about the conversation they'd just had. It wasn't so bad, and Potter had thanked him. There was a lot more to the conversation than what had been said though. If Potter couldn't see the blackboard, it might explain why he sometimes added the wrong ingredients to his cauldron. It might also explain why his handwriting was so terrible and why he wasn't a stellar student in most of his subjects. There was one question that needed answering though...

"If you cannot see the blackboard, how are you able to see the Snitch across a Pitch during games?"

"It's hard when it's cloudy or raining. If it's sunny the sun shines off of it. I just look for a glint of gold."

Severus thought back over the matches the boy had lost. If he remembered correctly, almost all of them had been on days with inclement weather. As he watched the boy finish his sandwich, Severus wondered how the boy had made it through two years of school without being able to see properly.

* * *

"Poppy told me you took Harry to have his eyes looked at."

"He could barely see. His glasses were not even prescription."

"Perhaps his grades will improve now that he has glasses made just for him," Albus said.

"Perhaps."

Severus and Albus waited in the empty staff room for the other staff to arrive. They had several things to discuss about the upcoming term. Albus noted that Severus was playing with a thread in his pants and brushing lint from his pant leg. Something he often did when he was thinking over something important he wanted to talk about.

"Is there something you want to discuss before the meeting?"

"I know why you took me to court with you."

"Oh?"

"You took me so I would decide to take Potter and keep my promise."

"I took you dear boy because you are my closest friend."

Severus looked up at him, startled. His closest friend? Surely not. Surely Minerva or Nicholas Flamel or even Newt Scamander.

"I can see from the look on your face that perhaps as I have neglected to show Harry how much I care about him, I have neglected to show you over the years how much your friendship means to me."

"I- didn't know," Severus said quietly. He'd counted Albus as a friend... a mentor even. He was one of Severus' very few friends in fact. He had less friends than he could count on one hand and most of them taught there at the school. He'd never considered that he was Albus' best friend though, or even that he himself had a best friend. Not since Lily...

"Something else I must work on then," Albus said as the door opened and Sprout came in with Hooch.

When the meeting started several minutes later after the rest of the staff arrived, Severus found it hard to focus on what was being said. He was too busy mulling over the information that he had apparently been invited to court to be Albus' moral support and not a character assassin for Potter. Eyes drifting up to the Headmaster as he listened to Minerva talk about student curfews, Severus wished he had been a moral support to the Headmaster during the trail. As much of a toll as it had taken on Potter, it had affected the Headmaster equally as much. The man cared far too much for Potter... more than he had ever let on, and hearing the things that had gone on in the Dursley household had upset him more than the others in the courtroom. Even now the Headmaster seemed drawn and older than he had before. Maybe it wasn't too late to be that moral support, though Severus wasn't sure how he was supposed to be one or what that was supposed to look like.

In the Leaky Cauldron when he'd had nightmares, Sirius had been there to nose him awake and then let him pet him until he fell back to sleep. It didn't stop the nightmares completely, but it was comforting. Now when he woke there was only himself in the darkness. Sometimes if he was shouting in his sleep Snape came in to wake him up, but Harry didn't always shout out in the night, and was left to suffer in his nightmares about Voldemort, the Dursleys, and even about Sirius in his dog form being captured and killed.

Sirius had helped him so much that summer in various ways, Harry felt like he knew the man even though he'd only ever known the dog, and felt strange for it. Dumbledore's warning for him to be careful in regards to Sirius came back to him again, but it didn't feel right. Sirius could have killed him too many times... could have sabotaged him. He could have hurt or killed Justin in the alley or blown half the alley up like they say he had before when he killed Peter Pettigrew. He had only run though. Harry was a firm believer in the idea that ‘actions speak louder than words.' Plenty of people had promised Harry things... promised to be there for him or help him, but few had.

Harry had been watching The Prophet daily as well as The Lighthouse for any word that Sirius had been captured and sent back to Azkaban, but there had only been speculation about his whereabouts. As he lay in bed and wondered where Sirius was at that moment and what he was doing, and if he had food or shelter, an idea struck him. What if he sent a letter to Sirius and asked?

Harry pushed the covers off his legs and rummaged around in his trunk for a quill and parchment and turned on the light. It was half five in the morning and he doubted he'd be able to get anymore sleep anyway so he might as well get up for the day.

Once Harry was set with his parchment though, he didn't know what he should write as he stared at it. Somehow, ‘dear Sirius, did you kill my parents by betraying them,' didn't seem like it would get a response. Harry was beginning to feel more and more certain that Sirius hadn't done such a thing in any case, so that question didn't need answering immediately anyway.

Putting quill to parchment Harry penned, ‘I'm glad you got away. I hope you're in a good place with food and shelter. I know what they say you did. You could have killed me at any time during the summer if you wanted though, and you didn't. You could have hurt my friend Justin and you didn't. I don't expect you'll tell me where you are, and I don't blame you. I hope you're safe though.'

He hoped Sirius would write back to him, but didn't think he would. Harry got dressed and took Hedwig up to the oak front doors in the Great Hall and said quietly to her, "Take it to Sirius." She cooed softly at him as though she understood, and took off with Harry's short letter.

Harry went back to the Dungeons to eat breakfast, and found Snape already in the kitchen sitting at the table with a cup of black coffee.

"I can only hope you were out early and not just now returning from a late night walk after hours."

"I went out to send a letter," Harry said, sitting at the table. Even now after spending weeks with the man in his quarters, he still thought the worst of Harry at every turn.

After Harry ate a few waffles and some bacon, he said, "When can I go to the alleys next? I have some things to ask Mr. Silver."

"As it so happens I need to get something in London and can take you. Be certain you are not making a nuisance of yourself to the Barrister. He has other clients and things to do than catering to your every question."

Harry stuffed his mouth with half a muffin instead of answering him. Harry knew for a fact that he was Silver's biggest client, and that at least 80% of Silver's time was spent dealing with matters involving Harry's family holdings. Podmore had told him as much over the summer.

An hour later Snape had dropped Harry off in front of Fortescues and warned him to stay on the alleys. He had business in Muggle London and would be back to get Harry in an hour.

Harry went upstairs to Silver's office and was greeted by the secretary with a smile. "Mr. Potter, he'll be right out."

Harry was still slightly put out at the way she had treated him at the start of the summer, so he gave her a nod and that was all.

A few minutes later Silver came out and motioned for Harry to come back into his office. After the door was closed and they were both seated, Silver said with a smile, "The Headmaster has returned your original accounts and holdings to your control."

"He has?"

"All of them," he said. "There's still an account with several thousand galleons worth earmarked in his name for your care and keeping, and I suspect future legal fees, and a hundred galleons a month is being sent into it from the holdings, but the rest is back under your control."

"Should we merge the accounts I created then?"

"If that's what you want, but yes, I think that would be a good idea."

"How much money is in the old accounts we just got back?"

"Too much to count," he said and slid several sheets of parchment over to Harry. Harry oggled at the amount and pushed the papers back across the desk to Silver.

"I'd like to send an extra few hundred Galleons to the orphanage every six months," Harry said.

"What should the money be used on?" he asked. "If you designate it for a certain use, they can only use it for that."

"Holidays," Harry said.

Silver didn't question what Harry had told him and wrote it down. "Starting this month?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Three hundred Galleons, then three hundred again in six months."

When he was finished marking things down, Silver looked up and said, "What did you need from me today? Unless this is a social call?"

"How much does a house cost? Out in the country somewhere away from the city."

"Around 43 thousand galleons," he said. "Most houses aren't sold by wizards though. The money has to be transferred into Muggle currency and the home purchased from Muggles."

"I want to buy a house," Harry said. "One in good shape out in the country."

"What size?"

Harry looked at him, bewildered, and Silver clarified, "How many bedrooms? A big house? A small house? How much land? All of those factor into cost."

"Three bedrooms I guess," Harry said. "A little piece of land... just something to stretch out on, you know? It doesn't have to be a huge house, but it'd be nice if it weren't tiny."

"And this house will be in your name?"

Harry nodded.

"You don't want to wait until you're of majority to buy a home? As I understand it you'll be spending all of your time at the castle until you're 17."

"I know it's a long way off," Harry said. "But I want someplace to call my own if I ever end up on my own again. Is it something you can do for me? Buy it I mean and get it in my name?"

"I can, though it will take some time. I can get some options together for you and then take you to look at them."

"When should I come back for that?" Harry asked.

He looked at the calendar on his desk and said, Tuesday next. Be here at 11 am. I expect we can be done by half three that afternoon."

"I'll be here," Harry said.

Harry thanked him for his time and then left and went down Knockturn to the orphanage. Mrs. Ginger was happy to see him and embraced him with a big hug when he found her in the kitchen. Harry was one of the few people allowed to enter the orphanage without permission. Snape was another, though Harry hadn't seen him come back to the orphanage since the middle of the summer.

"What brings you by today?" Mrs. Ginger asked.

"I thought maybe you and the kids might like to go on holiday somewhere... to the beach or camping or something."

"We've never had enough money to do that," she said.

"I was hoping if I sent a few hundred galleons that would be enough? Even just for a weekend?"

She gave him an appraising look just then and said, "What am I going to do with you Harry Potter? You've already given us better than we could have asked for."

"I just thought... I've never been on holiday anywhere. I wanted the kids here to get to go on holiday sometimes and have good memories. I told Mr. Silver to send an extra 300 galleons every 6 months for holidays."

"That's more than generous," she said. "Perhpas you should come with us on holiday since you've never been."

"Are you sure? I could pay for myself."

"I quite like the idea of a trip to the sea. We can floo from the Leaky Cauldron to anyplace that's nearby, and spend two or three days at the beach. 300 Galleons will be enough to rent somewhere for that long and to buy food. It might even be enough to get every child a pair of shorts to wear to get into the water with."

Miss Ava had come in part way through their discussion and said, "We'll need another chaperone. Professor Snape perhaps?"

Mrs. Ginger gave her a knowing look and smiled and then said, "I'll ask him."

"We'll have to go soon if we're to take a holiday before everyone goes back to school. Hogwarts starts in two weeks."

They talked about potential locations for their holiday for several more minutes, and then Harry looked at his watch and realized he had to go and meet Snape in just a couple minutes.

"Professor Snape is coming back to get me," Harry announced. "Can I bring him over now to talk about it?"

Miss Ava looked flustered and hurried away, and Mrs. Ginger smiled. "Going to straighten her hair and put on a clean blouse I'd wager."

Harry hurried off and got to Fortescue's just a few moments before Snape arrived.

"I assume you have concluded business for the day?"

"Yes sir. If it's all right, Mrs. Ginger had something to talk to you about and asked if you could go see them before we left today."

Snape gave him a little frown, but then nodded and they made their way back to the orphanage. In short order Mrs. Ginger had told Severus about their upcoming holiday to the beach and had him convinced that he needed to be a chaperone. And since he was going to be there anyway, Harry should come along as well.

Snape didn't seem pleased about the prospect of toting Harry along on holiday, but couldn't say anything about it since Mrs. Ginger had already made up her mind about it.

As they left the orphanage and headed down the alley to a safe apparition point, Severus frowned down at Harry. "You set me up," he accused.

"How?" Harry asked.

"You and Mrs. Ginger have been conspiring to make me spend time with Ava."

Harry gave him an innocent look. "The only thing I did was set money aside for the kids to go on holiday. Every kid should get to go at least once."

"You mean you wanted to go on holiday," Snape corrected.

"That's not why I did it," Harry said cross. "You always think the worst of me." There was no way to please him. Harry didn't say it out loud, but the message got across nonetheless.

* * *

A week passed without a reply to his letter from Sirius. Harry had a lot to keep him busy over the course of that week, but he still thought of Sirius often, especially in the middle of the night after waking from nightmares. That was when he felt the most alone, and he thought of how alone Sirius must be feeling then as well.

Harry had asked the Headmaster for permission to spend the day with Silver as opposed to asking Snape, who seemed more irritated with him than usual since the incident at the Orphanage. Snape had been dragged back to the orphanage at least twice to plan the trip with Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava, who was always present if Snape was there. They were to go on holiday the upcoming weekend as it would be their last chance before Hogwarts started again. When Tuesday came and it was time for the Headmaster to drop Harry off with Silver, Snape was only too happy to have Harry out of his sight for the day and didn't complain at all.

Dumbledore smiled at Harry and asked what business he was attending to that day, but didn't question Harry too much when he said he needed to visit several of his family's holdings with Silver to inspect them. Harry was surprised when Dumbledore handed Harry a small pouch of coins and told him to be certain he bought something nice for lunch that day, patted him on the head, and apparated away, leaving him outside Fortescues.

Up in Silver's office, Harry tried not to feel guilty about lying to the Headmaster, who looked as though he was trying very hard to fulfil his promise of being a good guardian to Harry.

"I have three potential properties," Silver told Harry when he greeted him a minute later. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," Harry told him, and Silver held out his arm to Harry so they could apparate together.

A moment later they reappeared outside a single story cottage in the country with a brown roof and white walls.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"Outside of Wooler. The land behind the house there is Northumberland National Park. Wooler is that way," he pointed, though Harry couldn't see a town or houses. The house was isolated, which was what he wanted.

"I have the key to all three homes we have to look at," Silver said.

"The Muggles let us have the keys?"

"Any good businessman in the wizarding world will have holdings in the Muggle world as well. It's helpful for obtaining properties and raw materials. In my case I can deal with client needs in both worlds. I am also a barrister in the Muggle world, and expressed to the real estate agents that I was conducting business in the name of a client. They had no issue giving me a key."

"Do I have holdings in the Muggle world?" Harry wondered out loud.

"You do not. A home would be the first. Your grandfather did not think it a necessary move, though in the last twenty years it has become much more common."

"Huh," Harry said as Silver unlocked the front door and let him in. The home was nice and looked to be in good shape. It had a small living room, dining room and a medium sized kitchen. Down a hall past the kitchen was a bathroom and three bedrooms."

"You would have a hectare of land. The boundaries are marked by low stone walls. The home costs 41 thousand Galleons and has been inspected and found to be in good repair. You would have to pay a yearly Stamp Duty Land Tax on the land, but that could be set up to come out of your accounts."

"What about wards and stuff? Can I hire someone to put those up?"

Silver nodded and gave Harry a surprised look. "Of course. On a property like this, if you wanted Muggle repelling wards and basic security wards that would cost about 50 galleons. The company you had work on the orphanage could do it. Advanced security wards an adding the house to the floo network would cost considerably more. A skilled wizard could ward the home himself."

They looked around for a few more minutes before locking the front door again and apparating to the next house.

"We are outside of Perth on the River Almond," Silver said. Perth is about 10 and a half miles East of us."

Harry looked around at the wooded area they were in. There was a small river with trees on both sides, and a small home set just far enough back from the river to avoid being flooded in a heavy rain.

As Silver walked to the front door and unlocked it he told Harry, "This home is 52 thousand Galleons. Three bedrooms like you requested. As before, it was inspected and found in a suitable condition for living."

The living room had wood beams on the ceiling that made Harry feel like he was in a cabin, and windows on two walls looking out into the woods and towards the river. The kitchen was small and there was no dining room, but Harry noted there was a big wooden deck outside the kitchen door that looked like it might serve as a dining room in good weather. The three bedrooms at the back of the house were small, and the bathroom was nice.

"I like this one," Harry said.

"There are more Muggles in the immediate vicinity than at the first house, and if you wanted to remain isolated Muggle repelling charms would be a must. You have half a hectare of land, some of which is on the other side of the river."

Harry nodded and made a mental note of it all. He liked this house a lot.

After locking up Silver apparated them to the final house he had to show Harry. They found themselves on the windswept highlands of Scottland above a lake around the size of the Black Lake at Hogwarts. To confirm that it wasn't the Black Lake, Harry eyed the surroundings for Hogwarts, but couldn't see any buildings at all. The other difference was that Hogwarts had the Forbidden Forest and the West Woods, and there were barely any trees here at all, aside from a few small copses of trees near the house.

"This is Loch Meadie," Silver said as wind whipped gently through Harry's hair. The nearest village is Kirtomy about two miles north, on the sea. There are few Muggles who live there or in the neighboring villages. You expressed a need for a remote location, and this was about as remote as I could find."

"How far are we from Hogwarts?"

"Seventy or eighty miles. An hour and a half by broom." He let them inside and told Harry the home was only 50 Galleons. It was smaller than the other two and had less windows so it was darker. "It's a quarter hectare of land. Not enough to roam far, though with so few Muggles you could roam for miles with little likelihood of encountering any of them. Keep in mind winters will be harsh here."

Harry nodded. He'd already made up his mind.

"I want the second house. The one on the River Almond."

"You are certain? You don't want to see any more homes?"

He shook his head. "How soon can it be bought?"

"It will take weeks to get the paperwork in order and go through the Muggle system. We'll need to go over which accounts the funds will come from back at the office, and the charms you want placed on the house."

Harry nodded and they apparated back to Silver's office.

Now that Harry had accounts full of money to choose from, he didn't have to worry about taking too much from one account or another. In short order they had figured out which accounts to pull money from, and Silver had contacted the construction firm Harry had been using by floo. A foreman Harry hadn't worked with yet came through and talked with Harry about the various charms they could put on the home, and Harry signed a contract for two hundred and seventy galleons. Once the home was purchased, the construction firm would apply Muggle repellant charms, fire and flood protection charms, and a security ward with a password that would require Harry to visit the property himself to set. They had offered to make the home unplottable, but Harry wasn't completely sold on the idea.

"You and anyone you give the location to will be able to find it. But while you're at the home, owls won't be able to pinpoint your location to deliver mail, and no on will be able to use tracker spells to pinpoint your location."

Finally Harry agreed to an unplottable ward as well and signed the contract.

"I will owl when the home has been purchased and the wards are set," Silver told him, and Harry thanked him for his time.

At three thirty Harry went downstairs and bought a big ice cream for lunch from Fortescue with the money Dumbledore had given him, and then wandered down to a street vendor and bought a basket of fish and chips. He was just finishing it when Dumbledore came down the alley to find him.

"Are you ready Harry?" he asked.

Harry threw his trash away in a bin and said, "Yes sir."

"You had a good day I hope?"

"Yes sir."

"As I understand it, you're going on holiday with Professor Snape later this week."

"To the beach with the orphanage."

"I see. Then it seems to me you'll need some holiday clothes. Shorts and sandals and some new shirts?"

"You don't have to-" Harry started, but the Headmaster had already smiled at him and held up his hand.

"Muggle London will have some nice things, don't you think?" He lead Harry out through the Leaky Cauldron and then hailed a cab like a pro. The cab driver only gave Dumbledore and his long beard and robes a close looking over for a moment before he whisked them away to a shop a few streets over.

In no time Dumbledore had filled a basket with several pairs of shorts, a pair of sandals, a light blue button up polo shirt and several shirts. He had gravitated towards several wild floral patterns, but thankfully was able to be steered away towards things Harry was actually likely to wear.

Dumbledore pulled out a pouch of Muggle bills and paid 86 pounds, and then led Harry to an alley to apparate to the Hogwarts boundaries. Harry only hoped Snape wouldn't grouch at him about the bag of clothes this time.

In the Entrance Hall, Harry looked up at Dumbledore and suddenly felt shy. It was still strange having the Headmaster taking him around to do his shopping, or to drop him off or spend the day with him.

"Thank you," Harry said. "For the clothes and for taking me to see Silver."

"You are more than welcome dear boy."

"Mr. Silver said I might need to come take care of some paperwork in a few weeks, but I know school is starting next week."

"If he is willing to make a trip here, he will be allowed to visit on a weekend. Otherwise, I understand the need for you to return to Diagonalley from time to time for business errands. Provided it is not terribly often, something can be arranged. As it so happens staff visit Diagonalley throughout the term to pick up supplies or run errands for the school or themselves."

"Thank you sir."

Dumbledore smiled at him and then went on his way up the stairs towards his office. Harry turned and stared at the entrance to the Dungeon for a few moments, steeling himself for a confrontation with Snape about the clothes, and then went down to Snape's quarters.

Harry was surprised however when he got into the quarters. Snape eyed the brown paper sack and seemed relieved. "The Headmaster took you for holiday clothes?" he asked.

"Yes sir. Just a few things."

He sighed in relief. "Good. I have precious little time to finish preparing for the upcoming term now that I've been roped into planning a vacation for twenty some children."

"You're not-" Harry paused thinking better of what he'd been about to say.

"What Potter?"

"Nothing sir," he said, and hurried to his room.

Harry dumped the sack of clothes on his bed and admired the new swim trunks, khaki shorts and handsome dark blue and black sandals. The shirts were nice too and he was looking forward to wearing them during the term. He didn't know when he'd get a chance to get clothes again, and hoped there would be time after the vacation to get his robes and school books on Diagonalley. He would be gone on holiday on Dumbledor's day with him, so he would have to ask Snape and hope the man was willing to drop him off on the Alley one last time before school started.

Harry put his clothes away and laid on his bed, unable to fall asleep even though the hours were now stretching on towards ten pm. His mind was over excited about the holiday, about the purchase of his own home, and about what he planned to do with it. As soon as the home was purchased and the wards were set, he was going to write to Sirius and tell him the address and password. He didn't know if Sirius would trust him enough to use it, but he hoped he would. Harry wouldn't have a chance to find out until the next summer. He couldn't very well ask Snape or the Headmaster, or even Silver for that matter to take him to a house where Sirius Black was potentially staying and hiding out from the Aurors.

It could still be several weeks until everything was settled though, and in the meantime Sirius could be hungry and sleeping outside somewhere. Being stuck at Hogwarts and without any idea where Sirius was, he supposed there wasn't much he could do about it. He wished there was.

Harry fell into a deep sleep, though he woke hours later, sweating from a nightmare about being locked in his cupboard for weeks without food or use of the bathroom. He'd never been locked in that long without use of the bathroom, but his mind thought it was a funny joke to give him vivid dreams about it anyway.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Harry sat up and tried to think of anything at all to chase the nasty dream away. His mind flitted back to Sirius, and then to Bellamy. Maybe Bellamy would know a way to help. Bellamy knew a lot of people that were wary of the Ministry... a lot of people who were on the outer fringes of society, and even some who were on the run from the law, Muggle or otherwise.

Pulling out another parchment, Harry scribbled a quick note to Bellamy, finally satisfied that he had done everything in his power to help Sirius. He would send the note off with Hedwig in the morning.

As he fell asleep again, the note lay hidden inside one of his business books. ‘Dear Bellamy, this may sound crazy, but I don't believe Sirius Black did the things they say he did. I don't think he's a murderer. I don't have any way to do it, but if anyone sees a big mangy black dog, he should be helped.'

Snape took Harry and his bag of holiday clothes to the orphanage Friday morning at nine, and while Harry and the other kids were waiting to portkey to the large vacation home they had rented in Flushing, Harry and Justin enthused with the other kids about the potential of seeing Falmouth practices from the beach.

"I even have a pair of Muggle goggles," one boy said.

"They're called binoculars," Harry told him, and the third year Ravenclaw grinned, turning the binoculars over in his hands.

"I use them at school to watch Quidditch all the time!" he said.

At nine thirty Snape brought a tea kettle to Harry's group, which was all older boys and girls, and told them all to touch it. Miss Ava was with a group of younger kids holding out a story book, and Mrs. Ginger had a group of kids and was telling them all to touch the red trainer with broken shoelaces she held out.

"They will activate at nine thirty two," Snape said. "Everyone hold tightly to your portkey."

A few moments later, Harry felt a jerk behind his naval and was sucked into a hole in space. It felt like he couldn't breathe and would never do so again, but only a moment later he had reappeared with his group in a bedroom of the holiday rental home.

"This one's my bed!" Justin called, and threw himself and his bag down on a bed. The other boy's scrambled to do the same, and Harry was left with the last remaining bed, a bottom bunk near the door.

Snape left them there to make sure the others had all arrived and Harry tried not to feel out of place with this group of boys who all knew each other and had been living together for years.

Once everyone was accounted for and had a bed in one of the five big rooms, Miss Ava and Mrs. Ginger made sandwiches for lunch with the help of several of the kids, and Snape laid down ground rules for the weekend holiday. The house had a little pathway to the beach, and Snape told everyone that no one was allowed in the water unless a floation charm had been placed on them. Kids under 11 couldn't be in the water without an adult present, and they were to stay in the holiday house or on the beach directly behind the house. Snape, Miss Ava and Mrs. Ginger were going to place themselves across the property and down at the beach so the kids could be supervised and come and go in those areas as they pleased, though no one was to be at the beach after dark without an adult, and all kids were to be in bed by ten. Kids younger than 11 had to be in bed by eight.

Harry and Justin went to the beach with some other boys after lunch and after the floation charm and anti-sunburn charm had been placed on them by Mrs. Ginger, they got into the water. Harry had fun putting his face under trying to see if there were fish below.

They were all disappointed to find that they couldn't even spot the Falcon's pitch from the beach, though that didn't stop them from splashing each other in the water and playing with a beat up old Quaffle one of the seventh year boys had brought.

Snape cooked Shephard's pie for dinner and Miss Ava stayed in the kitchen to make a strawberry cake with lavender iced tea for dessert. Stomach full, Harry lounged on the beach with Justin and was glad when the younger kids where sheparded off to bed. That left only about ten of the older kids, and many of them had gone inside to play board games they'd brought with them from the orphanage.

"This was a good idea," Justin said.

"Yeah," Harry told him, content as he watched the sun going down over several sail boats coming in for the evening.

"We should have a bonfire."

"Wonder if it's allowed," Harry said.

"It's your holiday, you make the rules."

"Yeah right," Harry said. "The adults planned it all. I don't get a say in anything."

"Only, ‘here's some money go on holiday,'" Justin teased. "You have more say than you think. Mrs. Ginger and Miss Ava are always praising you and are pleased to do whatever you say. What other thirteen year old gets to decide to re-build an orphanage or waltz up and own Diagonalley like you do?"

"I didn't-" Harry faltered, "I don't-" is that how they saw him? Strutting around like he was the boss of everyone?

"Calm down," Justin said. "I was only playing."

"No one has to do anything I say," Harry said. "I don't get a say in anything involving me. Not ever."

Justin knew he was referring to the trial and how poorly that had gone for him, and decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Hasn't turned out half bad though has it?" he asked a few minutes later.

"I dunno," Harry said. The Headmaster had been good to him, and Snape had been taking him to the alleys and had gotten him new glasses, but Harry still thought he might be better out on his own. That way he wouldn't be a burden on anyone. His mind flashed to how good he had had it with Sirius by his side, but he pushed the thought away. He couldn't get a response from Sirius to his owls, so there was no hope of seeing the man again let alone living with him or running away with him. Harry pretended that thought had not just crossed his mind to run away with a convicted felon.

"I'm going to go see if we can have a fire," Justin said, and ran up to the house to find Miss Ava.

Twenty minutes later, Miss Ava came out with the older kids again and with Snape, and they set a small fire on the beach, spread evenly around it. Miss Ava had a big bar of chocolate she broke up and gave everyone, including Snape a piece.

At nine some of the kids grew bored and went back inside, and at nine thirty Justin got up to go play games for half an hour before bed. It was just Harry, Snape and Miss Ava left. Ava wasn't sitting next to Snape as the man stared into the dying flames of the fire with his black eyes. Harry thought the man looked relaxed in a way he never had before, and it unsettled Harry for some reason. Maybe it was only because Harry knew the peace couldn't last, and it was only the calm before the storm of Snape snapping at him or putting him down, or finding anything at all to berate him over.

"Are you enjoying your first holiday Harry?" Ava asked after several minutes of silence.

"Yes," he said, looking up at her from the flames.

"Is it everything you hoped for?"

He smiled at her. "More."

"I'm glad then. Some of the kids have been on holiday before, before they came to the orphanage. I haven't seen them so happy in a long time... like a weight has been lifted from them they didn't realize was there."

After several moments of silence Harry said quietly, "My family used to go on holiday. I had to stay with Mrs. Figg down the street. She was nice, so it was a holiday for me too."

"Where did your family go?" Snape asked, startling him, and Harry looked up at the man awkwardly for a moment. Snape was still staring into the flames though.

"Majorca," Harry said. "I think it's a resort in Spain. Once to Galway, and a few times to Cornwall and Newquay to see the aquarium. They went to Rame Head for a vacation with Uncle Vernon's company, and another time to a golf resort in Mere with his drill company, and they went to an inn on a lake somewhere with a client he was trying to impress, but I don't know where it was. I think they were going to Rome this summer."

Harry didn't realize that Snape's black eyes had come up to survey him at some point while he had listed off holidays he had not been allowed to be a part of.

"But you liked it with the person you stayed with while they were away?" Ava asked.

He looked up at her and nodded. "She was really friendly. I slept in a spare room. I think she liked it when I came over because then I would eat all her stale biscuits and she'd have an excuse to get new ones. And I'd listen to all the stories she had about her cats. I think she didn't have anyone else to tell about them." Looking at Ava he said earnestly, "We should have invited her to come. I bet she would like to chaperone your next holiday. She'd have lots of kids to tell about her cats."

"Who would watch the cats?" Ava asked.

"She's a squib, but I swear her cats are magic. I think she gets tired of them anyway. Last year she tripped over one and broke her leg."

"Oh my," Ava said, and she and Harry laughed together.

At ten o'clock on the dot, Snape rose and put the fire out with his boot and a pail of water he'd brought out from the house and told Harry it was time to go to bed. Harry left the pair on the beach and went inside, where the older kids in his room were reading in bed already, waiting for lights out.

"You don't like him, do you," Ava said to Snape.

He looked at her and said, "I never said that."

"I can tell," she said. "Thank you for bringing him anyway. He needed this as much as the other kids. I've never seen him smile like this."

Then she left Snape and went inside to make sure everyone was in bed and to help Mrs. Ginger prepare some food items for the next day. It was some time later before Snape brought himself up to the house, and when he did, everyone was in bed. He relished the quiet, but he couldn't deny he was happy the orphanage kids had the opportunity to spend some happy time away from Knocturn Alley. As much as he hated listening to the two women praise Potter endlessly for his help orchestrating the holiday, he had to admit it was a good idea. He would have given anything as a teenager living at the orphanage to go on holiday even just once. It seemed Potter had just been waiting for his chance to go on holiday as well.

* * *

Saturday started with Snape waking up several of the older children, finger to his lips to make them stay quiet. Harry woke groggily to Snape shaking his arm, and was surprised he had slept through the night without waking everyone with his nightmares. For the first time in forever he couldn't remember having any nightmares.

"Get dressed and be quick about it," Snape told him. "Wear shorts."

Harry looked around the dark room to find Justin and the other older boys looking just as perplexed as he was, dressing quickly.

After a few minutes they went into the hall and found several of the older girls looking bewildered.

"Did Professor Snape sneak into your room to wake you up for an extra early detention?" a seventh year girl named Jamie asked. She was in Slytherin and Harry almost laughed out loud to know she assumed the worst like any other house might.

"Definitely," a seventh year Hufflepuff boy named Adin said.

The group went downstairs together and found Mrs. Ginger in the kitchen making bagged lunches. There were twelve kids awake and fourteen lunch sacks in a row on the counter.

"Everyone take a ham and egg sandwich and eat quickly," she said. "If you don't hurry you'll miss the boats."

"We get to go on a boat?" an eleven year old asked excitedly.

"Just hurry," she said.

They ate and she told each of them to take a lunch sack and meet Professor Snape and Miss Ava on the porch.

Outside the sun was just beginning to rise and the two adults worked to put floatation charms and anti-sunburn charms on them all.

"This way," Ava said.

"Where are we going?" Justin asked. "Why are we leaving the younger kids behind?"

"You'll see," she told him.

There were four boats waiting for them on the beach. They split up into equal groups and Harry found himself in charge of one of the boats and the two eleven year olds, a girl and a boy who were on board with him.

"Follow me," Snape told them, and they began rowing, though Harry suspected a charm had been added to the boats as they rowed across the foggy water after Snape, because they practically sped out into the bay. After five minutes, a blue light appeared over the water, and as they passed it, the fog suddenly cleared and Harry spotted nearly a hundred other boats in a huge ring around an open water Quidditch Pitch.

"Are we going to a Quidditch game?!" the girl in Harry's boat shouted excitedly, and it was all Harry could do not to shout with glee as well. He'd already been to the Quidditch expo earlier in the summer with the Headmaster, and now this?

"Pull up next to each other," Snape told them, and Harry did his best to pull up even with Snape's rowboat, which Justin was on. Snape hooked his boat to Harry's, and on Harry's other side Miss Ava hooked her boat to his and then to the boat on the other side of hers. They were linked together, and Snape cast a spell to stabilize the boats and keep them in that one spot at the edge of the pitch. Harry was amazed how the fog was held back, and obscured the sight of the pitch from land.

"Amazing," Justin said. "So this is how they keep the Muggles from seeing."

"This and a dozen anti-Muggle charms," Adin said. "I read about it in ‘A History Of The Falcons'. They have a mage on staff who controls the weather on game and practice days. Games are always early in the morning when it's likely to be foggy. Fifty years and Muggles have never gotten wise."

After half an hour a man wearing a Falcon staff shirt and baseball cap came around by boat and asked for tickets. Snape held out fourteen tickets, which the man tore in half and then gave back to Snape.

"Snack boat will be by in a minute," he said, and then used his wand to propel his boat forward to the next group of spectators to collect their tickets.

Ten minutes later a wide flat boat came by with all manner of crisps, fizzy drinks, candies and breakfast items. Snape didn't have any money with him, but Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the pouch of coins the Headmaster had given him in Diagonalley. He hadn't even put a dent in it buying lunch and ice cream the other day.

"What can I get for seventeen sickles?" Harry asked excitedly.

The man on the snack boat counted how many people were in their group and brought over fourteen bags of mixed candies and handed them to Harry, and then took fifteen sickles from him. "Wait," Harry said, "can you give me the rest of the seventeen sickles worth?"

The man smiled and handed over several more bags of candy and then moved on to the next group who was twenty feet away. Harry passed bags of candy to everybody and left the last three bags under his seat. He'd take them back for Mrs. Ginger and the other kids later.

A third boat came by with shirts, hats, signed posters and blue and silver Quaffles, but they had no more money, so it passed them for the next group. It was seven thirty by the time the players came out and Harry started babbling to Justin about the Falcon's star Chaser.

"Their Seeker is better," Adin said, and Jamie agreed, but Harry shook his head. "No, Crombie has a slower broom than Taylor, but he makes his broom work for him. He twists so fast with the Quaffle the Chasers from other teams are confused about where the ball even went and don't realize he still has it."

The Falcon's were playing the Harpies that morning, and Harry whooped when Crombie leapt off his broom to take the Quaffle off a passing Harpy. He couldn't find his broom again and fell into the sea, but not before he had passed the Quaffle to a fellow Chaser, who then scored a goal. Crombie whooped from the water and then swam to where his broom hovered over the waves twenty feet away. Harry wondered if he would be able to hold on when he was drenched, but the Chaser pulled out his wand and sent a spell at his clothes that caused steam to come off him and raced off after the Quaffle again.

Several Harpies fell into the sea, and one had to be fished out by a referee during a time-out. It was a close game, but in the end the Falcon's won by just one goal, ten points. Harry imagined it had been that spectacular move by Crombie that had won the game. Playing above the water like that meant the players could make much more daring moves then when they were hundreds of feet in the air above solid earth.

At nine thirty the fog began to lift and the boats dispersed, but not before several memorabilia boats came back around with Falcons and Harpies gear. When they made the beach by the holiday house again, all the kids were enthusing about the match.

Inside Harry gave the last three bags of candy to Mrs. Ginger and divided the candy amongst the other kids, who crowded around him like he was Santa Claus. Snape snorted at the thought, and wondered again if this is why Potter had given so much to the orphanage. The child liked the attention. He liked being the ‘Santa' to the poor orphans. Severus pursed his lips though. The boy reminded him of Dumbledore and the way he bought things for Harry and he didn't like the taste that left in his mouth. Harry had little (if you didn't count the millions of galleons in his accounts), and had always had little. It was something the Headmaster wanted to remedy in a way Potter seemed to want to remedy for these children. Perhaps Severus had nothing to say about it after all. If Potter wanted to spoil these kids, let him. The kids would be better off for it.

They played on the beach again that afternoon, and had another fire that evening, this time with hot chocolate. Mrs. Ginger spent the day outside while Miss Ava watched the kids who wanted to stay inside, and Snape noted that Harry stuck by Mrs. Ginger's side. Was he so starved for the attention the motherly woman gave him? The other children didn't stay by her at all, but then again, they lived with her year round.

That night Harry did have nightmares, and woke himself and took himself down to the kitchen so he wouldn't wake the other boys in his room. He fell asleep on the couch in the living room, which is where Snape found him the next morning, though he made no comment because he had heard Harry waking from a nightmare the night before.

It was Sunday, and everyone ate breakfast and packed their bags. Every child had to spend five minutes in every room sweeping, mopping, picking up trash and cleaning walls and windows, even if the room they were in had already been cleaned. At nine thirty, they took their three portkeys back to the orphanage on Knockturn Alley, a smile on every child's face, including Harry's.

Harry smiled. It was perfect. He knew from reading months of the Lighthouse that ads like this were perfectly normal. In fact, there was an ad several spots down proclaiming, ‘Werewolf needs suitable suits and robes for gainful employment. Send donations to the Lighthouse.' There was no need for all the details.

Last week there had been a mysterious ad that Harry had yet to fully decipher, but he was certain it was in code and calling on people to help a runaway Fae child. To him, the advertisement section was the best part of the entire newsletter. And now his call for help for Sirius was there amongst the others. Harry would have to send Hedwig with payment to Bellamy before dinner for his ad.

He scanned the pile of letters for anything from Silver but there was nothing. There was however a request from Ollivander to put in even more shelves, as he was going to be putting out a new line of wands with special cores, and a request from Basil and Bennet for Harry to come work the back to school rush for at least two days this week, and to stay late one of the days to help restock shelves. Bennet promised it was important work he needed to do to understand, and said he would learn invaluable lessons from it. Harry snorted, certain they just wanted help with the heavy books. But he had promised to work until he couldn't any longer due to school, so he'd ask Snape if he could take him tomorrow. If he worked Monday and Tuesday, he might have time Wednesday or Thursday to get his school things.

The last letter was from the Nimbus Racing Broom Company, and Harry opened it, wondering what they could want from him. He owned it, but they were located in Machester, a city Harry had never been to before. He'd had no communications with them at all since he'd found out about owning it.

‘Dear Mr. Potter, as you are aware we recently came out with the Firebolt, our most popular racing broom to date. Since you have recently become aware of your ownership of our business, it falls to you to make final decisions regarding future brooms and manufacturing practices. Would you prefer to come to the factory in Manchester to discuss future brooms, or continue working from your residence?

With best regards,

- Alban Herbert Dodsworth, Manager Of Operations, Nimbus Racing Broom Company'

Harry wanted more than anything to see how brooms were made at the Nimbus Racing Broom Company, and thought Ron and Justin would like to see as well, but his eyes roved over the other letters scattered over his bed. He would never have time to work, get supplies, pay Bellamy and visit the broom company. With a sigh he grabbed a fresh piece of parchment and a quill and tried to write in his best handwriting and most adult sounding words, ‘Regrettably I will have to visit another time. Please continue to correspond with me at Hogwarts.'

Harry read it over twice, and then a third time, and decided he couldn't sound more adult than that, and took it and a note of thanks to Bellamy with some coins to the owlery to send them off.

When he came back to the quarters to ask Severus if he could take him to Diagonalley, the man seemed to have vanished. He also didn't appear at dinner that night, and Harry wondered if he had left the castle altogether.

The next morning after a fitful sleep, Harry found Severus at his desk going over a large pile of papers. It seemed he had more in a black file-folder briefcase beside his desk in the living room.

"Sir?"

"What is it Potter?" he asked, not looking up from the papers he was marking up.

"They need me at Flourish and Blotts for the next two days. For the back to school rush," he added when Snape didn't respond.

"I'm busy. So is the Headmaster. I only have a few days left before the term starts to finish grading ruberiks, get the Slytherin common room ready, and attend over a dozen staff meetings." He sighed and looked at his watch. "One of which is in twenty minutes." He muttered something unfriendly about the Headmaster and overscheduling that Harry couldn't quite make out, and then stood up to leave, papers still stacked on the desk.

"Is that a no sir?" Harry asked.

Severus gave him a sharp look.

"You have spent the better part of the summer getting yourself to work and legal appointments. You appear to be old enough to take the floo on your own."

Harry eyed the man's living room fireplace warily and wondered how he was supposed to get through it. He supposed if he crawled...

"There is a floo connected to the network in the Headmaster's office and in the Great Hall. You have my permission to come and go by it if you return by six tonight. Say the password before stepping into it, and before stepping into it to return. You will have to floo into the Leaky Cauldron unless you have permission from some other business to use their floo."

He turned to put on his robes and then turned back to Harry, as though he'd forgotten to tell him something. "You must put a knut in the pot on top of the floo in the Leaky Cauldron whenever you exit or enter it to pay for the service of using it. Do you have coins with you?"

Harry shook his head and Snape walked back to his desk and pulled open the top drawer. He withdrew two knuts and dropped them into Harry's hand. "The password for the Great Hall floo is ‘Caldus'. The address to reach Hogwarts is, ‘Great Hall Staff Lounge, Hogwarts.'"

He swept to the door and as he opened it and hurried out he called behind him, "I will be very displeased if you do not return by six Potter!" And then he was gone.

Harry stared after him, stunned, and then looked down to the two knuts in his hand. Never in a million years had the thought Snape would give him money. It was only two Knuts, but he had half expected the man to rant about him having Galleons coming out his ears, but being too stupid to have money for the floo network.

"Great Hall Staff Lounge Hogwarts, Caldus," Harry repeated to himself as he went back to his room to pull his trainers on.

Harry repeated the information Snape had told him several more times as he made his way to the Great Hall a few minutes later. The Great Hall was empty and Harry made his way up onto the platform with the head table and went for the door behind it. It felt wrong going into the staff room. He'd never been inside before. Just as he reached for the door handle, the door opened of it's own accord and Harry sucked in a breath, ready for Filch or another teacher to yell at him for going out of bounds.

"Oh, Potter, you startled me." It was Professor McGonagall.

"Maam," Harry said.

"Is something the matter?" she asked hurriedly. "You look as though you've seen a ghost."

He motioned lamely to the door behind her. "Professor Snape gave me permission to use the floo to get to work on Diagon. He didn't have time to take me today."

"Of course," she said, as though there was no question Harry was telling the truth at all. "The powder is on the mantle. I assume he told you the password and school floo address?"

"Great Hall Staff Lounge Hogwarts, Caldus," Harry repeated again.

"Say the password first," she advised. "Caldus, Great Hall Staff Lounge Hogwarts."

"Thank you," he told her.

"I would stay to help you but I'm late to the staff meeting. I just came back from seeing a friend in Leicester."

She hurried off and Harry watched her go as he'd watched Snape hurry off fifteen minutes before. Harry pushed the door open, expecting a posh room and found a room much more ordinary. It was almost like a common room for the teachers, he thought. There was a large fireplace big enough to step into, four plush chairs around a small low table, a door Harry could only assume led to a bathroom, two couches and a table with several pastries and a pot of coffee. Harry hadn't eaten breakfast and dearly wanted to snag one of those pastries, but decided he felt like he was trespassing enough to not add thief to his wrongdoings as well. He grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. "Caldus, The Leaky Cauldron London," he said, and stepped into the fire, only to disappear in a poof of smoke and green flame.

Harry was happy to find himself whole and in one piece on the other side. He really hated using the floo. He brushed the soot off his shirt and pants and remembered to stick a knut in the pot on the mantle above the floo in the Leaky Cauldron before he headed out to the alley.

Basil and Bennet were more than happy to see Harry when he walked in a few minutes later. It was early but there was already a line of shoppers at the register waiting to be rung up.

"Second register Harry!" Bennet called, pointing to another register a few feet away from him.

Harry nodded and nervously went to the second register. The brothers had shown him how to ring items up and count back change, but he'd never done it by himself before.

A girl and her mother came up with a stack of used Hogwarts textbooks. He could tell they were used by the black marker slash near the name on the spine.

"Use the chart, Basil said, coming up behind him. Used books are 40% off full price."

The Flourish brothers had a color coded system for book prices. A charmed marker was used on the spine of each book. A red slashed book was ten Sickles. A blue slash was fifteen, a green slash was a Galleon, and a purple slash meant the price was open for bargaining. Harry had needed to familiarize himself with the colors earlier in the summer as he had been forced to consult charts and mark many of these books himself. The first book had two green slashes and a red slash, so it was two Galleons and ten Sickles. Harry consulted the chart and found the discount price and rang it up on the ancient register with round numbered buttons, pressing the plus button to add each new book to the total. When he was finished he told the woman, "Eight Galleons please."

She handed him the coins and he bagged the books in a brown paper sack charmed to make the load lighter, and handed the books and receipt that popped out of the register to her.

"Have a nice day," he told her, and the next customer came up.

With Harry helping to ring people up, they got through the long line quickly, and Basil pulled Harry away once the line was more manageable to put more books onto the shelves to replace the ones bought earlier that day.

"If you see the line reaching the door, pull the box of books you're working with back behind the counter and hit the second register until the line shortens. Got it?"

Harry nodded and went to work shelving the heavy books. He could tell which ones he had marked earlier that summer because his colored marker lines were quick and thin, and Bennet's were thick and heavy. Basil didn't have a steady hand, and his lines were wobbly.

He went back and forth between the register and stocking shelves all day, and by lunch was feeling weak and tired. He wished he'd taken a pastry from the staff room more and more as the day progressed.

"Lunch," Basil called, motioning Harry into the upstairs room where the office and excess book storage was.

"Eat here, you have twenty minutes, then you have to go back to the floor so Bennet can have his break."

Harry looked around and saw a huge box of pastries and another box with sandwiches. There was a pitcher of water and another pitcher of iced tea.

"I haven't got any lunch," Harry said, eyeing the items.

"This is for the three of us," Basil said. "The week before school starts, and in the two weeks leading up to Christmas we order in so we don't have to go out because we don't have time. Have whatever you want. Twenty minutes," he reminded Harry, and hurried down the stairs to start working the second register. Harry grabbed a big donut and leaned over the rail looking down to the store below as he ate. He had already seen several classmates and had even rung some of them up, but it looked to be mostly first years in the store at the moment. Harry ate a sandwich and a half and drank a big cup of water before he hurried downstairs and told Bennet he was done with his break. Harry took over his register and Bennet disappeared up the stairs.

The store was open until five thirty this week since it was the back to school rush, and Harry was wiped out and ready for bed by the time it closed.

"That was brutal," Bennet said, flopping into a chair at one of the desks upstairs.

"I have to be back by six tonight," Harry told them.

"But you're staying late tomorrow?"

"How late?" Harry asked.

"Nine at least. Maybe ten. We have a big shipment of merchandise coming in after closing and we have to mark it, add it to the inventory, and stock the shelves."

"I'll ask for permission," Harry said.

"Did you come in by floo?" Basil asked as Harry turned to go back downstairs to head to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Yeah."

"Use ours. You can come into ours tomorrow too. "The password is Liber Amans, the location is Flourish And Blotts."

Harry stared up at the ceiling, trying to work over the Latin words in his head. They didn't outright teach Latin at Hogwarts, but because a lot of the spells were in Latin students picked up a working knowledge of it. "Book lover?" Harry asked. Basil smiled.

"Come as early as you can," he said.

Harry thanked them and moved for the mantle, which was half hidden by stacks of boxes holding books. He turned though and asked, "Do you want a knut for using the floo?"

Bennet waved him away. "Staff use only, so it's free."

Harry thanked them again and floo'd back to Hogwarts, whispering the password under his breath and hoping that would work. It did, and a moment later he came out of the floo in the staff lounge behind the Great Hall. This time it wasn't empty, and he stared at a startled Professor Flitwick.

"Back from work Mr. Potter?"

"Er, yes sir," he told the tiny man, who was dipping a biscuit in his coffee.

"Did you have a pastry this morning on your way through?"

"No sir, I swear. I didn't steal any."

Flitwick laughed. "If you're passing through for work you might as well have a pastry. It's not like the elves can't replace them."

"Thank you sir," Harry said. "Good evening." He moved for the door, but Flitwick stopped him with a question.

"Busy day with all the students getting books?"

"Very busy," Harry said, and was surprised when Flitwick motioned him to one of the empty chairs in front of the mantle.

Harry sat down, unsure of what the man wanted. Usually the only times he had interactions with staff where he was asked to sit with them was to discuss poor grades, or get in trouble and be chastised. Flitwick didn't seem in a sour mood though, so Harry tried to relax.

"What is it you do there for them?"

Harry described what he'd done all summer, some of the things he had learned, and how he had spent the day restocking inventory and running the register.

"Do you find it to be interesting?"

"Some of it," he said. "Mostly it's a lot of hard work. I got a twenty minute break today, that was all. Tomorrow I have to go until nine or ten at night. There's a big shipment coming in and we have to take care of it before we leave."

Harry expected the Charms Professor to ask him more about work, but instead he redirected his line of questioning and asked, "Do you like living with Professor Snape?"

"Erm-"

"I won't tell him what you say," Flitwick reassured him.

"It's different than I'm used to," Harry said. "Not- bad, just different."

"I see. But do you like it?" he pressed.

Harry shrugged and looked down. "It's where I have to be if I wanna stay at Hogwarts. Professor Snape has been ok I guess. He gave me two Knuts this morning to use the floo, and got me new glasses. And we went on holiday over the weekend with the orphanage kids."

"You did?" Flitwick asked.

"Yeah, Snape had to chaperone so they'd have enough adults, becuase there's like twenty kids, plus me. We went to the beach and stayed in a big house, and then Professor Snape took all the older kids to a Falcons game." Harry's face lit up at the memory. "I thought Quidditch couldn't be more exciting, but it was so different than other games."

Flitwick changed his line of questioning again and asked Harry about the upcoming term and then told him he should get some dinner before it got too late. Harry told him good night and left the staff lounge, feeling oddly satisfied. He wasn't used to adults asking about his day or how he liked where he lived, aside from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley on the rare occasion he saw them, and Dumbledore very recently, though he was still trying to get used to that.

It was six fifteen when he got back to the dungeons.

"How long have you been in the castle?" Snape asked, though he didn't look up from the stack of papers. It was the same stack he'd been working on that morning when Harry had last seen him.

"Twenty minutes to six," Harry said. "Professor Flitwick stopped me to talk in the staff lounge."

"Did you eat dinner yet?" he checked several boxes on his parchment and flipped the page over to work on the next.

"Just a biscuit Professor Flitwick gave me."

"Tap the dinner table with your wand to get the elves to send dinner then."

Harry didn't head for the kitchen immediately and when Snape sensed this he paused in his work and looked up at Harry. "Sir, I'm supposed to stay late at work tomorrow. There's a shipment of books coming in they want me to work on. They said until nine or ten. They let me use their floo and said I could use it again tomorrow." Here Harry dug the second Knut out of his pocket and handed it back to Snape, but the man didn't take it.

"Keep it with you in case you have need of it for the floo in the future." He went back to his stack of papers. "You may stay until ten. If I decide to come check up on you tomorrow at any given time, I expect you to be where you have promised you will be."

"Yes sir. We might be upstairs in the office if you come after hours or during lunch time."

Snape waved him away in dismissal and Harry ate a quick dinner and then collapsed onto his bed, arms aching from carrying heavy books all day, and mind tired from the long day at work.

* * *

The next day Harry eyed the table of pastries again as he made his way through the staff room to the floo. Professor Flitwick had said he could take one, so he darted across the room and snagged a flaky pastry with white filling and raspberry jam spilling out the ends. He ate half and then stepped into the floo, glad when he reappeared upstairs in Flourish and Blotts that his remaining pastry hadn't been singed. He scarfed it down and licked his fingers clean before heading down the stairs to start work.

Work was exhausting just like the previous day, but the difference was when the shop closed at five thirty, their work was just beginning. They didn't break for dinner right away as Basil and Bennet had to sign for almost forty huge boxes of books, and they had to wheel them into the shop where they'd be safe. It was almost seven when that task was accomplished and a gangly teen wizard, probably newly graduated from Hogwarts, showed up at the door with bags of Muggle takeout.

Harry signed for the delivery and handed the payment in Sickles and Knuts to the delivery guy, and brought the food upstairs. It was fried rice, dumplings with meat, and spicy soup. Harry had had his fill at lunch of sandwiches, but he was starving now and ate until his stomach was fit to burst.

"Was work hard today?" Bennet asked as Harry finished eating.

"Yeah," and he eyed some of the boxes over the railing downstairs they had yet to even dig into.

"Was there anything you looked forward to all day?" Bennet asked.

"Uh, going to sleep tonight," Harry said, and Basil snorted. "And lunch and dinner," he said.

"Best guess why we feed the employees when hours are long and work is harder than normal," Bennet instructed Harry, and suddenly Harry knew why.

"Makes work seem less like work if there's something to look forward to," Harry said. "At school they keep the staff room stocked with coffee, tea, pastries and biscuits."

Basil nodded. "Seems about right. Some places give extra pay to employees who have to work longer hours, or bonus pay when holidays are coming up. Others give awards for the hardest working employees. We've never done it, but I've heard of big companies doing a yearly party or get together, especially after a busy season or a big push to get a product out or sold. Happy workers are good workers."

Harry thought that made a lot of sense.

"Now happy workers," Bennet said, "we have boxes of books to open, inventory, mark and shelve."

"I'll take inventory," Basil said. "Bennet, you can mark them, Harry, you take boxes of books we're finished with and shelve them. If a box is too heavy let us know and we'll levitate it for you."

Harry opened a few boxes and then waited as Basil did a quick inventory and Bennet set to work marking them. As soon as the first box was done (Herbology text books for first year), he got low against the box and used his body weight to push the huge thing to the far end of the shop near the entrance to Knockturn and began shelving books. Harry was barely finished when Bennet was calling out that a book of Defense texts was done and Harry pushed his empty box aside to hurry to get the next one.

Harry's back and arms were aching, but the mood was light as the brothers joked and laughed. Basil finished the inventory after only half an hour and sat in the center of the floor next to Bennet to mark books. They asked Harry things occasionally about life at school or his friends, and also about his recent holiday to the beach, and Harry was glad his mind was being kept busy as he worked. His mind was kept so busy in fact that he hadn't looked at his watch at all, and realized it was nearing midnight when they had finished. His stomach fell when he realized how late it was.

"What's wrong?" Bennet asked, seeing the look on his face.

"Snape is going to kill me. I'm dead. I was supposed to be back at ten."

"He came by at ten fifteen and peeked in the door, saw you working, nodded at us and left."

"No no no no," Harry said, feeling panicky. "He's gonna make me pay for making him come find me. He said he would."

"If he wanted you home that bad he would have taken you at ten," Basil said. "Do you want me to come back to the castle with you?"

Harry did want him to come back. Snape might not murder him if he had someone with him, but then Harry realized he was supposed to be a business man, not a scared child. Podmore's little lessons came flooding back to him. He straightened up and said, "No, I'll handle it. Thank you. I should have been more responsible with keeping an eye on the time."

Basil looked at Bennet and said, "Where did our little Harry go?"

"He's all grown up," Bennet teased, and Harry's cheeks turned red.

"Before you go, we have something for you," Bennet said, "though if you want to come back another day and collect it, I understand since you're already late."

"What is it?"

"You've worked hard without pay this summer, and you've done well. I was skeptical about taking on a twelve or thirteen year old, but I don't think I could have worked harder myself than you have. We want you to pick out twenty books and they're yours. Any twenty. Even your school books if you want."

Harry stared at them, mouth open. "I really want some of the books. Will you be offended if I let my friends have a few?"

"It's your payment, you can do whatever you want with it and we won't be offended."

"Can I come back later this week to pick out my books?"

"Of course."

Harry turned circles in the midst of the forty empty boxes and finally found what he was looking for. He grabbed a scrap of parchment and a pen from the counter and scribbled something down, then handed it to Bennet.

"Hermione Granger four books, Ginny Weasley two books, Ron Weasley one book, Justin FinchFletchy one book."

"Wait, I forgot one," Harry said, and Bennet gave him the parchment back. "My friend Bellamy at the Lighthouse. He can't come out in the day, but if you could owl him that he can pick any two books free, maybe you could send the books by owl. Would that be ok? Then my friends get ten books and I get ten books."

"You sure?" Bennet asked.

"Yeah, when Hermione comes in and you tell her she can pick four free books, I think she might cry. You should see how many she checks out from the library every year."

"Good man," Basil said, slapping Harry on the back. "Spreading the spirit of liber amans everywhere. Now it's four minutes to twelve and you'd better get going or Snape will kill us."

"Maybe I should have offered him a free book," Harry said as he thanked the brothers and rushed up the stairs to use the floo.

He was out of breath when he stepped through into the staff lounge a minute later. Professor McGonagall was sitting by the fire with a tartan blanket wrapped around her shoulders, reading a book and sipping a cup of tea.

"Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder."

"Maam?"

"Severus said you were working late. I was waiting up for you."

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I didn't realize the time and we didn't finish until twenty minutes ago."

She waved him away. "He said when he checked in on you you were working hard pushing large boxes across the shop. You must be tired. You left before eight this morning didn't you?"

"Yes Professor."

"Did you get to eat?"

"Uh, Professor Flitwick said I could have a pastry from the table, and at lunch I had a couple sandwiches. They brought in Chinese takeout for dinner."

"Do you want a snack before bed?"

"No thank you," he said. "Professor Snape is gonna be upset if I don't hurry back."

She gave him a knowing smile.

"Are you done working for the week then? Since the start of term is Friday?"

"I think so," he said. "I think most of the school came through to buy their books the last two days."

She didn't ask him to take a seat like Flitwick had, but she did ask if he wanted a cup of tea, which he declined, anxious to get back to the dungeon quarters. "One last question, only out of curiosity Harry," she said. "What did they pay you this summer? I understand you worked for them several days a week."

"Knowledge," Harry said. "I got to learn how to run a bookstore." She smiled, and then Harry remembered the books he'd just been offered. "Oh! And books," he said. "Twenty books, only I told them to give some to my friends. Hermione's gonna lose her mind when they tell her she can pick free books." He laughed and she smiled at him and bade him goodnight.

Harry ran down the stairs to the dungeons and practically flew through the halls. He was hoping to avoid Filch and was happy he didn't see the man or his cat or get stopped by any other Professors who might be out this late.

He was surprised when he didn't find Snape waiting up for him in the living room waiting to tell him off. He went into the kitchen but it was empty aside from a plate of food with a heating charm at his spot at the table. What was going on? Where was the yelling and the punishing and the recriminations?

Harry looked back into the darkened living room to be sure Snape wasn't hiding in a dark corner and then went down the hall to the bathroom to get ready for bed. What an odd night. He'd been surprised to find McGonagall waiting up for him (and he really felt bad that he'd made her stay up this late), but he was floored that Snape wasn't waiting with a long list of nasty names and accusations for him. He would have bet a hundred Galleons the man had worked himself into a fury. But all was silent in the dungeon quarters.

Harry checked his room twice to be sure the man wasn't hiding in a corner with a charm to make him invisible, and then finally fell face first onto his bed, shoes still on and on top of his covers. Harry wanted to think more on it, and on McGonagall, and even on Flitwick from the night before, but he was too tired, and was asleep before he could even try.

* * *

Harry woke to empty quarters. Snape was out for the day again it seemed. Perhaps he was saving up all his yelling for later that evening. Harry would really rather get it all over with. But the moment he stepped out into the living room, his heart stopped beating. For a breath, two breaths. Oh no. Why were there broom boxes piled by the hearth?

There was a parchment taped to the top box and Harry stepped forward to look at it, hands trembling. ‘Mr. Potter, here are the potential future line of brooms to be sold by the company. No need to send them back. We would like your input and commentary on changes you wish to be made, as well as which brooms, styles and names you would prefer. We have included a survey, but feel free to add your own commentary where desired. Please respond at your own convenience.'

Five brand new racing brooms. No, twelve. Thirteen? This, Snape would kill him for.

* * *

Severus sipped his mug of coffee as he made his way back to his quarters. He needed to get Potter up before it was too late in the day. The boy had worked late, (according to Minerva until almost midnight), but this was the only day Severus could take him to get his school things and clothes, and the train and start of year feast was Friday. It was Wednesday and this had to be the day they went.

He unlocked the door to his quarters with the password and opened the door to find Potter sitting on the living room floor in the midst of several long white boxes. At first Severus wondered if the Flourish brothers had sent work home with him, but his eyes narrowed when he saw an open box on the top with the end of a broom sticking out.

His eyes found Harry, who was frozen, eyes glued to him.

"I'm not keeping them all sir honest." When Severus didn't answer, Potter launched himself into an explanation, words almost frenetic as he hurried to get them all out. "The broom company wanted my input. They asked me to come to the factory but I didn't have time. I didn't know they were going to send all these brooms. I would never clutter up your living room sir, I promise. I'll send them all back. I just can't stash them in the common room or the other boys will go crazy and I'll never get them back." He finally took in a huge breath as it seemed he had run out of air, and stared wide eyed at his Potions Professor.

Severus strode forward to look at the broom in the top box. It was wrapped in white paper, though Harry had already pulled the paper away when he'd opened it to look inside. The broom was sleek and had a black handle and twigs. "Really Potter? The Potter 2000?" he read the golden lettering down the handle. "You had them name a broom after you?"

Harry shook his head mutely.

"No? What's the S7 on the handle?" he asked warily.

"Uh... it's my number on the field sir. Seeker 7."

"I thought you said you were returning them all?"

"Well, I think they were hoping I'd approve that one since they put my name on it and keep it for free advertising."

"I see," he said. The boy looked anxious enough to be sick, and Severus wondered if he was just tired from the night before or if he was going to pass out right there.

"You need to get dressed. We need to go to Diagonalley and out to Muggle London as well."

"Sir, please don't yell at Basil and Bennet. It was my fault I wasn't paying attention to the time and-" Snape held up his hand and Harry bit his lip to keep quiet.

"While I am displeased that you failed to return on time, or notify me that you would be later than expected, I understand that it can be easy to become consumed in your work. See that it does not happen again."

"Yes sir." Harry deflated, almost visibly as though he was a punctured balloon.

"When you did not return at the appointed time, I went to Diagonalley and found you hard at work. Given that you were being supervised and looked far from finished for the night, I allowed you to stay."

Harry swallowed, waiting for the rest, but there was nothing more forthcoming.

"I need to see what clothing you have before we leave."

"Sir?"

He motioned towards the hall leading to the bedrooms and bathroom and Harry led the way feeling awkward. He opened his trunk and the wardrobe and stood back. Maybe the man was checking for contraband or looking for expensive clothes to put him down for. Podmore had always accused him of spending ‘willy nilly' and Snape had done as much suggesting he had asked for ‘too nice' of things from the Headmaster.

"You'll need another sweat jacket, and a warm winter coat. Gloves, a hat. Socks and underwear, school robes and uniform, pajamas, pants and shirts." He looked around the floor to see what shoes Harry had and spied his dress shoes for going to court and the sandals the Headmaster had bought him for holiday. The only other shoes Harry had were a pair of worn out trainers he wore every day. "New shoes as well," he said. "Where are your dragonhide gloves for Potions?"

Harry dug through his trunk and came out with the pair he'd bought in first year. They were scorched in a few places and the thread was coming undone on several fingers.

"A new pair of dragonhide gloves as well. I would be seen as negligent if I let my ward burn his fingers in Potions."

Snape waved for Harry to follow him out of the room. Harry grabbed his trainers and struggled to put them on as he walked and hopped after Snape. "You can clean the brooms up when we get back. It's already ten and we will need to hurry if we are to get everything today. I do not have time to take you shopping for school items tomorrow."

Harry was stunned, and didn't know why he hadn't realized until that moment that Snape meant to take him shopping. "Yes sir," he said, trying not to stare and look stupid.

They used the floo to get to the Leaky Cauldron and made quick work of getting the items on Harry's shopping list from the apothecary and Madam Malkins. When they got to Flourish and Blotts Harry said, "Sir, I need a few extra minutes to pick out my books."

"You don't have the location of your school texts memorized by now?" Snape asked, brows raised.

"Erm, for payment I get to pick out ten extra books... for working all summer and staying late. It's a bonus."

"I see." He looked at his watch. "Twenty minutes. Anything beyond that and you will have to return tomorrow on your own."

Harry practically skipped across the shop to the Quidditch section and began browsing books. He was back in twenty minutes with his ten books and the stack of school textbooks.

"Got your books all picked out?" Basil asked with a grin and Harry nodded. "Been busy. Have half a mind to snag you to run the register, but I expect you need a day to get your school things yourself or you'll end up at school with nothing to write with."

Harry grinned. "Some years I do end up at school with nothing to write with. My friends let me borrow their things."

"Ah, so that's why you're giving half your books away. Justin came in earlier and picked his out, and we sent an owl off to Belamy this morning and a catalogue of what we have in stock or can get for him."

Harry grinned as they rang him up for his school texts and then as Snape came over and paid for the schoolbooks.

"See you over the holidays," Bennet called as Harry and Snape headed for the door, and Harry turned back to flash both brothers a smile.

"Where would you prefer to get your stationary items?" Severus asked.

"Magic Mart," Harry said. "They brought in a new line of Muggle notebooks and pens to bring customers in. They have quills and ink too."

"I need to go back to the apothecary for something I forgot. I will find you at Magic Mart in twenty minutes."

"Yes sir."

They split up and Harry headed for Knockturn, happy to see that there were several families coming from it with bags from Ollivander's, Magic Mart and Tilly's shop.

He had barely stepped two feet down Knocturn Alley when someone grabbed his shoulder and hauled him backwards.

"Harry James Potter!" Mrs. Weasley scolded him, and Harry wheeled around to find her along with Ron and his siblings. "I'm surprised at you!"

"Mrs. Weasley?" he frowned in question.

"You know better than to go down Knockturn Alley young man. With what happened last summer when you came out the wrong fireplace, I thought you would have learned your lesson. That is no place for a reputable young man to find himself for any reason."

Harry wanted to laugh, and struggled not to, but in the end the laugh escaped anyway. Ron gave him a wide eyed look from behind his mother and shook his head ‘no' to warn him off from laughing, but Harry said, "It's ok Mrs. Weasley. Knocturn is all right."

"I may not be your mother Harry, but Lily would be upset with me if I didn't discourage you from making poor choices."

"No, I mean, the alley has changed." Harry motioned behind him with his hand and just then several small children ran out of the alley giggling with large puffs of light blue and pink candy floss. Mrs. Weasley's eyes travelled up to the white flower baskets hanging on the walls and spilling over with pink and purple flowers and green vines, and then back down as a father and daughter stepped down the alley together. Harry spied a bright pink coupon for Tilly's shop in the little girl's hand. It was promising candy floss or a bag of gummy snakes.

Harry took Mrs. Weasley's hand and she looked down to see who the hand belonged to, and let her eyes follow up the arm until she met Harry's green eyes.

"It's not dark and dangerous anymore," Harry said leading her towards the alley. "I don't think it ever really was. It just needed some love and attention and so did the people who work here. It's ok, come on. I'll show you."

She was so stunned that Harry had taken her hand at all that she let him lead her down the alley.

Mr. Weasley came up behind them then and ran into Severus, though he didn't notice him there. "But how-" Mr. Weasley asked, just as stunned as his wife at how bright and clean the alley looked.

After Severus cleared his throat behind him, Mr. Weasley turned and saw him. "Harry did it," Severus said.

"Harry did this?" he asked. "A- all of it?"

Snape crossed his arms. "Like all Potters he is a pest. Persistent and annoyingly stubborn. However-" he paused and Arthur raised his brows, uncertain if what was coming would be an insult or not. He knew how Severus felt about Harry and how he'd felt about James. "-it seems to have worked out in everyone's favor this time."

Arthur smiled. "Yes, it seems it has," he said. They watched as several more children ran out of the alley with pale pink candy floss. "You know," Arthur said, "I remember coming here as a boy to buy food from Magic Mart with my parents. The alley was in decline but not as bad as it's been the last fifteen years. This looks far better than I remember."

"Apparently Harry's rash decision making and over spending has fixed the issue."

Arthur smiled again and said, "I heard you took him Severus... after the hearing didn't go his way."

"Because I am as rash as he is."

"Seems to have worked out though," Arthur said, reflecting the dark eyed man's earlier statement. When Severus didn't say anything, Arthur chuckled and walked down the alley to find his family. Severus waited several moments before he followed, certain he would find Potter dawdling and not getting his supplies now that his friends were there.

"I just can't believe it," Mrs. Weasley was saying as she sat in a chair in the courtyard at the end, looking around at the flowers in the multitude of hanging baskets. Arthur had just joined her. "And the orphanage... it's never looked this good. Not even when I was younger."

Severus ignored the couple oggling the new state of the alley to go into Magic Mart. Harry was with his friends, but they were in the new stationary aisle.

"Whatever you want," Harry was telling them, "I'll get it. I have an account."

"Are you sure Harry?" Ron asked, as if he was crazy.

"Just put it in a basket. Get all your paper and pens."

"I believe you have been warned about your overspending before Mr. Potter," Severus said, leaning against the end of the aisle with his arms crossed.

"I didn't mean for you to have to pay for it sir. I have an account with them. It'll come out of my personal funds."

"I am not allowed to tell you how to spend your funds from your personal account. I am however allowed to encourage you not to empty your account in one day."

"I won't sir, I promise," he said, and tried to draw his friend's attention away from the strange exchange they'd just witnessed between Harry and their least favorite professor.

"Well I'm getting some red pens then if Harry's buying," Ron said, and threw a pack of red Muggle pens into the basket his sister had picked up. Several boxes of pens in different colors, Muggle lined notebooks in a variety of colors, and enough bottles of ink and packs of new quills followed into the basket to last the Weasley twins, Ron and Ginny to the end of the year. Severus noted Harry had already put several notebooks in shades of blue and black into his own basket, as well as boxes of muggle pens and pencils, and bottles of ink and a new quill set.

When Mrs. Weasley came in a minute later and saw the basket full to the brim of supplies her children were carrying she clucked her tongue at them. "You know that's too much. We can re-trim your quills from last year and I'm planning on making new ink tonight."

"But Mum," Fred whined slightly. "Harry's buying."

"It's ok Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, "I got it."

"Harry dear, it's too much."

"I promise it's not. Let me get it this time."

Harry was greeted by Munroe McGlaggen at the counter, smiling from ear to ear. "Business is booming Harry!" he shouted and laughed. "Never thought I'd see it this busy again! More and more customers each day and did you see the piece the Prophet wrote about the new tea shop across the courtyard? Curious witches have been flooing directly into that shop for the last week just to peek through the windows to see what's out in the courtyard!" He laughed as he began ringing the two baskets up. "Coupons have worked miracles, especially at Tilly's. Old woman has been laughing non-stop for almost two weeks. Her coupons have been bringing so many people in I made more and paid for them myself! Might just have to keep handing them out all year!"

"Coupons?" Ron asked his mother. "What's that?"

In response Munroe pulled out five pink coupons and handed them to Harry's friends. "Take them next door to Tantalizing Sweets and she'll give you something sweet for free!"

"On your account Harry?" he asked a minute later, and Harry nodded, but Snape stepped in and said, "not this basket," motioning to Harry's own school supplies. Albus had been clear that all of Harry's items were to come out of a set of funds he'd given Severus access to.

"We must still go to get clothing," Snape told Harry as they exited Magic Mart.

Harry nodded and turned to his friends. "We have to go out into Muggle London, but I'll see you on the train. Did you go to Flourish and Blotts yet?"

"Yeah!" Ron said happily, "they gave me and Ginny free books! Imagine! It's like we won the lottery twice since we got to go to Egypt for free this summer too!"

Harry grinned at Ron and gave him a thumbs up and then followed Snape out through Double Lane into Muggle London.

Snape knew of a different clothing store than the one Dumbledore had taken him to, and directed Harry to get a certain number of shirts, pairs of pants, pajama bottoms, and other things to fill out his wardrobe. He followed Harry around as he put things in a basket, but said nothing aside from to comment things occasionally like, "pick a warmer coat," or, "those gloves will not keep your hands free of frostbite."

By the end of their shopping trip when they returned to Hogwarts through the floo in the Leaky Cauldron, arms full of bags with books, clothes, robes and supplies, Harry was overtired and ready for a nap, though it was dinner time.

"Put your things away," Snape said. "You can pack them into your trunk tomorrow if you wish."

"Yes sir. Thank you for taking me."

Severus nodded and went to make himself a strong cup of tea. He'd expected the day to be exhausting and trying. While it had been a tiresome day navigating the crowds on the alleys and then out in Muggle London, it wasn't as bad as he had expected it to be. He had expected Potter to gravitate towards the most expensive supplies and clothes, but he hadn't. He didn't even consider the best robes Madam Malkin's had to offer, or the most expensive supplies McGlaggen had on the shelves at Magic Mart. He didn't put the most expensive third year potions kit into his basket at the apothecary, and he gravitated towards the thinnest coats and gloves on offer in the clothing store, making Severus have to prompt him repeatedly to make warmer choices.

Perhaps the Headmaster had not been exaggerating about taking Potter to the Quidditch Expo. The more time he spent around the boy, the more unassuming Potter seemed to be. The only time the boy tended to spend a lot of money was when his friends were involved, or the orphanage needed something, or he was repairing buildings or making changes to the alleys. Case in point, the twice yearly holiday outings he was now funding for the orphanage. He hadn't even suggested planning one for himself.

Severus drank his tea and thought on it for almost half an hour before he went to call Potter to remind him to eat. Potter was asleep on top of his blanket again though, wearing one of his new shirts and new pairs of dark gray pajama bottoms. He would eat later if he woke up hungry, Severus told himself, and left the Gryffindor there to his nap, knowinig how little sleep the boy got on a nightly basis.

"Professor?"

"Good afternoon Potter. I assume you're heading out to the alleys one last time?"

"I don't have permission yet. Professor Snape was busy this morning and I haven't seen Professor Dumbledore."

"I see, and you were hoping I would give you permission?"

Harry nodded and she smiled, motioning for Harry to follow her through the door to the staff room. "As it so happens I need to pick up a few last minute packages in London. I can take you through to Diagonalley if you want. Tinky!"

A small houseelf appeared, looking anxious to serve her.

"I'm taking Harry with me to London to run some errands. Please inform Severus that we will be back by the staff meeting this evening."

The elf bowed and disappeared with a pop.

"Come along," she said, and led him through the floo.

McGonagall it turned out only had a few things to do on Diagonalley. She told Harry to do as he pleased for about an hour and to meet her by the back of the Leaky Cauldron at two.

Harry had designs on stopping by to ask Silver how it was coming with the house, but thought he could ask by owl, and instead headed down Knockturn to find Tilly.

Tilly's shop had several children pressing their faces against the glass from the outside, and just as Harry approached Justin came out of the shop with a rag and shoo'd them away. "Don't do that, I gotta clean up your face smudges," he chastised, and the children ran past him and into the shop to see what they could buy with the coins in their pockets.

"Hey," Harry said.

"Hey, I have another hour of work before I'm off."

"I can't stay that long today," Harry said. "Came to get some treats from Tilly."

"Well there's lots in there. I've been working late to help her stock up for the trolley for the ride to Hogwarts and she even hired a couple other kids from the orphanage to come help her make things because things have been flying off the shelves like they were charmed to have wings."

Harry laughed. "I'm glad to hear it. You're not selling on the steps of Gringotts anymore then?" he asked.

"No but every morning I go out on Diagon and hand out twenty coupons to people with kids, and every evening I take twenty more and hand them out. McGlaggen said we're responsible for everyone coming into his store because we're bringing them all the way down the alley, and he made a bunch more coupons for us."

"I heard."

"You tell the Flourish's to give me a free book?" he asked as he wiped the smudges off the window.

"They paid me twenty books for helping all summer. I spread some of them around to my friends."

"Thanks," Justin said.

"Yeah," Harry told him. "No problem. You get enough together to get new robes?"

Justin turned and grinned at him. "First new set ever. And Mrs. Ginger took us out and got each of us some new shirts and pants too. Just a few things, but still, I'm the first to ever wear them."

Harry grinned at him. "I only have a few minutes. I'll see you at school or on the train tomorrow."

"See you," Justin said, and Harry pushed the door open and went inside, careful not to get his fingers on the glass Justin had worked so hard to keep clean.

Tilly was behind the counter laughing at something one of the children had said as she handed a bag of sweets across the counter.

"Harry," she called, and motioned him over. "Have you seen the sales ledgers yet?"

"Justin said you've been selling a lot," he told her. "I have a few things to buy too."

She pulled out a bag and Harry picked some things out for the train ride to school and then said, "Do you have a parchment and quill? I was hoping you could start sending a little bag of candy to each kid that's staying at the orphanage over the school year. A little bag each month, and I'll pay for it. Maybe a bigger bag for Christmas."

"What do you want in each bag?"

"Surprise them," Harry said. "A little piece of everything."

"Do you want to open an account, or deduct it from what I owe you for rent and profit shares each month?"

"What's easiest for you?"

"From the rent I suppose."

Harry nodded and she wrote it down. They both read over it and signed it, and then Harry held out his hand for the parchment. "I can take it to Silver."

"I'll owl it to him," she said. "Had enough money this month to buy a little gray owl. I could have bought a hundred of them!" She laughed with glee and Harry nodded. He said goodbye, told her he hoped to stop by around Christmas, and left with his little bag of sweets.

Harry would have liked to have said goodbye to Mrs. Ginger, but it seemed she was out shopping with a few of the new first years from the orphanage, so Harry headed back towards Diagonalley and was just about to head to Fortescues when something solid collided with his back. He found arms wrapped around him from behind and Hermione's muffled voice said hurriedly, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

He grinned and extricated himself from the tangle of her arms and bushy hair. "Yes?" he asked. "Did you get something special at the bookstore?"

"Look at them Harry. I've been wanting them since last year, but they cost so much!" She held out four books, one of which was rather large. One of them was worth several galleons alone.

"What's that one?" he asked. It didn't have a title on the spine. Harry knew a lot of the books in the bookstore now having had to inventory and stock them all summer, but not all of them.

"It's a never-ending journal. The parchment inside will never run out!"

He grinned. "Seems perfect for someone who loves taking notes."

"It is!"

Hermione turned to enthuse with her mother about the journal and other books again, and her father leaned down so only Harry could hear. "I thought something was wrong when we went to pay for her schoolbooks. The shop owner said something to her quietly, then she screamed and went running to the bookshelves." Harry laughed and he continued, "Then a moment later she came back with those four books and the owner told her they were from you."

"I worked there all summer," Harry said. "They paid me in books."

"Better not tell Hermione that," Mr. Granger said and laughed, "or she'll want to work there next summer too."

Harry didn't have more time to talk to his friend however, because he had spotted McGonagall coming out of Twilfitt And Tattings with a package wrapped in brown paper and twine and she was heading towards the Leaky Cauldron. Harry said a hurried goodbye to Hermione and her parents, and speed walked down the alley to catch up with his Head of House.

"Ready Mr. Potter?" she asked, eyeing his small bag of sweets. "Are you quite sure you have enough for the train ride?"

"I can always get more from the trolley," he said, and she nodded in approval.

"I have several stops in Muggle London before we return to the castle."

"Yes maam."

Harry was surprised to find there were hidden wizarding shops across Muggle London. She apparated them to an alley in Croydon where they found a tea shop that carried her favorite teas, and she put in an order to be delivered to her at Hogwarts to last her through Christmas. "The elves serve many kinds of tea," she informed Harry, "but Once Upon A Tea Time makes up blends just the way I like them."

Then she took them to Bexley to a place near the river that carried Transfiguration books, and Transfiguration journals from other countries and far flung places in the world. "An order I placed six months ago has finally come in." She accepted three books and a journal that looked like it might be from China or Korea, and Harry offered to carry them for her.

Finally she apparated them to Redbridge where she picked up another package, this one a new deep green teaching robe. "Professors are given an allowance for teaching robes every year," she said. "I always buy from Twilfitt and Tattings, but if I want something extra special, I come to Knitt Needle And Knott."

Harry didn't own shares in any of the businesses she'd taken him to in Muggle London, and he was surprised to find that some of them served Muggles as well. Perhaps this was what Silver was talking about when he said many businessmen ran businesses in the Muggle world.

It was five when she apparated them back to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and they began the walk back to the castle in the warm afternoon light.

"Professor, are there more wizard businesses in Muggle London?"

"Many more," she said. "Apothecaries, pet supply stores, bookstores specializing in certain types of books, the offices to various publications like some of the Quidditch magazines I'm sure you've read, robe stores for men and women... there's even a day school for students to attend the year before they come to Hogwarts if their parents have enough money for it."

"Like the day school for Fae?" he asked.

"I didn't realize you knew about that. I suppose it is somewhat like the Fae school, except the Fae school teaches magic like at Hogwarts, and the day school in London teaches pre-Hogwarts subjects, like history, basic runes, Latin and essay writing."

In the castle Harry helped her carry her items up to her quarters and then thanked her for taking him to Diagonalley, and then he headed for the Great Hall for dinner. Several of the staff were there eating and talking amongst themselves at the Ravenclaw table, where they ate over the summer.

"Harry, there you are," Dumbledore said, calling him over to sit next to him. "Did you have a good day out?"

"Yes sir. I helped Professor McGonagall with errands."

As Harry put roast chicken and vegetables on his plate, Dumbledore said, "I hear you have become the proud owner of fiteen new brooms." Harry paused and looked up at the old man and found his eyes twinkling. His eyes roved around the table to Professor Flitwick, Madam Hooch and Professor Sinistra and Hagrid.

"Not- exactly," Harry said.

"Oh? Professor Snape says you have so many they're lined up across the living room of your quarters."

Harry tried not to cringe. He still hadn't found a place to store them, and knew Snape must be upset.

"The broom company sent them to review," he said. "I don't want them, but they said not to send them back."

"The school could use some new brooms," Madam Hooch said. "Even experimental ones."

"I think they're mostly the same, but with different colors and names. I haven't even had a chance to test them out yet."

"Well let's get them tested," Hooch said. "We can take them out after dinner."

"Wonderful," said Dumbledore, eyes still twinkling like mad, "I can't wait to hear how the Potter 2000 performs."

Harry turned red as the staff gathered chuckled, but Dumbledore reached over and tossled Harry's already messy hair.

* * *

Harry was still red when he and Madam Hooch traipsed across Snape's living room after dinner to gather the boxes. Snape watched silently from his desk, but didn't say a word, aside from to nod at Hooch when she greeted him.

They carried the boxes out and up through the castle and then out to the front lawns.

"No need to go to the Pitch," she said. "If they're to be donated to the school," she paused and then asked, "you are donating them aren't you?"

"Yes maam."

"If they're to be donated we need to be sure they're suitable for children just learning to fly. Any that are too wild can go into the community Quidditch closet in the pitch for those that don't have brooms of their own."

She pulled a sleek dark blue broom out of a box and mounted it, and Harry got on the Potter 2000, cheeks red and wishing they hadn't put his name on it. He could just imagine kids coming to school and saying, ‘I ride a Potter 2000! What broom are you sporting this year?'

They rose into the air and Harry flew a ways away from Hooch and did several loops, went into a little dive, tested how fast his broom could come to a stop and make a quick turn, and then how fast it could get to top speed again. He really liked this broom. It was definitely faster than his old Nimbus 2000, but it didn't turn as sharply as he would have liked. He needed speed as a Seeker, but he was still in awe with how the brooms of Chaser's preformed and thought he'd like to have a Chaser's broom.

"Well?" Hooch asked as he touched down next to her a few minutes after they'd separated.

"It's faster than the Nimbus 2000, but it doesn't turn sharply or stop quickly," he said.

She nodded. "A good broom for a Seeker, which I suspect they know given they've put S7 on it." She held out the blue broom for Harry to try and he handed her the Potter 2000. "I think the blue one is suited for a Beater. Not very fast, definitely not a racing broom, but it's hefty and I can feel the strengthening charms reinforcing it. That broom could lift Hagrid if he fancied a broom ride."

Harry got on the blue broom (the Blue Nimbus) and took off. She was right. It was quick to get to it's top speed, though it wasn't as fast as he was used to on his Nimbus. It was more like a Cleansweep 70. The broom handle was much thicker than the other brooms Harry was used to seeing, and it was able to come to a stop before Harry had really even thought about making a full stop. It stopped so suddenly that Harry pitched forward, unready for it, and nearly flew off the end of the handle.

He went back to the ground and set the broom back in it's box. A moment later Hooch came down on the Potter 2000 and put hers away as well. "Very fast," she said. "Not as fast as the Firebolt I tried over the summer, but nearly. I wonder if this is the budget version."

They tried a plain brown racing broom that turned the tightest circles Harry had ever seen, and a black and silver one with a sparkling yellow streak down the handle that shot off to top speed so fast Madam Hooch nearly fell off the back.

"This one goes in the Quidditch closet," she said, setting it aside. "No first year should use a beast that powerful."

It was nearing eight thirty when they finally tried the last one. There were four for the Quidditch closet, and eleven in the pile to be donated for flying lessons.

"Well Potter, do you want help writing up your findings?"

Harry nodded and after they had taken the brooms to the correct closets and locked them up, Harry retrieved the forms the broom company had sent him and brought them to Madam Hooch's office, which was a door behind the staff table a ways down from the door to the staff room.

Together they discussed the brooms and checked off boxes about each one, and then commented their thoughts on the features of each.

"I'll leave the comments on the color schemes up to you," she said, straightening the stack of parchments and pushing them across her desk to him.

"Thank you for your help." If it had been left to Harry it might have been weeks, or even months before he had finished testing them all out, though he was sure his friends would have liked to try them.

"I have enough for the school," she said. "If they send you more, pass them out to your friends. Don't forget to keep one in reserve."

"Maam?"

"Brooms break. Every year it happens to someone. Last year a Slytherin flew his into the side of the Pitch and hit a beam. Snapped his broom clean in half. That's why we keep spares in the Quidditch supply closet."

"Yes maam."

Harry thanked her again and took his stack of papers back to Snape's quarters for the last time. He was looking forward to being back in the tower with his friends. Tomorrow he would go to London and take the train to school, share candy with his friends, and tell them about his summer. He couldn't think of a better way to spend the day.

* * *

The lightness Harry felt from his trip to Diagonalley the day before, from the giant hug Hermione had given him after receiving the new books, from Tilly's laughs in the sweet shop, from his trip into London with McGonagall, from testing brooms with Madam Hooch: all of that was gone. It was all eclipsed by darkness so deep and profound that Harry had never even imagined such a thing. He was drowning in it, like he'd been dropped in the sea and couldn't tell which way was up. It pressed in around him until he couldn't breath, until he couldn't remember who he was or where he was, or even why he was. And then at the end of that darkness, there was a green light. A sickly green light growing steadily brighter, and a scream that started low but soon overwhelmed his ears. It was a woman's scream of sorrow and pain and fear. The only thing he could make out in the blinding green light was her scream and his name wrapped up in it. "Harry!" And then Harry passed out.

* * *

"Harry. Harry!" Ron was shaking him, and Harry tried to move but his arms and legs felt like something was weighing them down. As he woke up, he could feel motion beneath him, like he was on a train or carriage, but he couldn't remember getting on a train or carriage. He was in Snape's quarters wasn't he? Or in his bed above the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Wake up mate." Ron shook him again.

"What'r you doin' here?" Harry said, words slurring, but he slowly opened his eyes and was confused by the ceiling he saw. It seemed he was most definitely on a train.

Someone pulled him upright from where he'd been laying, and Harry's mind sluggishly tried to catch up with whatever was going on.

"Here, eat this, it'll make you feel better." Someone stuffed something with rough edges into his hand and Harry looked down and found he was grasping chocolate. His eyes came up slowly to find a man he'd never seen before with a scar across one cheek.

"I'm Professor Lupin, the new Defense teacher," he said. "Do you know where you are and what happened to you?"

Harry's eyes came around until they met Ron's worried look and Hermione's scared stare.

"The train?" Harry asked. "Are we going to school?"

"Very good Harry," the man said.

"Eat the chocolate, I promise it will clear the fog from your mind and warm you up."

Harry took a bite of chocolate and chewed slowly, mind still working to figure out how he'd gotten there, but as he swallowed warmth spread out from his throat and down into his stomach, and with it some of the fog went away. It was Friday and they were on the train to Hogwarts. He took another bite and swallowed and more cobwebs were cleared away as warmth spread down his arms and legs. Snape had dropped him off at the platform in London, and then Harry had spent an enjoyable morning with his friends telling them about his summer on Diagonalley and his holiday to the beach. After a third bite of chocolate, Harry began to remember details about his holiday to the beach and how much fun he'd had. How had he forgotten? It had been one of the best times of his life.

"That's it, finish the bar," Lupin told him. "I'll be right back. I need to make sure everyone else on the train is well."

When he'd gone, Ron leaned forward and asked seriously, "Harry, what happened?"

"I dunno," he said. "We were on the train talking, and the next thing I was waking up with you guys hovering over me."

"Harry, the train stopped and the lights went out. Then the compartment began to freeze and ice crawled up the windows," Hermione told him. She was still shivering and he handed the last piece of chocolate across the aisle to her. She accepted it without complaint and ate it. "Then those things came down the hall and you fell down on the seat and passed out."

"What things?"

"Dementors," Ron said solemnly. "Dad told us about them. They guard Azkaban and they suck all the happiness and hope out of a person until there's nothing left. If they take too much... if they give you the Dementor's kiss, they take it all. They leave a person just an empty shell of themselves." Ron shuddered then and Harry was sorry he didn't have another piece of chocolate to give to his friend.

Harry scrunched up his eyes and tried to think back to talking to his friends before he'd passed out. "It was dark... like I was swimming in darkness," he said. "And there was a bright green light and a scream." Realization dawned on him then and his eyes snapped open in horror. "I think- I think it was my mum screaming my name... the moment she-"

Ron got up and crossed the compartment to sit next to Harry. "That's horrible." Harry didn't realize he needed a hug until his friend wrapped one arm around his shoulders. Then Hermione crossed and sat on the other side of Ron and he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders.

"It was dark like Harry described," she said. "I didn't hear anything though."

"I just felt hopeless," Ron said. "Like I'd never be happy again. Like there was no such thing as happiness."

"Well there is." The compartment door slid open and Professor Lupin came back in and sat across from the three friends huddled together. "I would give you more chocolate but I have none."

"It's ok," Harry said. He was only sorry he'd hogged it all to himself and that Ron hadn't gotten any.

"Why did they stop the train and come on board?" Ron asked Lupin.

"They were searching for Sirius Black."

"Sirius?" Harry asked. "He's not on board."

"How do you know?" Lupin asked warily.

"He'd be in the compartment with me if he were."

Ron and Hermione stayed silent. Harry had explained to them about Sirius, but he wasn't sure they believed he was innocent, especially given that Harry had no evidence to prove it and was going on a gut feeling alone. Harry had a renewed longing for Sirius then. He wanted to run his fingers through the dog's fur for comfort, or to bury his face in the long fur and forget that creatures like Dementors existed.

"Yes, well," Lupin finally said, finding his voice again. "Let us be glad he is not."

Half an hour later they began putting on their robes, and just before they pulled into the station Ron left to check on Ginny and the twins, who were in a compartment a few doors down.

Harry's legs were shaky as he exited the compartment and made his way to the platform. They lost sight of Lupin in the throng of students, and Harry had a sudden fear of losing sight of his friends, so he gripped the sleeve of Hermione's robes. Hermione didn't seem to mind and did the same to Ron until they were on a carriage together. Justin climbed up a minute later, looking pale before the carriage took off.

"Ok?" he asked Harry, and Harry nodded.

"Ok."

"That was- something," Justin trailed off. "A girl passed out in the hall outside our compartment. Some new Professor came and gave her chocolate and left her in our compartment to take care of until we got here."

"Fred and George said Ginny fell over too, but she didn't pass out," Ron said gravely.

"I hope there's hot chocolate with dinner," Hermione said, still shivering in the darkness despite that the evening wasn't chilly.

As the procession of students made their way to the castle, they were mostly quiet. There were a few who spoke quietly, like Harry's group, but the mood was sullen. It was nothing like how Harry had started his day, excited for a new year.

When they made the Great Hall Dumbledore and McGongall were waiting for them at the Great Oak front doors, and ushered them inside. A second year Hufflepuff grabbed onto McGonagall and wrapped her arms around her, burying her face in the woman's robes like Harry had wanted to bury his face in Sirius' fur. McGonagall gave her a brief hug and then encouraged her to get into the castle as quickly as possible.

Albus reached out to stop Harry from continuing into the Great Hall and Harry reached out for his friends behind him and found Hermione's hand. He was glad they had stopped with him.

"Are you all right?" Dumbledore asked seriously.

Harry nodded, trying not to shiver. "Do you think the house elves could give us all hot chocolate with dinner?"

He rested a hand on Harry's head and nodded, eyes not twinkling in the least, and then motioned for Harry and his friends to move into the Great Hall. That new professor, Lupin, must have sent word ahead about what had happened if they were waiting there for them to arrive.

They found a seat at Gryffindor table across from Fred, George and Ginny. Ginny was squished in between her older brothers and looking pale, and they seemed determined not to leave her side.

"Hot chocolate is coming with dinner," Harry told her. He noted Ron and Hermione had pressed up against him as well and noted the same scene was playing out across the hall with other groups of friends. Even at Slytherin table the students looked somber and scared.

Before the sorting started Dumbledore swept in and stood on the platform before the other students. "I was unaware the Dementors would be searching the train," he said. "I would never have allowed such a thing to happen had I known. Hot chocolate will be served to everyone with dinner and I expect all of you to drink it until your cup is gone. It will help. After dinner, any of you that are still feeling unwell are to stay in the Great Hall, where Madam Pomfrey will stay to see to you."

He sat down and a few minutes later Professor McGonagall came in leading the group of first years. Harry was scared enough as a new student, and couldn't imagine having to be a first year that had just arrived on a train attacked by creatures of death and hopelessness.

Several Prefects had arranged themselves at the end of Gryffindor table nearest the Head table, and as soon as first years began being sorted into Gryffindor, they waved the first years over to that spot, hugged each of them and pushed a cup of hot chocolate into their hands. The sorting was soon over and Gryffindor had ten new first years, four girls and six boys. None of them were kids from the orphanage this year. Two of the orphanage kids had gone to Ravenclaw, and one to Hufflepuff with Justin.

As kids drank their hot chocolate and filled their stomachs with roast beef and potatoes, and later on strawberry cake drenched in chocolate sauce, the mood in the Great Hall began to lighten. As soon as the first kid laughed at Ravenclaw table, it was like a spell had been broken and others had permission to laugh as well. Soon Ron said something funny which made Ginny giggle and then Harry retold the story Hermione's father had told him about her trip to Flourish and Blotts, and all of them were laughing. By the end of dinner Harry still didn't feel like he had that morning, bright and full of excitement, but he felt better, almost like what had happened on the train was just another nightmare he'd woken up from.

Nightmares he could deal with, he told himself, and as long as it was just something that had happened once on the trainride to school, it was something he could push to the back of his mind and forget about, because nightmares were best forgotten.

Harry's friends were no longer clinging to each other as they had the night before, though they spent the weekend playing games and catching up with each other. As the weekend wore on, it was as if nothing had happened at all on the train ride to school.

They could have no idea that over the weekend Dumbledore had gone to the Ministry to make his displeasure known to the Minister of Magic about the incident on the train, or that Sunday night Fudge had come to Hogwarts to tell Dumbledore that the Dementors would be stationed around the perimeter of the school until Black was caught. Dumbledore had yelled so loud and towered so tall over Fudge that the man flinched back as though he might be struck by a stray bit of angry magic. Harry heard about the encounter months later from Snape, and thought for years afterwards that he would have quite liked to see Dumbledore be so angry with the Minister. Harry and the other students didn't find out about the Dementor's permanent residence at Hogwarts until Monday morning at breakfast however.

Dumbledore rose to address them before they went to class, and said in a serious tone, "I have been informed that the Ministry has stationed dementors around the perimeter of the school grounds. As unfortunate as this is, I have no say in the matter since they are off of school property. From this point forward, until I say otherwise, the school's perimeter is off limits to all students. You may still go to the Quidditch Pitch, Hagrid's cabin, and down to the edge of the lake closest to the castle, but you are to go no further. The Dementors are evil creatures that are searching for an escaped convict. Give them no reason to come near you, or to suspect you of any wrongdoing."

Dumbledore sat and murmurs broke out across the Great Hall as students drank their orange juice and finished their eggs, toast and oatmeal.

"For the entire year?" Hermione asked. "I wonder if it means we won't be allowed to go to Hogsmeade."

"I was really looking forward to that," Ron said. "Mum signed my permission slip right off at the start of summer before we left for Egypt."

"I wonder if they're placing the Dementors on Diagonalley too."

Harry shook his head. "No one would shop there if they did," he said, and he really hoped they weren't placing Dementors in Diagonalley. A horrible thought struck him then, and he suddenly lost his appetite.

"‘S wrong?" Ron asked, mouth full of toast.

"After what happened this summer... with Sirius, and me... you don't think they sent the Dementors to follow me to school hoping to catch him?"

"Oh Harry, no," Hermione said, but she stopped for a moment to really think about it.

"I was riding the train, and the Dementors came on board. Now I'm at school for the term, and the Dementors are here for the term."

"There's no way," Ron said. "They would have had them on you all summer if that had been the case."

"I'm sure Ron's right," Hermione said.

Harry wasn't so sure though, and he hoped Sirius was far away from the school. He also hoped the Dementors didn't stick around for the entire year, because he didn't want to be responsible for the way they made people feel.

"They'll be staying off school grounds," Ron tried to reassure him. "Dumbledore said so. They won't even bother us. We probably won't see them at all."

"I hope you're right," Ginny said down the table. "They're ghastly." Harry couldn't agree more.

* * *

No one but his friends appeared to know he'd spent the rest of his summer at the castle, or that there had even been a trial over the summer, or that Dumbledore was supposed to spend time with him or that Harry had any connection to Snape at all aside from that of student and teacher.

Ron wondered out loud what Potions would be like now as they went about their day, attending Transfiguration and Charms, and Defense Against The Dark Arts with the new professor, but they would have to wait until Tuesday to find out.

Harry still wasn't quite sure what to make of Professor Snape. Sometimes the man still thought the worst of him, though he had allowed Harry to go on holiday with the orphanage, and had allowed him to continue going to the alleys before school started. Aside from having to take Harry places occasionally however, he now seemed content to ignore him. Harry rarely spoke with him while staying in his quarters, and there had been some days where he never crossed paths with the man at all, as he was out when Harry woke and either gone or locked in his own room when Harry returned to the quarters for the evening. Harry still didn't know much about the man either aside from his vitriolic tongue lashings and sour disposition towards anything involving Harry.

On the other hand Harry had started to learn all kinds of interesting things about his other Professors through his chats with them. He'd learned a lot about McGonagall just in the few hours of their last minute trip to London to run errands before school started.

He'd also learned quite a few things about the Headmaster in their once weekly day together. Harry rarely spoke to him or had full conversations, but the aging Headmaster didn't seem to mind and filled the silence on his own most of the time. Harry had not had a day out with him the previous week because he'd been so busy, and he imagined the same was true of the Headmaster. Now that school was back in and he wasn't technically in anyone's ‘care' he wondered if the weekly visits would continue or be dropped. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about that either. The visits had been awkward at times, though he couldn't deny that he liked going to the Qidditch Expo or out to Hogsmeade to have tea. He didn't see the point to the visits at all so long as he wasn't living with the Dursleys, and he got the impression that Snape thought Harry was wasting the Headmaster's time as well.

"What do you reckon Harry?"

"Hm?" He turned to Ron, who was watching him from across the table in the common room. They were working on the homework they'd been given after their first day of classes.

"About Snape? He gonna be yelling and griping through class tomorrow like normal?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as she tried hard to ignore the conversation and Harry shrugged. "No idea. He'll probably ignore me. I rarely see him anyway."

The next morning they had Care of Magical Creatures first off with Hagrid, and Harry was both uncertain and in awe of the Thestrals Hagrid had brought into the paddock near his cabin to teach them about. Harry was the first to be able to approach one of the Thestrals, and he felt proud of himself, but the feeling was dampened when Hagrid reminded him that Dementors were nearby patrolling the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"I woulda liked teh have let yeh ride him," Hagrid leaned down to tell Harry so only he could hear, "but yeh gotta stay close if yeh know what I mean." He titled his head in the direction of the deeper part of the forest and Harry looked into the shadows that loomed there. He could have sworn he saw movement. He shuddered and looked away. It could have been anything from acromantulas to centaurs, but he had a cold feeling that told him it wasn't either of those possibilities.

They were distracted a moment later by a shout and a scream, and turned to find Malfoy lying on the ground holding his arm, one of the Thestrals standing over him. "I've been killed! That thing has killed me!"

Hagrid lumbered over to him and looked at the arm. There was a scratch but it wasn't deep. "It's not broken. Let's get yeh up." He lifted Draco up as if Draco weighed nothing at all and dusted him off. Draco pouted that Hagrid hadn't fawned over him and his scratches, but said nothing else. "At the end of class if it's still botherin' yeh, I'll take yeh ter Madam Pomfrey," Hagrid said, and went to work with a group of girls who were petting a black Thestral at the other end of the paddock.

A few of the Slytherin girls came over to see Draco's injury but Draco looked embarassed more than anything else that he'd made a big deal over superficial scratches, and said, "It's nothing, I'm fine," and strode off to sit on a stump at the edge of the area they were working in. He did nothing for the rest of class but stare silently at the rest of the students having a good time. Harry didn't get anything done for the last half hour of class either though, because he was too busy watching the edges of the trees for a shadow that was hoping to suck the happiness out of him again.

They had Potions next, and Harry stopped thinking about the Dementors for only a moment to see how things would go for him that year in Snape's class. He sat at a table with Ron and Hermione as he usually did somewhere near the middle of the room. Snape came in and lectured for twenty minutes before setting them to work brewing a burn salve, and then went to Draco's table to inquire about his torn robe.

"That was it then?" Ron asked, not used to an encounter with Snape that didn't end with Harry in detention or getting snarked at. "I told you, he'll probably ignore me," Harry said. He set to work on his own burn salve, though his mind began to drift to the Dementors again, and to the green light and screams of his mother as she died trying to protect him. He didn't register Snape making his way around the room and to his work bench, or that he wasn't as far along in his brewing as the rest of the class until Snape cleared his throat. Harry looked up and didn't find a sneer, but the man's words were still stern.

"With the level of intelligence you showed this summer in your business endeavors, one would have thought your grades would be higher than they are. If you don't pay attention during class your potential will continue to be wasted." He did frown at Harry then and moved off to talk to Dean about the shade of his potion.

"Knew it was too good to be true," Ron said. "He didn't need to insult you like that. Your potion looks fine."

Harry realized how far behind he was as he looked at Ron and Hermione's potions and hurried to catch up. What had Snape meant, ‘wasted potential?' Did that mean the man thought Harry had potential or was he just looking for a reason to get onto him in class and to embarrass him like he always did?

He ended up finishing his potion just before class was over, and turned it in with the rest. He was still absorbed in thoughts about the Dementors however as he followed Ron and Hermione out of the room, and didn't see Snape watching him as he left.

* * *

The first week saw Harry and his friends getting through all of their classes without any more indication that Dementors were stationed nearby. Students talked less and less about them and about the train ride to school, and began to settle into a comfortable routine of classes, meals, homework and spending time with friends. Harry occasionally heard people talking about Sirius and his escape from Azkaban, and several times he heard people talking about their trip down Knocturn, but the alleys and Sirius too seemed to grow further away from him as the week wore on. He had three essays to complete by Sunday night, and Quidditch was supposed to start Monday afternoon after classes were over for the day.

At lunch on Saturday afternoon a note appeared by Harry's plate at Gryffindor table and he opened it to find Dumbledore's loopy script. ‘Harry, I wonder if we might meet for tea and dinner this evening in my office.'

He looked up at the Head Table and found Dumbledore watching him and gave a little nod.

"I won't be at dinner tonight," Harry told Ron as they played chess later that afternoon.

"Not hungry?" Ron swooped across the board with his queen and knocked Harry's rook clean off the board.

"I'm supposed to meet Dumbledore."

"Oh. Are you in trouble or just the weekly thing?"

"I don't think I'm in trouble."

"How does that work anyhow? Is Snape gonna be there?"

"No," Harry said, and he was glad he would be coming back to Gryfifndor tower instead of going to Snape's quarters after the meeting. Dumbledore liked to send Harry away with a piece of cake, or candy, or a trinket when they parted ways, and Snape always watched what Harry brought back with him. He hadn't made any more comments recently about Harry's things, or making Dumbledore be nice to him, but Harry was certain he was thinking about it.

When his friends headed down to dinner that evening, Harry crossed the third floor alone and made his way to the statue guarding Dumbledore's office. He didn't know the current password, but said, "Lemon cake," and watched as the statue hopped aside. The man must not have changed the password since the term started. Up the moving staircase, Harry knocked on the solid wood door, and it opened a moment later to give him entrance.

"Harry, please come in," Dumbledore said, rising from his desk. "We didn't get our chance to spend the day together last week, and I thought we could catch up over dinner."

"Yes sir," Harry said, wondering if they would eat at his desk. He didn't see any food, though with Dumbledore the man could have been planning to eat a bowl of candy instead.

The Headmaster motioned for Harry to follow him and led him through a door Harry usually didn't pay attention to in the side of the circular room. The door opened to reveal a small landing, with a few steps leading up to a sitting room, and a few steps leading down to what may have been a bedroom. They went up the short set of stairs to the round sitting room and from here Harry was able to see a round dining room and kitchenette off to the left, and a round office straight ahead. There were other doors, and Harry wondered if they led to a bathroom or other bedrooms or out to the fourth floor or hidden passageways.

"Have a seat," the Headmaster offered, leading Harry into the dining room. It was larger than Snape's and had a nice round mahogany table with a lot of carved details around the edges and one massive spindly leg that held it up underneath in the center.

There was a roast chicken in the center of the table surrounded with carrots, broccoli and potatoes, and a fresh plate of chocolate chip cookies with steam rising off of them to the side. Harry sat down and the Headmaster sat across from him and began serving himself.

"How did your first week of school go dear boy?"

"Fine sir."

"Are you enjoying your classes?"

Harry nodded.

"What do you think of your new Defense Professor?"

"He seems nice," Harry said. Harry actually rather appreciated the man. He was leagues better than Lockhart had been, and so far didn't seem to have Voldemort sticking out the back of his head, so he had a lot going for him. "He knows a lot about interesting things the other Defense Professors never told us. We spent the first two classes going over old material to make sure we were in a good spot to move into harder stuff he said."

"Wonderful," Dumbledore said. "Professor Lupin is highly intelligent and resourceful. We are happy to have him on board for the year."

"It's too bad he'll be gone next year," Harry said after swallowing a bite of the delicious garlic chicken.

"Oh?"

"Because the position is cursed?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "It would seem to be wouldn't it? Who do the students say placed the curse? It seems to differ from year to year."

"Erm..." Harry wasn't sure he should say, but Dumbledore gave him an encouraging look and he said, "Professor Snape."

"Really? I wonder why."

"Fred said Professor Snape wanted to teach Defense and cursed it so every professor teaching it would leave. George said Professor Snape would remove the curse once he got the position."

Dumbledore stared at Harry for a moment and then laughed out loud. Harry had never seen him laugh outright like this, and it fascinated him. He wasn't used to seeing adults so happy, aside from maybe Silver and the Flourish brothers.

"You never disappoint me Harry," he said as his laugh calmed into a chuckle.

With all the trouble Harry had gotten into or caused over the last couple of years, he thought the Headmaster was wrong, or would be in the future. Harry always dissappointed adults. It was an inevitability.

When dinner was finished, Dumbledore poured tea for them both (strong licorice with a lot of sugar), and they had some of the cookies.

"Would you prefer to spend a day with me every weekend Harry, or to have a few meals with me over the course of the week? I know you'll soon be busy with your friends and Quidditch and don't want to impose on your schedule."

Harry looked up from his tea. "I didn't think you'd want to continue once school started. Since I'm not in care of my relatives or Snape I mean. I thought you'd be busy."

"I will always make time for you, whether you just want to have a chat or wish to spend time with me." When Dumbledore grew serious and said things like this to him it made him uncomfortable for a lot of reasons. Harry knew the man was lying that he wouldn't be too busy for one, even Snape thought so. For two, Harry didn't know what to do with an adult who didn't seem to mind his presence if there wasn't work, chores, or school work involved.

"Meals I guess," Harry said. "I mean, if that's what you prefer sir."

"I think that's a splendid idea Harry. Would you have breakfast with me tomorrow then? We could perhaps do breakfast Sundays, lunch Wednesday, and Dinner Fridays or Saturdays, if you're not too busy."

"I won't be," Harry said.

A few minutes later Dumbledore gave Harry the rest of the plate of cookies, and Harry left to go back to the common room. He got there just before Ron and Hermione returned from dinner in the Great Hall, and he shared the cookies with the two of them and gave the last one to Ginny, who gave him a look he couldn't decipher.

"How did it go?" Hermione asked.

Harry described the new plan for three meals a week, so his friends would know not to expect him if he didn't show up for certain meals on those days, and while Ron thought the entire situation as odd as Harry did, Hermione seemed pleased.

"I would love if I could have a few meals a week with my parents," she said. "I miss them terribly during the term."

"Maybe you could ask to go home," Ron told her.

"If they let me, they would have to let everybody," she said.

Fred and George had been listening to their conversation and came over to sit at the table they were studying at in the corner of the common room. "Are you talking about going home during the term for a visit?" George asked. "Term only just started. They don't usually allow that until nearer Christmas."

"What'dya mean?" Ron asked, frowning at his brothers. "No one gets to go home early."

"Sometimes kids have things they have to do at home," Fred told him. "Family get-togethers, funerals, sick family to visit, you know, that sort of thing. They let kids go home for that stuff so long as it isn't all the time."

"And sometimes if someone is really homesick or struggling with grades or something," George said, "They let a kid go home for the weekend for that too so long as it's ok with their parents. Bill had to go home once a couple weeks before Easter. Don't you remember Ron?"

"I forgot all about that," Ron said. "I don't even know how old I was. I thought he came home to see me."

"You were probably four or five," George said. "Bill was a fourth year and he was failing three classes because he'd had a big row with his friends and couldn't concentrate on schoolwork. They let him go home for a weekend and when he went back to school it was like a fresh start and all his grades came back up."

"And if you're just being naughty," Fred teased, "they let your parents come to you like when Charlie shouted at Professor McGonagall and mum had to come tell him off. Surprised she didn't come to school to tell you off last year after taking the car Ron."

Ron's cheeks reddened remembering the howler his mother had sent instead. He wasn't sure if her coming would have been worse or not.

"Just ask McGonagall if you want a weekend at home," George advised Hermione. "No harm in asking, even if she says no. Bet she won't though with how good your grades are."

They left Harry and his friends to their homework then and went up to their dormitory.

"Are you going to ask?" Ron asked her.

"Maybe later in the term. It's only been a week," she said. "I don't miss them quite that much just yet."

"Maybe you should get a shared journal," Harry said, "like the one Justin and I have. Then you could talk to them every day."

"Do you talk to Justin every day?" Ron asked.

"No," Harry said. They had Herbology and Charms together and sat together then, but he hadn't even checked the journal since they'd returned to school since it was for business stuff. Maybe he should start checking it just in case. It was empty when he checked it later that evening though. Nothing new had been written since shortly after the trial had ended.

* * *

Harry always looked forward to Quiddich. If he got muddy during practice, came in soaking wet after a game in the rain, or even if he got hit with a Bludger, he didn't care. Win or lose, flying and dodging balls, and the feeling of triumph he got from catching the Snitch meant everything to him. It was the freedom he had never known at the Dursleys and the accomplishment he'd never been allowed to have or strive for in primary school. It was the one thing Harry truly felt good at and felt really proud of himself for, so he looked forward to practices starting again on Monday.

A slightly cool breeze and the smell of fresh air greeted him as he walked with Fred and George to the pitch after classes Monday afternoon. He laughed at all the twin's jokes as they walked, listened intently as the team Captain told them about the new maneuvers they would be practicing that term in the changing rooms, and revelled in the way his stomach dropped as he twisted and dove after the Snitch in the warmth of the evening sunlight. Practice had been good, and it had left him breathless with joy by the time it was over.

Harry was the last out of the changing rooms, and found the others had already left to head back to the castle for dinner. Harry walked back to the castle alone with his book bag and broom over his shoulder, thinking about how much he had missed the open grounds of Hogwarts during his summer on the alleys. The cool breeze grew cooler as the sun went down, and Harry began to feel chilled. He'd have to start bringing his sweatshirt with him for evenings. He would hate to have to practice after dinner like the Slytherins did Monday nights, and always thought that as winter approached it would be far too cold to do so, but it was the time slot they seemed to prefer.

Harry rubbed his arms as goosebumps started to form and frowned. It shouldn't be this cold. It wasn't even six yet and the sun hadn't fully set. Harry loved this time of evening when everything turned shades of orange from the sun being low in the sky.

The hair on the back of his neck and arms stood up and Harry felt like he was being followed. He turned but there was no one behind him. Fred and George were up the path quite a ways and were paying no attention to him. As he hurried to catch up to them, thinking if he jogged or sprinted he could make it back to the castle just as they did, he heard a crunch and looked down to see what he'd stepped on. He'd stepped on frost. Frost? The frost on the grass was turning to ice, and Harry was confused as darkness seemed to close in on his eyes, as if the sun had gone down early and it was hard to see in the last remnant of light. But there was still an orange glow to everything around him. It was the last thing Harry remembered thinking before the darkness engulfed him. An oily feeling was in the air, and a high cruel laugh. Then his mother was screaming, and her screams were snuffed out by a blinding green light. His forehead seared with pain and he couldn't breath. The darkness was pressing on his chest, and in that moment he felt like he was familiar with death. Only, he wasn't dying. Fred was calling his name and shaking him hard, and George was saying something with a shaky voice in the background.

"C'mon, let's carry him."

"Bugger me for not studying long enough to have that featherlight charm down yet."

Harry's head lolled momentarily as one of the twins lifted him from behind the arms and then as the other tried to keep him standing. His eyes cracked open to find that the evening sunlight had returned to it's warm glow, and that there wasn't a cool breeze at all. It was warm out just like during practice, but Harry felt none of the joy he had when practice had ended.

"There he is," Fred said. "Keep him standing, we gotta move."

"Harry?" George said, voice shaking. "All right?"

Harry's mind was foggy, but less so than it had been on the train the first time the Dementors had come. "Dementors?" he asked. Things were coming back to him fairly quickly, but it was disorienting. He couldn't piece together if someone had died now, or if it was a memory. He'd felt death, but was sure it wasn't his own. He'd felt like the air was oily and heavy, but it didn't feel like that now.

He let Fred and George support him for a few more steps and then shrugged them away, stumbled, and continued walking on his own shaky legs. His hands were shaking too. The twins didn't look much better, and both looked scared.

"You scared the hell out of us," Fred said. "We heard you shout, turned around in time to see you fall to the grass, and then saw a Dementor coming down on top of you. George ran shouting at it and tried to cast a patronus."

"A what?" Harry noted George looked a lot worse than Fred did.

"A spell we looked up the other night. It keeps Dementors away. We don't have it down yet though. George about fell over top of you when he got there, but the Dementor must have thought it wasn't worth the trouble after he got a wisp of a patronus out."

"It was awful," George said. "We need to tell McGonagall one came on the grounds."

Fred nodded, looking grim as they hurried up the front steps and into the castle.

Everyone had just gone into the Great Hall for dinner, so it was going to be easy to find McGonagall or another teacher. Harry just wanted to sit down before he fell down, but thought the Great Hall was further than he wanted to walk. The three of them made the open doors to the Great Hall where happy chatter and the sound of cutlery clinking on plates drifted out. It only took a moment for Hagrid to notice them at the entrance, and at the pale looks on their faces he said, "Per'fessor Dumbledore," and pointed at the trio.

Dumbledore and McGonagall were at their sides faster than Harry really realized what was going on and led them out into the Entrance Hall where McGongall made the three of them sit on the steps leading to the first floor.

"It was a dementor Professor," Fred said. "Harry and George got the worst of it."

Dumbledore knelt next to Harry as quickly as his aging knees would allow and pulled his chin up to examine his eyes and face. Harry looked into his eyes, but was still trying to clear the remnants of the fog from his mind.

"Were you near the boundaries?" McGonagall asked, looking over Fred and George for any visible injuries.

"No maam, we were coming back from Quidditch. We made a beeline for the front doors. We heard Harry shout and turned and saw a dementor coming down on him. George got a wisp of a patronus out. It wasn't much but I think it scared it off."

"To the Hospital Wing with all three of you," Dumbledore said, and pushed himself up to stand again with some difficulty. Fred helped George and Harry up and McGonagall led them up the stairs to the Hospital Wing. They met Madam Pomfrey on the way as she was just on her way to dinner. She didn't even ask what had happened as she led the boys back to the Hospital Wing.

After a quick exam while McGonagall relayed the story to her, she gave each boy a full bar of chocolate and told them they couldn't leave until they ate it all. Harry noted there was a cupboard full of chocolate bars and jars of hot chocolate powder where once it had been full of cold potions.

Before Harry could leave Dumbledore came into the Hospital Wing to check on the three of them again, though he stood in front of Harry and put his hand on Harry's shoulder as he spoke with Pomfrey and McGonagall.

"George," he said, "I'm awarding you 25 points for saving a younger student and keeping the dementor away. I will also be sending a letter of commendation for your actions to your parents. However," here he leveled a look at the three boys, "none of you are to place yourselves in danger for this purpose again."

"But sir," Fred said, "we couldn't let it get him."

"I appreciate that," Dumbledore told him. "I also appreciate the extra effort the two of you took to even look up the advanced spell needed to protect yourselves. Until you have the spell mastered however, it would be unwise to make such a rash move again. Your recklessness is understood but not encouraged."

"Yes sir," Fred said, and when Dumbledore looked at the other two, Harry and George echoed the words as well. Harry for one didn't think he would risk coming near a dementor again for any reason.

Dumbledore asked again if Harry was all right before he let him go, and Harry nodded. The three of them went to dinner and only caught the last ten minutes of it, scarfing their food down as they tried to tell the others what had happened to keep them so late.

Harry wanted to huddle next to his friends as they had all done that first night after the incident on the train, but Ron and Hermione hadn't been attacked this time and Harry felt it would be odd to seek such comfort from them. He ended up spending the rest of the evening sitting by the fire and staring into the flames as he pretended to study.

* * *

He was buried under a thousand pounds of darkness, and it filled his lungs with water. Where was he again? Hogwarts? But school seemed so far away. Harry could feel arms around him holding him tightly and could sense death and heavy oily air. The person holding him turned to run, and he could hear a taunting voice as boots came up the stairs after them. He didn't know what the voice following them said, but he knew it was mocking her. It was mocking his mother for trying to protect him. She slammed a door, but there was an explosion of sound, of shattering wood. "Not my Harry," she told him, and set him down on something soft. He still couldn't see anything until she screamed and the green light came and blinded him. Then his scar seared. There was no one to wake him now, no one to save him, so he couldn't wake up. Harry passed out.

His mouth was dry when he woke. The sun was blinding him and he didn't know how long he'd been out. There wasn't a dementor in sight. He rubbed his eyes and forced himself to sit up. Looking at his watch Harry realized he'd only been out for a minute, maybe two or three. He'd been on his way out of Herbology in the greenhouses and had stopped to talk to Proessor Sprout, who had asked him if he owned any reputable Herbologist shops or greenhouses. He didn't know but told her he would look through his papers and find out. Hermione had been anxious to get to Charms early because she had questions for Professor Flitwick about their upcoming test, and had dragged Ron off without Harry. The dementor had come for him when Harry had been alone walking back to the castle. Now he was sitting alone on the grass in the sunlight, late for Charms and shaking, despite the heat of the day. Was this the third time this had happened now? The fourth? He thought it was the third. Each time seemed to leave him less foggy afterwards, though perhaps he had just gotten better at recalling details of his day after each occurrence. He was also getting more and more details of that horrible night his parents had died each time the Dementors got him.

Harry got up on shaky legs, wobbled for a moment, and then continued up to the castle. He was ten minutes late for Charms and Hermione gave him a stern look, but after class Professor Flitwick asked why he was late and Harry told him about staying after to talk to Professor Sprout.

"Just as long as you weren't out of bounds," he said. "I know you're a responsible lad." Flitwick let him off with that, and Harry wondered if he would check with Sprout later to see if Harry had been telling the truth.

Later, at lunch when Hermione was busy talking with a sixth year girl about Ancient Runes class down the table, Ron leaned in to Harry and said, "You weren't talking to Sprout all that time."

Harry just stared at his friend and Ron nodded down to Harry's hands, which were still shaking. He pulled them down into his lap.

Ron responded by pulling a piece of chocolate out of his bag. "Mum sent these. She got them discounted from Knockturn. She sent a bunch to us just in case. She didn't want us feeling down all year."

"Thank you," Harry said, accepting the square piece of chocolate. It was dark chocolate and not sweet at all, but as Harry swallowed the bitter piece, his body seemed to calm and relax, and his mind didn't feel as frantic.

"She sent it dark and bitter so we wouldn't just eat it all," Ron laughed at the face Harry pulled at the taste. "Ginny said if we put it in a pot of hot water and add a bunch of sugar it'll make good hot cocoa."

Harry nodded and Ron promised to give him some of the pieces to keep with him. Harry was grateful for the Weasleys and how Mrs. Weasley thought of her children's needs ahead of time.

* * *

"What's the total now Albus?" Madam Hooch asked.

"Four this week. Three last week, and then the train."

"And we believe some of the students have been affected and have not reported their encounters with the despicable creatures," Minerva added.

Several of the staff shook their heads.

"It's unconscionable that the Minister is allowing this," Flitwick said.

"Not just the Minister I'm afraid," Albus said. "I have spoken to multiple officials, visited the Wizengamot to ask them to intervene, and filed three petitions of misconduct against the Dementors."

"There needs to be a petition against the Minister," Sprout said, arms crossed, though they all knew filing a petition against the Minister would be like shaking a jar of bees and setting them loose on themselves and their positions as staff at the school.

"I have kept track of every conversation with the Minister about the issue," Dumbledore said, "so that when it comes to a petition there will be evidence of misconduct and putting students and staff in jeopardy."

They were silent for a few moments as the Sunday afternoon staff meeting wore on. Finally McGonagall shook her head, looking angry. "They almost killed Potter and George Weasley. If George hadn't been able to cast the beginnings of a patronus... is that what it's going to take to make them leave?"

Albus reached over to her chair and patted her knee for a moment. "We will protect the students as best as we can. I fear we will have to cancel Quidditch and move Care Of Magical Creatures and Herbology into the castle."

"I will personally escort the students to and from the front door to the greenhouses," Sprout said. "I'm a little rusty with the patronus, but I can still conjure one."

"We'll have to cut back practices," Madam Hooch said, "but I'll escort students to the Pitch and supervise. I may even schedule two teams at once and tell them to practice by having a scrimmage."

"I fear that many students with only one professor that far from the school would be unwise," Albus said.

"So long as practices are after dinner, I'll go with her," Professor Vector said.

"Wha' abou' Care of Magical Creatures Headmaster?" Hagrid asked.

Sprout had an answer for this too. "Greenhouse four has a leaky roof and I haven't had time to fix it so we haven't been having classes in there. If you promise not to bring in any creatures that might rampage through the walls into the other three greenhouses, you can use that Hagrid. You might fix the roof before it starts to rain and snow." Hagrid beamed at her and thanked her four times before he settled down again.

With those issues settled, Albus said seriously, "Some of the students appear to be affected much worse than the others. Harry for instance."

"And he's had three encounters with them now," Minerva said. "None of the other students have been attacked so many times. Harry has passed out all three times and been left defenseless."

"I can teach him to cast a patronus," Remus suggested.

"It's advanced magic Lupin," Snape almost sneered. He was tired today and was nursing a headache and had been quiet up to this point in the meeting. "There's a reason the Weasley twins have not been able to cast one successfully." As loath as he was to admit it, the twins were some of the more inquisitive and brilliant minds amongst the current students. If they applied themselves more in some of their classes they could rival Granger. So could Potter, if he had any inclination to give his coursework more than a cursory effort.

"We'll take it slow," Lupin said. "Even if he stays in the castle all the time, there's no guarantee he'll always be free of their presence. At least if he's able to cast a patronus, he'll have some protection, provided there aren't too many Dementors."

Severus pursed his lips. It was advanced and difficult magic, but that wasn't the real reason he thought Potter wouldn't be able to conjure one. Fred and George might eventually get it, but he didn't think Potter was capable of finding a memory happy enough. He rarely saw the boy smile and with the number of nightmares he had about his relatives, and with how severely the dementors were affecting him, it seemed unlikely.

"Please begin at your earliest convenience," Albus told Lupin, and the werewolf nodded.

"I'll ask about his schedule when I see him in class Monday. Perhaps we can practice on a boggart."

While Severus did believe the boy should be taught to defend himself, he was frustrated with Lupin because he knew the wolf was setting him up for failure. Severus shook his head and tuned out the rest of the meeting as much as he was able. It was all making his head hurt too much.

* * *

Why was Potter refusing to apply himself? Severus had tried to give the boy a subtle hint the week before, about putting more of himself into his schoolwork and raising his grades, but here the boy sat yet again, daydreaming and half heartedly chopping ingredients and dropping them into his cauldron.

The boy's potion wasn't necessarily bad (at least not yet), but the child looked as though he could care less about finishing it or doing it correctly. He looked completely bored, as though he had better places to be. Perhaps he was daydreaming about more changes for his various business enterprises. The tabloids (Skeeter's articles in the Prophet), had posted rumors recently that Harry would be putting bridges across the alleys between the upper stories of buildings and selling them as small apartments, and in doing so would be blocking all the sunlight from both alleys. He almost snorted at the thought. Even Potter wasn't that dense.

As class neared it's end and Potter still wasn't done with his potion as his peers bottled and labeled theirs, Severus approached the boy's workbench. He was chopping cowbane into chunks, which meant he was three steps behind his peers and would not have enough time to finish.

"Potter, you do not have enough time to finish."

Harry looked up, gaze almost vacant. It took him several moments to process what had been said to him.

"I'm sorry sir," he finally said. "I'll be quick about finishing up."

"I highly doubt it Potter," he said. Especially given that there were only three minutes left of class and he was twenty minutes behind. The boy tried to chop the cowbane faster, but as Severus watched he noted the boy's hands were shaking slightly. Was he that intimidated by him? Severus frowned, and Harry startled a few moments later when Severus' hand came out of nowhere and snatched Harry's wrist, stopping him from chopping any more ingredients. Harry flinched and stilled, eyes wide, but still looked far away.

Severus released his wrist and said quietly so only he could hear, "Stay after class Potter. Do not touch your knife."

Harry put the knife down and sat with his hands in his lap and head down. Ron came back from turning in his potion a moment later and said, "Ok Harry? Are you going to try to finish it?"

Harry didn't answer as the bell rang for the end of class as there was no time left to finish it anyway.

"I'll help you next time," Ron said. "Lemme know if you're behind again."

"I have to stay after," Harry told him.

"What? Because you didn't finish?"

Harry shrugged.

Ron gave a frustrated grunt, grouched about Harry having to be late to lunch, and promised he would save him something if he didn't make it in time to eat. Harry nodded and mumbled a quick thank you before Ron and the others had to leave if they were to make it to lunch on time.

The door shut behind the last student and Snape came over to Harry's workbench. With a wave of his wand the half finished potion and ingredients were gone, leaving the cauldron and workbench clean and the knife where Harry had left it.

"You did not report that you had been attacked by Dementors again."

Harry looked up at him, mouth open.

"Yes, I know," he said, eyes narrowed. "Your hands are shaking, you are pale, and look as though you have seen a ghost."

Harry didn't deny it. His mind was still foggy and he was tired. He hadn't had much sleep the night before, and was having trouble today pulling himself from the fog of the most recent attack this morning.

"The Headmaster would be very displeased you were attacked a fourth time and would likely give you the day off to recover."

"Sure," Harry said, having trouble focusing on what Snape was saying to take it all in.

Snape turned and gave Potter a scruitinizing look. "This is the fourth time, isn't it?"

Harry looked up at the ceiling and tried hard to recall if it had been the fourth. He had lost count. It was the fourth week of school, but he knew it had happened a lot of times now. He had tried to stick with his friends or teachers while on the grounds, but somehow or another had been separated from his friends a number of times and left on his own.

"How many Potter?"

"I don't know."

"And you have not reported any of them," Snape said with finality. "Get up."

Harry did try to get up, but he was moving too slowly for Snape, so the man lifted him from under one arm and walked him out of the classroom. Around the corner and two halls over, Harry found himself being deposited on Snape's couch in his quarters. His backpack was on the couch next to him, but Harry couldn't remember grabbing it. Had Snape brought it for him?

The man swept into the kitchen, seeming in a high temper, and came back a minute later with a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

Harry didn't even thank him because he was so eager to get his hands on it. He'd gone through all the dark chocolate Ron had given him and was afraid to ask for more. He didn't want his friends to know he had continued being attacked and had eaten a large portion of the chocolate Ron's parents had sent for he and his siblings. Ron would tell Mrs. Weasley and Harry didn't want to be in trouble for consuming the resources meant for her children.

Now as he drank the hot cocoa on Snape's couch and his mind began to clear, he thought about all the money in his various accounts at Gringotts and thought he could have mail ordered for his own bars of chocolate and been fine.

"Explain to me," said Snape after the vacant look in Harry's eyes went away, "how you have continued to go out on your own when classes and Quidditch practices have been organized to prevent just such an occurence?"

"I didn't mean to," Harry said, eyes cast down to the half-drunk mug of hot chocolate in his hands. Just holding the warm cup was doing wonders for him, he thought. If only he could drink the cocoa in peace and not be put down as he dealt with the memories of his mother being murdered. He thought he now had the full picture, even though he never saw it when he was attacked. He had heard, smelled, tasted, and felt all of it though. From Voldemort busting down the front door and killing his father, to trailing behind his mother as she ran up the stairs, taunting her, to snuffing the light out of her and trying to kill Harry. The man's last words to Harry as he stood in his crib still chilled him thinking about them now. "You're an orphan now little Harry," the man had told him calmly, in an almost loving voice. "There's no reason for you to live any longer." Then the pain in his forehead came and ended his dementor driven nightmares every time he had been forced to experience them.

"Potter," Snape said calmly, and Harry's eyes came around to find the man staring at him. "Where did you go just now?"

"Nowhere," Harry lied.

"I was talking to you, and the vacant look came back, like a dementor was here with you."

He shrugged.

"Drink the rest of your hot chocolate," the dark eyed Potions Master told him, and Harry noted the wariness in the man's voice. He left him alone until he was finished with the mug.

"Do you need more?" Snape asked.

"Sir?"

"Was it enough to clear the fog and warm you up, or do you need more? There is a jar of chocolate powder in the kitchen."

"I'll be fine sir."

"That is not what I asked."

Harry did want more, but he thought it would be selfish to take it. Clearly Snape had stocked up to deal with the dementors if they attacked him.

"Give me the cup."

Harry handed the cup to him and Snape went back into the kitchen to put it in the sink. The only thing was, he didn't put it in the sink to be washed, and came back a few minutes later with another steaming cup of hot chocolate.

"Drink it," he said, holding it out to him, and watched as the boy's face lit up, if even only for a moment as he wrapped his hands around the mug and sipped from it.

Severus sat down again on the couch opposite the one Harry was sitting on, and leaned forward. "I require an explanation."

"Sir?"

"Why have you continued being attacked? Why have you not reported it when you have been? How many times has it happened now?"

Harry frowned. Snape wasn't going to drop it. He would have no choice but to tell, and then deal with whatever punishment the vitriolic man had in mind for him.

"Maybe... maybe six times, after the train I mean. The one with Fred and George after Quidditch, and then five more."

"Five?" Snape snapped in anger, and Harry's eyes darted to his face and didn't leave as though he was afraid if he looked away something terrible would happen. Severus sighed and leaned back into the couch so he wasn't leaning towards the boy. "Continue," he said.

"I keep getting separated. One time Professor Sprout asked me to stay back to talk to her, and one time I stayed to help Hagrid put supplies away in the greenhouse because I thought Draco was staying, and I was going to walk back with him, but he hurried off right after I said I'd help and had a big box in my arms I couldn't set down right away... I've been trying to stay in a group, but I keep getting separated."

Severus rubbed the bridge of his nose. That must have been the day Draco sensed the dementors coming close to the greenhouses. He had run out to get back to the castle but had been attacked on the way. Sprout had seen the dementors descending on Draco as she came back from delivering a group of students up to the Entrance Hall and cast a patronus before they'd gotten close enough to Draco to do him much harm, and then had taken him up to the Hospital Wing.

"Why did Hagrid not take you back to the castle?"

"There was a fire at the edge of the greenhouse," Harry said. "One of the baby fire-nifflers we were studying that day hiccupped and sent flames from his nose and caught the building on fire. Hagrid told me to get out of the greenhouse and to class while he tried to put the fire out."

"And why did you not report your injuries Potter?"

"Well I haven't been injured," Harry said with a frown.

"Being attacked by a dementor who wants to suck your soul out is considered a magical injury. The fog you feel after an attack, the shaking hands, the inability to focus... any of those are grounds to seek treatment in the Hospital Wing or seek the help of a professor."

"Oh," was all Harry had to say about it.

"You have been attacked five times, and went to classes without treatment?"

"Ron had some chocolate his mum sent. He let me have some pieces to keep with me. But they're gone now."

"You didn't ask for more?"

"It wasn't for me. She sent it for them." Harry refrained from telling him he'd been too stupid to send away for some himself. He could probably empty Honedukes and Tilly's shop and not even make a dent in his smallest Gringotts account if he wanted.

"From now on you are to seek the help of a Professor every time you are affected by the Dementors, do I make myself clear?"

"But if everyone's busy-" Harry started, but Snape's glare was enough to make him close his mouth.

"Then you come to me," he said, and before Harry could bring it up he said, "even if I am in the middle of class. Or to the Headmaster, even if he is entertaining the Minister himself. You are keyed in to his office. It will open for you no matter what password you give it."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. It suddenly made sense though why the gargoyles always let Harry in with the same password from the summer. Harry had wondered why the man hadn't changed it yet. The other passwords around the castle were always changed at least once per term, and sometimes more. "I don't wanna be a bother," was all he could think to say, thinking it would please Snape that he didn't want to take up all the Headmaster's time.

"Idiot child," Snape said, sitting back against the couch again and shaking his head. "You tell the Justice in front of a courtroom full of people how you will seek medical attention if you are injured, that you are capable of doing so, of flooing to St. Mungos on your own, yet you refuse to do so here." But as he looked at the Gryffindor who was staring at his half empty cup of hot chocolate again, he remembered the boy who had fallen off the ladder on Diagonalley and had the wind knocked out of him. He remembered the tears in the child's eyes then, and again in the courtroom as he clung to a man that for all intents and purposes hated him. And he recalled the words of the case workers about being capable of caring for himself, but how he shouldn't... about needing the support of adults. Remembering it all now disturbed him just as much as it had then.

"Finish your hot chocolate," he reminded him again, and Harry drank it down as quickly as he could without looking at the Potions Master.

When Harry was done, Severus said, "Put the mug in the sink and go to bed in your room."

"Sir?"

"You are not attending classes for the rest of the day."

"I have lunch with the Headmaster today. It's Wednesday."

"I will inform him you are taking a nap. It is standard procedure for students attacked by a dementor. You can go to sleep here where I can ensure you do as you are told, or be taken to the Hospital Wing." It was a lie and he was betting on Potter not calling him on it. Students were given chocolate and a hug from one of the more sympathetic professors or Madam Pomfrey and sent back to classes. Potter looked tired though, like he hadn't slept much, and though he seemed clearer and more in the present now, he still looked pale.

"Yes sir," Harry said. He gave Severus a look like he was an oddity Harry had never encountered before, put his mug in the sink as he'd been told, and went down the hall to the guest room he'd spent the rest of the summer in. It was mostly as he had left it, though none of his things were there now as they were all in the dorm in Gryffindor tower.

Harry was thankful to have the chance to nap, though he sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes mulling over how strange Snape was acting. Why did he want him to take a nap? When Harry had been attacked with Fred and George, McGonagall and Pomfrey hadn't made them go to bed. When a Dementor caught Ron, Hermione, Dean and Seamus one day on their way back to the castle from Herbology and Hermione had screamed and gone running into the school, they hadn't made her nap either. Even Draco, Snape's most favorite student, had gone to classes for the rest of the day after he'd been attacked. So why should it be different for Harry? Why had the man been so upset that Harry had eaten chocolate on his own and continued on with classes those days?

Harry didn't know, but continued thinking on it as he drifted off on top of the covers, stomach full of hot cocoa that was still warming his mind and body.

* * *

"How many?" Albus asked, wary and shocked.

"Five more after the attack on he and the Weasley twins. That's seven."

"But he came to you?"

"No. I saw him shaking and pale with a vacant look in class. I thought he was being lazy at first. I brought him here and gave him two cups of hot cocoa before he began to resemble a child and got some color back in his face."

"I don't have to tell you how concerned I am," Albus said. "He was supposed to start lessons with Remus tomorrow afternoon during his study hall period. I will call a staff meeting after dinner and inform everyone that all classes will have to be moved into the castle as initially planned."

"And Quidditch?" Severus asked.

"I'm afraid Quidditch will have to be cancelled until the Dementors can be removed. Perhaps if they can be removed by the end of the year, we can hold a weekend long Quidditch festival to lift everyone's spirits."

Severus shook his head, arms crossed. The students wouldn't like it, and they would grow restless, but they would be safe.

"I will cancel Hogsmead weekends as well. I have had six requests already for students to go home for a weekend. Even Miss Granger has requested leave. I fear students may go home and not come back."

"Granger?" Snape laughed. "Nothing would keep her from an education."

"It's not student opinions I'm worried about. We've been receiving owls from concerned parents since the day after the term started. The Weasleys sent a large box of chocolate for their children, not in case they might be attacked, but because they were certain they would be."

"Is it time to file that petition yet?" Severus asked, but Dumbledore only gave him a hard look.

"In time." He turned to leave but stopped and said, "Please send Harry to me for dinner, unless he wishes to remain here for the night."

Severus nodded, and hoped the Headmaster was planning to fill the child with chocolate before he sent him back to Gryffindor tower for the night.

"It means we have more time to study now," Hermione had told him and Ron when they had complained. It was true, they did have more time to study, and Harry couldn't deny he was relieved that he wouldn't have to face dementors for the rest of the term, but he couldn't be passionate about studying like Hermione was. Hermione lived to learn new things. Harry only learned what he needed to to survive.

"At least you have extra defense lessons with Professor Lupin," Ron grouched.

"You could learn with Fred and George," Harry reminded him. The twins had still been unsuccessful in casting a patronus, but they were still working on it regularly.

"I guess," Ron said. "I think they were sort of waiting for you to get it down with Lupin first and come back and teach them."

Harry couldn't deny that Defense was one of the things he liked learning and studying. He had even sent away to Flourish and Blotts for several books, including one on dementors and several on advanced defensive spells. When the books had come back Hermione had taken them without even asking, and Harry had let her. She did ask for permission to mark in them, and as with the books he had once shared with Justin, he approved, knowing anything she highlighted would be something he would want to remember as well.

So when Professor Lupin had asked him to come to his office twice a week for extra defense lessons to learn to cast a Patronus, Harry had been pleased. This was information he needed to know to survive, and he threw himself into the lessons wholeheartedly. That didn't mean he was enjoying them though. In fact, it was far from it, and he was coming to dread each new lesson as they approached on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Harry was practicing on a Boggart, which was able to take the shape of a dementor and could even conjure some of the powers a dementor did. This meant that until Harry was able to fully cast a patronus, he ended up passed out on Lupin's floor several times during each lesson, once again having to relive his parent's deaths and Voldemort's chilling words. The only good thing about fighting a boggart in dementor form, was that his mind didn't feel very foggy afterwards, and his body wasn't left shaking and weak when he woke up. Lupin kept a plate of various chocolates for Harry to have during lessons, and they helped as well, but it wasn't something Harry was looking forward to to chase away the boredom.

Harry was provided with a brief distraction one rainy evening when a letter from Silver came to him in the tower. Harry sat at his desk in the dorm and read over it twice. The house had been purchased, and the wards cast. All he needed now was to make a trip with Silver to set the wards with a password. Harry would have liked to leave the castle very much, but wasn't sure if he would be allowed now with the Dementors. He debated asking Snape, who didn't seem to care as much about his well-being as Dumbledore, but decided in the end that he should ask Dumbledore, who was more likely to approve ‘frivolus' trips out of school during the term. Harry would have to figure out a way to make it sound like a serious business venture before he approached the Headmaster about it though, and that would take some thinking.

Another distraction came a few days into their newfound captivity within the castle, when a large box of Honeydukes solid chocolate bars appeared on Harry's nightstand.

"Wow, Honeydukes Harry," Ron said, spying the box when they went back up to the dorms one evening to retrieve a board game. "You send out for it?"

"No." He crossed to the nightstand and pulled a folded parchment away from where it was taped to the top of the box. Snape's spiky words on the parchment read, ‘Property of Harry Potter. You must still report encounters with Dementors to me or another Professor immediately.'

Harry just stared at it until Ron asked who had sent it.

"Snape," Harry said.

"Snape sent you chocolate?"

Harry handed him the note and then lifted the lid from the box of chocolates. Inside were 10 individually wrapped solid chocolate bars. They weren't the dark bitter kind that didn't taste good either, they were the kind every kid raced to Honeydukes for on Hogsmeade weekends. As with the other kids Harry had been disappointed that he wouldn't be able to go to Hogsmeade now to go to the candy store. But here was a box just for him. Property of Harry Potter. And as Ron had said, Snape had sent it to him. To him, not to Gryffindor in general.

"Can I have one?" Ron asked.

Without comment Harry lifted the first bar out of the box with reverence, as though it was the best thing he'd ever been given (in truth it was one of the few things he'd ever been given), and handed it to his friend, who had shared his own stash with Harry when he'd needed it.

"Thanks," Ron said. "I'll save it for when I need it, and at the end of the year if the Dementors don't get me before then, I'll eat it on the way home." He put it in the top drawer of his own night stand and Harry wondered if the chocolate would last that long.

"We should get some more," Harry said. "To eat."

"Just to snack on?" Ron asked.

"Why not? Can't go to Hogsmeade. We can owl out for it." Harry was glad owls didn't seem to be affected by Dementors or he would never send Hedwig out again.

"You mean it?" Ron was excited now, sitting forward. "I've got a few sickles dad gave me over the summer."

Harry waved him away. "Let's make a list of what we want. Go get Hermione and Ginny and the twins."

"Harry pulled out one of his dark green Muggle lined notebooks and a black pen from Magic Mart, and wrote at the top of one sheet, ‘Honeydukes Order'. On another sheet he wrote, ‘Tantalizing Sweets Order.'

The door opened a minute later and Fred and George came in, followed by Dean, Seamus and Neville. Ron still hadn't come back yet.

"Is it true Harry?" Dean asked. "You're making an order to Honeydukes since we can't go into Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "Want anything?"

The other third year boys began digging around in their trunks for their money and came over to Harry and began listing things off, dropping the money on his desk. Harry wrote down, ‘Dean Thomas - 2 bars Honeydukes Fine Chocolate, 1 bag Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.' He wrote Seamus' name under that, and then Neville's name with Neville's order. The third year boys left, leaving Fred and George with Harry.

"We don't have any pocket money to order," Fred said. "Ron said to come up anyway."

"Tell me what you want," Harry said. "I've got it this time, so long as you don't plan on bankrupting me," he laughed.

George rubbed his hands together. "Can I get some chocolate frogs? Three? Is that too much?"

Harry wrote George's name down and wrote, ‘3 Chocolate Frogs.' "What else?"

"Firey black pepper imps," Fred said, tapping on the paper for Harry to write it down. "And a box of fizzing whizbees, and a bag of exploding Bon Bons."

"Sugar quills," George added, but Harry wrote that down under George's name on the page for Tantalizing Sweets.

"You're ordering from two shops?"

"Whatever Tilly sells on Knocturn I'm ordering from her. The things she doesn't sell we'll get from Honeydukes."

Fred and George thanked Harry and promised to pay him back somehow, and left, but as soon as they walked out Hermione and Ginny came in and left the door open. Voices drifted up the stairs and Harry asked, "What's going on out there?"

"The whole house is on the stairs waiting to order," Ginny said.

Harry leaned around the doorframe and his brows raised so high they disappeared into his bangs.

"Ron sort of shouted it to the whole house," she said, and she and Hermione giggled.

Harry took their orders and a few sickles Hermione had, and when they left a seventh year Prefect came in and slapped him on the back.

"Best idea you've had yet Harry," he said.

By the time Harry was done taking orders almost two hours had passed and he had ten pages filled up to order from Honeydukes and eleven pages for Tilly. Ron had found a box somewhere and had put it on Harry's desk for people to deposit money into.

Harry added a note to the bottom of both orders to take the money from his account, since there was no way now to separate out the money in the box between the two since they didn't know exact prices of each item.

When everyone had finally gone, Ron sat back on his bed grinning and said, "There, now I've earned some candy," and Harry laughed and nodded. Ron had given him the few Sickles he had and then ordered some more on top of it with Harry picking up the rest of the bill.

Harry counted the names on his list. There were 57. "Did we get everybody?" Harry asked. "57 kids, but aren't there 77 or something in Gryffindor?

"Some kids didn't have money."

Harry got up without a word and went down to the common room. It was almost eight in the evening.

"Who didn't order because they didn't have money?" he asked.

"What's it to you Potter?" a seventh year boy asked.

"If you didn't order because you don't have money, come up anyway. Everyone gets something from this order." He turned and went back up the stairs and several overexcited first years jumped to run after him, as well as a few older students.

"Pick two candies," Harry told the ten students who had come up.

"Any two?" a first year girl asked, eyes wide.

"Whatever you want."

"Can I have a licorice wand and a chocolate frog?"

"No," Harry said, and her face fell, but before she could start to pout he said, "we'd better make it two licorice wands and two chocolate frogs." She giggled and he wrote the order down. A few minutes later he was through the last of the students, though he noted several still had decided not to order. That was fine with him.

"Now where are you going?" Ron asked as Harry got up with the box of money and the notebook full of orders.

"I gotta send these off."

"The money too?"

Harry grinned. "I'm going to ask the Headmaster to take me out this week." Maybe there was a good reason to have a day every week with the Headmaster after all. This was also a chance to get to see Silver and set the wards if he could get away with it.

Curfew was at nine for third years and above, so Harry still had a few minutes to make it to the Headmaster's office.

When he got to the stone gargoyle he paused and looked at it. If what Snape said was true, he could give it any password and it would let him in. "Crystalized pineapple," he said, and the gargoyle sprang aside. He grinned and got onto the moving staircase.

The door opened of it's own accord for Harry when he got to the top, and he stepped into the empty office. The Headmaster wasn't there, but the door to his quarters off to the right was open and light was spilling out.

"Sir?" Harry called.

"Harry?" came the surprised reply, "come in!"

Harry went through the door and spotted the Headmaster up in the living room and climbed the few stairs to join him. It looked like he had just settled in for the evening with a book and a cup of tea on the couch in front of the fire.

"Good evening my boy," Dumbledore said with a smile. "What have you there?"

"Money sir, and orders for Honeydukes and Tantalizing Sweets from Gryffindor. I need to send the orders off and then take this money to my account to deposit it to cover people's orders. We figured if we couldn't go to Hogsmeade, at least the candy could come to us."

"Splendid," Dumbledore said, and patted the couch next to him to invite Harry to have a seat.

"I'm expecting Professor McGonagall in a few minutes, I hope you don't mind her joining us Harry. You are of course welcome to stay. If it's after curfew I'll write you a note."

"Thanks. I was wondering if we could spend a day together Sunday and go to the alleys. I need to deposit this money and I also need some time with Mr. Silver."

"Is this the urgent matter you spoke to me about before?"

"Yes sir."

"Will he be taking you for some amount of time?"

Harry paused. He guessed it wouldn't really be a day with the Headmaster if he was just going to go off with Silver.

"I do need to do something with him."

"May I inquire as to what?"

Harry bit his lip.

"Whatever it is dear boy, you will not be in trouble."

"I- bought a house." Harry said. "And had wards installed. I need to set up the password."

"A house?"

Harry began to fidgdet. He couldn't tell the Headmaster about his plans to tell Sirius he could use it to hide out. But could he tell him about the other reason he'd bought it?

"I just- never wanted to be without a place to go ever again. Like over the summer."

Dumbledore gave him an appraising look and then said, "I will never let that happen to you again. Neither will Professor Snape. If having a home of your own is what it takes for you to feel safe Harry, then I'm all for it. When you graduate or become ready to start a family when you're an adult, you will already be ahead of the rest with a place to call your own."

"You're not upset?"

"I'm not, I promise," he said.

"Then maybe you could take me," he said. "They put up anti-Muggle wards and made it unplottable. I just need to set a password."

"Then we shall go on Sunday. Thank you for trusting me with this Harry."

"I- thanks for taking me."

"Would you like some tea?" Harry nodded and the Headmaster poured him a cup of peppermint tea.

"Sir," Harry said, deep in thought. "We're stuck in the castle for now, and I'm making an order for Gryffindor. But instead of making the whole castle send orders by owl, what if we had some shops come to us one Saturday morning?"

Dumbledore seemed to consider it and looked like he was working details out in his mind. "We've never done anything like it before," he said, "but in these circumstances we must adjust. I don't see that it would hurt to send an invitation. Honeydukes?" he asked.

"And Tantalizing Sweets."

"Heaven forbid we forget Zonkos," said McGonagall as she came in through the open door to Dumbledore's office. The man smiled at her as she took a seat on the couch across the coffee table and poured herself a cup of tea.

"A bazaar weekend," the Headmaster suggested.

"They've only been shut in the castle two weeks Albus. Perhaps if we give the children a chance to write home to ask for some money first? Then we could invite the vendors not for this weekend but for next."

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "Having something to look forward to for all that time should cheer them up."

"There will have to be some rules," she said. "There's too many students to buy from three shops all at once."

"If we set up in the Entrance Hall," Harry said, "and put a bunch of board games and hot tea and hot chocolate in the Great Hall, that could help people spread out," Harry thought out loud.

"A chance for Filius to set up a choir performance?" Albus asked Minerva, and she nodded.

"He'll be thrilled, and the entertainment will help keep interest inside the Great Hall. We could send one year at a time to the Entrance hall to buy their things." She looked between the Headmaster and Harry and asked, "Which one of the two of you came up with this? I'm tempted to think it was you Albus, bringing two candy stores right into the castle."

He laughed and tilted his head sideways at Harry and Harry jingled his box of money. "Our young enterprising friend here has already collected thirty galleons worth of candy orders from your den of lions Minerva. He thought the rest of the school would like the chance to get sugared up and hyperactive as well."

"Severus would never allow it," Minerva said with a knowing smile at Harry. He'd chosen the right man to come see about his idea. "How very fortunate he's not here at the moment."

The three of them smiled and Harry sat back to finish his tea and listen to the Headmaster and his Head of house talk. Apparently it was a social call as nothing more of importance was discussed. Harry was happy he'd come though, and went back to the dorms at nine feeling satisfied. He wasn't bored at all when he was making plans and taking orders... maybe being a businessman was fun after all, and not something he had to do just because he'd inherited these many businesses.

* * *

Harry owled Mr. Silver to let him know he had made other arrangements to finish setting the wards and that he would be doing so over the weekend. On Sunday morning Dumbledore took Harry to Diagonalley and into Gringotts to deposit the money Harry had collected from the Gryffindors into his bank account, and then he personally delivered half of the Gryffindor order to Tilly's shop on Knockturn. He'd sent the other half of the order to Honeydukes the night before with Hedwig since it was such a short flight.

Tilly flipped through the five pages of the order and seemed joyous. The Headmaster was interested in all of the things Tilly had for sale that were different than from Honeydukes, and put in an order for himself as well.

"If you come back this afternoon I can have the order ready," she told Harry. "Otherwise I'll arrange to have it sent by floo. That will cost extra."

"We will return at four," Dumbledore told her. "Is that enough time?"

She nodded. "And I suppose you want the orders marked with the names of who they're for?"

"If you can, if not that's fine," Harry said.

"I can. I have more helpers now. Three ten year olds at Peverell's take turns coming over to help me make goodies. As soon as you leave I'm heading over there to collect them to get the order together."

"We would also like to invite you to sell your delightful sweets and goodies at the first ever Hogwarts weekend bazaar," Albus said. "On the morning of Saturday October the 7th. The bazaar will begin at 10 am in the Great Hall. You may arrange to floo or arrive by other means."

"How much is this going to cost me?" she asked.

"Nothing," Harry beamed. "Hogsmeade weekends are cancelled so we wanted to invite you, Honeydukes, and Zonkos to sell in the Great Hall for a few hours. We thought maybe we could do it again later in the year."

"Honeydukes sells some of the same items as I do," she said.

"If you can arrange it with him, you can each agree to bring items the other isn't bringing to sell. Then students will have to visit both of you to get what they want."

"That's not a bad idea," Tilly said. "I grew up with Gerrin Honeyduke and I should pay him a visit anyway. I haven't seen him in more than twenty years."

They told her they'd be back later and headed out. "Would you care for some tea before we take care of matters elsewhere?" Dumbledore asked, indicating the new tea shop, Exotic Teas. It was a little chilly to be sitting outside in the little plaza, but there was just enough room inside for three little tables and a booth. Harry nodded, thinking something hot to drink would be perfect.

The corner building Exotic Teas now occupied was as tall as Peverell's Orphanage which was next door, with the edge facing the plaza in the shape of a square with the corner cut off. The outside walls had antique looking paned glass windows going all the way up to the second floor.

A bell tinkled over their heads as they went inside and a woman about McGonagall's age smiled at them as they came in. There was a young couple, probably just a few years out of Hogwarts sitting at the booth in the back corner conversing in low tones and drinking their tea.

Harry thought the little shop smelled amazing. Dozens of spices blended together to make the shop smell like the coziest little place in London, and Harry thought he might not want to leave.

"What'll it be?" she asked as they approached the counter. There was a tall menu behind her and above her head. So tall in fact that Harry had to crane his neck back to look all the way up it.

"Tell me about your lemon teas," Dumbledore said, and she was off and running describing over a dozen types of tea. "Our lemon zest morning tea is perfect to pair with a poppy seed muffin," she suggested. "Or if you're feeling under the weather or would like something spicy, we have a lemon ginger tea to die for."

"A cup of your lemon zest morning sounds delightful," Dumbledore said.

"And for you?" she asked Harry.

"What's dirty chai?" he asked, staring up at the menu.

"Oh that's quite lovely," she said. "We have nineteen kinds of chai, but the dirty chai is a chai from across the pond mixed with a smooth french vanilla coffee and cream. It's creamy and warm, and will wake you up."

"I'll have that," Harry said.

"Excellent choice."

A minute later she brought over two tall cups of tea and asked if they would like muffins, cakes, or other baked goodies she had for sale. The Headmaster took a lemon bar dusted with sugar. He paid for the purchase and they moved to one of the little tables by the tall windows. As Harry sipped his drink he looked up to the two story tall windows and watched as rain started to fall outside and splash against them. It was warm inside, and as he looked around the warm wood tones of the old floor and highly polished counter they had ordered at, along with the strings of warm yellow lights hung here and there, he thought if he had to run a shop it would be just like this.

"Enjoying yourself?" Dumbledore asked, and Harry nodded.

"Yes sir, it's very cozy in here."

"How is your drink?"

"Could use this to warm up after the Dementors," Harry joked.

Dumbledore smiled but there was worry behind his eyes at the mention of the Dementors, so Harry determined himself not to mention them to him again on this trip.

"And your tea sir?" he asked.

"Delicious. Lemon is one of my favorites. It's quite hard to come by a good cup of lemon tea, though now that I've had this I wonder how their others are."

They ordered two more cups of tea, a different kind of lemon for the Headmaster, and a sharp black liccorice tea for Harry. He had been given licorice tea several times now while having meals with the Headmaster and was growing fond of it.

"I think Professor McGonagall should come here," Harry told him as they drank their second round of tea.

"She would enjoy it," the Headmaster agreed.

"She gets her tea from that shop in Croydon."

"Once Upon A Tea Time?" the shop owner asked. The shop was small and they weren't whispering so it was easy for her to listen to their conversation.

"That's it," Harry told her.

"They specialize in bulk teas from the far corners of the world," she said. "She's got some good things over there. They sell to Hogwarts don't they?" she asked the Headmaster, and he nodded.

"Yes, though I may have to begin ordering some of your wonderful blends as well. What do you have in chocolate?"

The Headmaster and shop owner talked for several minutes, and then Harry and Dumbledore put their traveling cloaks back on and headed out into the light sprinkle of rain.

He held out his arm for Harry to take, and when Harry had a firm hold, they apparated to Harry's new home in the woods near Perth on the River Almond.

"A lovely place for a home," Dumbledore told him. "Have flood wards been cast as well?"

"Yes sir, because it's close to the river."

"Fire wards?"

Harry nodded and said, "And some others. I think they wove magic into the wood to prevent rot and keep pests away, and they said something about warding the counters to resist caustic potions."

When they went to the door it was unlocked by Harry's touch, as Silver had written to him it would be. No one else could open the doors or windows unless he keyed them to the wards.

"How do I set a password?" Harry asked.

"Typicall password wards are woven into the mantle wood above the front door. You must touch the mantle wood with your wand and say a word or set of words. That will become the new password. Only you will be able to reset it as they are only keyed to your magical signature."

"And anyone with the password can get in?"

"Since an unplottable spell was cast, your home will be invisible to anyone who does not know it's exact location already as well as the password. Would you like some privacy to set the password?" he asked.

"I'm not even sure what the password will be yet," Harry said, sitting at the kitchen table to think. He'd also had Silver put an order in for some basic furniture. It was nothing fancy, just a basic wooden table with two wooden chairs and a couch big enough to sleep on. He noted Silver had also had blankets and a pillow delivered, as they were folded and set in a neat pile on the couch.

"You must only whisper the password," Dumbledore said. "Do you mind if I have a look through the house?"

"Sure," Harry said.

Dumbledore went down the short hall of the little cabin and opened the door to one of the bedrooms. Harry planned on having another look around as well before he left, but first, the password. What should it be? A few things came to mind, but he felt like they were all stupid things. They would have been fine if it was just him who would be using them, but he planned on sending the password and location to Sirius too.

Finally Harry settled on a phrase and stood on his toes to touch his wand to the mantle above the front door. The tea shop fresh on his mind, Harry said quietly, "Lemon tea," and felt a tingle run through his wand and down his arm. Wondering if it was done, he went down the short hall and found the Headmaster admiring the view of the woods out the window of the back bedroom.

"Is it set?" he asked.

"I'm not sure how to tell. I felt a tingle run down my arm."

"When we exit the home and leave the property, we will know," he said.

Harry wasn't sure how they would know, but trusted him as they turned and left. They walked to the property boundary, about a hundred feet upriver from the front porch, and when Harry turned back to see how far they were from the house, it had vanished.

"It's gone!" he said excitedly. "Does that mean it worked?"

"Yes. In your head, think the address and the password."

Harry did as he was told and the house reappeared. "Wicked," he said, delighted.

"Now," Dumbledore said, clapping his hands together, "what shall we do for lunch?"

* * *

The candy from Tilly's shop was packed in a huge wooden crate with the words, ‘Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts, Deliver To Harry Potter,' stamped on the side in red. Dumbledore had been able to apparate both Harry and the box back to the gate on the edge of school grounds. Harry knew they were back because the air was colder here, not from the weather, but from the Dementors. He'd felt so light and carefree on the alleys and at his new house, but here at the edge of the grounds he felt weighted down. He also felt safe though as he was with the Headmaster, and noted the Dementors were keeping well back, watching them from the darkness under their hoods.

Dumbledore unlocked the gate with a wave of his wand and then levitated the crate of candy up the drive, trying to engage Harry in conversation to keep his mind from the Dementors.

"Sir," Harry said when they were nearly back to the castle. "I really appreciate this. I mean what you've been doing for me. I know I'm a bother and you have other important things to do."

He looked at Harry as they walked, box still hovering in front of them. "But you are the most important of those things Harry," he said. "Don't forget that. I won't."

Harry looked away, cheeks turning red.

Thirty minutes later, Harry found that the large crate from Honeydukes was outside of Gryffindor tower with a similar stamp on the outside stating that it was for Harry. Dumbledore hovered both crates into the common room for Harry, to much applause from the group of students gathered inside, bade Harry a good evening, and left.

"Let's pry the lids off these things!" Ron said loudly to Harry, and some of the students cheered.

Because Tilly had labeled which candy went to which person on her half of the order, and Honeyduke's had done the same, Harry was able to reach into the crates, pull out a bundle of goodies tied together with twine, and call out a name. "Dean Thomas," he shouted, and Dean held up his hand by the fire. Harry tossed the bundle of candy to him and he caught it. "Oliver Wood!" Harry tossed another bundle of candy over the crowd to Oliver and then continued on until both crates were empty. At the bottom of the Honeydukes crate there was a note folded in half and taped to the crate announcing that Honeydukes would be attending the Hogwarts weekend bazaar next Saturday. There was also a stack of fliers announcing the date and time with the Honeydukes stamp on it and Harry assumed the man wanted them put around the castle. Ginny said she would do it and went off with some of her friends to hang them up.

That night before bed Harry sat alone at his desk and stroked Hedwig's feathers, parchment in front of him and waiting for the ink to dry. The letter said, ‘I live at 102 River Almond, Perth. I hope you prefer lemon tea. You can send a letter back with my owl if you want to.' He hoped Sirius would use it if he hadn't already found another safe place to live. If he had used it or if he hadn't, Harry wasn't certain he would ever know.

* * *

Two days later some fliers from Tilly came by owl and that same night fliers from Zonkos were handed to Harry after dinner by McGonagall. Students were buzzing as they went on about how fun it would be. For the rest of the week he heard students talking about how much money they had on them, things they were planning to buy, and how they had written home asking for advances in their allowance.

"It's gonna be great," Ron said Friday evening. "Is it true we're supposed to have a special meal tomorrow night as well?"

"I don't know," Harry said.

"You're on the inside," Ron reminded him. "You're practically the Headmaster's kid. You're supposed to know these things."

He was surprised Ron thought that. He didn't feel like the Headmaster's kid, though Harry supposed he didn't really know what it was like to be someone's child or to have a parent. He often watched how Ron's parents treated him, and took in the details, but he always felt like an outsider looking in because he'd never experienced it.

Before dinner was over, an owl swooped in and landed next to Harry's plate. He recognized it as one of the Flourish brother's delivery owls. It was large and black with big yellow eyes. They had fifteen of them that looked just like this one to deliver books to customers. There was a note tied to it's leg.

"What is it?" Hermione asked him, seeing the Flourish seal on the outside.

"It says there's a package waiting for me in the Entrance Hall."

Ron's brows rose. "That's strange isn't it? To send you a letter telling you there's a package somewhere else for you?"

Harry shrugged and got up with Hermione to go see what it was. Ron wasn't done with dinner yet so he didn't go with them. Harry didn't find a package in the Entrance Hall however, he found Basil sitting on a crate just inside the great Oak front doors.

"Harry!" he said when he saw him. "You didn't invite us to the bazaar?"

"I never even thought about it," Harry said.

"Lucky for us I heard about it through the grapevine and the Headmaster was happy to have another shop come in. I have a few crates of books students might find interesting. We had them in storage and around the shop. Bennet and I gathered them up and brought them over."

"What kinds of books?" Hermione asked hopefully.

He pried the lid off the crate he was sitting on and let her peer inside. "101 Fantastical Curses To Use On Bullies," she read. She looked like she was torn between wanting to find out all 101 curses and protesting the book altogether as it was promoting violence against those you didn't get along well with. Harry laughed at the look on her face.

"There's an entire crate with Quidditch magazines and books," Basil said. "And a crate with all kinds of interesting books on unicorns, magical pets, and other creatures kids your age like to read about. The third crate has books with fun and useful charms and potions and things like that. I brought a table and folding book racks too. I'll be back tomorrow to set up early, probably around six. Are you going to work the bazaar with me?"

"Definitley," Harry said.

"You're not going to play games with us?" Hermione asked. Rumors had been spreading all week that the Headmaster had purchased new board games for students to play and that there might be prizes.

"Well-" Harry said.

"The bazaar goes until three," Basil said. "Why don't you work until twelve with me, then come back at two?"

"Sounds good," Harry said.

Basil and Harry lifted the crates of books with magic to a corner of the Entrance hall between the stairs and the doors to the Great Hall, and then Basil put a spell up that only he and Harry could unlock. It cast an invisible dome over the crates so no one could get into them. Just as Basil was leaving and students began to come out of the Great Hall from dinner, the massive front doors opened again and Gerrin Honeyduke came in hauling several huge crates on a trolley. He had to have been using a spell to keep them from toppling over. He set the crates down in another corner between the hourglasses by the front door and the entrance to the dungeons, cast a spell similar to the one Basil had used and left without a word.

"Wonder if Tilly will show up tonight too," Harry wondered out loud, but soon professors were urging them to go back to their common rooms so Harry never found out if she did.

* * *

Harry found Hermione waiting for him in the common room at five the next morning. "What are you doing up?" Harry asked.

"I thought you could use some help setting up the Flourish And Blott's bookstand."

Harry grinned at her as they left the common room and said, "You thought you could browse all the books before everyone else and decide which ones you wanted to buy."

"I thought maybe I might get paid in books," she said, "and that I might look through them all first," she acknowledged with a smile.

They weren't usually supposed to be out this early, but before bed the night before McGonagall had given Harry permission to come early to help set up. Basil was there in the Entrance Hall pulling a table and book racks out of a crate, and so were Tilly and Justin.

"Hey Harry," Justin said when Harry and Hermione passed.

Harry waved and Justin said, "I was here half an hour ago helping her bring things up from the gates. Professor Sprout went with us to keep the Dementors away."

"Dreary business," Tilly said. "And on a day like this when it's pouring and dark out it was hard to see them and know where they were."

Harry set to work helping Basil set up the book stands and table and Hermione went into the Great Hall to see if there was at least some tea or something to help wake them up. She found tea service and pastries at the end of the staff table nearest the Entrance Hall but wasn't sure if they were allowed to have any or not as there was no staff around to ask.

At six Snape came out of the entrance to the dungegons to find some coffee and supervise the area since students would be coming down at seven. Harry didn't see him watching as he passed through the Entrance Hall though.

Severus served himself coffee from the staff table and moved back into the Entrance Hall with his mug. The Headmaster had assigned him the odious task of shooing errant children out of the Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall until ten when the bazaar officially started.

"It could be worse dear boy," Albus had told him. "You could be assigned to setting up the board games and supervising them in the Great Hall all day."

Severus had silently agreed with him and agreed to stand around and sip his coffee until the little miscreants began to appear for breakfast.

The young Zonko's shopkeeper came in with a single crate of items and began to set up shop in the only empty corner left in the Entrance Hall, but Severus wasn't paying him much attention. His eyes were on Harry, who was happily carrying armfuls of heavy books to Granger, who was then placing them one by one on tall book racks. Basil Flourish was setting up a till and counting his starting coinage.

Harry almost jumped when Severus cleared his throat from behind him and said, "Potter, you would be well advised to eat breakfast before the rush of students comes at seven."

"I didn't think breakfast was being served yet sir?" he said with question in his voice.

"There is tea service for the shopkeeps at the Head Table."

Harry bit his lip and Severus sighed. "That means you and Miss Granger and Mr. Finchfletchy as well, as the three of you appear to be working today."

"Thank you sir," Harry said. Basil waved he and Hermione off and Harry ran and grabbed Justin's sleeve and led him into the Great Hall. They each got a cup of hot tea and a pastry and sat down at the end of Gryffindor table to eat. A few minutes later Gerrin Honeyduke came in to join them for a quick cup of coffee.

His eyes scanned the three third years and found Harry and his scar immediately. "That was some order you sent in last week Mr. Potter. Thank you for organizing it."

"Everyone was pretty down about being stuck inside," Harry said. "We thought if we couldn't go to Hogsmeade, it should come to us."

"Are you the one who organized the bazaar?"

"I thought of it," Harry said, "but the teachers organized it."

"I see. Well thank you for the invitation. I realize you could have only invited businesses you own interests in."

"Why would I do that?" Harry asked.

Gerrin gave Harry a funny look, like Harry was dumb, or perhaps that he had no idea what Harry was all about. Harry almost laughed.

"We rise together," Harry told him.

"Not many would think of it like that," Gerrin said. "For most it's all about profit... all about their own business interests."

"I don't see any point to living like that," Harry said. And really, he couldn't see how anyone could. If he had to step all over others to make a living, or to get to the top, then it wasn't something he was interested in doing at all.

At seven students began to filter down through the castle for breakfast, curious about the bazaar, but Snape ushered them into the Great Hall quicker than they could even glance at the shops still setting up their wares and displays on tables and shelves.

Harry laughed when Ron ran from Snape, holding his backside as if the man had threatened to swat him if he lingered any longer, and muttered under his breath, "Geez, I only wanted to talk to Harry."

They were all set up by the time the Great Hall was full of students, and Harry wandered in to see if he could snag some eggs or a muffin and a glass of pumpkin juice.

Students seemed to be taking their time eating since they weren't supposed to go out to the bazaar until ten. At nine thirty the Headmaster stood up and magnified his voice so they could all hear.

"As you know, the bazaar starts at ten. At that time staff will be dismissing students by year to go into the Entrance Hall to browse the goodies and books. When students are done in the Entrance Hall they may return to their common rooms or come back to the Great Hall for games and entertainment. We will have a chess tournament at Slytherin table, and a Gobstones tournament at Hufflepuff table. There will be prizes awarded for the top six players for both tournaments. At Gryffindor table will be an assortment of board games to play with your friends, and Ravenclaw table will be open with snacks, tea and hot cocoa to simply sit and enjoy good company. Around two Professor Flitwick and his choir will begin singing, though you may still continue to play games and talk quietly. The bazaar ends at three and after that time you may move freely in the Entrance Hall if you wish."

Students began to chatter excitedly and Harry and Justin rose to go back into the Entrance Hall, stomachs now full and ready to work.

"Hermione was hoping for a free book," Harry told Basil in the quiet Entrance Hall.

"I know she was," he laughed. "And she's earned it. I already set aside 200 Deadly Useful Charms For The Dedicated Young Witch Or Wizard."

"She'll be back to spend all her money later," Harry said, and Basil nodded.

At ten a group of overexcited first years came out of the Great Hall and went straight to the two candy shops, but once they'd spent some of their money there they spread out to Zonkos and Flourish And Blotts. Harry sold a few Quidditch magazines and several copies of a book with a translucent cover and silver glitter about unicorns, and then the first years emptied out back into the Great Hall. The whole thing had taken only twenty minutes. By the time the third years got to come out it was almost eleven thirty. Ron, who was fully stocked on candy, went to browse Zonkos, and then came to chat with Harry and look through Quidditch magazines.

"How's the chess tournament?" Harry asked.

"I'm already top ten," Ron said, as though he hadn't faced any real competition yet. "I had to beat a sixth year real quick so I could come out here for a few minutes."

By twelve they'd made it through fourth year and Harry went on his break and into the Great Hall with his friends. He loaded up a plate with a chocolate chip muffin, apple slices, and an orange and made his way to Gryffindor to play board games with Ginny and Neville.

"Get anything good at the bazaar?" Harry asked as they played checkers.

"Mum sent me a few sickles and I got a book about useful hexes," Ginny said.

"It's disgusting," Neville said. "There's one that casts bat bogeys in a wide net and wraps you up in them. She already learned it and sent one at Draco Malfoy."

Harry laughed so hard he almost spit pumpkin juice out his nose. "What?"

"I would have gotten in trouble for it too if Professor McGonagall hadn't just heard what he said to me. Instead she told him he deserved it and sent him to the dungeons to take a shower."

"What did he say?" Harry asked.

"It was bad," Neville said. "You don't wanna know."

Harry did want to know, but wasn't going to push them on the issue. If the hex was as gross as it sounded and McGonagall was satisfied it had been punishment enough, he would leave it at that.

At two Flitwick called twenty students up to the staff platform and they began to sing. The sound drifted out into the Entrance Hall where sixth and seventh years were taking their time browsing through books, and Harry stood ringing them up for his last hour of work.

Basil talked to several of the older students about other books he could order in for them, and took down several orders as Harry took coins and deposited them into the till. Hermione came back out, having gotten permission from McGonagall, and looked through books with the sixth and seventh years, eyes darting from side to side as she read quickly, perhaps hoping to learn as much as she could from each book before having to part with them.

Finally the bazaar was over at three, and Hermione helped Basil and Harry pack the remaining books back into their crates. Justin was doing the same with Tilly, though Tilly and Gerrin Honeyduke had both nearly sold out of what they had brought, since they'd each brought unique items. The Zonkos wares were also nearly gone, and there appeared to be just a few pouches of itching powder, some stink bombs and a fanged frisbee left.

"You already earned a book," Basil told Hermione, and Harry turned back to his friends.

"Yes, I know," Hermione said. "I didn't ask for anymore."

"No, but you came back and helped anyway, and I've been watching you eyeing, "Unicorns Through The Ages," all day. Why haven't you looked inside that one yet?"

"There were so many to look through," she said. "And I thought that one might be a little juvenile."

"Open it up before I put it away," Basil urged her, and she pulled one of the last remaining copies back out of the crate. She read the table of contents out loud for a moment, "Four uses of Unicorn blood and the consequences of doing so. Unicorn anatomy and how it aids in the powers a unicorn possesses. Unicorns and their cousins the pegasus, and how they differ and compare."

Harry could tell she no longer thought the book was juvenile.

"There are detailed drawings, photos, diagrams and charts," Basil said. "You sure you don't want it for helping pack up?"

"I didn't say that!" Hermione was quick to say, and Basil grinned. She clutched the glittery book with the transparent cover to her chest and said, "Thank you for letting me help and to earn two books. I miss book fairs."

"Book fairs?" Basil asked, and she and Harry explained it to him. "A few times a year right around when grades were posted to parents, a shop would come in and set up a book fair in an empty classroom and kids could come in and buy books. My parents bought me one book for every good grade I got."

"You too?" Basil asked Harry.

"Well-" he hedged. "I got to go to the book fairs, but my family never got me anything. My cousin hated books, but they bought him loads anyway in the hopes he'd read them one day and get smart."

"You earned a payment too," Basil reminded him. "Two books, same as your friend."

"I already have so many though," Harry said.

"You should at least take some Quidditch magazines," Basil encouraged him, pulling a stack out for Harry to look through. "This month's new editions."

Harry pulled out a magazine with the Falcon's Keeper on the cover and then another featuring the Chudley Cannon's and thanked Basil. Then he and Hermione went back into the Great Hall.

The chess tournament was just finishing up and Ron was playing a seventh year Ravenclaw, both with intense looks of concentration and moving the pieces with fervor across the board.

Harry watched for a few minutes until finally the seventh year put Ron's king in checkmate and then stood without a word to shake Ron's hand. Ron looked frustrated but shook the older boy's hand nonetheless.

"Good game," Ron told him, and went to see McGonagall for his prize. The winner of the tournament got a brand new chess set with marble pieces. Second place got a new chess set with transparent glass pieces that changed colors with a tap of the wand, and others in the top six got a Honeyduke's chocolate bar.

"Well," said Ron, deflated after his loss, "at least I got a new chess set."

"And first prize from a friend," Harry said, pulling the Chudley Cannon's magazine from behind his back and handing it to Ron.

"The new edition?" Ron asked, and he took it and sat at the nearest table to look through it. "Not such a bad day then," he said, "even if Snape did threaten me this morning, the git."

There wasn't a special dinner that night as the rumors had said, but every student was surprised to find their regular tea wasn't on the menu, and instead talked about the sweet lemon tea at every table.

"It tastes like pie," Ron said. "I've never had something like this before."

"I do kind of like it," Harry said. This must have been what the Headmaster had had when they'd gone to tea at Exotic Teas on Knockturn Alley. Harry's mind once again drifted to Sirius and he hoped he had used the password to gain access to safety and warmth in Harry's new safehouse.

"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."

"On the couch," Severus said. He'd gotten Harry to sit down, but the boy was staring into the fire and watching the flames and had been for the better part of the last hour. He'd stopped shaking, but Severus hadn't questioned the boy further. Instead he'd looked over the newest letters, which he had brought down along with Harry's bag when he'd made Harry get up from the table in the Great Hall.

"How bad is it?" Albus asked, nodding to the new notices on Severus' desk by the door.

"As it is every time." Every time someone stepped out to help Fae open a new business, or tried to employ Fae, the Ministry bullied them into compliance with high fines and taxes, despite that there was no actual law against hiring Fae or against Fae starting new businesses. The Ministry's unofficial policy had always been to starve the Fae out and hope they moved on to other countries where other Ministries were less strict. Officially they found every reason to jail them when they entered wizarding institutions, even for made up offenses, and to publish propaganda against them to turn the population against Fae of any kind, even elves who weren't violent creatures by nature.

"How is he?"

Snape only motioned for Albus to find out for himself. Albus went and sat on the couch next to Harry as he stared into the flames and gave no indication he knew Albus was there. A moment later Harry spoke though. "It's not fair. Any of it."

"It never is when concerning those the Ministry sees as different."

"I'm not going to be in compliance. It'll be hundreds of galleons a day. Then they'll keep going. They'll fine me for more. Then it'll be thousands a day. My accounts will be empty in weeks." He turned to look at Dumbledore. "I don't care," he said. "About the money, or the businesses, or any of it. I won't give in."

Albus sighed. "On the one hand I'd like to tell you that's not a wise decision and encourage you to find a different way to rebel. On the other I want you to know I'm proud of you for caring so much about others."

Harry snorted then. It was the same thing he'd told Fred and George after they'd saved Harry from that dementor, that their actions had been understood but not encouraged.

"I don't find any of this funny," Severus said, and Harry looked over and realized for the first time that the man had sat down in his comfortable high backed chair at the end of the coffee table. He didn't sound angry.

"I was wondering how many people he encourages and tells off at the same time. He told Fred and George the same earlier this year."

"More than one would think," Snape said.

"Have the newest citations been sent to Silver?" Dumbledore asked.

"Not yet," Severus said.

"Perhaps a trip to Diagonalley is in order."

"It's a school day. They'll be waiting to catch him and give him a truancy citation and give you one for keeping him out of school."

"Then perhaps it is time for Harrison Silver to pay a visit to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said.

An hour later and Silver had come up through the front gates of the castle grounds and then down to Snape's quarters in the Dungeons. Dumbledore had left to teach another of Snape's classes, but promised to return afterwards.

At the kitchen table Silver read over the newest notices and then set them down and looked over at Harry, who had been fidgeting while he waited. Severus sat at the other end of the table drinking the strongest cup of coffee he could brew.

"This is the legal battle your grandfather was waiting for. This is why there's so much money set aside in the legal fund. He always said the Ministry would one day overstep their bounds, and now they have. You've made them afraid of your political sway with the people, and you've angered them and they've decided to take it out not only on you, but everyone beneath you. But this is the moment the Silver family has been waiting for for generations."

He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a file folder. When he opened it Harry realized it was magically enlarged and there was a stack of paper deep inside probably ten feet tall. "Every Silver has prepared for this legal eventuality and left their notes and findings for the next generation. My grandfather, my father, and me."

"So you'll help?"

Silver gave him a stern look. "I told you Harry. The Silver's have always been the Potter barristers."

"But you're alone," Harry said. "How will you fight them? They'll have an entire team of barristers won't they?"

"Hardly," Silver said. "My father is still alive and still a barrister, and he knows the laws and notes in this folder better than anyone. Because it's a case against your businesses and not directly against you, you may not even have to attend court. The legal proceedings are likely to stretch out for months or even years. I can keep you apprised of course of what's happening, but you should hardly worry yourself over it."

"What about the daily and weekly fines?" Severus asked.

"I'm going to file for a court date tomorrow as early as I can. Within the petition for a hearing will be a petition to whichever Justice we get to put a moratorium on all current and future fines on his holdings and business interests until the case is decided in court. There's precidence for a hold on fines with past cases. When it goes through, hopefully this week, Harry will have to pay the fines he's already earned, but no more after that until the case is over. If we win the case, the Ministry will be found in error and will have to repay the fines Harry has paid."

"And if he loses?"

"If he loses they'll be free to start fining him again until he's in compliance. I've already been looking into things for the last two weeks since he started getting fined however, and every single thing they've fined him for has been false except not having filed for a business license for his janitorial crew to clean the alleys."

Here Silver pulled out a form and had Harry sign it so he could get Harry a business license for the janitors to work under and get him into compliance on at least one thing.

"We'll make our case on the Ministry giving citations when no citations should have been issued. Once that's proven in court and ruled on we'll make a secondary counter-case within the first hearing that the Ministry Office Of Business Affairs has been systematically targeting Harry and his businesses for his dealings with the Fae. Since none of this happened until he opened up a business with a Werewolf (something they still aren't even aware of by the way), and since the first and so far only businesses of his they've targeted are ones in which he employes Fae and they've given him no choice but to fire those employees or be fined, it will be easy to prove. Winning the case will be difficult however."

"Why?" Harry asked, thinking that everything Silver had said so far was going to lead him to win.

"They know they're targeting you because of the Fae. They may not even make much of an effort to deny it. It's status quo. And as you've already experienced, they don't like to change the way of things for any reason. They'll fight tooth and nail to keep things as they are, even if they have no reason to."

"But the law is on our side," Harry insisted.

"It is. The books are clean, the businesses are well cared for, and now that we'll file this business license for the janitorial service you'll be in full compliance on everything, as your family has been for the last fifty years. This case isn't really about your compliance though, and it won't be. They'll know that."

"It's about Fae rights," Harry said.

"It is."

"So what do I do then in the meantime? Keep doing what I'm doing?" Harry asked.

Silver smiled. "You should most definitely keep doing what you're doing. As the Boy-Who-Lived and as one of the most well known businessmen in the aisles, you have much more pull with public opinion than you realize. People are listening, so be careful what you say, because they'll believe you and hold you to it. Be certain about a cause before you throw yourself behind it, though I feel I hardly need to remind you of that. You already seem to have picked your battles, and that worries the Ministry too. They always expected you to throw your political weight around when you were older. I'll wager they thought they had a few more years to influence your beliefs and values before you stepped into the political arena however. That's what has them so scared."

Snape told Harry to stay put and then walked Silver up to use the Floo in the staff lounge off the Great Hall.

When he came back ten minutes later he made sure Harry ate something, looked him over, and then told him he had three options: he could wait for the Headmaster to return from teaching Potions, go back to his common room, or return to classes for the day.

"I'd better go to class," Harry said. He only had Defense and Care of Magical Creatures left because it was two in the afternoon. "I already missed the Herbology test this morning and am gonna have to make that up."

"Professor McGonagall excused you from classes for the day, so you will be given time during a study hall to make up the exam."

"I hope so," Harry said, "because I studied for three days for it."

Severus sent him on his way, but felt unsettled once the boy was gone and he was left in his empty quarters again.

The boy had been so distraught he'd grabbed onto Severus' robes again like at the Ministry. He seemed to have been upset a lot over the last several weeks, enough to seek Severus out for tea by the fire almost a dozen times.

He huffed in irritation and returned to his favorite armchair to stare into the fire. It was all well and good for Lupin and Albus to want to teach Potter to cast a patronus, but in the meantime it was Severus who was there to deal with the emotional fallout every time Potter collapsed from a Dementor, Boggart or not.

He was the one to worry over Potter's poor grades because the child was dealing with nightmares about his relatives and couldn't sleep at night. Albus had been spending a lot of time with Harry, but Severus was the one responsible for the boy's health, and suddenly he was feeling that burden in a way he hadn't before.

In some ways Harry was so mature for his age, and intelligent in the way his mind thought about fixing things, and problem solving through issues on the alleys and with his businesses. But in other ways he was a child who forgot to eat sometimes, had trouble sleeping and wasn't always as wise with his personal funds as he should be.

The case worker's words at the trial once again came back to him. They said Harry could probably survive on his own, but shouldn't. They'd said there was an emotional impact to what was going on in his life that he couldn't deal with on his own... that he needed the help of an adult to deal with. The way he'd gripped Severus' robes that morning underscored that for him yet again. He was only a boy and he was trying to fight his way into a world that even adults struggled to deal with.

When Severus had taken Potter in, he hadn't really done anything to fulfil his promise to save the boy from the dangers he would face, or from himself. And when he'd taken him in he hadn't wanted to care for him, it had only been out of obligation. But now, after seeing how needy Harry was... how he didn't expect help from anyone and only expected to rely on himself, how could Severus turn away from that? He wanted to help him. Heaven help him, he wanted to be that support the boy needed.

Potter had followed Mrs. Ginger around like a lost puppy for most of their vacation to the beach. Now Severus knew why. He followed her because Mrs. Ginger had offered him the things he needed. Harry had been clinging to Severus in the same way recently, coming to see him often, just to sit for comfort after rough tutoring sessions, or to seek the comfort he needed when he felt his world was falling apart. He'd clung that morning to Severus' robes like Severus was a life raft in a stormy sea.

And what are you going to do about it Severus Snape? He silently asked himself. He had no idea.

* * *

Albus had seen Harry in the corridor on his way back to classes, so he hadn't returned to Severus' quarters that afternoon. Instead Severus had to seek the old man out in his office. He didn't wait to be invited in, and instead walked in without knocking and sat down heavily in one of the visitor's chairs facing Albus' desk.

"You've had a rough day," Albus observed.

Severus looked up at him, feeling more exhausted than he should given the amount of coffee he'd had that afternoon. "You're going to have to adopt Potter with me." He wasn't sure how else to say it.

"Severus?"

He rubbed his forehead and then looked up at Albus. "He needs more than a guardian... two guardians. He needs parents... a parent... a grandparent."

"You think adopting him will help?"

"You know he still believes he will be sent back to his relatives or turned out at the first sign of trouble. He is still surprised when someone waits up for him on late work nights or asks him about his day. If he is forever waiting for the other shoe to fall, he will never believe things have changed for him."

"I agree. I'm surprised you're the one to come up with this solution however."

Severus gave him a half hearted sneer, but couldn't keep it there for more than a moment. "You knew, letting me take the boy, that I would be unable to hold him at arms length for long."

"I did know."

Ha, Severus thought, finally caught you at your manipulations old man, but in the next second Dumbledore was talking again and Severus' false notions about Albus fell away.

"I knew in the way I came to care for you as a son in your younger years, that you would be unable to take care of Harry without coming to feel the same way about him. I was surprised when you offered to take him in, but when I saw the resolve in your eyes the last day of the trial, I knew. Pretending to be cold to the world and the people you encounter doesn't suit you Severus. This does."

Severus looked away, feeling his cheeks color, an uncommon occurrence. "When?" he asked.

"As soon as you explain how you feel to Harry."

Severus rose and made for the door but Albus said, "He's not the first student to be adopted by a Hogwarts professor. It might help to let him know that." Severus gave him a nod and left. He had a lot to think about, namely how he was going to tell Harry that he needed a father... that he needed a father as much as Severus found himself wanting to protect Harry as his son.

* * *

Because it had been an emotional few days for Harry, Severus didn't approach the boy about the things he needed to say to him right away. He waited three days, and then went up to the Defense classroom on Thursday evening, and poked his head in the door to see how Harry's tutoring was progressing.

"You're so close Harry," Lupin was telling him as he pulled the child up off the floor. "Your patronus is sticking around for several seconds now before it flickers out of existence. There's a possibility that this new memory you've been using this week is the one you need and that you just need more practice."

"Yes sir," Harry told him. Severus noted the boy didn't look happy as he stood and faced the closed crate holding the boggart. He looked tired and wary, but ready to try again nonetheless.

"You've learned to gather the feeling back to you," Lupin told him as he walked to the crate. "To feel everything that made that memory so strong in the moment you cast. Now remember that this is the memory that will protect you from re-living the visions you face. This is the memory that will protect you from the Dementors. You must be confident in that to keep your patronus corporeal."

Harry gave a nod, and Lupin opened the crate. Severus was both fascinated and disgusted to see the boggart coming out of the crate in the shape of a dementor. Harry was braver than any of them had given him credit for, to face this night after night, week after week and still keep coming back for more.

"Expecto Patronum!" A stag patronus burst out of his wand, though it wasn't very bright. Lupin was right, it was fully formed, but after a few seconds it flickered out, and Harry passed out and hit the floor hard. Lupin ushered the boggart back into the crate with his wand in a matter of seconds and knelt next to Harry to wake him up. The child was shaking as he always did when facing down a dementor.

"Here," Lupin told him, and pushed half a bar of chocolate into his hands. "We'll continue Tuesday night Harry," he told him. "I believe you can do this. Now you have to believe it too."

"Yes sir," Harry said, climbing up from the floor. Harry's eyes found Severus in the doorway and gave him an uncertain nod.

"Good evening sir," Harry told Lupin, and went into the corridor where Severus waited for him.

"Is there another fine sir?" Harry asked, thinking that must be the only reason for his Potions professor to come all the way to the second floor to find him.

"Not that I'm aware of. I need to speak with you and knew you had tutoring this evening. I wished to see how you were progressing."

"I'll get it," Harry told him grimly.

"I am certain you will."

Harry gave him an uncertain look but didn't comment further as he followed Severus back to his dungeon quarters.

Severus made a cup of hot chocolate for Harry, and a pot of licorice tea. After Harry finished his hot chocolate by the fire, sitting on the couch, he poured himself a cup of tea, and looked up at Severus, surprised.

"Liccorice tea sir?"

"The Headmaster said you preferred it."

"You don't have to go to the trouble for me sir."

"I am aware. Obtaining a jar of licorice tea from the house elves and heating water with my wand is not considered troublesome."

"Oh." Harry looked down into his tea and took a sip, savoring the flavor. After a moment he looked up and asked, "You said there was something we needed to talk about?"

Harry watched curiously as his professor suddenly seemed nervous. Harry had never seen him nervous before. He'd been a snarky git, been downright mean, been loud, been strong, and recently been mellow where Harry was concerned. Nervousness was new, and Harry really hoped Snape hadn't been tasked with breaking some sort of awful news about his businesses or fines to him. He really didn't want to think about that right now. Harry was surprised with what the Professor did have to say to him.

"Harry," he said quietly. "You need more than just a guardian."

"Sir?" Was the man finally wising up and dumping him off on somebody else? Harry felt a moment of panic rise in his chest at the prospect of not having a quiet place to come to after tutoring anymore, but scolded himself because he should have seen this coming. He'd bothered the man far too much recently. If he kept bothering Dumbledore he would dump him off back at the Dursleys as well. They'd both grow wise like Podmore had and wash their hands of him completely.

"I can't do enough for you as just your guardian," he said. "In order to help you like I need to, to protect you like you should be, I need to- want to, adopt you." He fumbled over the last few words, and Harry wasn't certain he'd heard him right.

When Harry just stared at him across the coffee table, Severus cleared his throat and said, "You would be my son. Albus would be your grandfather, officially."

"But Dumbledore's not your father," Harry said, shaking his head as he tried to work it all over in his mind. "He didn't adopt you did he?"

"No, but he will formally adopt me, and then I will formally adopt you and he will be your grandfather."

Harry got up and began to pace, clearly upset about something though Severus didn't know what.

"What is bothering you?"

"You're already taking care of me," Harry said. "I mean, I'm staying at the castle. The Headmaster's doing what the Justice said he had to... spending time with me. Why do you want to adopt me?"

"It would not be the first time a Hogwarts professor adopted a student."

"It's not?"

"While I was not adopted officially, I was an orphan and was living at the orphanage on Knockturn Alley in my later years attending Hogwarts. I was miserable there. As I took you at the end of the summer, the Headmaster- Albus, brought me to the castle the summer before my seventh year and looked after me until I graduated."

"You said kids got adopted," Harry pointed out.

"While I did not get adopted, Professor Flitwick did in his years at school. As a first year he grew close to the then Arithmancy professor, a friendly woman who had been a Ravenclaw in her years at school. He lived at the castle for the rest of his schooling, and in his adult years returned again to teach. Over the hundreds of years since the founding of Hogwarts, many other children have been adopted by professors as well. When the Headmaster was a student, the female head of Slytherin had adopted two girls and a boy. They lived here together in these quarters."

Harry looked around then and tried to imagine that. Maybe they'd lived in his room, or there had been some other room open that was now blocked off. He didn't know.

He thought it made sense now though why some of the professors had been extra nice to him since he'd come to the castle over the summer to live... waiting up for him when he worked late, offering him biscuits and tea, and just sitting with him to chat. They'd all acted like it was completely ordinary for a student to be living at the castle, and Harry had wondered about that when he knew he was the only one.

"What are you thinking?"

"I thought I was a special case or something getting to stay over the summer. I didn't think the Ministry would let kids live at the school."

"Because it has been happening since the school was founded it has become an unwritten rule, so long as there is a staff member willing to take responsibility for the student who is staying. When Hogwarts first opened, and for hundreds of years after, staff members families, including spouses and children also stayed with them in the castle, which is why some sets of staff quarters were built bigger than others. Albus is one of the few headmasters throughout the school's history whose family has not come to stay with him.

"But he has a family?" Harry asked.

"You and me."

Harry really didn't know what to say to that. They weren't his family. The Dursleys were, and he didn't want to have a family like the Dursleys again.

"Sir-" Harry said, "I'm really tired... from tutoring. I don't want to be rude but I think I need to go to bed before I pass out."

Severus motioned for Harry to get up and then walked him back to Gryffindor tower. "We will visit the Ministry over the weekend," he told him as Harry climbed in through the portrait hole. Harry stopped and stared at him for a moment.

"The Ministry sir? To the MOBA office?"

"We will be visiting the Family Affairs office where they handle adoptions."

"This weekend?"

"Saturday morning."

"Good night sir."

Harry waited until the portrait door closed to flee to his dorm room. It was empty because the boys were all playing Exploding Snap at the edge of the common room.

Harry sat heavily on his bed. He wasn't getting a choice. Snape was going to adopt him Saturday. That was just two days away.

Harry was content with the way things were now. Why couldn't they stay the way they were? He was comfortable with the routine he had of visiting Snape when he needed a quiet place to think, and spending occasional meals with Dumbledore, or going out on the weekends with him to the tea shop or other places. If they adopted him it was all going to change.

There was a time when Harry had desperately wanted to be adopted. He had spent days at a time locked in his cupboard daydreaming of a nice family coming to the door at 4 Privet Drive and asking if they could adopt the orphan that lived there, and then moving him to a nice house where he could have his own bedroom with a real bed. He'd spent time at the Burrow watching how Ron and his family interacted, wishing he could be one of their kids. But by the time he'd finished with second year and made his way to Diagonalley to stay at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry was just looking to survive.

What Harry wanted more than anything right now was a safe place to think, and he felt like that had been taken away from him. He couldn't go back to Snape's quarters to think through this because Snape wasn't giving him a choice. He was taking him to the Ministry Saturday whether Harry wanted that or not. Sirius had once offered Harry that quiet comfort Snape had been giving him back in his room at the Leaky Cauldron.

Sirius had let Harry run his fingers through his soft fur, or bury his face in his fur after a nightmare. And he'd never said a word despite being able to transform into a man. He'd just let Harry be, and comforted him.

Harry hadn't heard from Sirius since the trial though. Was he at Harry's safehouse? Harry really hoped he was and that he was safe. He thought of his godfather often even though he had never met him as a man, just as a friendly dog. Harry felt like that was enough though. He felt as though that was what he needed in that moment, and maybe forever. If he left for his safehouse, and hopefully for Sirius, he could forget about Snape and the Department of Family Affairs. Maybe he could even forget about his issues with the Business Affairs Office because they'd never be able to find him.

Long after the other boys had come up to the dorm to go to sleep for the night, Harry got out of bed and packed several shirts and pairs of pants and socks and underwear into his backpack. He pulled on his warmest gray hoodie, pulled the hood up over his head, and tucked his gloves into the pockets of it. Then he pulled his invisibility cloak over himself and looked around the room at the other sleeping boys, wondering if this was the last time he'd see them again. He didn't care if this was a wise move or not. He didn't even know how he would get to his cabin yet since he couldn't apparate.

Harry left the room as quietly as he could and made his way down to the Great Hall. It was after midnight and he prayed there was no one in the staff lounge this time behind the staff table.

The door was unlocked with a quick alohamora and he pushed it open a crack and peered inside. The fire was out and the room was dark.

Still invisible he crossed the room quickly to the fireplace and reached up for the Floo powder, hoping the password hadn't been changed.

As he threw a handful of Floo powder into the grate and green flames as tall as him sprang up, he said, "Caldus, The Leaky Cauldron, London." He stepped into the flames and was whisked away into the night.

When he came out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, he found a few tired witches and wizards sitting around the table.

"Floo acting up again Tom?" one of them asked when the fireplace had flared up but no one appeared to have stepped out.

"Knut please," Tom said, not even looking up from the shiny wood bartop he was cleaning with a rag.

Harry felt in his pockets for a Knut and found the one Snape had given him for just such an occasion. He'd never taken it out of his jeans pocket and was glad the house elves had left it there all the times the pants had been washed since then. Trying hard to make sure he was still covered with his cloak as he raised his arm and dropped the Knut into the money pot on top of the mantle, Harry hurried out the back door to the courtyard.

Once he'd exited out onto Diagonalley, he found it dark and deserted. There were a few lights burning in oil lamps along the cobbled street, but they didn't cast much light. It was also cold and windy out as he made his way down the street.

At the Gringotts plaza at the end of Diagon he turned and went down Knockturn, and then stood at the entrance to Payne Alley, staring down it. He could hear laughter and other sounds coming from the alley, likely from Gobledegooks. Would Bellamy be at the Lighthouse this late at night? Did he have a home he went to in the evening?

Snape's warning about going down Payne alone flared across his mind even though Harry didn't feel threatened in the slightest going by himself. Instead he turned and headed down Knocturn a little further to see the new sweet shop. It would be closed now as it was only open until midnight, and it was half past, but he just wanted to have a look.

When he got there, there was a light on inside and he tried his luck with the door. It was unlocked.

A bell tinkled overhead to announce his presence, and he heard Zach calling from in the back room. "Back here Gnarlack! I hope you brought extra cockroaches tonight! Gonna have to sell five times as much to keep up with the fines!"

Harry made his way into the back and when he was in front of Zach, who was kneading pale dough into a ball, he pulled his cloak off.

"GEEZ!" Zach shouted, and gripped his heart, leaving a flour handprint on his black apron. "Harry? Scared me half to death and I don't think you can scare a werewolf half to death!"

"I'm sorry," Harry told him. "I need help from Bellamy. Not sure if it's acceptable if I take a stroll down Payne at this time of night though."

"Night's just getting started," he said. "Bellamy should be down there. If not at the Lighthouse than at Payne Inn. They're having a meeting tonight at the Inn so most everybody should be there."

"But what about me?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, not sure about that one," Zach said. He considered Harry for a moment and said, "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"I'm in trouble. I need Bellamy. Do you think he knows how to apparate?"

"He hasn't learned yet. Vampires do it differently than wizards do you know. No idea how it works but most don't learn til they're at least fifty years old. Be some time yet unless someone takes him under their wing. They usually make ‘em figure it out on their own. Right of passage or something like that. If you need to get somewhere why don't you take the Floo?"

"That's how I got here. There's no Floo where I'm going."

"Where's that?"

Harry just stared at him.

"All right, it's not like I can apparate yet either. Don't have my apparition license. They're not too keen on giving one to someone who didn't go to school. How much trouble are you in?"

When Harry just stared at him again, Zach gave a nod and said, "Right, you need Bellamy."

"I don't mean any offense," Harry said. "I just don't know you that well."

"I understand. Let's lock up the shop and get down Payne. I'll go into the Inn and get Bellamy. You put that cloak back on and promise not to scare me again."

Harry pulled the cloak back over him and his backpack and followed Zach out of the shop. He locked the door with a wave of his wand and led Harry down Payne Alley. A goblin stumbled drunk out of Gobledegooks as they passed and headed towards Knockturn, but Harry avoided him and then pressed himself up against the wall in the corner at the end of the alley between The Aether and Payne Inn.

Zach opened the door to the Inn and stuck his head inside, told someone he needed Bellamy, thanked whoever it was and then pulled his head back out.

"Packed in there tonight," Zach said seemingly to himself since Harry wasn't visible.

Harry didn't respond, and a few minutes later the door to the Inn opened and Bellamy came out. Harry was surprised to find his friend's eyes were glowing slightly silver in the darkness.

"What is it? Someone harassing you at the shop again?"

"We have a friend in need."

Here Zach elbowed the general vicinity of Harry and hit his mark. Harry grunted and pulled the cloak off of himself.

"Look at you down Payne by yourself at night without that git Professor of yours," Bellamy said in approval. "Aren't you supposed to be locked away at school?"

"Zach," Harry said, holding out his hand to shake. "Thank you. I appreciate your help."

"Think I've been dismissed," Zach said, but he gave Harry a nod and headed back towards Knocturn and his sweet shop.

When Harry was sure he was out of earshot, he whispered to Bellamy, "I need to get somewhere without a floo."

"Have your professor take you."

"I can't."

Bellamy narrowed his eyes and then motioned for Harry to follow him down to the Lighthouse. The door was unlocked when they got there and the lights were on inside. A man and a woman were working the printing press, with newly printed newsletters popping out the end into a stack.

Bellamy didn't say anything to them as he led Harry through the room and to a set of stairs.

"I'm pretty sure we don't need the trouble bringing a wizard kid in here is gonna bring," the woman said. "You know you can't turn him unless he wants it and only then if he's at least 17."

Bellamy stopped and turned to her. "Just having a friend over," he said.

"Up in your room? Alone? If you bite him Bellamy, or if he even claims to the Ministry that he saw a flash of your fangs, the Ministry will stake all of us."

"Muuum," he groaned. "When have I ever bitten a kid? Or anyone?"

"What's he even doing here?" his father asked, not looking up from the printing press. "Bit late for him to be out on his own isn't it? You lost kiddo?"

"This is Harry," Bellamy said. "He's been here half a dozen times already."

His mother and father stopped and their eyes found his lightning shaped scar.

"Harry Potter?" his father asked. "You're bringing Harry Potter in alone in the middle of the night without his guardians? Are you crazy?"

"He's asking for our help," Bellamy said lazily, as though his parents often overreacted to small things and it was no big deal.

"He's The-Boy-Who-Lived! The Ministry will be furious!" his mother said.

"Erm- excuse me," Harry said, bringing their attention to him fully for the first time. They'd been speaking like he wasn't really there, or like he wasn't capable of understanding them. "I came on my own and found Bellamy at the Inn. I just- need to have a chat really fast. I promise I won't stay long. I don't want any trouble."

"You?" Bellamy's father snorted. "You seek trouble out. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty pleased you've stepped out of your safety net to do something good, but I don't believe for a second you won't cause any trouble."

"I'm in trouble," Harry said. "I need help. If me being here will cause you issues, I'll leave though."

"What kind of trouble?"

Harry looked to Bellamy and Bellamy nodded his head once towards his parents. "It's ok, whatever it is they won't turn you in. Every Fae in the aisles who's in trouble turns up here. Nightly thing really."

"I'm supposed to be at school," Harry said, looking at his mother and father. "I ran away."

"What for?"

"I have my reasons," Harry said.

Bellamy's parents gave each other a sideways look.

"And you want safe harbor?" his father asked.

"Not- exactly," Harry said. "I have a safe place to stay. I have a safe person to stay with."

"If you're thinking of Sirius Black, he's not safe for you to be around. We published your request for him to be helped, but no one has seen hide nor hair of him since he escaped on Diagon."

Harry sighed. "I just need to get somewhere. There's no active Floo. If you can just get me close to it, that's all I'm asking."

"Do you need food and money?" his mother asked. "Clothes, blankets?"

"Erm- I have clothes and a blanket. I have money in my accounts."

"You're not going to be able to access them if you're hiding."

"Guess I won't really need money because I don't plan on coming out of hiding to use it."

She came around the counter, apron covered in black ink smudges. She was tall and slender and had silver hair that fell below her shoulders. Her eyes glinted silver like Bellamy's did despite that lights were on in the room.

"Food then," she said.

Harry hadn't thought of that. He hadn't visited the kitchens before leaving school or thought about what he might eat. He supposed when he got to his safehouse and found Sirius they could figure that out together.

Before he could answer she had swept out the front door without a word and Harry looked to Bellamy for help. He only grinned at Harry in response. His father came around the counter and said, "We've harbored runaway's before. Even runaway wizards. Usually they have a good reason for leaving. What's yours?"

"It's hard to explain."

"There's a code that's followed here... with Fae. I'm not sure if you'll understand it, but I'm going to tell you anyway, because you'll be expected to abide by it."

Harry nodded.

"If or when you get caught, you're to tell no one you were here. You're to tell no one who helped you, or to even mention it was a Fae that helped you. You're to tell no one how you found your way to wherever it is we'll be taking you. That is the price of our help."

"I can do that," Harry said.

"See that you do. One slip of your tongue, even to a trusted friend, could mean Bellamy gets hunted down and killed by angry wizards."

"My- friends," Harry said, because he'd wanted to say his family but couldn't, "would never-"

"Maybe they wouldn't," he said, "but others would. There are groups of wizards out there that see no problem with taking things into their own hands."

Harry stared into the man's silver eyes and said, "I don't know how you do this on a daily basis."

"Help people?"

"Live like this. In fear of the Ministry and random wizards."

"Because if we didn't stand strong for our community, there would be no alley here to escape to... no one to help those in need who turn up hungry and tired and needing help in the dead of night."

Harry wanted to tell him he understood, but couldn't because Bellamy's mother had come back in with a brown paper bag. She handed it to Harry.

"Food," she said. "Bread, some fruit, aged cheese. It's the best I can do at this time of night."

"Thank you."

"I'll take him," his father said.

"I'm coming," Bellamy said, stepping forward. His father nodded and gripped Harry's shoulder and Bellamy's.

"You need to think of the spot you want to be dropped off," he told Harry. "Think hard, like you're there. Don't bite your tongue."

Harry nodded.

"You have it in your mind?"

He nodded again and they were gone.

It wasn't like apparating with a wizard, where you felt like you were being compressed into a tiny ball and couldn't breath. Harry could breath just fine, but felt like he was being spun around and around in a circle over his head. The floor was up and the sky was down, but before he could comprehend what was going on, they had stopped spinning and he felt like his feet had never left the ground at all. He wasn't even sure they had left the shop until he breathed in a breath full of crisp clean air.

"Is this the place?" Bellamy asked, staring into the darkness with his silvery eyes.

Harry looked around. He could hear the river and he recognized a large boulder at the edge of his property. They were forty or fifty feet away from it. He didn't want to appear too close. "Yeah, it's close."

"And where is this place you are going?" Bellamy's father asked.

"About a mile away," Harry lied. "I'll walk. It's not far."

"We'll go with you," he said.

"I appreciate it sir, but I'll be meeting someone on the way there. I don't want to give you away for helping me."

Both of the vampires stared into the trees in the darkness, as if trying to see who was nearby that Harry would be meeting.

"Well met," Bellamy's father said. "I hope you are well traveled by the end of the night."

"Thank you," Harry said, frowning as he tried to work out what was being said to him.

"He was glad to meet you and hopes you find your way safely," Bellamy translated.

"Well met," Harry returned to them both, "and I'll be safe."

They nodded, Bellamy's father gripped his son's shoulder, and then they were gone, cartwheeling out of existence before Harry's eyes.

Harry waited a few moments and then thought the address to his house and the password Lemon tea. The house appeared and he walked carefully through the trees and up onto the little wooden deck. He peered in the windows, wondering if he could spot Sirius sleeping inside, but couldn't see anything inside the darkened house. The door was unlocked since he had said the password to bring the property into view, and he went inside, lighting his wand with a Lumos so he could see.

"Sirius?" he called. There was no answer. He shone the light from his wand onto the couch and found the pillow and blanket still neatly folded where they had been almost two months ago when he'd come with the Headmaster to set the wards.

Just to be sure Harry checked down the hall, in the bathroom, and in the two bedrooms. They were all empty. There weren't even footprints (or pawprints) in the dust on the floor. Sirius had never come.

Harry went back to the living room and sat heavily on the couch, brown sack of food beside him. He pulled his backpack off and leaned back. He'd wanted peace and quiet. He'd wanted space to think. He'd wanted to escape the changes being adopted would bring. He only hoped he wasn't getting more solitude than he had bargained for, and that he had made the right decision.

* * *

Albus sat at his desk with his head in his hand propped up by his elbow. The way Harry had rejected he and Severus and their offer to adopt him by running away stung more than he would have liked. He hadn't felt the sting of rejection like this in a long time. It was different now though, because it meant they would never get through to the child. He was certain he knew where to find him, but when they did, things would remain as they were: Harry would be wary and untrusting of him and that wouldn't change.

Maybe Harry just didn't want Albus and Severus for a family. That hurt even more to think about. It was Albus' fault that he'd failed Harry so badly by leaving him with his relatives for so long and then for fighting the child in court over it. He should have taken the boy back to Hogarts at the first mention of abuse over the summer and never looked back. He'd broken the child's trust too badly to repair.

The door to his office opened and Severus strode in without knocking.

"No sign?" Albus asked.

"None of his friends saw him leave and he made no mention to them of where he was going. I have been to the Leaky Cauldron, to Diagon and Knocturn, and to see Silver and they have not seen him."

Albus shook his head. "I've done this."

Severus sneered at the old man for feeling sorry for himself. If he found Potter first he was going to give him detention until he was twenty for the self recrimination he'd brought on the Headmaster. Severus would never admit that the boy's rejection of his offer had hurt him, but it would be a lie if he said it didn't. He wasn't going to wallow like Albus however. They needed to make sure the third year was safe and then tell him off. And then Severus wanted a long holiday away from the school for as long as he'd be allowed to decompress and allow his anger to subside.

"You did nothing," Severus said.

"Because I've broken his trust he doesn't want to be associated with either of us."

"He's a child. He doesn't know what he wants or what's best for him." Which was exactly why Severus hadn't given him a choice in the first place. He needed a parent. As his parent Severus wouldn't be required to give him access to work, only school. If there was a hairbrained scheme the boy wanted to put into action like bringing the wrath of the Ministry down on himself, Severus would be allowed by law to stop him.

"Let us focus on finding him first," Severus said, thinking there was time for the Headmaster to wallow later.

"I have a good idea where he is."

"Where? If you had told me this morning when we found him missing, it would have been appreciated so I didn't have to trek to London and back."

Albus allowed a small sparkle of mischief to come into his eyes when he looked at Severus, but it was gone as fast as it came. "He has a house."

Severus only stared at him.

"It's well warded and I do not know the password. I do not know how he would get there, especially since his broom and all of the school brooms are accounted for, but he once told me he bought it to ensure he would always have a safe place to go... a place to go when things did not work out between the three of us."

"Wonderful," Severus said, exasperated. "Where is it?"

"Severus, thank you for spending the morning looking. I think I must be the one to bring him back however."

"If you find him and spend the afternoon apologizing for something that's not remotely your fault-" Severus started, but Albus held up his hand.

"I hope to return this evening. If I cannot find a way through the wards, I'll return for your help."

He swept out of his office, leaving Severus there staring after him. He hoped the Headmaster did know where the boy was hiding out and that he could bring him back. A thirteen year old shouldn't be out on his own, not with Black on the loose, and Dementors patrolling, and the Ministry intent on destroying the last of the child's youth. He only wished Albus would stop blaming himself. Potter had a lot of issues to work through, and none of them were Albus' fault.

* * *

Snow had fallen overnight on the River Almond and there was a light dusting of it on the ground in the space where Harry's cabin should be. Albus stood in the chill afternoon air as he stared at the empty space with sadness and thought the address and said, "Falmouth Falcons."

Nothing happened.

"Seeker 7... Potter 2000... Flourish and Blotts... Knocturn Alley... Gryffindor."

None of those passwords worked, and in truth it could have been any combination of words, even of the ones he'd already tried to bring the house into view. If Harry was inside he could look out any window and see his Headmaster at the boundary of the property, and if he was, he was choosing not to come out and let him in. Albus sighed.

Having run out of ideas for passwords Harry might choose after trying for twenty minutes, he started going through lists of sweets, because why not?

"Pumpkin pastie. Licorice wand. Licorice tea. Chocolate frog. Bertie Botts. Lemon tea." The house appeared and Albus was surprised. Lemon tea? That wasn't even something the boy liked. He preferred chai or sharp licorice or even peppermint. Lemon tea was something Albus liked though. Something he'd had when he'd taken Harry to the tea shop the day they'd set the wards. If Harry didn't want him as a parent... grandparent, then why had he chosen Lemon tea as the password? Perhaps Severus had been right, and Harry was just too young to know what he wanted or needed.

Albus crossed the snowy ground to the front porch, boots crunching in the snow which had iced over and hadn't thawed yet in the shade of the trees surrounding the house. He looked in the window not knowing Harry had done the same the night before, and then opened the door slowly.

Harry jumped up off the couch when the front door opened, wand out and eyes wide, but upon seeing the Headmaster, he looked away, cheeks turning red.

Albus closed the door to keep the cold air out and said, "Harry."

Harry turned so his back was to him and didn't respond for a moment. "I didn't expect you to come after me," he said when Dumbledore stood silently behind him for several long moments.

"Whyever not dear boy?"

"Sirius didn't come."

"Did you expect him to?"

He shrugged. "I thought- if I owled him where the house was, he'd have a safe place to stay. That was months ago. He never came," Harry paused. "He didn't want me."

"I want you. So does Professor Snape."

Albus startled when Harry turned and hugged him tightly, burying his face in his shirt as he had done with Severus at the Ministry. It was the first time Harry had ever hugged him or shown any affection towards him at all.

"It's a lie," Harry said, "nobody wants me."

"That's not true." He maneuvered Harry to the couch and they sat down together. Harry let go of him and didn't move to hug him again.

"If you adopt me, I'll disappoint you. Everything will change."

"What do you mean?"

"It'll be like it was before, at the Dursleys. You and Snape will get mad and -" Harry's throat tightened. He'd end up locked away and forgotten. They'd set him aside like trash and he would remember who he really was. All the hope he'd started to gain with the Headmaster and Snape would vanish. He'd lose it all.

Dumbledore put his arm around Harry's shoulder and pulled Harry to him, wrapping both arms tightly around him. He was glad when Harry didn't pull away. "Never. I will never treat you as you were treated by your relatives. Neither will Professor Snape."

Albus didn't know if he'd ever convince Harry that he was safe from abuse and neglect. The scars of his time at the Dursleys ran deep, and while Albus had never experienced what Harry had, he was starting to feel those scars deep in his bones. The more Harry felt them, the more Albus and Severus felt them. Perhaps that was what Harry needed, more than safety and promises he couldn't be certain about. Albus was angry and sad and devastated with Harry. But as a man with a lot of years and experience under his belt, he was better equipped to handle those emotions than the boy that Harry was.

"Your slights are my slights Harry," Albus told him seriously, and Harry sat up slightly from where he'd been leaning into him.

"What does that mean?"

"When someone treats you poorly, they treat me poorly. When someone hurts you, they hurt me. They hurt Professor Snape."

Harry thought about that. He knew what that was like actually. He often felt that with his friends, and Ron often expressed anger when people knocked into Harry in the halls or teachers kept Harry late after class and prevented him from getting to lunch on time. Is this what Dumbledore and Snape wanted to adopt him for? To share the burdens Harry was used to carrying all on his own?

Harry thought back to how Ron's parents treated Ron and his siblings... how the twins looked out for Ginny and Ron at school and how close they were. How they had included Harry in that circle by protecting him from the dementors. How they had included Harry as if he were family. This was what a real family was like, Harry decided, and for the first time he really understood what that meant. It was something he had been seeing all along, but hadn't known until this moment here with the Headmaster. It was even something he had been witnessing amongst the Fae community... when one was hurt, they all pulled together to help, because it was as if they were all hurt. They'd even pulled together the night before for Harry, who wasn't Fae.

Harry had been thinking over it all quietly for several minutes, and Albus had let him. He'd let him have peace to just think and figure things out, like Snape often did. Instead of plying him with sugar and trying to ask him questions about his hobbies and school, Albus had just been present there with him in solidarity for a little while.

"I think I'm ready to go home now," Harry said.

"You are?"

"I think- I'm ready to have a grandfather."

"You weren't before?" Albus asked, wondering what exactly he'd said to change Harry's mind.

"I didn't know what family was," Harry told him. "I didn't realize until you said about things that hurt me hurt you. And then I realized that's how Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are with their kids, and how Ron's brothers and sister are. How Fred and George and Ron and Ginny are with me too. And you said you and Professor Snape want to be that way with me. I just didn't realize until now that I already had a family at school."

"A wise witch once said, ‘friends are family we choose.'"

"Thank you for choosing me sir."

"Thank you for allowing me to."

He pulled open the door more quickly than he might normally, intending to send Minerva on her way, but found Harry and Albus instead. He gave Harry a stern look despite his relief at seeing him, and pointed inside. Harry moved past him into the quarters and Albus followed.

"Albus," Severus greeted tersely.

"Severus."

"Minerva has been down three times this afternoon to get news."

"I'll send a patronus to her in a few minutes. I think Harry has some things he wishes to say to you."

No, Harry thought, he really would rather not, but the Headmaster had told him on the way back that he'd worried his Potions Professor greatly. Apparently he'd worried all the teachers by running away in the dead of night.

Harry sat down on the couch in his usual spot by the fire and set his bag on the floor. Albus sat beside him and Severus sat on the couch across the coffee table facing them. When Harry was quiet for a couple of minutes and didn't start talking, Severus said, "You had something you wanted to say?"

"I don't know how."

"You forgot how to speak when you absconded in the middle of the night?" Severus snarked.

"I don't know how to tell you what happened."

"Tea perhaps," Albus suggested. "It's been a long day and I don't think he's had lunch. I know I have not." And he rose to go into Snape's kitchen to make a pot of tea and see what the Potions Master had around to eat.

"You have no idea how your actions affect those around you... how they affected the Headmaster when you left," Severus chastised coldly.

Harry nodded, looking at his fingers as he gripped one hand in the other. Maybe he didn't know. Maybe he'd been selfish. He had nothing to say to that. All he could think about was the vision he saw every time the dementors came near. His uncle and the cupboard and how alone he'd felt. How hopeless. So that was where he started.

"I forgot what it was like at home when I escaped to school in first year. I had friends, and I got a chance to do my homework and learn and be good at something for once. And then I went back, and they'd seen that I'd forgotten. And Uncle Vernon had to teach me to remember who I was... it wasn't even the worst beating I'd ever had. And when he stuffed me in the cupboard and locked me in for days, it wasn't the longest they'd shut me away and forgotten about me. But it was the worst time it had happened, because I wasn't sure Hogwarts existed anymore while I was in my cupboard. I wasn't sure if it was something I'd made up... that there was a safe place, and that I had friends, and that I was good at Quidditch. I never forgot after that who I was though, because it was dangerous to forget. When the dementors get me... when the vision changed, I remembered all over again, because I had to relive it every time." Harry was still staring at his hands. He couldn't look up at Snape and see his scowl at Harry's excuses. "I never forgot that I was alone, that I didn't have anybody at all." Tears were pooling in his eyes and he ran his sleeve across his eyes angrily to wipe away the evidence of his sadness. "I'm not stupid. I don't want to be alone. I used to dream up random people that would come take me away to some place better. But I didn't want a family. I didn't want you for family."

Harry looked up and saw the stunned look on Snape's face, as though he'd been struck as he stared at Harry.

"Because if you adopted me, and we became family, it would be like it was before with the Dursleys. I didn't want to lose what I already had with you and the Headmaster. I didn't want to forget who I am, and get comfortable, and mess up, and lose it all. I know you're not gonna lock me up in a closet," Harry said, going back to staring at his hands. "But if you adopt me, it'll be something. Or I thought it would be. I didn't understand that the Dursleys weren't a family until the Headmaster said- when one of us hurts, we all do together. I didn't know that's what you wanted, that that's what family is."

Harry startled then as the couch cushion next to him shifted because someone had sat down beside him. He thought perhaps the Headmaster had come back with tea, but looked up and found Snape sitting close, looking down at him.

"We will not lock you away and forget about you. Nor will we ever neglect you as you have been, or abandon you because you have made a mistake, no matter how big."

"I really don't know what that's like."

"Then we will teach you. You will also know what it's like to be held accountable for your actions," he said as he wrapped an arm around Harry and pulled him close. Harry stiffened for a long moment, but then slowly relaxed into his side. "You are accountable to us, and we are accountable to you," Severus told him as he looked up and found Albus in the doorway to the kitchen listening to them speak. "When you run away you rob us of the chance to problem solve through whatever the issue is, and worry those that care about you. The staff and your friends have been overwrought with worry about you all day."

"I'm sorry I made Professor Dumbledore come after me and made everyone worry."

"Not just me dear boy," Albus said quietly as he came back with a pot of tea and three mugs. "Severus searched for you all morning on the alley's. He questioned everyone he came across that you knew."

"I didn't know anyone would come after me," Harry repeated what he'd told the Headmaster earlier that day in the cabin.

"Where did you Floo to last night?" Severus asked. "I assume you used the Floo in the staff lounge. The password to that has been changed by the way and you won't be getting it again anytime soon."

"The Leaky Cauldron. Don't worry, I paid a Knut."

"They said you had not come through there."

"I was under the invisibility cloak."

"And from there?" Albus asked.

"Erm-"

"Unless someone taught you to apparate, it's clear you got someone to transport you," Snape said.

"Don't remember who."

"You expect us to buy that?" Severus asked.

"I paid a random person to drop me close to my cabin and walked from there."

"A stranger," Snape said, clearly disbelieving him.

"Yeah, musta been." Technically Harry wasn't lying. He'd never met Bellamy's father until the night before.

They were silent for several long moments until Severus finally said, "I have warned you about going down Payne Alley."

"I wouldn't go down there alone. You said not to and I didn't."

"Given that you entered and exited the Leaky Cauldron with your cloak, and there would be no one else out on Diagon or Knocturn in the middle of the night, the only place for you to seek help would be in Muggle London, where you know no one, or Payne Alley, where your young vampire friend gave me a lot of attitude this morning and rolled his eyes at me three times as I asked if he'd seen you."

"He's only 17. Vampires can't apparate until at least 50," Harry said. "It's a rule or something."

"Zachary West," Severus said.

"The Ministry doesn't like to give apparition licences to those who didn't go to school."

"So you spoke to both of them last night."

"Nope," Harry said, shaking his head, but he knew they weren't buying it. He set his cup of tea down on the coffee table and turned to give Severus a serious look since he was sitting right beside him. "Sir, whether I did or didn't get help from someone who was Fae, if you or the Headmaster told anyone that you thought I might have, they'd be killed because word gets around. There's bad people out there who do that sort of thing. They already have enough to worry about every day, do you think they'd risk getting killed just to help me?"

Severus stared into Harry's eyes for several moments and then said, "You are well understood Mr. Potter."

Harry wasn't sure why he'd said it like that... like Bellamy's father had spoken the night before, but Harry turned back to the coffee table to pick up his tea.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt just because I was stupid and ran away."

"Perhaps you will remember the next time you wish to abscond into the countryside that such a thing can seriously affect your friends."

"Yes sir."

There was a knock on the door then and Albus said, "I forgot to send a patronus to Minerva."

Severus sighed and rose to open the door. From the corridor she was able to see Albus on the couch by the fire and the back of Harry's head.

"Harry!" she exclaimed, coming in though she hadn't yet been invited to do so.

"I'm sorry," Harry said quickly, tensing up. He hadn't been yelled at yet but that didn't mean it wasn't going to happen. Snape had practically promised he would be punished. The three adults in the room didn't fail to notice his posture and how he sat as far back into the couch as he could.

"Harry," she said gently, sitting in the spot Severus had just vacated. He closed the door and hoped he wouldn't be getting any more visitors this evening, friends or not. "We were worried about you," she said. "I'm glad to see you're safe and back where you belong." She turned to Albus and asked, "Does he need to see Poppy?"

"No. He should probably eat dinner soon though. Perhaps I'll have the elves send it down here."

She turned back to Harry and said, "You missed classes without an excused absence today young man. I don't know where you went or why, and I don't need to as I expect you've already had to explain yourself at least twice this evening. You're going to have to make up the classes you missed for a full day over the weekend."

"Saturday school?" Severus asked. "That sounds perfect. Then he can serve detention afterwards for being out of Gryffindor tower after hours. Another will be arranged for leaving the school without permission during the term."

Minerva gave Severus a nod. "Albus?" she asked. "Is there anything you wish to add?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I do have something in mind. I wish for this to be a learning experience, not solely a punishment. I will speak to Harry later this evening about what he's supposed to do."

Minerva turned back to Harry and gave him a close looking over. "I realize you left because of a personal issue Mr. Potter, and that many students are having those sorts of issues this year because of the Dementors. Others have not lost points because of those issues, but at the same time we haven't had a student run away from school in almost sixteen years."

"I understand," Harry said, missing the pointed look McGonagall was giving to Severus.

"Perhaps," Dumbledore said, "Saturday school, two detentions and the task I have for Harry will be enough to convey the lesson of accountability," he said. "If you really feel that he needs to lose points, I won't intervene however."

"He needs to be held accountable to his classmates as well. If we don't take points we send a message to other students that it's ok to make rash decisions because there aren't visible consequences, which is what the points are for. 25 points from Gryffindor Mr. Potter. Because, as we've already discussed, your actions have consequences, not only for yourself but sometimes for your housemates as well."

"I'll earn them all back," Harry promised.

"See that you do. We can't have Slytherin winning the house cup just because you're Severus' ward now." Harry couldn't help but smirk, and stuck his hand up to his mouth to stifle further laughter, aware he wasn't supposed to laugh when having points taken away or when getting in trouble. When he looked up at her she gave him a little wink and stood up to leave.

"I'll leave you to have dinner then. Saturday school starts directly after breakfast in my office tomorrow morning Harry. Bring your schoolbooks."

They were quiet through dinner, which the house elves brought down. The three of them sat around the table and ate pot roast and roast carrots and potatoes. Harry was glad the Headmaster and Snape had come for him.

"Since you have Saturday school and detentions, we will postpone a trip to the Ministry until next weekend," Severus said. "And I will have eyes on you all week until we make it there," he promised Harry.

"I won't leave again sir."

"I will know if you do."

Severus left Harry and Albus alone for a few minutes after dinner so Albus could give Harry whatever task was to be his punishment.

"As I said Harry," Albus told him at the table, "I wish for this to be a learning experience for you, not a punishment, as direct punishment is not always an effective teacher. By tomorrow evening I want you to write a letter to your future self about what you hope your life will be like by the end of this school year with a new family."

"What kinds of things am I supposed to write?"

"I have no expectations for you except for what I already explained. This letter is about your expectations of what you want your life to look like with a family... with our family."

"Are you going to read it?"

"No. When you're done with it you should bring it to me and I'll seal it with wax. At the end of the school year I'll deliver it to you to read."

"That's all?"

"That's all. I want you to think carefully about it before you write it however. I expect you'll have time during detention tomorrow after Saturday school to think it over."

"Yes sir."

Dumbledore stood up and ran his hand through Harry's hair once as he passed.

"Professor?" Harry asked, and Dumbledore turned back to him, looking tired and ready for a cup of tea and bed. "Thank you for coming for me. People don't usually."

"I'll never leave you behind." He gave Harry a tired smile and left Snape's quarters. Harry stood from the kitchen table to leave as well, but Snape had come back into the kitchen after Dumbledore had left.

"Bed Mr. Potter."

"Yes sir, I was just heading back to Gryffindor."

"No, in your room."

"Sir?"

"As I said, I will be keeping close eyes on you for the week."

"I'm- staying here for the week?"

"Students are sometimes allowed to go home for a few days or a week during the term if they are having issues. As this castle... these quarters are now your home, you will be staying for the week."

"But I'm still going to classes aren't I?"

"Yes, but you'll be expected to come back here for dinner each night and to go to bed."

"I have tutoring Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"I think it's time you had a break from the visions for a while."

"Thank you," he said sincerely, and turned and went down the hall to the guest room. To his room.

* * *

Hermione and Ron were glad to see Harry at breakfast the next morning.

"Harry," Ron said in relief, hurrying over to him at the breakfast table. "Where'd you go?"

"Erm- out... of the castle."

"Did you lose a bunch of points and get detention until you graduate?" Ron asked.

"I lost 25 points and promised Professor McGonagall I'd earn all of them back," he said quickly to appease his friends, but they didn't seem concerned about the point loss as much as they were about Harry. "And I have Saturday school after breakfast all day followed by the first of two detentions. And I have to write an essay," Harry said, thinking of the letter he'd been assigned to write.

"Oh is that all," Ron said, pulling a plate of bacon over to himself.

"Well- it's not all," Harry said.

"There's more?" Ron asked, brows raised.

"You know how Fred and George said your brother had to go home for a week because he was failing classes?"

"Yeah," Ron said.

"I'm not failing or anything, but I have to be home for a week."

"They're not sending you back to the Dursleys?" Hermione asked. "I thought you were staying at the castle now."

"I am, with Snape, and Dumbledore."

"So-" Ron said, "You're staying in Dumbledore's quarters?"

"Snape's. I have a room from when I stayed over summer. I'm still going to classes but I have to be back there all week for dinner and to go to bed."

"Harsh," Ron said. "We'll miss you all week in the dorms."

"Actually," Hermione hedged, and the two boys looked over at her. "I was approved to go home for the weekend. I leave after breakfast in a few minutes and return Monday night after dinner. I already turned in all my homework for the upcoming classes I'll miss Monday."

"It's only part way through Novemeber though," Ron said. "I thought maybe you'd skive off the last week of classes before Christmas or something."

"I'm not the only one," Hermione said. "There's a first year boy from Gryffindor going home this weekend for a few days, and I heard some of the kids from other houses were all approved to go home over the weekend. Some are staying home until Monday night, and some are staying until Tuesday or even Wednesday. I just didn't want to miss classes for more than a day. Everyone that's leaving is taking the Floo out to the Leaky Cauldron this morning at nine."

"I got banned from the Floo," Harry said, and his friend's eyes came back over to him.

"I'm really glad you're ok Harry," Hermione told him. "Maybe staying the week with Professor Snape won't be such a bad thing. It's been hard this term. A lot of people have been having trouble keeping their grades up with everyone stuck inside and Dementors lurking all over the place. And you've had it worse than a lot of others with the constant fines from the Ministry and the extra lessons with Professor Lupin. I don't know how your grades haven't dropped."

"Mine haven't dropped," Ron said, but Hermione gave him a look and he said, "Yeah, all right, maybe they weren't that high to begin with." Harry laughed then and so did Hermione and Ron. The boys hugged Hermione when they were done eating breakfast and Harry told Ron he might see him at lunch before he picked up his book bag and climbed up to the first floor to find Professor McGonagall in her office.

Her office door was open when he got there and he went inside.

"Have a seat in the student desk Harry."

"Yes maam," he said as he sat with his bookbag and she closed the office door. He liked Professor McGongall's office because it had two big windows that let light in, and room for two student desks for tutoring students or detention. It didn't feel oppressively dark and small like he always thought Snape's office felt.

Your schedule for Friday was Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration and Defense," she said looking at a piece of parchment. "We'll cover Transfiguration first."

"Are you doing all of the lessons?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry you have to waste a day like this."

"As it so happens Harry, a head of house is responsible for conducting Saturday school for any students in their house that need it or have missed enough classes to warrant it, be it from falling too far behind their peers or missing a day of classes without permission to do so. All four heads of house end up spending at least a few days a term doing Saturday school."

"Well I promise you won't have to spend another day doing it because of me," Harry said.

"After yesterday I don't mind having you here all day to make sure you're where you should be."

"Yes maam."

"Turn to page 52 in your Transfiguration book. Friday we were still practicing the third transfigurative form and I believe you could use some help getting that down."

Lunch was delivered to her office at lunchtime and Harry ate at his desk. McGonagall asked him if he was happy to be getting a week with Professor Snape, and Harry told her he would let her know after his detention with him later that day.

They were done covering Harry's missed lessons by three thirty, and she'd even given him some extra help on previous material when Harry showed her the grade he'd gotten on the previous Herbology test. He hadn't done very well despite that he had studied for it for days.

It was almost four when he made it back to Professor Snape's quarters.

"I'm ready for detention sir," he said.

"Did you eat lunch?"

"Yes sir."

"Sit down by the fire."

"Is detention going to be after dinner?"

"It is right now."

Harry sat nervously on the couch and Snape sat across from him. "Relax," he said, seeing the nervous look on Harry's face. "Not every detention is cleaning floors and toilets or pickling potions ingredients."

"Then what are we doing?" His eyes flitted around the room looking for a switch. The Dursleys had never used one, but they had threatened it often enough.

"On occasion it's clear that what's needed the most is a conversation. As the Headmaster told you, manual labor or other punishments aren't always the most effective teacher. The most effective detentions are ones that get the message across."

"But you always had me doing that kind of stuff in detentions before," Harry said, remembering chopping up rat livers, scrubbing classroom floors on his knees and once being threatened to scrub the dungeon corridors with a toothbrush.

"I was under the impression before that those were the types of punishments you needed to enforce good behavior. But for right now we have several things to discuss. Your grades for one."

Harry thought his grades were ok all things considered and hoped Snape wouldn't be too mad at him.

"I told you once that you were wasting your potential. I wish to amend my statement. With how things have been going this year for you, and with the things I now know you were dealing with at home in previous years, I believe you are doing well under the circumstances."

"I'm trying," Harry said. "I try to study and listen in class. I never got the chance to do homework before or do well in school."

"I also realize that with your nightmares keeping you from getting enough sleep, and the dementor attacks you had experienced but not reported, that those are also factors that were limiting your success in my classroom, and I'm sure in others as well."

"But I thought you said I was doing good?" ‘Limiting his success' didn't sound like he was doing good at all.

"You have an A in most classes, an E in Charms and an O in Defense. What I want your input on is what you feel you need to be successful in all of your classes and to raise your A's to E's or above."

"I don't know," Harry said truthfully. "You already got me new glasses so I can see."

"Then aside from the things we just discussed, what is keeping you from having higher grades? Are you not understanding the material being presented to you?"

"Sometimes," He mumbled. Harry looked into the fire and watched the flames dancing and licking the side walls of the grate. "I just can't concentrate in class sometimes because I'm too tired or have things I can't stop thinking about."

"Perhaps you need a way to take your mind off of those things."

"I have one," Harry said, looking up. "That's why I plan new things for the alleys and go to work. When I'm doing those things I'm too busy to think about anything else."

Severus gave a single nod as he thought over what the boy had said. When he'd first brought Harry back after the trial the child had moped for days, stared listlessly at the wall in his room, and barely spoke to anyone. Then when he was taken back to Diagon Alley to work, he seemed to come out of the trance he'd been in. The more they let him go to Diagon Alley as the summer came to a close, the more he came back to himself.

"Have you tried throwing yourself into your studies to clear your mind?"

Harry didn't think the dates of goblin wars and memorization of the names of various classes of magical plants was going to do it.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"I'm not like Hermione," Harry said. "She learns because it's fun for her. I like going to school, because I wasn't allowed to be good at it before Hogwarts, but I can't learn for fun. I learn what I have to."

"You have to learn all of it to pass OWLs and NEWTs."

"No," he said, going back to staring into the flames. "I learn what I have to, to survive."

Which made sense, Severus thought, as the boy's highest grades were in Defense and Charms, the two types of magic he could most easily defend himself with if he needed to. It also made a lot of sense to Severus now why he had done what he had over the summer on the Alleys. Before he'd gotten to know the Gryffindor he'd wondered time and again why the boy was improving the orphanage and trying to help the small business owners on Knocturn. He'd wondered why the child would work for free at the bookstore all summer, and sell sweets for Tilly out in the alley by Gringotts. It was because he had to learn to do those things to stay on the Alleys. He had found himself thrust into a new world in which he was a business owner, and he had to learn the skills he needed to survive there as one. And he had to plan and repair and make changes to survive his own inner demons.

Harry had once told him, ‘You always think the worst of me.' Perhaps he had. The boy had a lot of his own reasons for why he did things, and why he did them in a certain way. In the last few months Severus had found none of those reasons to represent the worst of humanity as he always had before when thinking about him.

"I propose you begin thinking of your classes as a matter of survival."

Harry looked up at him from the flames. "What do you mean sir?"

"Am I correct in assuming you excel at Defense and Charms because those are useful for defending yourself in a firefight or against others who mean to do you harm?"

"I guess," Harry said. He wasn't top of the class right now in Defense, but he'd been trying to get there. It was like Quidditch to him, and he enjoyed being the best of his friends and classmates at something, even if it was only one thing.

"Have you considered the defensive possibilities for Transfiguration?" Severus didn't want the boy to constantly be in survival mode, but until he came out of that on his own, this could be a way to help him improve at school and get his mind off of other things.

"What defensive properties?"

"Transfiguring a knife from a stick for instance," Severus said. "Or transfiguring grass into ice when you are being chased so you can't be pursued."

"There are charms to do that to grass."

"There are. Or if you are separated from your friends and find yourself needing to stay the night alone in the woods when it's snowing, Transfiguration can turn ordinary objects into a tent, a blanket, or other useful objects. There is also the fact that in upper years beyond your OWLs, succeeding in Charms relies heavily on being proficient in all twelve principles of Transfiguration."

"I didn't know that," Harry said.

"The classes that are taught here are all intertwined in some way," he said. "All of what you learn in Herbology is useful in Potions. What you learn in Care of Magical Creatures is also important to Defense Against The Dark Arts and even in Herbology as some of those creatures are considered pests in a garden or greenhouse. Arithmancy, Runes and Astronomy are tied together and sometimes have their place in Transfiguration and other magical disciplines. Different magical schools may teach different sets of subjects, but things are taught together for a reason wherever you go in the magical world. You may someday wish to learn advanced magic that isn't taught here, but find yourself unable because you need to have mastered magic that we are teaching."

Harry thought he would have liked to be good at all of it, but had been focusing his efforts since he'd gotten to Hogwarts on what he thought he could really use. He wasn't sure he had time to do well in all of his classes.

"I don't always understand what I'm studying in Herbology. Professor McGonagall went over the test I didn't do well on last week when we did Saturday school today and helped me figure some of it out."

"Do you study with Miss Granger?"

"All the time," Harry said. "She's the only reason I'm passing History of Magic."

"How much time are you spending studying outside of school hours?"

"I do my homework in study hall and we study together in the evenings after dinner, either in the common room or library. Well... Ron doesn't, he finishes his homework then, but Hermione and I do."

"And on weekends?"

"I study at night when I can't sleep sometimes."

Severus gave Harry a serious look and said, "I do not have the expectation for you that you will have an O in all of your classes. I would like you to attempt to raise at least one of your other grades to an E however. If you find yourself not understanding the material, I will help you. So will the Headmaster."

"Does it have to be in Potions?" Harry asked.

"Given that you already have high grades and a good understanding of Charms and Defense Against The Dark Arts, it may be better if you focus on Transfiguration, as that is closely related to the two."

Severus motioned for Harry to get up and follow him into the kitchen. He tapped the table with his wand and dinner appeared. When they were halfway through plates of honeyed ham and vegetables, there was a knock on the door and the Headmaster let himself in.

"There's enough here for another plate," Severus said, but Albus waved him away.

"I came from dinner in the Great Hall. It's best if I'm seen by students at as many meals as possible as Headmaster." He did sit in the empty chair at the table however and asked how Saturday school and detention had gone for Harry, and he told him.

"You know," Albus said thoughtfully, "your test scores aren't the only way to raise your grades in classes. I have it on good authority that many of your tests have high grades but your homework isn't always completed to the best of your ability."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, looking down into his empty plate.

"There is no need to be," Albus told him. "Do you have any of your recently returned homework with you Harry?"

"Yes sir."

"Bring it to the table."

Harry went into his room and rifled through his bag until he found the latest Care of Magical Creatures essay he'd completed, as well as the latest Potions essay. Back at the kitchen table he handed them to the Headmaster. Albus took the Care of Magical Creatures essay and handed the Potions essay to Snape.

"Hagrid gave you five questions to answer on Thestrals," Albus said, laying the paper flat between himself and Harry so he could see. "You answered all five, but very briefly." He pointed to the question Harry had written out: ‘List the five magical abilities of Thestrals.' Harry had written a bullet point list and listed all five things.

"While you did answer the question," Albus said, "you didn't add any additional information that's relevant to what you wrote."

"I don't know what else to write."

"Did your book have information on ‘Blind Sight'?"

"Yeah," Harry said, trying to remember it.

"If you had included information about Blind Sight instead of simply listing it, and done the same for your other answers, that would have taken this essay from merely Acceptable to Excellent."

"How do you get Outstandings then?" Harry asked.

"Does Miss Granger let you see any of her homework?" Severus asked.

"She doesn't want us to cheat."

"When she returns, ask to look at some of her past assignments that have received O's." Severus told him. "Students who receive O's go above and beyond the assignment to relate what they're learning to other classes and things they're learning, or to relay how that information is useful. As I said, everything taught at Hogwarts is related to at least one other subject taught here. It demonstrates that you have studied the material and are ready to move on. When students take the time to study what they're learning and write it into an essay, it is often committed to memory in the same way you commit spells to memory by practicing them and casting them inside and outside of class."

"That's a lot of studying," Harry said. When he found Albus and Severus looking at him, he said hurriedly, "I didn't mean I wouldn't sir, I'm not being lazy I promise."

Albus chuckled. "When you take time to thoroughly research and do the homework I think you'll find that you'll have to study less right before a test."

"And you will also be more prepared in classes to answer questions or do practical work. The more you apply yourself to your schoolwork, the more you will succeed in classes."

"Yes sir," Harry said.

"Have you begun the letter yet Harry?" Albus asked.

"No sir. I'll go write it right now."

"Bring it to me when you're finished."

"Yes sir."

Harry excused himself from the table and went back to his room. The only one to give him advice on homework before had been Hermione, but she had always done it in a way he and Ron had seen as pestering. She'd told them to write more on their assignments, but hadn't explained well why they should. What Snape and the Headmaster had said made a lot of sense though.

He turned his attention to the letter, but wasn't sure what to write to his future self about his family. Mind still on the talk they'd just had about grades and homework, Harry wrote down, ‘Dear future me,' and felt silly doing so even though it was what he had been assigned. ‘This is past you from before December. You've ,' he struck a line through ‘you've' and wrote, ‘I've been told I have to do better in at least one subject. I guess it will be Transfiguration. I hope you won't be mad at me by the end of the school year. I'll have to work hard to make sure you aren't.' Harry thought that wasn't so bad, but the Headmaster had told him to write what his future family would look like. ‘They said they were taking me to the Ministry next weekend to be adopted. That'll make it official I guess. I'll be part of a real family. I hope by the end of the school year I still have a real family. I hope it means when I mess something up, they're still right here with me. I hope by the end of the school year you're looking forward to the summer and not dreading being sent back to the Dursleys or somewhere else. I hope it means the Headmaster will take you out on weekends to get tea in that tea shop on Knockturn or will still want you around to have meals with him. Maybe Snape will take you on Holiday again with the orphanage.

By the end of the school year I want to have a patronus down. I'm still working on a good enough memory. I have some new ones I'll have to try.

Hopefully by the end of the school year I won't be fighting the Ministry anymore.

When I ran away, I didn't find Sirius. He didn't come for me. But the Headmaster and Snape did. No one does that. I don't know if by the end of the school year you'll hear from Sirius or see him again, and by the time all the time has passed between this letter and you getting it, I don't know if you'll still want to see him again.

Oh yeah, and I hope by the end of the school year you earned back all of the 125 points you lost running away. I promised Professor McGonagall I would. It would have been easy with Quidditch because I could have earned points catching the Snitch, but now I'm going to have to work hard in classes to get them back. Hermione could do it. She'd probably get them earned by Christmas. I guess it means I can do it too, even if it takes me til the end of the year.'

Harry re-read over what he had. There was something else he wanted to write, but didn't know if he should. He was only writing to himself though, wasn't he? The Headmaster had promised not to look at the letter.

‘Aside from my friends, and Mrs. Ginger, I never really got hugged before. But now Snape hugged me once and the Headmaster too. I hope by the end of the school year you get hugged more. I hope you feel wanted.' Harry was afraid to write loved, because he didn't know if that was a possibility for him. It was something he wanted though. It was something he had always craved, but he would settle for wanted if that was all he could have.

Harry folded the letter in thirds and went out to the living room to see if the Headmaster was still there. He was.

"All finished sir," he said, and handed him the parchment. It was two sheets thick.

Albus pulled out his wand and tapped the parchment where it folded in on itself. A glowing red seal appeared and then the glow vanished and left in its place was a wax seal.

"Only you can open it," he told Harry. "It's keyed to you. I will keep this in my office until the end of the year and then give it back to you."

"Yes sir."

Because it seemed like he'd interrupted a conversation between the Headmaster and Snape, he went back to his room. The letter was gone and out of his hands now. He really hoped all that he'd written came true. He supposed some of the things he'd written were in his power to do, like earning the points back and getting a better grade in Transfiguration. He didn't know what he could do about the rest of it though, about making Snape and the Headmaster want to spend time with him, or to want him or hug him. It was something he'd have to think more about, and he guessed he had the rest of the school year to do so.

* * *

The week in Snape's quarters passed by more quickly than Harry would have thought. Hermione came back to the castle Monday night after dinner, and Harry was able to see her the next morning at breakfast. She was happy to let him look over some of her old papers that had already been graded, and let him borrow several. What Snape and the Headmaster had told him seemed to be true. Hermione's homework didn't just ooze information like Harry had always suspected, but was chocked full of examples of how the things they were learning applied to other classes or to real life. In one paper Hermione had listed several ways in which heavy duty levitation charms could be helpful in the Muggle world if applied discreetly by the Ministry.

Some of the other boys in the dorm asked why Harry wasn't with them at night, and he told them it was because he was still in trouble for running away and was staying in another part of the castle with a professor.

"Which Professor?" Neville asked Harry one day after lunch as they trailed behind their peers on their way to Herbology.

"Professor Snape."

Neville looked stricken and Harry laughed. "I haven't really told people yet, but I live at the castle now."

"With Snape?" Neville's eyes were huge.

"Yeah," Harry said.

"All the time?"

"On holidays."

"How did that happen?"

"Erm- it's a long story. But I'm his ward and Dumbledore's."

"Is that why you go to have meals with the Headmaster all the time? Some of the other kids think you're up there planning another bazaar or something."

Everyone else was involved in their own conversations and weren't listening in the busy hallway as they hurried to classes, so Harry leaned in and told him quietly, "I'm kind of- getting adopted this weekend."

"By Snape or Dumbledore?" Neville asked.

"Both?"

"My brain hurts," Neville told him, and they both laughed a little.

"Yours and mine both."

"How's that gonna work?"

"I might have to let you know once it's all over and done with." Harry still wasn't clear on all of the details himself. Snape had said Dumbledore was going to adopt him and then he would adopt Harry. But Harry didn't think adults were allowed to adopt other adults. If they were, did it mean kids could adopt kids?

Saturday morning rolled around and Severus got Harry up early so they could go to the Ministry.

"It will be several hours of filling out paperwork and getting the paperwork around to the correct departments within the Family Affairs Office and getting it stamped and signed," he told Harry as the Headmaster came into their quarters with his traveling cloak on.

"Yes sir," Harry said. "I'll be quiet and stay out of the way."

He gave Harry a hard look and said, "Would you prefer to go to see Silver while we are completing the first part of the process?"

"If he has time," Harry said. "I'd like to see how things are going with the case he's filed at the Ministry."

"Then we will stop at Diagon first."

They used the Floo in the staff lounge behind the Great Hall and when they arrived in the Leaky Cauldron Snape told him the password would be changed as soon as they returned.

"I'm not sneaking out again," Harry told him, but Snape only murmured his agreement that Harry had better not.

As it turned out, Silver was available, and had been working solely on Harry's case for the last several weeks. All of his other clients (of which there were few) were being handled by his father whose office was on the other side of London.

Snape and Dumbledore left him there and told him they would return in a few hours, and expected to find him there with Silver or at Flourish and Blotts. "If he finds his way down Payne Alley, I will hold you personally responsible," Snape said to Silver, but the man only gave a nod to acknowledge that he'd heard him. Then they were gone and Harry and Silver were alone.

"The adoption will have a big impact on your new legal dealings," Silver said as he perused a long piece of parchment.

"It seems like everything I say or do has an impact on legal stuff."

"That is also true," he said.

"How is it going to change things?"

"You're being taken into two very prominent old wizarding lines."

"I am?"

"Dumbledore and Prince. With Potter in the mix that's three prominent families coming together, and that's making a statement to the Ministry. They won't like it, but it's bound to help your case, especially in public opinion. There's a lot of respect in the community for the Dumbledores and Princes. More even perhaps than the Potters. Certainly more all together than one alone."

"I wasn't trying to make a statement," Harry said.

"You should."

"Why?"

"You're going to need public support on this. It hasn't hit the papers yet just what you're filing against the Ministry for, but it will. It will be best if you get out ahead of the issue and make a statement of your own before the Ministry can... before Skeeter gets hold of the news and twists it to her liking."

As Harry sat in the chair in Silver's office he wondered what kind of statement he would make. He supposed if the Ministry knew this was really about Fae rights that others would too, and he knew wizards in general didn't like Fae, even though there were those like Harry who were sympathetic to their plight. What kind of statement would he really make then? What would he want people to know?

Silver interrupted his thoughts a minute later. "It's actually a good deal for Dumbledore and Snape as well."

"What is?"

"Adopting you. Neither one of them have an heir and their family lines would have come to an end when the two of them aren't around anymore. By adopting you their family lines continue through you, on paper anyway."

"On paper?"

"You'll still be known as Harry Potter, but on paper you'll be known as Harry Potter Prince Dumbledore."

"But Professor Snape doesn't have Prince as his name even though he's from that family."

"He does on paper," Silver said. "What we go by in person, what we sign our name as, is not always our name in records with the Ministry. Technically he is Severus Prince, and heir to the Prince estate and vaults."

"But what about the last name Snape?"

"His father was a muggle, and Snape is a muggle name. It's different for Muggleborns who don't have previous wizarding heritage to draw from. Their surname will always be listed as their muggle surname. And occasionally muggle surnames become their own wizarding lineage. Malfoy I believe was once one of those names that started out as a Muggle name just to give you an idea. But that was hundreds of years ago and through so many generations of producing pure-blooded heirs and intermarrying with other prominent families they've become their own wizarding line."

"You think that's why they're adopting me?"

"Do you?" Silver asked, looking up at him.

"No," Harry said, making up his mind about it then and there. They'd told him they wanted to be there for him, that they were all three accountable to each other. Harry wanted that. He had to believe they wanted it too.

Harry changed the subject a moment later, mind going back to what he was supposed to say to people to ‘get ahead' of the Ministry. "What kind of statement should I make?"

Silver set aside the papers he'd been looking through as he talked to Harry and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and a quill. "If you and I had just met for the first time, and you wanted me to know why you opened the sweet shop and hired Fae employees at your other businesses, what would you say to me?"

"They have to work somewhere," Harry said. "It's not fair that they can't afford food or a place to live, or clothes. It's not fair that even though they're just regular people they get chased away from jobs, and can't open up their own businesses unless they've already been running a business for hundreds of years. Some of their kids are wizards and can't even go to school, because they don't trust us, and because their kids will go to school and then have to choose between being a wizard or being Fae like their family after they graduate. Nothing about it is fair. And then the Ministry turns people against them. But they're all just people. We're all just people," Harry told him passionately. "They're not out there trying to eat us or something. Why shouldn't we help them and they help us? Why should we have to be separated? Why can't I get to know kids like Bellamy at school?"

Silver was writing things down as Harry spoke.

"What's at the crux of this issue for you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"When you boil it all down to one thing... one word or idea, what is it? You keep touching on it, but I'm not sure you realize what it is."

Harry thought back to how Bellamy's family had helped him last week when he'd needed them, despite the danger to themselves. How they'd treated him as though he was Fae. How they wished him well and spoke to him like he was one of them. And he remembered how upset he was on their behalf when they were slighted, like the Headmaster said he and Snape were when Harry was slighted. Like family.

"I'm Fae," Harry said.

"Go on."

"I'm not, but I am. They treated me like one of their own. And I'm upset when people do bad things to them, and exclude them. That makes us family, because friends are the family you choose."

Silver pushed the parchment across the desk for Harry. He'd made a bullet list of points and said, "This is the statement you make. In your own words." Underlined three times at the bottom was the word family, and next to that community. "If you deliver that statement to the papers and to a crowd as passionately as you just told it all to me, it will make an impact. Maybe not on that day, or even in a year, but change comes slowly. You've got to make a snowball and roll it for a ways before it begins to roll on it's own and becomes an avalanch. Your statement can be the snowball. And hopefully it will be enough to sway some influential people to stand with you during this trial."

"When and where do I tell people?" Harry asked. In the summer he'd gathered the shop owners to a meeting at the Gringott's steps. It was cold and rainy now and he didn't think anyone would gather to hear what he had to say. And he wasn't technically supposed to be out on the alleys during the school year anyhow.

"Christmas Holiday. It's just a few weeks away," Silver said.

"I think Professor Snape said something about preventing me from doing stupid things to make the Ministry mad from now on..."

Silver laughed. "The Ministry is already angry, and if I need to have a conversation with he and Dumbledore about how this could help your case, I will."

"Thank you," Harry told him sincerely.

"I'll arrange a press conference," he said. "I'll wait until the day before it's supposed to happen to announce it so the Ministry doesn't have too much time to come up with their own statement before you get yours made. If we do it the first week of Christmas Holidays the alleys will be full of Christmas shoppers. You'll need to make it short and to the point, and be yourself. Let people know who you really are. It's a call to arms, but you can't seem as though you're just doing it to be rebellious since that's what the papers have been painting you as since the summer."

"What's all this going to do to my businesses? People will be angry and won't shop."

"Before Christmas?" he asked with a little laugh. "You own so many businesses here and elsewhere, it would be hard for them to avoid even if they tried."

"I don't care anyway," Harry said, "but I thought it best to ask."

"As you should."

* * *

Snape and Dumbledore returned at noon and took Harry to tea at the tea shop Harry liked so much at the end of Knocturn. They sat together in a booth and warmed up as they drank tea and coffee and ate croissants and pastries. Then it was time to go back to the Ministry.

"They know we're returning today," Snape told him, "so it should go quicker than it did this morning. When word got around Albus was adopting me, your case workers from the summer found us down on level ten as we were filing papers to join two families and asked if we were coming back with you."

"Are they going to try to stop it?" Harry asked.

"No," Albus said with a smile as they entered the Ministry atrium. "They were quite pleased in fact."

They got onto a lift and went down to level eight to the Family Affairs Office and went to stand at the front desk. The clerk looked nervous.

"Chief Warlock Of The Wizengamot," the clerk greeted Dumbledore, and Harry frowned, wondering what that meant. "You can't file further papers until you see Justice Ariminta Abbot. She's waiting in room twelve. It's down the hall and to your right."

"Thank you," Dumbledore told the nervous young wizard and they moved for the hallway on the right and found room 12. Dumbledore opened the door without knocking and they found the Justice that had presided over their case that summer sitting at a conference table inside. She stood up to greet him.

"Word made it's way around the Ministry fast that you were adopting Severus."

"As it does when two old families merge."

Her eyes moved past him to Harry and she said, "Have you come back to officially adopt Mr. Potter as well?"

"Severus will be adopting him, which will make me his grandfather." She stared into his eyes for a moment and then said, "I'd like to speak with Harry. You can stay."

Dumbledore held his arm out to motion Harry over and he came to him to face the Justice.

"You've been staying with Professor Snape since the trial I hear," she said, looking down at Harry.

"Yes maam."

"How has that been for you?"

He looked over to Snape, who was choosing to remain silent and not making eye contact with him.

"Would you rather we talk alone?" she asked Harry, and he brought his eyes around to her again.

"No maam. It's been a rough term for me. For a lot of kids, because the Dementors keep attacking us. I've had to get extra lessons from the Defense professor to learn to cast a patronus, and that's been hard because I have to practice against a boggart that turns into one. But after my extra lessons twice a week, when I'm all shaken up, Professor Snape lets me come sit by the fire in his quarters and gives me tea. He gives me time to think and calm down. Sometimes he waits for me outside the Defense room and takes me back to his quarters to calm down."

"I see. And what about Professor Dumbledore? Have you been spending time with him?"

"Yes maam. Every week we eat one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner together. Except this last week, we had dinner together a few times. And sometimes he takes me for a whole day on a weekend and we go do something."

"Like what?"

"We went to a tea shop I like once, and we saw a Quidditch Expo together."

"Have you been happy to have them as your guardians Harry?"

"I know I'm not going to get beaten up and thrown in a closet."

"That's not what I asked."

He didn't know how to tell her it's what she meant without sounding rude or disrespectful. He was safe. That was better than being happy. And they'd come for him when no one else had.

"I wouldn't want other guardians," he finally said. "I choose them."

"That is all I needed to hear."

She turned back to Albus and stared into his eyes again. Then she raised a hand and touched his cheek and held it for a moment as she said, "This, I am proud of you for old friend. I hope this brings the three of you happiness."

"It does," he told her, and she nodded with a smile and left the three of them alone in room twelve.

"Was what I said ok?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Snape said, and they went back to the front desk where they were directed down the other hallway to the office of Cynthia Aris.

Snape had been right. They'd been given a form to fill out in one office, only to be told to go to the office next door to have it stamped. Then there were other forms that had to be filled out and stamped in other offices, and a form that had to be taken to level 10 to merge the Snape/Dumbledore families with the Potter family.

"Is that all?" Harry asked when they stepped into an empty lift to make their way back up to the Ministry atrium. "Is it all done?"

"You are ours," Snape said. He put a hand on Harry's shoulder from behind him, and a moment later Dumbledore did the same on his other shoulder. Harry grinned as they rose up out of the depths of the Ministry together.

* * *

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I practice something on you?"

"If you're gonna turn me into a toad or something for extra points in Transfiguration-" Ron warned him, but Harry shook his head.

"No, I mean, something I gotta say to someone. Well, to a lot of someone's."

"Sure, what is it?"

They were alone in the dorms studying. Harry had told his friends what he'd been told about raising his grades and about doing well in all of their classes as everything counted on knowing other subjects, and while Ron hadn't been enthusiastic about more work, he'd agreed to put in more effort than he had been.

It was a few days before Christmas holiday, and on Sunday morning Harry was due to take a trip to Diagon Alley to make his statement to the Daily Prophet and whoever else decided to show up to the front steps of Gringotts.

"You know how I've been getting fined by the Ministry?" Harry asked. Ron nodded. "But do you know why? I don't think I ever told you."

"I saw one of the notices," he said. "Didn't make much sense to me though."

"I'm being fined even though I'm compliance with the law, because they want to teach me a lesson."

"What lesson?" Ron asked.

"Not to hire or help Fae."

"That's why?" Ron asked, surprised. "Who'd you hire?"

"Five Fae, and I became business partners with another. Fae aren't allowed to open businesses to make their own goods, or to shop in wizard stores for what they need. They're not allowed to work anywhere in the wizard community except at the few places they already own down Payne Alley and in other parts of the country."

"I didn't realize," he said. "I mean, we were in a store once when a shop owner chased a guy out, shouting about him being a werewolf, but I didn't understand why."

"Did you know there's wizard kids who never get to go to Hogwarts? Because their parents are Fae? And Fae kids who never get to go because they're not allowed? There's a school for Fae but without work most Fae don't have money to send their kids there."

"That stinks."

"They're just people. Werewolves aren't running around all month trying to eat people. They're only dangerous to others three nights a month, and they can't afford to take the potion that makes them safe to be around on those three nights. Vampires aren't interested in attacking people. They pay wizards to take blood replenishing potions and then to donate blood to a couple places where they can buy it and use it there. Goblins are just sort of tolerated because they run Gringotts, but they're not really allowed to go into othe wizard shops either, and wizard stores don't carry anything they would want anyway. And elves-"

"What about elves?" Ron asked. "What'd they ever do to anybody?"

"That's just it. They're pretty mild people. There's nothing dangerous about them unless you make one angry or challenge one to a duel. They're no more dangerous than us."

"Mum said she saw elves once, on a holiday to the country way up north. They were tending to a copse of trees and helping them grow, and had poured their magic into a meadow to make it flower. She said it was full of wildflowers."

"Yeah," Harry said. "But they won't let us meet elves in school, or wizard kids of vampires, or werewolf kids... they want to separate us. But we're all just one people. They're just wizards with something extra."

"What do you mean extra? Claws and fangs?" Ron laughed.

"Well vampires have some powers we don't, and they apparate differently and live longer. And werewolves change into a wolf that's abnormally big and strong. And elves have their own magic. Still just people though."

"So what did you want to practice?" Ron asked.

"I just did," Harry said. "I've got to tell all this to the Prophet and some other people. I've got to tell them what they're doing to the Fae is wrong and I'm not ok with it."

"Mum and dad have never been ok with it either," Ron said. "Neither am I, and you know how Hermione feels about house elf rights."

"Thanks for letting me practice."

"I don't know how many people will agree with you," Ron told him, "but it's probably more than you think."

"I hope so."

* * *

Harry was nervous and moved his weight from foot to foot as he stood on the snowy steps of Gringotts in Diagonalley. It was the first full day of the Christmas holiday where students were home with their parents. Ron and his siblings had gone home this year, and Ron had promised to tell his parents about the press conference. Harry searched the little crowd that had gathered for a group of redheads, but couldn't see them.

He shivered as a slight breeze picked up, but a hand on his shoulder stilled his nervous movements and he looked up to find Severus, who had come with him this morning. Harry calmed at seeing the gloved hand there, and rubbed his own hands together, though they were warm in the new gloves the Headmaster had given him the day before. He'd also bought him a new dark gray coat that went down past his rear end. It was thick and looked expensive, and made Harry feel like he was dressed like the Malfoys would have been if they were about to give a statement to the Prophet.

Silver came up the steps to Harry and Severus a moment later and said, "The Prophet reporter is ready. I also have my secretary recording your statement word for word so if the Prophet mangles it we'll have a copy of exactly what you said."

Snape squeezed his shoulder and Harry steeled himself for what he had to say. This was harder than the last time he'd gathered people to talk about the changes he was trying to make on the alleys. Now he was speaking to shop owners and to families doing their shopping. They probably all thought he was going to tell them about more business changes.

Snape removed his hand from his shoulder and Harry took a step forward and cleared his throat. Snape or Silver had cast a spell to magnify his voice.

"Thanks for coming to hear what I have to say. You might not have heard yet that I've been cited by the Ministry for several thousand Galleons for made up infractions in my businesses. I respect the law and will always try to be in full compliance with the law." Professor Snape had helped him with some of the words to use the night before, like infractions, and had helped him refine his statement to make it as short as possible. Harry's eyes roved around the crowd and found the people sill listening. All eyes were on him.

"The Ministry didn't cite me because I was in violation of the law. They targeted me because I wanted to help people by giving them jobs, and helping them feed themselves and to be able to afford to buy clothes and have a place to live. Only certain of my businesses were targeted, and those were businesses where I had hired certain people. I was told in the citations that I would be cited hundreds of galleons daily until I fired these employees... employees who were working hard and doing what they were supposed to be doing. People who had never been in trouble with the law, and who had done nothing wrong but show up to work every day. One of those people is an elf."

He expected people to gasp or be appalled by the news, but they were still listening quietly. "I also hired three werewolves and a vampire to sweep and clean Diagon and Knocturn alleys at night to keep the alleys looking clean and welcoming for guests, and to take that burden off of shop owners."

A few people did murmur at this, but they quieted quickly.

"The final straw for the Ministry was when I opened up a sweet shop on Knockturn that sells sweets for Fae, since there's nowhere else they're allowed to enter to shop, and nowhere else that carries things they might want. The Ministry didn't like the items I was selling, and they didn't like that I was giving business to other reputable Fae businesses by buying certain ingredients from them. I wanted to come talk to you today, to tell you I'm not ok with this. There's not an actual law against selling to Fae, against hiring Fae, or against them opening up new businesses. But our community through the Ministry treats them as though they're not allowed to exist. They're just people."

"With fangs!" a man from the crowd shouted. "People with fangs!"

"They've no interest in harming you," Harry said. He told them briefly what he'd told Ron and Silver. That there were wizard children not allowed to attend school, and Fae children who weren't allowed. "Kids I'll never get the chance to know," Harry said, "even though they've never done anything wrong and aren't dangerous. I wonder how many more friends I could have had if they'd been allowed to get the same education I can have."

"Make your point already!" the same man who had shouted about fangs had said angrily. He clearly didn't like what Harry was telling them, and while a few people nodded, the rest were quiet and respectful.

"My point is this: a wise witch once said friends are the family you choose. These people, the Fae, are my people. I choose them. When you step on them, you're stepping on me too. If you're my people, these are your people. One community together instead of two groups against each other. That's a choice you have to make in order to see it happen. You get to choose that with your everyday actions. If you'd like to count me as a friend, you count them as friends too. I might not have fangs, or a tail, or pointy ears or special magic, but I'm Fae, and I'm done with the way one half of my community is treating the other half. It's enough."

Harry stepped back, hoping Snape would grip his shoulder again, but he didn't. A reporter from the Prophet rushed forward and started asking questions. "Mr. Potter, what do you have to say about the attacks on random Muggles by Vampires over in Bristol?"

Silver stepped in between them and said, "Mr. Potter has made his statement. Other questions can be routed through my office."

As Silver stepped away with Harry and Severus, Harry did catch glimpse of red hair in the crowd way in the back. As high as he could stand on his toes and reach above the heads of the others there, Ron was in the back holding his thumb up high for Harry to see.

The Prophet hadn't let Rita Skeeter write the article about Harry's statement and it resulted in an almost unbiased piece about the ‘impassioned speech of unity' he'd given to a crowd of Christmas shoppers and shop keepers.

A few days before Christmas Snape pulled out a special edition of the Prophet when Harry came into the living room to have tea after dinner and handed it to him.

"How bad is it?" Harry asked as he took the paper but didn't look at it.

"See for yourself."

He looked down and found the headline: ‘I Stand With Potter.'

Harry ignored the cup of tea Snape had handed him (creamy warm chai) and let his eyes drift down to a photo of Munro McGlaggen, standing in front of his shop holding up a citation from the Ministry.

‘"I'd like to count myself amongst Mr. Potter's friends," Munroe McGlaggen, business owner and majority shareholder of multiple ventures along Diagon and Knocturn Alleys stated Wednesday afternoon. "He's a good lad, and he's really put himself and his businesses on the line by hiring people our society considers unworthy of help or friendship. He knew he was doing something risky... that he might lose everything he and his forefathers have worked for if he stepped up to help those in need. He did it anyway, even though he believed he was going to be standing alone in this. We could all stand to be a little more like him. I won't let him stand alone. This week I hired five Fae employees in various businesses I own. Right away I received five citations. I was told in the citations to fire these people or I'd be fined a hundred galleons per employee per day until I was in compliance. There's no law stating I can't have them working for me, so why should I comply when they're not hurting anyone?"'

There was also a smaller photo of Gerrin Honeyduke below Munroe's statement. He was holding up a bloodpop to show the camera.

'Gerrin Honeyduke, of Honeyduke's Sweetshop in Hogsmeade has also recently been fined by the Ministry of Magic for similar violations as the ones sent to Potter and McGlaggen. ‘"This is a bloodpop: a sucker that vampires like made from animal blood I got from a butcher... the same butcher you buy your meat from in Hogsmeade. Harry Potter was cited and fined for buying ingredients from The Aether to make sweets for vampires, but I'm being cited for buying blood from a butcher from animals that were already dead. It's the only thing I carry for Fae in my store and I shouldn't be fined because of one sucker. Once when I asked Potter why he'd gone out of his way to help my business when he didn't have shares in it, he told me ‘we rise together'. I stand with Potter on this one. There's no reason to step all over Fae when we can rise together. I'll keep paying the fines and keep selling what I want."'

Near the bottom of the article was one final statement, and a black and white photo of Mr. Barrow inside his used bookstore.

‘"Potter came in this summer like a tornado that cleaned up Knocturn Alley and left everyone better off for it," said Bartholomew Barrow of Barrow's Books. "He didn't own shares of my business and could have left me here to rot without even sparing me a passing thought. He helped me repair and paint my shop though. He didn't want anything in return except for me to hire some teenagers from the orphanage. Let the Ministry fine me for selling to Fae. I'll keep selling to them anyway. My used bookstore has always been open to Fae and will continue to be so. If the Office of Business Affairs is reading this, I'll be waiting for my fines and looking forward to them."'

Harry was almost brought to tears. He'd wanted people to help the fae, and he'd wanted people to support him. This article showed it wasn't just Snape, Dumbledore, Silver and Ron who were with him. It was the best Christmas gift he'd ever received.

"Drink your tea before it goes cold," Severus said, and Harry laughed and reached for his tea.

"Do you have a frame sir?"

"A picture frame?"

"Yeah. I wanna keep this forever."

"We will find one. Are you planning on keeping all of the articles and positive letters in frames?"

"All of them sir?"

He picked up a letter Harry hadn't seen sitting on the coffee table and handed it to Harry. It had the Flourish and Blotts seal on the back. Harry opened it and found a flier inside with a note attached. The flier said in bold letters: ‘Open to Fae - Open To Being Fined'. The note was from Bennet and said, ‘We have these up on the front door and the back one leading out to Knockturn, and we sent it over to the Lighthouse too. Barrow has copies of it up on his door and Munroe took a stack of them to put up on his businesses. Merry Christmas Harry.'

"Is another frame in order?" Severus asked before taking a drink of his tea.

"Yes sir," Harry said with a grin. People were choosing him in a way he never imagined they would before, and the feeling filled him up until he felt fit to burst.

* * *

Harry had been thinking a lot on the letter he'd written to himself. When he'd written it weeks ago he couldn't even imagine the things that had occurred since that time. He still had things to do though if he wanted that letter to ring true when he read it again at the end of the school year. In the letter he'd written that he wanted to cast a full patronus. Up until now he hadn't been sure about having a good enough memory. He had several to choose from now and had been thinking about all of them until he had one he was certain he would work.

A few days before Christmas Eve Harry left Professor Snape's quarters after dinner and went up to the Defense office, hoping Professor Lupin would be in. He was pleased when the door opened before he could even knock and Professor Lupin came out. It looked like he was just leaving.

"Harry, this is a surprise," he said with a smile.

"Did I get you on your way out sir?" he asked.

"I was going to head to the staff lounge for tea but it's not urgent. Come in."

"I won't be long sir, or I don't think I will be. I wanted to ask if we can try again with the patronus."

"Are you sure?  I know you don't feel well after we practice."

"I have some new memories to choose from."

"Are they powerful?" he asked.

"Yes sir. The best I've got."

Lupin nodded though he looked uncertain.

"Please sir, I promise I'm not wasting your time."

"You're never wasting my time Harry," he reassured him, and moved to drag out the trunk holding the boggart. "Get your wand ready, get your memory in order."

He looked to see if Harry was ready, and Harry gave a nod, looking determined. Lupin opened the box and the boggart dementor flew out, looming tall over Harry. As he did every time he saw one, Harry felt chilled and felt a shadow creeping over him. This time it wasn't a shadow of doubt however, because he knew who was waiting for him in the memory he had chosen.

Before the dementor could advance further on him, Harry was remembering the afternoon when Dumbledore found him in his cabin. ‘He didn't want me,' Harry told him. ‘I want you Harry.' And when he'd thrown himself into Dumbledore, the man had embraced him. Then the memory shifted quickly to Snape's quarters that same evening when Snape had sat down on the couch beside him and hugged Harry on his own, promising him he would teach Harry what it was like to have a real family. Finally Harry remembered riding the lift up to the atrium in the Ministry with his new family. ‘You're ours now.'

"EXPECTO - PATRONUM!" A blinding white stag bathed in blue and silver light burst out of Harry's wand and charged the dementor. It lowered it's antlers and drove them through the boggart, forcing it back to the wall. The stag lifted the boggart with it's antlers and threw it across the room and charged again, but before it could finish the boggart off, Lupin had sent the open crate flying at it and the boggart dove into it and pulled the lid closed on his own.

"Yes! Yes Harry! You did it!" the Professor shouted with glee. "I think it's safe to say that boggart won't be coming out of the crate on it's own any time soon. It'll be nursing those wounds for weeks."

"I did it!" Harry shouted happily.

"Your parents would be so proud of you," Lupin said with a smile, holding Harry by both shoulders. "That may be the strongest patronus I've ever seen. What memory did you use?"

"It was more than one," Harry said, "but they were all the same. I just felt- loved... and wanted. I felt like I meant something to somebody."

"You mean something to me Harry, and you did to Lily and James as well. They loved you dearly."

"You knew them?"

"Your father was one of my best friends in school."

"Did you know Sirius too then?"

"I did," he said warily.

"Professor, I don't know if Sirius did what they said he did or not. But he helped me this summer. He was there for me when no one else really was."

"Yes," Lupin said quietly, "that sounds like Sirius. He was there for me too when I was sure I would have no one when I came to school."

"But, didn't you make friends in your house? Weren't you in Gryffindor?"

"I'd never had friends before." He turned away from Harry, took a couple steps, and then turned back to him and said, "Not many know this Harry, and there are no students who can know. I'm only telling you because I believe you truly meant what you said about helping Fae to the crowd in front of Gringotts."

Harry was listening raptly, wondering what it was his Defense Professor was about to confide in him regarding Fae.

"I was one of few werewolf children over the years that the Headmaster allowed secret admittance to Hogwarts. I expected to come and be completely alone with my secret. It wasn't long before James and Sirius found out though, and they accepted me for who I was. I expect you already know how accepting your mother was."

"Was she?" Harry asked. "I didn't know."

"You told the Prophet that a wise woman once said friends are family we choose. That was said by Lily."

"By my mum?"

"Yes, where did you hear it?"

"The Headmaster told me." Lupin smiled and Harry asked, "and Professor Dumbledore was the one who let you attend even though you're a werewolf?"

"Yes. All of the staff here know."

"Sir? Before school started, did you put an ad in the Lighthouse asking for suits and stuff?"

"I did."

Harry grinned at him. "I'm glad you got this job sir. You're the best defense teacher we've ever had."

"That means the world to me."

Lupin saw him to the door and when they were both in the corridor, he locked it.

"I have to get to the staff lounge or they'll wonder where I've got off to. There's always a gathering of staff around Christmas."

"Do you think you could ask Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape to go to Snape's quarters after? So I can show them my patronus?"

"No," Lupin said, "I think it's something the entire staff will want to see."

"Am I allowed to go in there with you? I'm pretty sure I got banned from the staff room off the Great Hall for life." Harry had never been into the staff lounge on the first floor, though he knew which door it was.

"Here's what we'll do," he said. "Have you ever seen someone send a message by patronus?"

"I saw Dumbledore do it once."

"You must cast your patronus as you did in my office a few minutes ago, and then give it a message and think of who you'd like to deliver it to. It can't travel great distances... no more than a mile. If you whisper the message it will go and whisper the message into the recipient's ear. If you shout it, it will shout it. It will be in your voice as the patronus is an extension of yourself."

"I just talk to it once I cast it?"

Lupin nodded and Harry said loudly as they stood in the corridor just outside the staff lounge, "Expecto Patronum!" His stag burst out of his wand again and took a few steps down the corridor before turning back to Harry with question in his eyes.

"Think of the person you want to send it to first, then say your message."

Harry thought of Dumbledore and Snape and hoped they were both in the staff lounge, and then shouted happily, "I DID IT!"

The patronus pranced around a little in a circle, and then galloped down the corridor and through a wall into the staff lounge. They were close enough to the staff lounge to hear the Patronus loudly delivering it's message through the door in Harry's voice. It repeated the message several times. "I did it! I did it!"

Lupin laughed. "Best way to show them," he said. They walked down the hall and Lupin pushed open the door to the staff lounge. Harry heard laughter drifting out of the room, and then heard Flitwick call, "Is he out there Remus? Bring him in here."

Remus turned to Harry and Harry came in through the door and found the large white and blue glowing stag prancing around happily and nudging Minerva's hand with it's ghostly nose.

"I'm so pleased!" Fitwick squeaked. "It's a very advanced charm for a third year! I think it deserves some extra credit points!" Harry grinned. He'd only been a few points away from having an O in Charms when the term had ended for Christmas holiday.

"And some house points," Professor McGonagall said, giving Harry a wink. "Ten points to Gryffindor for a good show of magical prowess."

"You'll spoil him," Severus told her from his comfortable looking chair next to Dumbledore, though he didn't look like he minded. He was giving Harry a look like he might be proud of him. Harry hoped he was.

"Let him be spoiled," Minerva told him. "That's what the point system is for."

"Harry," Dumbledore said, beckoning him over as the other staff chatted and talked about the patronus, which had finally faded. "I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you sir."

"Such a strong Patronus must have been conjured by a powerful happy memory."

Harry looked into his eyes and said with a smile, "I'm just glad you came for me sir. All those times I spent wishing for a family to come take me away to something better- I'm glad it was the two of you."

Albus pulled Harry into a hug then and though Harry's muscles tensed for a moment at the contact, he relaxed quickly and wrapped his arms around his Headmaster- his grandfather.

Harry's new father watched them hug and watched the look on Albus' face. In that moment he realized that as much as the two of them had helped Harry in the last few months, Harry had helped Albus get the twinkle back into his eyes, which had been missing since the start of the trial. And the two of them had been able to give Harry something he'd been sorey lacking: at least one strong happy memory that could protect him from all the bad memories he had. Severus promised himself silently that there would be more strong happy memories in the future. He and Albus would fill the boy's days up with happy memories, so he would never find himself running short on them again.

Severus longed for the day when the child wouldn't expect that he would be hit when in trouble... the day when he could be hugged without believing he was about to be injured. He and Albus would work on it until that day came. Always.