All too sudden, the year was over and they took the horseless carriages to Hogsmeade station.

“Is this seat taken?”

Harry looked up. It was Luna Lovegood. “No, you can sit with us.”

She smiled at him and climbed into the carriage.

“It is weird”, she said when the carriages started to move. “In the dream I had, you know which one, there were no carriages. I had to walk all the way, and it was so cold.”

“You were lying on the stone floor when we found you”, Hermione pointed out. “Your brain probably noticed that it was cold and made up an explanation for that.”

“Oh.” Luna smiled. “That must have been it.” She looked at Hermione for a while. “You are really clever.”

Hermione looked extremely pleased. “Uh, thank you? I’m sure you are too, I mean, you got sorted into Ravenclaw.”

“I don’t think I could brew Polyjuice potion”, Luna said in a dreamy voice.

As if it was common knowledge.

“Did Myrtle tell you?”, Hermione asked cautiously.

“No, I saw you in the hospital wing a while ago. You accidentally used a cat hair, didn’t you? It is so annoying if you get everything else right, and then get such an easy thing wrong.”

“It is”, Hermione agreed. “How do you know about polyjuice potion?”

Luna shrugged. “I read Most Potente Potions while I had to stay in the hospital wing.”

“That’s in the Restricted Section! How did you get it?”

“I know, I wanted to read it all year. It was on my nightstand when I woke up”, Luna replied, as if that was something that happened to her every day.

“But ... but ... that’s a dangerous book, if someone just left it on your nightstand ...” Hermione sounded confused, but also a bit jealous.

“Madam Pomfrey put it there, of course”, Luna explained patiently. “She said it was anonymous, but she muttered to herself about it being a very strange idea of a get well card and very typical, so I suppose Professor Snape left it for me.”

Snape. Shit.

Harry had known he was forgetting something. He had not talked to Snape about summer. In fact, he had not talked to the man at all. They didn’t have lessons, so there had been no reason ....

“Is something wrong, Harry?”

He hesitated. Luna didn’t have to know about this ... “I just wondered ... if no one turns up to fetch me at King’s Cross ...”

“You can always come with us”, Ron offered.”

“But I am sure that won’t happen”, Hermione added.

“My father forgets a lot of things, but I’m sure he wouldn’t forget me”, Luna mused. “Not for long, anyway. And you have an owl, so you don’t have to worry.”

Harry was about to tell her that the Dursleys were muggles and sending an owl was the best way to make sure they didn’t come to fetch him, when he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to live with them anymore.

What if they did come to fetch him?

That would almost be worse.


During the train ride, Harry managed to almost forget the impending doom. They played exploding snap, ate too many sweets (according to Hermione) and made the most of the last few moments in which they were allowed to do magic.

Only when the train slowed down, Harry remembered that this summer would not be like the last.

Which was good, of course, but then ... at least he knew what to expect from the Dursleys.


They went through the gate to the muggle world, and soon, Ron was surrounded by Weasleys, Hermione waved to her parents, and just when Harry thought Luna might have been forgotten, a man whose blonde hair clashed something horrible with his yellow robe ran towards them. It was, Harry realized, the same man he had seen in the hospital wing, but he looked much healthier now.

Harry looked around, and saw ...

Dudley? Was that Dudley, eating an enormous ice cream? Yes, it could only be him, no one else was that fat.

“Harry! Sorry, there was a problem with the portkey, we – ”

“Are still perfectly on time”, Snape’s voice interrupted Rose. “As you see, the Weasley clan has not departed yet.”

“If you just apparated us, we would have been there when Harry arrived.”

“Or perhaps, parts of us would have been there to welcome him, a sight that would no doubt be much more horrifying than our absence.” Snape looked around, following Harry’s gaze. “Ah. The Dursleys?”

“Yes – but – I thought Dumbledore would have written to them - ”

“It seems your cousin also arrived by train. At least I hope this is his school uniform, and not something he chooses to wear.”

Dudley actually was in his Smeltings uniform, Harry realized. “Oh. Right.” It had probably been the same last year. Perhaps the Dursleys wouldn’t even have bothered to pick him up at the station if they hadn’t been there anyway.


“Have a nice summer, Harry, Rose.” Hermione waved before she walked away with her parents.

“Fat chance of that”, Ron muttered. “See you next year!”

The Dursleys did not seem to notice the Weasleys as they walked past, even though Mr. Weasley was wearing robes.

Luna and her father were gone when Harry turned around after hearing a faint “Goodbye Harry”.


“You have everything?”, Snape asked.

Harry nodded.

“Let’s go.”

Harry hoped against all probability, that the Dursleys would ignore him, but of course, that did not happen.

“You!” Aunt Petunia screeched. “He didn’t say the boy would stay with you!”

What was she talking about?

“Would it have made a difference?” Snape sounded bored. “I was under the impression that you would have gladly left Lily’s only son in the care of a hungry alligator if it meant you would be rid of him.”

“I was told he would live with a suitable guardian”, Aunt Petunia hissed. “Not ... you.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “And what is that supposed to mean? I did labour under the misapprehension that I was not capable of raising a child for a long time, but then I found out how you raised Potter. You set the bar so low I can step over it while barely lifting my feet, Tuney.”

She didn’t have anything to say to that.

When they walked past the Dursleys, Harry overheard Uncle Vernon asking “Do you know this horrible man, Pet?”

“And this was your aunt, Petunia Dursley”, Snape told Rose. “I assume you will now understand why I saw fit to not inform her of your existence.”

Rose nodded. “Is she always like this?”

“Pretty much, yeah. I suppose she’s angry Dumbledore didn’t actually leave me with a hungry alligator.”

“It would not surprise me in the least”, Snape commented. “Now, we have half an hour before our train departs. Did you eat on the train?”

Harry hesitated.

“I thought not.”

It was only when Snape had bought a sandwich and shoved it into his hands that Harry was sure the question had really been meant for him.

And even though he had eaten sweets on the train, he actually was hungry enough to eat it.

“Now, hurry, I have no intention to miss our train.”

They were travelling by train?

Before Harry could ask any questions, Snape took the trolley with his school trunk on it and began walking at a fast pace, as if Harry’s luggage weighed nothing.

Harry could only try to keep up while eating his sandwich.

When they arrived at the platform, he finished the sandwich as fast as he could, then looked around. He wouldn’t have thought Snape would live in an ordinary muggle place you could reach by an ordinary muggle train, but there was nothing magical here.

“Where are we going?”, he whispered to Rose.

“Why, home!”

That didn’t answer his question at all.

“Cokeworth”, Snape said. “If for some reason you get lost and some adult asks where you live, it’s Cokeworth. The address is ... say you forgot the address if someone asks. Just wait at the train station if that happens.”

Cokeworth ... something about that sounded familiar.

Why was he supposed to have forgotten the address? Was it a magical place?

But Harry had no intention to get lost, anyway.

The train arrived, and Harry had a couple of seconds to wonder how he would get his trunk inside without the help of Fred and George.

Then, Snape took the trunk and heaved it into the train.

Oh, right. Snape was actually ... not exactly nice, but ...

“Sit down, boy. And calm that owl.”

Now that was more the kind of thing Harry was used to. He sat down next to Rose and put the owl cage on his lap. “I’m sorry Hedwig, I will let you out as soon as possible, but now you have to be quiet, please!”

Hedwig was not impressed. Of course – she had spent pretty much all day on the Hogwarts Express.

“Try one of those”, Snape said.

Harry looked up. Snape was holding out some brownish lump.

“Owl treat”, Rose explained, took it from Snape and gave it to Harry.

“Thanks”

Hedwig deigned to eat the treat, and after Snape had used a spell to refill her waterbowl, she closed her eyes and settled down for a nap.

Harry was just starting to relax a bit when the conductor came.

Reflexively, he wanted to take out his ticket and realized he didn’t have one.

The conductor didn’t even pay attention to him, and moved on after looking at Snape’s ticket.

“I can’t wait to see my new room”, Rose said. “Is it really larger than my old room?”

“It is”, Snape confirmed. “An extension charm has been placed on the house.”

“Why didn’t you do that earlier?”

“Extensions charms are under strict ministry control and getting permission to use one on a house is a bureaucratic nightmare. Unless, that is, one is Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, in which case the whole process takes two minutes. Headmaster Dumbledore happens to be.” Snape frowned. “Were you unhappy with your old room?”

“No, not at all! I just wondered, because you always complain that your house is so small.”

“I would not like the wretched place any better if it were thrice as large.”

Rose sighed. “You could buy a different house, if you really think - ”

“No, I could not.” Snape’s tone made clear that the conversation was over.

After some time of angry silence, Rose turned to Harry. “So, what do you want to do in the holidays?”

“I don’t know.” He knew he wanted to practice Quidditch and play Exploding Snap, and be generally lazy, but he couldn’t say that in front of Snape, could he?

Rose, it turned out, had a lot of ideas what she could do together with her newly acquired younger brother. Going to the zoo, going swimming, and her favourite activity “ ... take you riding, of course - ”

“Ordinary horses”, Snape threw in. Harry flinched. He’d almost forgotten Snape was there.

“Okay.”

Snape was still looking at him. “Ponies. Shetland ponies.”

“Now you are being ridiculous!” Rose replied.

“You learnt riding on shetland ponies.”

“I was six!”

“Fine. Normal ponies, then. The boy has had enough injuries to last him a lifetime. No need to add to it.”

Now, Harry was getting angry. “I’m right here! And I don’t get injured that much.”

Snape raised an eyebrow. “I am, of course, including the three days you spent in the hospital wing at the end of first year, even if you do not remember them. And I have a feeling that more past injuries will be revealed as time goes on. Your cousin looks like the kind of boy who would hit other children.”

“Yeah, that’s Dudley for you.” Oh, shit! Snape couldn’t know about that. “Not like he could catch me. He doesn’t run very fast.” He still had managed to sneak up on or corner Harry plenty of times, but that was none of Snape’s business.

“Be that as it may, adequate safety precautions will be taken.”


When they arrived in Cokeworth, it had started to rain, which suited Harry’s mood. He had been excited – for a few moments – over getting to do normal holiday things with Rose. But of course, Snape would not let him have fun.

Rather like the Dursleys.

As Harry looked at the grey houses under lead-grey skies, he suddenly remembered his previous stay in Cokeworth.

There it was, the Railview Hotel, close to the train station.

“I’ve been here before”, he said without thinking.

“Petunia took you?” Snape seemed surprised.

“Not really her. It was Uncle Vernon’s idea, I think. They were running away from the owls, but of course it didn’t work.”

“Running away from the owls? Care to elaborate?”

“Owls. You know. From Hogwarts. When I got my Hogwarts letter.” Why had Hagrid not just rung the doorbell and talked to the Dursleys from the start? Sure, it had been hilarious, looking back. All those letters. The Dursleys’ panic.

And the Railview Hotel had been rather nice compared to Privet Drive. No chores for Harry, and it had been fun to watch Dudley get upset over the lack of a TV while Harry was used to worse conditions.

Still, not knowing what Uncle Vernon would do next ...

“Ah. It was unwise to give them the chance to ... abscond with you”, Snape stated. “So it was he who chose this location? Yes, that makes more sense.”

And to Harry’s surprise, he just took Harry’s school trunk in one hand, his broom in the other and started walking.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked for the second time. And how could Snape carry this thing? Even for an adult, it must be heavy.

“Spinner’s End”, Snape replied. “No need to tell anyone you live there.”

“It’s a bad part of the town”, Rose explained. “Only it is not really that bad. Uncle Sev exaggerates. The people there are very nice.”

“One might say that the crime rate ... dropped in the past few years. Still, the poverty remains and it is not advisable to let anyone know that you live there.”

“People who matter won’t care”, Rose countered.

Harry waited for Snape to explode, but that didn’t happen. Instead the man ... smiled? Or was that just a trick of the light?

“A very Gryffindor sentiment”, Snape commented, but he didn’t sound angry. “Perhaps you will not end up in Slytherin, after all.”

Even though the rain was more of a drizzle, Harry was thoroughly soaked when they arrived at a dilapidated brick house. It was in a row of identical houses and they all were in some state of disrepair.

Instead of doing any magic to reveal a hidden manor house, Snape just unlocked the door. “Welcome to my humble abode.”