"Everyone is busy doing visitations and taking Muggleborn first years to get their school supplies Severus," Minerva chided when he complained. "Albus is still trying to find Harry's family since they broke their contract of care, and I'm sure you're aware of my duties to ensure the school is ready for the upcoming term. Out of all of the staff, you have the least to do."

It wasn't that he didn't want to because he was busy. Most of his potions were brewed for the term, his lesson plans were laid out, and there were only a few days of work to get his house ready for incoming students. It was that he was uncomfortable with the boy now that he knew who he was. He'd spent the last ten years trying not to think about the child of James and Lily Potter. When he had thought about the boy it was with dread about having to teach him when he came to Hogwarts and having to deal with what he was certain would be never-ending trouble. That the child would come to him filthy, humble, and excited to learn had never crossed his mind as a possibility.

"Severus?" Minerva prompted him. Apparently he'd been sitting quietly in thought for too long.

"Yes."

"You'll do it?" she asked.

He gave her an uncomfortable look and said, "Yes."

"Is this going to be a problem?"

What was he supposed to say to that? ‘Sorry, I'm a teacher but I can't spend a couple weeks tutoring the son of my childhood enemy?'

"It will not be a problem."

She watched him for a moment more before pursing her lips. Like the Headmaster, she knew him well and how to read his moods. He hoped he passed inspection so he could go and find the child and get this over with. He intended to spend as little time as possible with him. He would get him ready for the start of term, but that was it.

"Very well. If you need something, let me know. There's funding available in Harry's vault for any school supplies you feel he needs that he doesn't already have. Perhaps you can also take him to town for a proper haircut and some clothing."

"I thought you said you took him for clothes already."

"We got his robes and the things on his supply list but that was all. The only personal belongings he came with were a few shirts and pants and two broken and rusty toys that had come from a rubbish bin. Since you'll have him during the day for tutoring you may as well be the one to take him to get the necessities at least."

"Very well."

"You seem very subdued about all of this Severus. I really expected you to put up more of a fight."

He raised his eyes and looked up at her briefly and then back down to the paperwork he'd been going over on his desk. "What is there to fight about. Everyone is busy," he repeated her earlier admonishment back to her.

"He slept in the guest room on the third floor last night. I showed him to the Library this morning and he's still there as far as I know."

"I will retrieve him shortly," Severus told her. She gave him another look, this time one of concern, though he didn't know if it was for him or for the boy. She left him alone to his thoughts though without saying anything more.

He allowed himself to feel uncomfortable for the next ten minutes over the prospect of having to spend time with the child. If he was truthful with himself, it wasn't just the fact that this was James Potter's son that was causing an issue for him. Lily had told him expressly to stay away from their family. His childhood best friend, his girlfriend for a year and a half at Hogwarts, had made it abundantly clear that he was never to contact her or the baby, and if anyone asked he was to act as though he didn't know them. Severus understood her orders to stay away from them. He understood her anger at him for getting involved with Voldemort and his followers. He hadn't understood her fear of him though. He'd never done a thing to harm her. The worst he'd ever done was call her Mudblood the one time and she was quick to forgive him after she'd slapped him across the face in the Great Hall in front of the entire school the day after the incident. But after they'd graduated school and she'd gotten together with James Potter, she'd been afraid of him, and as far as he knew had remained so until the day she'd died. Now he was tasked with tutoring her son and seeing his needs were met before his first term at Hogwarts had even begun. She'd be sending howlers to the Headmaster and coming to yell at him in person if she were alive today.

Severus rose and went to see if he could find Potter in the Library. He supposed it would be best to take him to get clothes and other necessities first. The boy couldn't study if he didn't even have clothes. He found him twenty minutes later at the end of an aisle about charms, sitting on the floor and surrounded by several stacks of books.

"You intend to read all of these?" Severus asked quietly when he found him.

Harry looked up with a grin. "Yes sir! Look, I found one about Hogwarts! Professor McGonagall told me I could check some books out and told me to read this one first." He held up Hogwarts A History and Severus nodded.

"It appears I am to tutor you until school starts in a few weeks."

"Will I get to learn Potions then?" Harry asked.

"Not until school starts. It's important that you're caught up to where your peers are so you can keep up in classes."

"Do we start today?"

"We will start tomorrow," Severus said. "Gather the books you wish to check out and take them to Madam Pince's desk. Then we will go to Hogsmeade to get you some necessities."

Harry picked up Hogwarts A History and four other books and checked them out and Severus followed him back to the guest room he'd stayed in the night before so Harry could stow the books while they went out.

"Where's Hogsmeade?" Harry asked.

"Half a mile from the edge of the Hogwarts grounds," Severus said. "Third years and above are allowed to visit on special weekends. It is a small wizarding village with no Muggles."

"What are we going to get?" Harry asked. "I don't have any money."

"You have a vault at the wizarding bank your parents left for you. There is money there for supplies. You need clothing and a haircut."

Harry reached up to his newly clean hair as they walked down through the castle. "It's so soft now that it's clean," he said. "I haven't been able to run my fingers through it in a long time."

"It will be easier to maintain once it is cut shorter."

"Yes sir." They made it to the oak front doors and after Severus opened one and motioned for Harry to go out, Harry said, "I can take care of my hair sir. I mean, there was just no place to shower, and no soap, and I didn't have a brush. I always washed in the library sink with soap from the dispenser."

"It is understandable."

They walked to the edge of the grounds and Harry asked questions on the way. He wanted to know what the lake was called and if he would be allowed to swim. He wanted to know about the forest, who lived in the hut at the edge of the forest, and if he was allowed to roam freely. Severus answered all of his questions and the trip to the school boundary seemed to pass quickly.

Their first stop when they reached Hogsmeade was the barber. It was a tiny shop with only one chair in front of a mirror, and several sets of shears and razors. The barber looked human, but his ears were pointed and his hair long and fine. The man asked Harry how he wanted his hair styled and when Harry didn't know the answer, Severus suggested that Harry pick a shorter style so he would be able to get ready for school quicker in the mornings. The barber pulled out a roll of parchment with two dozen photos of short hair styles for boys.

"That one," Harry said, pointing at a photo. Harry was surprised when only minutes later the barber was done and his long hair lay in a pile around him on the floor. Harry hadn't seen the man doing magic, but he must have with how quickly he'd cut his hair.

"Well?" the barber asked.

"I like it," Harry said brightly. His hair was short on the sides and just long enough at the front to sweep to the side a little. He thought Professor Snape was right, that this would be easy to wash and brush every morning.

Severus took Harry to the small branch of Gringotts next and had the goblins give Harry a written account of what was in his vaults, and then withdrew twenty Galleons. Not enough for Harry to blow on a broom, but enough for him to get a wardrobe, a book bag, and possibly even a pet if he desired one, or a few frivolous items or extra books.

Severus took him to the only clothing store in the village, which was focused mainly on clothes for Hogwarts students, and told Harry how many shirts, pants, socks, and underwear to pick out. He also told Harry to find two sweatshirts he liked, and a pair of shoes, as well as a pair of gloves and a hat. Students would be issued a scarf in their house colors once they were sorted. Before they left Severus also pointed out five warm coats and told Harry to choose one.

"I'll be so warm," Harry said as they left the store. Severus allowed him to change into the new shoes and a new shirt in the changing rooms before they continued to the rest of their shopping, and then told the store clerk to have the rest of the items they'd paid for sent to the Hogwarts Entrance Hall.

They next went to a shop that specialized in school supplies for students who ran out mid-term, and Severus told Harry to pick out a book bag and any specialty supplies he thought he might want. A few minutes later they left with a handsome dark gray bookbag with gray leather straps and a wooden pencil case with a carving of a dragon that had a charm to keep it closed securely and another charm to keep the box from getting beat up and dinged in a bookbag.

"You have just over four Galleons left," Severus told him. "They are yours to spend as you will. I suggest you save at least seven sickles for the snack trolley on the train ride to school."

"But, I'm already at school?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"All students must ride the train. Someone will take you to the train in September and you'll ride it back here. There is a snack trolley on the train where you can buy sweets and sugary drinks like pumpkin juice."

"What will I spend the rest of this on?"

Severus motioned with his hand to the rest of the small village. "There is a book store, a store that sells candy and cakes, a Quidditch supply, a joke shop, and a pet store."

"I'm allowed to have a pet?"

"If you will take care of it."

"How much does a pet cost?"

"Depending on what you get, at least two Galleons."

Harry asked if he could go into all the shops, and Severus agreed. He'd seen the boy's few belongings and agreed with Minerva, he had precious little to call his own.

In the Quidditch supply the clerk explained to Harry about the game and how it was played and tried to sell Harry a set of expensive flying goggles, but Harry politely declined. He did buy a Quidditch Magazine that was only a few knuts because it was an old issue from last year. Harry took half an hour browsing through the books in the book store, but told Severus that he wanted to read everything in the Hogwarts library first. Severus held back a snort of laughter at that notion because there were thousands and thousands of books in the school library. In the joke shop Severus hoped the boy wouldn't buy much, and was pleased when he passed on the pranks and went instead to look at the toys and posters on the second floor. There was a poster of Merlin and Arthur where Arthur was pulling the sword out of the stone and Harry eagerly picked up that poster, ready to have something of his own to put on the walls of his new dorm room in a few weeks. He also picked up a green and blue stuffed dragon that had shimmering scales and paid for his purchases.

Severus was surprised when he also passed up most of the candy in the sweet shop. "I don't know what any of it is," Harry said.

"Muggle born dear?" the woman behind the counter asked. "Do you like licorice?"

"I don't know," Harry told her.

"Lemon?"

He shrugged.

"Orange creme?"

In the end he came out with a small bag of candy worth less than a sickle that had a small piece of every flavor he and the store clerk could come up with.

Finally they made it to the pet shop, and Harry still had most of his four Galleons left.

"An owl, a rat, a cat, or a toad," Severus told him.

"If I get an owl can I use it to send messages to my bridge family?"

"Yes."

"I want an owl."

Unlike the shop in Diagon Alley, this pet store did not have hordes of exotic animals to choose from. As far as owls went, there were a few pigmy owls, an eagle owl, two tawny owls, and a very young snowy owl.

"If you want a larger selection you'll have to visit my brother's shop on Diagon," the store owner told them. "If you don't want to travel that far, once a month he brings new pets over and takes the ones here back to Diagon to sell."

Harry didn't seem interested in having a larger selection though. He was busy looking each owl over, examining the shapes of their faces, the colors of their feathers, and speaking gently to each one. He kept going back to the newly born snowy owl.

"Just old enough to sell that one," the shop keep told Harry. "Three months old. She'll get bigger and her feathers will change color some as she gets older. She'll be full size by Halloween."

"How much?" Harry asked.

"Three Galleons. Then you'll need a cage and owl treats. She'll hunt for her own food if you let her out at night."

Harry pulled his coins out of his pocket and counted and then looked back at the owl. Then he looked up at Severus. "Can we take some things back to the other stores? I don't have enough."

"What is the total for everything?" Severus asked the clerk.

"Four Galleons, two sickles."

"And without the owl treats?"

"Four Galleons."

Professor Snape pulled another coin sack out of his pocket that Harry hadn't seen yet and fished several coins out of it and handed them to Harry.

"But-" Harry started. Severus held up a finger to stop him though and told the shop keep, "Put the owl in the cage and ring it up."

"I- I'll pay you back," Harry stammered. He had a lot more money in his vault.

"It was only a few sickles Potter. There is no need."

On the way back to the castle Severus told the child he would help him make owl treats, as it was an easy enough recipe. Then he asked, "What will you name her?"

"Hedwig," Harry said.

Severus murmured his assent as they climbed the steps back up to the oak front doors of the castle.

* * *

Severus found that Harry knew quite a lot of information, most of which he had taught himself. The boy's handwriting was passable, though he had no idea how to write with a quill, so they had started there, and Severus had spent almost two hours showing Harry how to cut and care for his new quills, how to write without dribbling ink everywhere, and trying to teach Harry cursive, which Severus informed Harry would be easier to use when writing with a quill. Harry wasn't certain he wanted to learn cursive, but accepted the two sheets of parchment Severus had written out for him in cursive and promised he would practice at least a little.

While the boy had read a lot about Muggle history and science, had read dozens of novels, and had taught himself quite a bit about growing plants and other subjects, he was woefully lacking in maths, which he would need for Astronomy and later on Arithmancy if he wanted to learn that subject. He knew basic addition and subtraction, but that was all.

Harry also needed to know how to write an essay, as that was the form most homework assignments at Hogwarts took, and Severus spent two days going over essay form and stressing the importance of having legible handwriting and spelling words correctly. Once he was certain Harry understood what he wanted, he began assigning one essay per evening, which Harry was to bring back to him the next morning so they could go over it, purely to learn how to write one.

They were a week into their lessons when Harry sat his quill down heavily on the table between them in an unused potions room and stood up, frustrated with the maths he was supposed to be learning.

"We will go over it again," Severus said.

"It's no use," Harry said, agitated and upset with himself, "I'm awful! I don't know what any of it is or how to do it, or why I even need it!"

Severus sat back and considered him for a long moment. "You said you wished to learn potions. Is that still true?"

"Yes," Harry said, uncertain of where this was leading.

"Perhaps a break from maths is in order then. We still need to make owl treats."

"Can we?" Harry asked excitedly. "I don't know if Hedwig has had any before."

Severus beckoned for him to follow him into the store room and began explaining the ingredients. Since owls hunted things like mice and rabbits, things of that nature were the main ingredients. "Pull down that jar of mice... yes, that one. Then we'll need a binding agent. It needs to be something an owl can digest that won't change the flavor of the meat. A binding agent is something that will hold the other ingredients together. This will do," he said and pulled another jar from the shelf. He directed Harry to get a spare cauldron from the corner of the store room and to follow him back into the classroom.

Severus brought over two knives and cutting boards and a stirring rod.

"Cut the mice up like this. It is important to use fresh ingredients when possible, or magically preserved ones instead of ingredients preserved in something like brine or other chemicals. These mice were stored in a stasis charm, so they are unaltered." They pulled the skin and fur from the mice and cut the meat into small bits and put them in the cauldron.

"Take the binding agent and measure out one cup." He handed Harry a measuring cup used for dry ingredients.

"I don't know how," Harry said. Severus showed him how and Harry put one cup of the binding agent into the cauldron.

"For every three cups of that binding agent you'll need a cup of water."

"But we only put in one cup."

"So how many cups of water will we need?"

Harry frowned and thought on it for almost a minute. "If I break the cup into three, one of the three."

"A third," Severus corrected him, and showed him where on the cup that measurement was. Harry measured the water and put it into the cauldron, and Severus lit a fire. They stirred the potion until everything was dissolved and thickened and then poured the thick potion into a small pan Severus brought out and let it cool. When it was cool and dry Harry cut it into small cubes that all looked uniform.

"Do not give your owl more than two of those per day," Severus told him.

"Yes sir."

"Do you intend on making these again?" Severus asked him.

"Yes."

"And what about other potions?"

"Of course!" Harry said with enthusiasm. "This was a lot of fun!"

"And what did you think of the maths you used to create these treats?"

"Maths?"

"Measurement is maths," Severus told him. "Problem solving how much water to use was maths. Fractions, such as one third, and division was maths. Maths is integral to potion making, astronomy calculations, and many other studies in magic when you are older."

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry I was upset earlier. I'll try harder."

"I can see that you've been trying hard. You are trying to catch up on three years of maths concepts in just a few weeks, so it is understandable that you might struggle with it."

"But-" Harry bit his lip again in the way Severus was becoming familiar with. Harry did it when he was scared or uncertain.

"Yes?"

"What if I'm not able to learn it all by the time school starts? Can I still go to school?"

"If you are unable to learn it before school starts, your maths tutoring will continue and your professors will be informed that you are still catching up. They will provide you with extra help on assignments involving maths until you are caught up."

"I can still go to school then?"

"You can still go to school."

This was the third or fourth time the boy had required reassurance about his enrollment at Hogwarts now, and Severus was surprised he needed it, though he felt like he shouldn't have been with the details of his life the child had let drop here and there throughout their lessons.

Harry would say things about his aunt and uncle's care or life on the streets that was disturbing. Earlier that morning Harry had told him about getting beaten once by an older boy from ‘the street kids' in his early days of being homeless. That was when his ‘bridge family' had stepped up to take him in.

"Do you think I can see them again before school starts?" Harry asked. "My bridge family? Since I have to go back to London to get on the train anyway?"

"I do not know, but will pass your desire to do so on to the Headmaster." Harry seemed satisfied with this answer, and they set back to work learning fractions. Now that Severus knew the child was interested in potions, he began giving him maths problems in the form of ingredient preparation and mixing potions. To Harry it began to seem less like maths and more like learning magic, and so his frustration level was lower when he couldn't figure something out. Or perhaps it was because Severus was there to help no matter what the problem was.

* * *

Hagrid had taken a direct interest in Harry and was spending time with him whenever Harry wasn't in tutoring. Albus and Minerva were pleased Harry had made a friend, and Severus was happy the boy had someone to occupy his time when not in tutoring. The half giant was teaching Harry the gardening magic he wanted to know (the magic Hagrid wasn't supposed to be using but was allowed to since he was growing vegetables for the school), and was taking Harry on little excursions around the grounds to find things like billywigs, pixies, and even the boggart that lived in the Hufflepuff changing rooms out at the Pitch.

With Hagrid having the boy for hours at a time, it left Severus, Albus and Minerva with time to meet privately to talk about what was to be done with Harry now that Albus had found out where the Dursleys had gone and why'd they'd left them behind.

"They can't get away with this Albus," Minerva said angrily over tea in her quarters. The three of them had met late one afternoon to hear what Albus had found out. "It's neglect to just dump him in the streets. He was only eight and a half when they left him! I can't imagine how he survived until the others took him in."

"They will not get away with it," Albus said.

"It was more than neglect," Severus spoke up, setting his tea down. Minerva really liked her peppermint tea far too strong for his liking, and too sweet. He preferred a strong cup of Earl Grey with just enough sugar to bring out the flavor.

Albus and Minerva looked at him, waiting for an explanation. "His body is littered with scars that look like lashes from a belt."

"Poppy reported that as well," Albus said gravely.

"He sometimes mentions things about his family's care of him," Severus went on. "He said he slept on a cot in a cupboard under the stairs and was sometimes locked in as a punishment. He mentioned not always getting fed and having long lists of chores to do."

Albus and Minerva exchanged a look. "Did he mention anything directly about his scars or physical punishments?"

Severus shook his head. "No, but one could imagine. He mentioned getting beaten up in London by other homeless children before he went to live under the bridge. He also mentioned being locked out of the house before his family moved. He believes they left him behind because he was doing better in school than his cousin. His cousin was getting poor grades and Harry was doing well. His uncle began giving him long lists of chores to do so he would not have time to do his homework. When he continued getting good grades, his uncle pulled him out of school. It was two weeks later that he was driven to London and dropped off."

Minerva looked angry and the Headmaster disappointed.

"I have filed for reimbursement with the Ministry now that we have found where they live," said Albus, "and they have admitted to leaving him in London. They claimed he was a burden and was tearing their family apart."

Minerva scoffed and Severus shook his head and went for another sip of the too sweet tea.

"What good will reimbursement do?" Minerva asked critically.

"When I left him in their care they signed a contract saying they would care for him until he was 17. Since they neglected to do so for the past three years, the money that was given to them for Harry's care was misused."

"Stolen more like," Severus said. If they had signed a contract as Albus had said, it would be magically binding as were all contracts in their world.

"It was more than three years though," Minerva said. "It was the entire time he stayed with them."

"It is information I will take to the Contracts Office tomorrow," Albus said.

"How much were they given each year for Harry's care?" Minerva asked.

"Nearly five thousand pounds a year," Albus said.

Severus smiled to himself grimly. If they could prove the Dursleys hadn't taken care of Harry at all, that would be ten years of money they would need to repay. Fifty thousand pounds was a pretty penny, and he hoped it would put them in the poorhouse.

* * *

Harry fidgeted and played with his fingers. Albus and Severus had taken Harry to the Ministry Office of Contracts to speak with the wizard in charge of unfulfilled promises and reimbursements. The wizard had been asking Harry questions all morning about life with the Dursleys. Some of the questions Harry answered easily, such as how often he was given brand new clothes, how often he was taken to Muggle doctors to get new glasses or for regular check ups, had he ever seen a Muggle dentist, and things of that nature. Other questions Harry struggled with answering and sometimes flat out refused. Severus answered a few questions for Harry since Harry had already confided a few things to him, and Albus had passed on information the Dursleys had given him.

"I see no reason not to require reimbursement," the wizard behind the desk said. "Even by their own admission by written statement, they left Harry in London. With the physical scars on his body and his statements today, there's more than enough evidence the contract was never fulfilled. Judging by the fact he's still alive, we'll have to adjust for funds for food, even if that was minimal for the first seven and a half years he was with them. They should still have to pay back around $47 thousand pounds. He consulted a chart he had on his desk and then wrote down a number and said, "That's 29 thousand galleons, 17 sickles and 4 knuts."

"How soon will reimbursement take place?" Severus asked.

"Within the week. Myself and Cynthia will go over with aurors and take payment directly. If they do not have the funds we will seize their home, vehicles and possessions and sell them to pay the debt."

They left the office a few minutes later and made a side trip to Diagonalley so Harry could get some wizarding coins from his vault for the train ride to school, and so that he could also get two more pairs of sneakers and a new book of Harry's choosing Severus had promised him if he passed a big maths exam, which he did.

As they shopped, Harry asked, "What does all that mean? The reimbursement?"

"They were given money yearly to spend on you for clothing, food, toys, school supplies etc. They did not, so they must pay it back," Severus said. "It was a large amount."

"Where does the money go now?" Harry asked.

Albus handed Harry a novel about Arthur's use of magic that he was going to buy for him on top of the book Severus was paying for and said, "It is yours. It will return to your vault. It was money your parents had saved before their deaths. You have more than enough money in your vault without it for your care through your nineteenth or twentieth birthday, so the reimbursement money is yours to do with as you please."

"Do you think it's enough for a house?" Harry asked.

Severus and Albus stopped browsing the bookshelves at Flourish and Blotts and looked at Harry.

"You wish to purchase a house?"

"If the money was to take care of me, and they didn't, it should go to people who did take care of me, shouldn't it?" Harry asked.

"A house for Ben?" Albus asked.

Harry nodded. "Ben and Natty and Gemma. Sometimes there wasn't enough food and they gave me theirs and went hungry. And Gemma mended all my clothing and taught me to sew. Ben taught me about people and how to read them to see who I could trust. Natty sat with me when I was sick and she would bring me toys she found. They were who I had."

"Then it would appear the money is owed to them," Albus said.

Harry grinned. "I want to see them," Harry said. "I know they're not my actual family, but they are. Wouldn't it be nice if I could visit them in a house instead of under a bridge?"

They finished their shopping and returned to the castle. Harry was happy to go off by himself for the evening to read his new books and play with a few other things they'd picked up for him. Severus and Albus had a lot to think about though, such as finding a house for only twenty nine thousand galleons, and about figuring out where Harry would go during holidays, and getting him back to visit his bridge family, which was the only family Harry had ever known.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore had done some research and was surprised by what he'd found. Ben, from under the bridge, wasn't an ordinary homeless man that had decided to take Harry Potter in. He wasn't even Muggle. Albus had checked into what Ben had said about the Ministry raids of homeless encampments and found that to be true, so it was plausible that Ben knew of magic from those occurrences. Ben wasn't just Ben however, he was Benjamin Ball, a werewolf who had dropped off Ministry radar almost fifteen years ago. Albus didn't remember having Benjamin Ball in school and had searched back through the records and found that because of his documented werewolf status the Ministry had blocked his Hogwarts letter from ever reaching him. The Ministry wasn't just looking for werewolves, they were possibly looking for him. That led to the question, what about the others from Harry's bridge family?

It was almost dark when Albus appeared at the edge of the encampment in London under the bridge. He found that several sets of wary eyes had already spotted him as he came inside, wand lit for light.

"Did yeh bring Harry back?" Ben asked, coming over to him.

"I did not," Albus said. "I would like a word with you in private about him if you will agree to it."

"Yeh'r askin' my permission?" Ben asked, surprised, eyes on the lit wand.

"Yes."

"We can talk over here." They moved off away from the group and Ben asked, "How is he? He gettin' enough food? Has school started?"

"He is well. He has new clothes, a warm bed, three meals a day and snacks, and he has been receiving tutoring to get him ready for the start of the term. School starts in one week."

Ben nodded. "Good fer ‘im. He'll do well in school, I know it. Never seen someone so determined ter learn."

Albus nodded. "He has already raced through several books. The school librarian is very fond of him already."

Ben laughed. "Yeah, he seems ter have that effect on librarians don' he?"

"I came to ask you a question specifically."

Ben's eyes came around to meet his.

"How many of you here are werewolves?"

Ben laughed. "I thought you weren't with the Ministry. Listen, there's nothing teh report here. I promise yeh that. The last werewolf that came through left as soon as we told ‘im the Ministry comes by often."

Albus gave him a sad look and said, "I am not with the Ministry of Magic, nor do I agree with Ministry policies on separating magical creatures from the general population. Had I known they had stopped your Hogwarts letter from ever reaching you, I would have gone to you and brought you to Hogwarts myself, as I have done with others."

Ben stared at him, eyes hard for a moment as he was gauging the truth to what the man had said. Then his look softened a little and he looked away. "Others like me eh?"

"Other werewolves. Remus Lupin for one."

"Never heard of ‘im."

"Has Harry been bitten?"

Ben shook his head. "Absolutely not. We're not mindless beasts." He gave him an accusing look then and said, "I thought yeh said yeh weren't like the folks at the Ministry."

"I am not, nor do I believe you are mindless."

"What we told yeh before is true. Everyone goes teh an abandoned warehouse on full moon nights an' locks themselves in up on the second floor, including Harry. Gemma an' I go out into the country and return after the last day of the full moon."

"And Natty?" Albus asked.

"She stays with Harry an' takes care of ‘im."

"Is she magic as well?"

"Gemma's not at all, except she was bitten by someone over in Blackpool seven years back. An' Natty said she's a Squib an' her family wants nothin' ter do with her."

"Harry speaks of you often," Albus said. "Of the good care you took of him. Did you know he was Harry Potter?"

"I don' know much about the wizardin' world," Ben said. "When my letter got blocked my parents tried teh find me an apprenticeship so I could learn, but no one would take me on. Without a Hogwarts letter or an apprenticeship I couldn' get a wand. They enrolled me in Muggle school but I didn' do well an' dropped out. My parents both died before I was an adult and I ended up in Muggle foster care."

Albus looked at Ben seriously and said, "Harry's family was given money to care for him and did not. But you cared for him with nothing. What do you want as compensation?"

"For that little runt?" Ben said. "Yer insultin' me. I don' wan' nothin'."

"Even if I offered you thousands of pounds?"

"Leave me be. He needed someone ter care for ‘im. It was the decent thing ter do. A person don' need payment for being a decent human being." He looked up at Albus then and jammed his thumb into his own chest and insisted, "I am a human being. I don' need ter be treated like a monster who don' know what it is teh be decent, an' I don' need yeh comin' in here insultin' me like I need payment fer taken care of a kid."

"I meant no disrespect," Albus said. Perhaps Ben knew, or maybe he didn't, but Albus had been gauging the man's responses to his questions, just as they did student answers to the entrance interview. He wanted to know who Ben was, and he had just told Albus everything he needed to know.

"We owe you a debt for keeping Harry alive and making sure he was fed and received some form of education. Harry feels the same. We were recently reimbursed for the money his family did not use to take proper care of him. It belongs to Harry, and he wishes to buy a house for the three of you to live in."

"Not right ter take his money. Wasn' much care we could give ‘im with little food."

"Yet you did what you could. You do not have to accept it, however I believe Harry will find another way to get the funds to you if you do not. His greatest wish has been to see you housed, clothed, warm, and well fed, and to have a place to visit you occasionally when he is not in school."

"We'll be allowed ter see ‘im?"

"We believe it's in his best interest. He'll be living at the school during vacations and looked after by staff, but visits can be arranged. He wishes to see you before the term starts next week."

Ben sighed. "What do yeh expect from us, livin' in this house? Will the Ministry know?"

"Nothing is expected of you. If however you should find yourself wishing to come back into the wizarding world, I will find a place for you to apprentice, with pay, so that you may learn magic and have a wand. Natty, as a squib would also be able to find employment in the wizarding world. We could potentially help Gemma find work as well."

"I'd be a fool ter turn down a place teh live fer the three of us," Ben said. "But I have ter talk it over with them."

"I will send an owl to collect your decision tomorrow," Albus said.

Albus turned to go, but Ben said, "I didn' get yer name."

"Albus Dumbledore."

"This house," Ben said, "where's it at?"

"Where would you like it to be?"

He smiled and said, "somewhere in the country away from the city. Harry'd be disappointed if we didn' have a big garden going when he comes to visit."

Dumbledore nodded and apparated away into the darkness. He hoped whatever decision Ben made would please Harry. The child had suffered enough disappointments in his life.

* * *

"Right here," Harry beamed, holding out his arms wide on the sunny side of the little three bedroom house. It was one story and sitting up on a hill. It wasn't perfect, and the roof leaked, and several things needed to be repaired, but it was theirs, and Ben had promised to fix it up so well that the next time Harry came to visit, he wouldn't recognize it.

"Right here eh?" Ben asked.

"You could put a fence up, and have rows of vegetables. My friend Hagrid taught me all kinds of spells to make food grow faster. You could build up walls from glass windows around it so it could be used in the winter too as a greenhouse."

"I don' know about greenhouses," Ben told him, trying to envision what Harry wanted for their garden.

"There has to be a library somewhere nearby hasn't there?" Harry asked.

"In Wark," Ben told him as Gemma came up behind him to hear the plans for the garden.

"Hogwarts has huge greenhouses," Harry said. "We'll get to have classes in them sometimes, but all the plants are magical, not for eating. When I come back again I'll know all sorts of charms to put on the garden to make it stay warm and grow better. And Hagrid said he'd give me seeds for pumpkins and all kinds of things."

"Yeh just learn whatever yeh can," Ben said, and Gemma nodded. "Soak up all tha' knowledge an' fill yer head up teh burstin'."

"I promise," Harry said.

Natty came outside from where she'd been working cleaning the kitchen, which had had a layer of filth from the previous owners. There was no furniture inside yet, but Harry had talked up a storm about finding furniture to bring them the next time he visited, which Professor Snape said would be over Christmas break. "Will you write when I send Hedwig with letters?" Harry asked.

"We will," Natty told him.

"She's really friendly," Harry said. "She knows what I'm saying to her. I'll tell her to stay with you until you write back."

"We'll have only good things to write," Gemma told him. "We promise."

Harry hugged each of them, and then turned back to Professor McGonagall, who had been waiting patiently for him at the edge of the yard. "I have to go," Harry said. "The train leaves at nine, and I gotta get there on time so I can make friends."

"Make lots of friends," Natty said, looking like she wanted to cry. "And then write and tell us all about them."

"I will," Harry promised, and went to Professor McGonagall. He waved again and she took his arm and they disappeared.

"I'll miss that boy," Ben said, and Natty and Gemma nodded.

"Dumbledore said you could get an apprenticeship," Gemma said. "Maybe you can find one close to the school."

"That would surprise Harry," Natty agreed enthusiastically.

"Aye." Ben hadn't been sure about integrating back into a world he remembered little of aside from being practically exiled. It would be an uphill battle all the way, and he wasn't certain he was up for it. But everything had been an uphill battle for the little boy who had been tossed out on the streets, and he'd kept his spirits high and done everything he could to set himself up for a future. If Harry could, Ben supposed he could. They had a house, but would need money for food and furniture and other things. A paid apprenticeship would be an opportunity he shouldn't pass up. As they went back into the house, visions of future jobs and a grand garden in their minds, Ben thought again on Harry and his new future as well. He knew it would be a bright one.

* * *

"Mr. Potter, our- new- celebrity."

Harry's eyes followed Professor Snape around the classroom. His voice was stern and he seemed displeased, though Harry wasn't certain about what. He'd been on the receiving end of the man's admonishments a few times during tutoring in the last few weeks, but never without Harry having done something to deserve it.

"Tell me Potter, what would I get if I mixed powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry straightened up. He knew the answer to this! It was one of the problems they'd gone over in maths tutoring when Harry was trying to learn adding fractions. "Draught of living death sir," he said easily. "It's a sleeping potion."

Snape smirked. Harry supposed it looked sinister, but he couldn't see the man as anything but the person who had gently helped him untangle his hair, taken him to buy his owl, and caught him up in maths so he could be on the same level as his new friends in school. "Where Mr. Potter would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?" the Professor practically spat, and while Harry normally would have recoiled at such a tone, he couldn't bring himself to. He knew the answer to this question too. Snape had mentioned it when Harry had helped him catalogue potions ingredients in the store room a few days ago.

"A goat's stomach sir."

"And what is it used for?"

"It will cure most poisons." Harry was feeling very pleased with himself, and the girl sitting next to him who had been practically bouncing up in her seat to get called on to answer a question seemed frustrated beside him.

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane Potter?"

He's asking me things he knows that I know, Harry realized. "They're the same sir. They're the same plant."

"Clearly fame isn't everything, is it Mr. Potter?" Snape asked, and he turned his back to the room. "Mr. Potter studied hard before the term started. Despite that no one was there making him do so, he set himself up for success in this class. He could have just depended on his fame to get him through, but he chose hard work instead." He turned back to the class and said, "I hope you learn something from Potter. If you work hard, you will reap a reward."

Harry realized students were staring at him. They weren't glaring or laughing, just watching him curiously. They started the lesson about preparing potions ingredients, and while Hermione looked deflated to never have been called on that class, she worked beside him anyway. Twice before class was out students nearby turned to Harry and asked how he was so good at cutting up potions ingredients already and wanted tips, and at the end Ron slapped him on the back as they headed for the door and said, "Shoulda been in Ravenclaw mate. You'd fit right in."

"Good work," another boy said, and Harry thought his name was Seamus. He hadn't memorized everybody's names in his dorm yet. "You earned us two points already and it's only the first class of the term!"

Harry looked back as they exited and found Professor Snape looking at him. He gave Harry a nod, and Harry found a look of approval in his eyes.

"Be gone," Snape said. "Or you'll be late to your next class with your friends."

Harry grinned and hurried out after Ron and Seamus. He did have new friends now, and with his freshly cut hair and new clothes, he felt like he fit in for once. Harry didn't feel nervous about not having enough paper or a pencil that wasn't broken in half to do his schoolwork with, and he didn't have to worry about when he'd be able to get a shower or where his next meal was coming from. Harry couldn't believe how his luck had changed in so short a time, but he felt it was in part due to the help he'd gotten from Professor Snape.

Later that afternoon at lunch, Minerva leaned across Albus and said to Severus, "What did you do in Potions?"

"I taught." When she just stared at him he said, "Did you expect I got on the table and danced?"

"I only wondered what you said about Harry. The boys in his dorm have been clinging to him like glue and telling everyone who will listen about how smart he is."

"How Gryffindor snagged a Ravenclaw on accident," Albus said, turning to smile at Severus.

"I mentioned the boy was a hard worker."

"Is that all?" Minerva asked. "You didn't ask him a bunch of questions you had already told him the answers to?"

"That brat has a big mouth," Severus said, taking a drink of his coffee, though he didn't sound scornful. "And I would never help a student cheat."

"No, of course not," Minerva said, sitting back with a smile. Then she said without looking at him, "I'm glad none of this was a problem for you Severus."

"The boy is hardly a problem."

"It's wonderful to hear you say that," Albus said. "Minerva and I have been discussing who should watch after him during holidays."

Severus mumbled something that sounded remotely like, ‘the death of me' into his coffee cup, but didn't make any objections, and purposefully ignored the smiles of his two colleagues.

Lily had been afraid of him. James had hated him. But Harry Potter had neither fear or hate for him. Severus supposed if he could do nothing to change the minds of his once best friend and once schoolyard enemy, he could do nothing to change the mind of their son either, and he had no desire to. His eyes found the raven haired first year at Gryffindor, surrounded by new friends, and smiled to himself, happy he could help the boy achieve at least one of his wishes.