Bill was looking through his uncles’ trunks. There were a lot of items in there: different tomes, rolled parchment, note-filled binders, and a variety of trinkets. Bill started with the rolled parchment. There wasn’t much on them but odd equations. Surprisingly, it looked like something Fred or George would understand. He put it to the side; he wanted to ask his mum if it would be alright if the twins could have them.

When he got to the binders, he hit paydirt. There were several of the ruins that Bill saw on the mysterious parchment that dealt with Harry. While looking through the notes, there was a small notation on the side. Casting a spell to magnify the words, Bill sighed, shaking his head. This only dealt with half of the ruins on the parchment. Someone else dealt with the second half.  This assignment has him going to several places to crack it.

Protection ruins combined with Albus  Dumbledore. 

Looks like Bill was going back to Hogwarts.

___000___000___000

Harry felt woozy. He could tell by the smell that he was back in the Infirmary. Opening his eyes, he looked over and saw a pair of red-headed teens. Blindly reaching for his glasses, they were placed in his hand by one of the teens. 

“Hey,” Harry said. 

“We’re sorry, Harry,” George said.

“It wasn’t supposed to hit that hard,” Fred continued. 

“I didn’t mean-”

“It’s okay,” Harry replied, cutting one of the twins off. Harry was still trying to tell the two of them apart. He didn’t blame them. It was practice and Harry felt that it would be the same thing if it was actually the real game. 

“We just,” Fred started.

“Feel awful,” George finished. 

“I’m fine,” Harry said, sitting up in bed. “I’ve had worse. You’ll protect me during the game, right?”

“Absolutely,” the twins said at the same time. 

Harry smiled. 

Neither child noticed the figure standing in the corner of the room. 

Severus hated that he couldn’t stay away from the scrawny child. He couldn’t get any sleep the previous night; he was up worrying about Potter. 

This is a huge mistake, Severus thought. He listened to the three of them while they conversed. He was going to leave when something that Harry said stopped him in his tracks. “I’ve had worse.” These small bits of disparaging statements were drawing a picture that shouldn’t be true. 

___000___000__000

Harry was visited by the entire Quidditch team that day. All wanting to make sure that he was okay. After several promises that he was okay to play, Harry calmed Oliver that they would still have their Seeker for the following week’s game. 

Poppy released Harry the next morning after breakfast. She wanted to make sure Harry didn’t have any lingering effects from his accident. 

“I want you to come back,” Poppy ordered, “if you’re having headaches or feeling nauseous.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Harry replied. 

“Well, off you go,” Poppy said, waving her hand towards the door. 

Ron was waiting at the Infirmary doors. The two boys waved at each other.

“How you feeling?” Ron asked. 

“I’m good.” Harry shrugged. 

“Hagrid was asking about you,” Ron said. “You wanna go see him?”

“Yeah.”

Harry and Ron headed for the front doors. They made it to the front courtyard when Ron abruptly stopped. 

“Bill?” Ron said. 

“What?” Harry asked. 

“That’s my brother,” Ron said, pointing to the red-headed man walking towards the edge of the courtyard. “Bill!” Ron called out. 

“Ronnie,” Bill called back, opening his arms. 

Ron jogged to his brother. They embraced each other.  It had been almost a year since he saw his big brother. He and Charlie didn’t live at the Burrow anymore. Ron missed his older brothers, even though he was closer to the twins than any of his other siblings. 

“Hey there, squirt,” Bill said, wrapping his arms around Ron’s shoulders. 

“Whatcha doing here?” Ron asked, stepping back from the embrace.

“Business,” Bill answered. “Need to see Professor Dumbledore.”

Harry stood in the background watching the interaction between the two siblings, trying not to feel jealousy for what he would never have. 

“Harry, come here,” Ron called out.

Harry was brought out of his sad thoughts, after hearing his name called. Harry walked over to the brothers. 

“Harry, this is my oldest brother, Bill,” Ron introduced. 

Bill and Harry reached out and shook hands. 

“Bill, this is my best friend, Harry Potter,” Ron said proudly. To Harry, “Bill’s a curse breaker. He works at Gringotts. He’s really good at what he does. Not many wizards are trusted to work at Gringotts.”

Harry’s cheeks flushed while a huge grin split across his face. He was someone’s friend. Not only a friend but a best friend. He was so caught up in the fact that someone said he was their best friend that he almost didn’t catch what Bill did.

Bill froze for a second. Harry Potter. Well, things are getting interesting, Bill thought. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter,” Bill said formally.

“It’s just Harry,” Harry shyly said. He really didn’t like being called Mr. Potter. For a long time, he was never called by his name. It was always boy, freak, Mr. Potter. Never Harry. He would rather hear Harry.

“Well, just Harry,” Bill said smiling. Harry and Ron smiled back. “I will leave you two to go about what you were going to do.” Bill walked off.

“Will you be here long?” Ron asked before Bill got to the castle doors. 

“I’m not sure,” Bill replied. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll try and stop by again, but if not, I’ll send you an owl.”

“Okay,” Ron said, and the two boys continued on their journey to Hagrid’s. 

___000___000___000

Bill made his way, by memory, to the Headmaster’s chambers. Walking down the magical corridors brought back so many memories. He remembered running to his classes after fooling around with Peeves. Fred and George thought that they were the only ones that gave Peeves trouble. Peeves learned early on that Weasleys were the enemy. 

Walking up to the Griffin that stood in front of the Headmaster’s chambers, Bill admired it for a second. Nostalgic memories once again came flooding back. 

“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” the stone Griffin said.

“Is the Headmaster busy?” Bill asked. 

“No,” the Griffin replied then slid to the side opening up the spiral staircase behind it. 

Bill walked up the stairs. When he got to the door, he heard a voice come from the other side of the wooden door. 

“Come in, my boy.”

Bill smirked as he opened the door. 

“Hello, Headmaster.”

“Mr. Weasley,” Albus said, standing up behind his desk. “This is a pleasant surprise. Come sit. Would you like some tea?”

“Thank you, sir,” Bill said walking to the plush chaise chair across from the Headmaster’s desk. “Tea would be great.”

“So, what brings you here, Mr. Weasley?”

Bill spoke up. “Sir, there is an assignment that I have. I am trying to get information on some ruins that are used on a questionable parchment. In my research, my uncle Fabian or Gideon created the ruins, but there was a side part to it.”

“Ah, yes,” Albus said, sitting back in his chair. “I know what you are talking about. What is it you need from me?”

“I am trying to authenticate the contents of this parchment. It was supposed to have been delivered ten years ago.”

“Interesting,” Albus said, stroking his beard. “May I see the parchment?  Maybe we can work on it together and search for the answers.”

___000___000___000

Ron and Harry reached Hagrid’s hut. Harry walked up a few steps and knocked on the door. The two boys could hear Fang barking behind the huge door. 

“Coming,” a voice said, muffled through the heavy door.  “Quiet, you mangy mutt.”

“Are you positive that dog is friendly?” Ron asked skeptically.

“I’m positive,” Harry said, walking back down the stairs to stand next to Ron.

“Why are you walking away?” Ron’s voice began to squeak. 

“Fang likes to run out when Hagrid opens the door,” Harry said, smiling. “Safer down here.” 

Hagrid opened the door. And just like Harry said, Fang rushed out of the door. Ron screamed running to one side trying to get away. Harry, used to Fang’s antics, twisted at the right time and landed on the huge dog’s back, laughing all the while. 

Ron ran towards the pumpkin patch, trying to dodge the dog. 

Harry finally got Fang calmed down enough to have him walk over to Ron. 

“Come on, Ron,” Harry urged. “Fang is so friendly. Trust me.”

Ron slowly walked towards his friend and the dog;  his head reached Harry’s shoulder. Ron tentatively reached out to pet the dog. When Fang licked Ron’s arm, Harry laughed at the grossed-out look on Ron’s face. 

The two boys stayed with Hagrid for an hour before it was time to head back to the castle for lunch. 

___000___000___000

Quidditch game number two: Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff.

The Gryffindor team was standing by the door waiting to go on the pitch. Once again, Harry was in the middle, and Fred and George were on each side.  Katie and Alica were in front. And Oliver and Angelica were taking the rear. 

George leaned over and said to Harry, “We won’t let you get hurt, Harry.”

“Thanks, George,” Harry said. He was glad that he was beginning to learn the difference between the twins. Sometimes he still would get it wrong. But they didn’t mind. 

The team mounted their brooms seconds before the doors opened. They flew out in formation around the pitch and stopped at their designated positions. 

Harry wasn’t worried about playing. He knew that getting hit was part of the game. It had been a few days and he hadn’t seen Professor Snape. Not much happened that he felt he needed his safety person, but he did miss him. Though Harry won’t admit that out loud. Searching the stands, Harry didn’t see him. Harry sighed and put his attention back on the referee. 

Madam Hooch was standing by the box that had the Quidditch balls. 

“I want a fair game,” Madam Hooch announced.

She released the Snitch and the Bludger. With the whistle in her mouth, she blew on it at the same time, throwing the Quaffle into the air.   

The game started. 

Harry did like he did the last game of rising above the pitch, partly to watch the game and partly to have an easy vantage point to find the Snitch. Something caught Harry’s eye but it wasn’t the small golden ball. Lowering his broom, squinting to get a better look, Harry couldn’t keep the grin off his face. Harry flew back to his previous position knowing everything will be okay: Professor Snape was refereeing the game. 

___000___000___000

Romona was in her tent aside from the Quidditch pitch that housed the chest of balls. Severus walked up to Ramona just before the game started, wearing a referee uniform. It didn’t take much to persuade Ramona Hooch to let him referee this game. There was a special broom that was used. Romona handed it to Severus. He was about to exit the tent when he ran into Minerva. 

She gave him a smirk, raising one eyebrow.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Severus growled, walking past her. 

“I said nothing,” Minerva’s voice followed behind Severus, chuckling a little. 

Severus didn’t really care much about Quidditch. His only interest was Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup and having bragging rights on Minerva since she was a Quidditch fanatic. But this was necessary. Someone was out to hurt Potter. Last game he was so focused on keeping Potter on the broom that he didn’t pay attention to what was going on around him. He only got a small hint of a magical signature while muttering his spell. Being on the field, Severus figured if something were to happen, he could quickly get to the boy while searching the stands to see who wanted to hurt the child. 

Ramona tossed the game balls in the air, and Severus lifted off into the air. While the Chasers weaved through the opposite team, trying to score points,  Severus looked up and saw Potter staring at him, coming closer. Severus didn’t see the Snitch, and Harry wasn’t flying with the same determination he witnessed in the last game. When the child’s emerald-green eyes began to sparkle behind his wired spectacles, and then a grin almost split the child’s face in half, Severus couldn’t help the warm feeling he had in his heart knowing that the child’s grin was because of him.

The game went off without a hitch. Both teams were scoring. There didn’t seem to be a case of a rogue Bludger. But Severus did notice that at some point one of the twins would guard Harry more than the other players. Severus figured that they felt guilty for what happened during practice. Good job.

Severus kept his eye on the game, but he was also eying the stands. Looking for anything ominous. And he saw it. While the two Seekers were going after the Snitch together, Severus saw a pair of eyes boring their way to the Seekers. Severus didn’t want to draw attention to himself, so he wandlessly cast Protego on Harry. If his suspicions were correct, and they usually were, then he knew who he had to keep an eye on. 

Severus saw the person snarl when they figured out that whatever they wanted to happen didn’t. 

Seconds later, Severus was blowing the whistle to indicate the end of the game. Of course, Harry caught the Snitch. 

“Gryffindor wins,” Severus announced. 

___000___000___000

Harry was elated. He flew around holding the Snitch in his hand, then landed next to his cheering teammates. 

They all encircled him, cheering and congratulating each other. Harry saw out of the corner of his eye, that Professor Snape standing at the other end of the field talking with Madam Hooch. He was about to go over to him but saw that Snape was already leaving. He tried not to feel disappointed that he didn’t get to talk to him. (He was feeling lost without seeing his professor.) 

Fred and George put their arms around Harry, bring the small child out of his thoughts, and escorted him with the other team members towards the storage room, so they could put away their gear. 

“Party in the Common Room,” Oliver announced. 

The team cheered their excitement as they walked toward the castle. 

Harry was happy that they were going to have a party, but he didn’t want to celebrate. He wanted, no, needed, to see his Professor.

___000___000___000

Severus collapsed in his usual chair in his sitting room. He couldn’t complain about the game. Even though there was that minor incident, it was a pretty good game. He fantasized about going to take a shower and calling it an early night. But he knew that wasn’t in the cards. 

For he knew in about 5….4….3….2….

The fire flared green and both Albus and Minerva stepped through.

Severus rolled his eyes skyward, shaking his head. He could tell them to get out, but he was too tired to even say the words. It would just be better to let them say what they want and leave. Fighting it would only make them stay longer. 

“Severus, my boy,” Albus said. 

“I don’t want to hear it,” Severus muttered. Even though he knew they were coming, it didn’t mean he had to like it. 

“Now, Severus,” Minerva said, cheerfully, “there is no reason to act like this. It was a wonderful game.”

Severus lifted his head and looked at the woman. Try as he might, he couldn't hold out. “Get out.”

Albus sat down on the sofa. “It seemed to go off with no problems. Harry seemed to have enjoyed himself,” Albus wheedled.

“I would assume so,” Severus answered, laying his head against the back of his chair. 

“Did you find out anything?” Albus asked. 

Minerva looked from Albus to Severus. Once again, Severus did something to surprise her during the game. 

“My suspicions are becoming more accurate,” Severus said. “But I want to be absolutely sure before I make my move.”

“I knew you were the right person for this assignment,” Albus said. His eyes twinkled.  “I know how much you care for Harry. You won’t let anything happen to him.”

Severus' face morphed into a snarl.

“Come, Minerva,” Albus said, getting up.

“Get out,” Severus growled. “Get out, you old coot.”

Albus couldn’t hold back his chuckle as he walked towards the fireplace. Minerva was right beside him. They left.

___000___000___000

The Gryffindor party was still going strong four hours after starting. Everyone was having fun. Harry and Ron ate a little, and they played Gobstones with Seamus and Dean. 

Harry started feeling antsy. He wanted to talk to Professor Snape. Seeing that everyone was busy having fun, Harry figured this would be the perfect time to leave and go down to the dungeon.

Harry leisurely walked down the corridors, down the stairs. When he got to Snape’s office, he knocked. No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer. 

Harry sighed. What was he going to do? He didn’t want to go all the way back to the Tower. He was getting sleepy. Remembering there was a side door to Snape’s office that led to the class, Harry detoured in the direction of the class. Luckily the door to his office from the classroom was open. 

Harry slowly walked through and looked around the office. Again, he was mesmerized by everything that was on the shelves. Harry saw his professor’s chair behind the desk. Harry didn’t think twice. He pulled the chair out and climbed on it. The chair was surprisingly comfortable. The boy felt an easy feeling surrounding him. The adrenaline of the game and the excitement from the party were wearing off. Harry curled on the chair. Sitting sideways on the chair, his knees were pulled up, his arms tucked between his thighs and chest. His head was nestled in the crease between the back of the chair and the winged side. Sleep claimed Harry immediately. 

___000___000___000

Severus had just finished taking a shower and was getting ready for bed when the floo flared. 

“Merlin’s beard,” Severus muttered. “What now?”

Severus walked into his sitting room and saw Minerva’s head in the fire. He didn’t see the light that he had on the side wall that indicated that someone was in his office without his knowledge.

“Yes, Minerva,” Severus griped. “What do you want? I was about to go to bed.”

“I’m sorry, Severus, but Harry’s missing.”

The tiredness Severus was feeling disappeared. Missing. Was he too late in finding out who would want to hurt the child? Did he miss something?

During Severus’ musing, he looked over and saw that someone was in his office.

“Severus,” Minerva called out. “Did you hear me?”

“Forgive me, Minerva,” Severus said. “It seems I have an errant child in my office.”

“Alright,” Minerva said. “Deal with that and meet everyone in Albus’ chambers.”

The floo turned off before Severus could reply, not that he would. He headed to the entrance to his office. When he opened the door, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. At first. He looked at his desk and saw a mop of black hair barely shown over the surface of his desk. 

Severus lowered his head and shook it. Why is this happening? Why was Potter sitting behind his desk? He wanted to go over there, wake him up, and give him the spanking of his life. He knew better than to sneak into his office. Now he had the staff worried. He soundlessly walked over to his desk chair. The boy didn’t stir. Severus turned the chair and put his hand on the child’s shoulder. 

“Potter.”

Harry jumped out of the chair, backing away. Slipping from Severus’ grip.  He learned early that if he was touched while he was asleep, it wouldn’t end well for him. His glasses slid off his face, landing on the seat of the chair. 

“S’ry Un’kle Ver’n” Harry slurred. He continued taking steps back. 

Severus could see that Harry wasn’t awake. He needed the child to wake up as there were things that needed to be dealt with. But he wasn’t liking the narrative that he was gathering from the boy about where these comments were coming from. But that was for a later date. Now…

“Potter,” Severus called out louder. He saw the child jerk awake. 

Harry looked around, though it was blurry,  he still recognized where he was. A calm washed over the fear he felt earlier. 

Severus picked up Harry’s glasses and held them out to the boy.  Harry grabbed them and put them on. When he looked up at his Professor, the calm feeling turned to dread. Professor looked angry. Harry’s fingers gripped his robes and started twisting them between his fingers. His bottom lip sucked into his mouth and was slightly chewing on it.

Severus saw the nervous look on the child and sighed as he sat down on his chair. 

“To me, Potter,” Severus ordered. 

Harry was frozen in his spot.

“I will not ask again,” Severus said. “I am tired and I would like to put an end to this day. Now, to me.”

Harry slowly made the few steps towards Snape. Tears were already blurring his vision.

When Harry was close enough, Severus gripped the child’s small arm and pulled him the rest of the way. He had the child standing between his spread knees. 

The first crystal tear that pooled in the child’s emerald eye streamed down his cheek. 

“Mr. Potter,” Severus said softly. “Why are you in my office? Aren’t you supposed to be in the Gryffindor Tower, getting ready for bed?”

Harry opened his mouth as if to answer, but the only thing that came out was a small whine. More tears followed the first one. The child’s shoulders shook as he tried to calm his breathing. 

“Harry,” Severus soothed. “I am tired. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. And I promise you will not like it the hard way. You are already due for a spanking for worrying the staff and being out after curfew.”

“I’m s’ry,” Harry gasped and wheezed out. “I j’st want to see you.” He raised his hand with his robe still curled on his fingers wiping his tear-stained cheeks. 

“And this couldn’t have waited until tomorrow?” Severus asked, grabbing Harry’s hand and started freeing his fingers from the thick woolen cloth. 

“I missed you,” Harry said softly. He lowered his head as his cheeks turned a shade of red darker than it was while he was crying. 

Severus blinked at what Harry just said. He missed him. Why would anyone miss him?

“Be that as it may,” Severus said while absentmindedly disentangling Harry’s other hand, “you cannot just roam around the castle like this.”

Once both of Harry’s hands were free, Severus carefully gripped Harry’s arm. He turned Harry until he was sideways and delivered four sharp smacks to the child’s bottom.

Fresh tears gathered and streamed down his red-blotched cheeks. Harry took his glasses off, and tossed them on Severus’ desk, wiping his cheeks with the backs of his hands. Harry turned and faced Severus and collapsed against the man’s chest. He wrapped his arms around the adult’s neck. Harry silently cried with his face buried in Severus’ shoulder. 

Severus encased Harry with his arms and let out a huge sigh.

“What are you doing to me, Potter?” Severus muttered to himself. 

TBC