What he didn't like was being picked on relentlessly at Hogwarts for not having a family. Not having a mother and father was bad enough, but if he had to spend a third year listening to Draco spout off about him being so nasty that even his Muggle relatives couldn't stand him... well, he had a few curses up his sleeve saved just for Draco. "We could try sending you home with a steak tied around your neck. Maybe your aunt and uncle would take you back then Potter..." No thank you, Harry thought irritably as he packed his things away into his trunk and made his bed at the orphanage for the last time. The orphanage had been better than the Dursleys, but now he'd be going somewhere better. Someplace Draco Malfoy couldn't possibly make fun of him for because he'd have a real family. A family who had asked to adopt him.

"Ready Harry?"

Father Cooke stood in the doorway to the small bedroom.

"All ready Father," he said, dragging his trunk to the door. The Father picked up one handle and helped Harry carry it down the narrow hallway, floorboards creaking as they went.

"It's very lucky they requested someone just like you," he said as he helped Harry carry the trunk down the stairs. "We don't get people from Hogwarts here but once every twenty or thirty years. That you were here at all and they were looking for someone of your sort to adopt is lucky indeed."

"Yes Father." Harry had to agree. He'd be getting to go to a wizarding family, not a Muggle one, which meant he wouldn't have to explain about having to go off to a wizarding boarding school at the end of every summer.

Harry hadn't been told much about the family wanting to adopt him, just that a wizarding family was looking for an heir since they had no children of their own. Someone to learn and carry on family traditions and look after family property.

"Do you think it's an older couple?" Harry asked once they finally had the trunk out of the building and two other Father's had loaded it into the beat up old car owned by the orphanage. He climbed into the passenger seat and Father Cooke got into the driver side.

"No, as I understand it, it's a younger man in his late thirties."

"No wife?" Harry asked skeptically. "I thought it was a family?"

Before buckling himself in Father Cooke pulled out a piece of paper with an address on it and other details and scanned down it. "Just a man," he said. Harry knew it was rare that anyone asked to adopt a boy out of this orphanage, and that the clergy were eager to have anyone ask to take a boy so it would open up another bed for another orphan. This meant they didn't ask a lot of questions. The details Harry had been given so far were that the ‘family' had checked out, that there was no criminal background, that they had money apparently, that they had no children of their own and wanted an heir, and that he'd be going to live in a house on a nice piece of property. That was all aside from the fact that it was a wizard who would be taking him.

"Does he even know my name?" Harry asked as they pulled away.

"I would assume so," Father Cooke said. "Come now Harry, you'll be fine. Father Connor went out there two weeks ago to look the house over and interview the family. You know how cautious Father Connor is. Besides, I thought you were excited to leave the orphanage."

"I like the orphanage," Harry said. He wasn't sure what to feel if he told himself the truth. Excited, but cautious. Eager, but also wary.

"And when you go back to school," the Father said, "you won't get made fun of any more."

"Hopefully," Harry said. "Draco will figure something out."

They drove out of Leeds and away from the city towards Bainbridge, where this wizard was supposed to live.

"Ever been to Bainbridge Harry?" the Father asked an hour into their trip.

"No sir."

"A pretty little parish to be sure. The River Bain runs right through it and along the other edge is the River Ure. There's not many who live there... about 400 I'd say."

Harry looked around the countryside they were driving through. There wasn't much to look at. Gently rolling hills divided up into plots by low stone walls and the occasional thicket of trees. It was nice to look at but he liked living in Leeds at the orphanage. There was always something to do there. The boys at the orphanage were allowed to have jobs and Harry had been trying since last summer to get on at a bakery two streets over from the orphanage. He'd come back from Hogwarts a few days ago with hopes of finally earning a little money and eating all the pastries he wanted, but had been given the news he was going to be adopted.

"Here we are," the father said as they came into a little town with two dozen stone houses, all with white washed window sills. The Father had been right, there was a little river running right through town. They turned down a road and headed right back out of town along another river.

"This one's the river Ure," the Father said. "Only about a mile now and we'll be there." Harry's eyes drank the landscape in and tried to keep track of how far it was back to the village. They finally turned down a dirt drive and up over a little hill. Once at the top Harry could see the house at the bottom on the other side. The River Ure seemed to go right along the back edge of the property.

"Just right for a boy your age to run off some energy I'd say," the Father gave Harry a smile and Harry returned it, even though he was filled with nervousness. He didn't even know the name of this wizard. What if he was dark? What if he was mean like the Dursleys? His only consolation was that he wasn't being adopted by the Malfoy's, since the Father had said it was only a man and that there was no wife or other children.

When the car pulled to a stop, Harry didn't want to get out, but he did when the Father opened his own door and stepped out into the sunshine.

"Nice fresh air, eh Harry? Nothing like Leeds."

The house was a two story gray stone house with a gray roof like the others they had passed in town. The window moulding was whitewashed and the door was white as well.

Harry was just about to ask the Father if he was sure they had the right house when the door opened and a woman came out, wiping her hands on her apron.

"You must be the boy the master has adopted," she said, coming out to meet them. She shook the Father's hand and then shook Harry's, giving him a smile.

"He hasn't said much about you, just that you were coming today. I come by once a week to help with the house. Look at me, I haven't even introduced myself yet I'm so beside myself with excitement. I'm Mrs. Mayer. I've been upstairs tidying your room all morning."

"Thank you," Harry said, uncertain of what else he should say.

"I live two properties down that way," she pointed, though Harry couldn't see beyond a thicket of trees that surrounded the immediate area of the house.

"Father, would you like a cup of tea before you go?"

He did want a cup of tea, for which Harry was thankful, because he didn't want to be left alone here just yet.

"The master of the house isn't here yet. He's away on business and isn't expected for another hour at least." She led them inside to a nice sized kitchen and dining room where she had tea and biscuits ready for them. When they were all sitting she turned to Harry and asked, "What's your name dear? Are you awfully glad to have found a home?"

"Harry Potter," he said, and then not wanting to be rude answered, "yes maam."

"I assume you're like the master and will go away to school?"

Harry looked over at the Father who smiled at him and Harry gave a nod. He wasn't used to people knowing that he was a wizard. The clergy at the orphanage knew, (apparently as all people who ran orphanages knew) that there were witches and wizards who went away to Hogwarts, but other than those that ran the orphanage, no one else was aware of who he was.

"Oh, it's ok dear. My family have served the Prince family for nine generations, though the master of the house now doesn't like to be waited on. My grandmother and three great aunts used to come here every day to cook, clean, and educate. Now that the Prince family has dwindled the Master only asks for help keeping the place up while he's away for business or to help clean things up when he's home. He pays a fair wage too, not like his grandparents did before him."

"That's nice," Harry hedged. It was a nice house he thought, but it didn't look like the owner had the sort of wealth indicated by having a household of servants.

"This is only one house," she said, "there are four others but the master has sold off a lot of the property. I live in one of the houses he used to own down the road. The property he still owns goes along the road for a ways and across the river and up the hill to the top and then down the back side. There's another house over there but he sold it last year. Now he's just got this house and the property.

Harry didn't know why he felt like he had to keep complimenting the house and property considering this woman didn't even live here, but she seemed to be proud and seemed to like this man who had adopted him. "It's all nice," Harry said quietly, stuffing a biscuit in his mouth to keep himself from having to say anything else.

When the Father had finished his tea, he asked Harry if he wanted him to stay any longer. Harry felt bad asking him to stick around though. He had an hour and a half drive back to Leeds and being almost thirteen, Harry felt childish wanting him to stay. "It's ok," Harry told him. "I'll be fine."

"You will be," the Father said to reassure him. They went back outside and he helped Harry carry his trunk in, and then they said their goodbyes. Harry watched him drive back up over the steep little hill and then out of sight.

"Would you like to see your room Harry?" Mrs. Mayer asked when they were alone.

"Yes maam."

"You're so polite," she remarked. "I imagine you'll fit in here just fine."

She took him upstairs and gave him a tour as they went. There were four bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Harry's bedroom looked out into the thicket of trees, and he could see a little of the small River Ure through the tall trunks and the tree canopy.

"There's a wardrobe and a desk for you," she said. "The master went out and bought the desk yesterday. He said you'd need it for schoolwork. He also bought new bedding since everything in the house was old and musty." She indicated the blanket which was a soft dark blue plaid with a soft white underside. There were light blue sheets and a fluffy pillow.

"I think he said something about taking you to the city for new clothes later this week and then to Diagonalley later in the summer."

Harry turned and frowned. "You know about Diagonalley?"

"I told you dear, my family has been working for the Prince family for generations. My great great grandmother even got to see Hogwarts once when she had to go attend to a sick child at the school. Once, generations ago there was a child in our family who turned out to have magic, and he went to the school, but we don't talk about him much."

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"It was said one of the masters of the house had an affair with one of the servants and produced an illegitimate heir."

"Oh."

"You'll find our two families are close. If ever the master gets snippy with you or you have a row, you can come down round my place for some tea."

"Is he- like that often?" Harry asked.

"Oh, he has his moments. So did his grandfather and a few of his uncles and cousins. You just remember what I said. When he gets like that it's best to walk away and let him work things out on his own. Most of the time he's agreeable though. He might seem a little rough around the edges but I've known him since he was just a boy and there's a soft interior if you just know where to look for it."

They heard a door open and close downstairs and a voice calling, "Millie?"

Harry raised his brows.

"That's only Arran," she said. "My husband. Probably wondering when I'll be home to fix his tea. He'd be better off fixing it himself than walking all the way down here to ask me about it." She went out into the hall and called down the stairs. "I'm up here."

Harry followed her out and peered over the railing and down the stairs where Arran's face appeared at the bottom.

"When's my meal going to be ready?"

"Whenever you fix it!"

"Why did I come all the way down here to find you then if I have to fix it myself?"

"That's a good question isn't it Harry?" she turned to Harry and asked loudly. Arran looked up at Harry, tipped his hat, and then went back to talking to Mrs. Mayer.

"You know, I've been thinking about hiring Mrs. Allan down the road to come work at our house and fix my meals while you're over here fixing meals and cleaning."

"You go right ahead and do that," she said.

He threw his hand down, made a noise of irritation, and then they heard the door open and shut again.

"He won't hire anyone," she said with a smile. "He won't eat anyone's cooking but mine. Once Mrs. Allan brought biscuits over and he threw them in the bin as soon as she was out of sight."

Harry grinned at her, thinking their exchange had been amusing.

Mrs. Mayer helped Harry unpack some of his things into the wardrobe, and almost as soon as they were done they heard the front door open and close again. Harry waited to hear if it was Arran again, but no one called up the stairs for Mrs. Mayer.

"There's the master," she said with a kind smile, and beckoned for Harry to follow her back downstairs.

She led Harry into a large sitting room and then through a door into a large library set up as an office. The man's back was turned to them as they came in, rummaging through a trunk.

"Has he come yet Mrs. Mayer?" the man asked, and his voice chilled Harry to the bone, making him stand up straight. Mrs. Mayer didn't fail to notice Harry's sudden change in posture.

"He's right here looking ready to pass out," she said, causing the man to straighten up and turn around.

Severus Snape's eyes fell on the pale face of Harry Potter and his eyes narrowed.

"I thought your pranking days were over Mrs. Mayer," he said, the distaste in his voice obvious.

"Master Snape?" she asked, brows furrowing.

"You expect me to believe this is the orphan I sent for?"

She turned and looked Harry up and down as if he had suddenly sprouted an extra set of eyes or ears, and then turned back to Snape, confused.

"The Father drove him over this morning. We had tea and then he left. Harry's already unpacked his things upstairs."

"Well he can pack them up again. There's been a mistake. I did not ask, nor would I ever, to adopt Harry Potter."

"Severus!" she chided, and Harry allowed himself only a moment of surprise that she'd used his first name since he'd only heard her refer to him as master up to this point.

"I expect him to be packed and waiting for the orphanage to retrieve him by this evening. I'll call them and let them know there has been a mistake."

"Severus Snape!" she said, making him narrow his eyes at her. She turned to Harry and ignored Snape for a moment. "Harry, why don't you go upstairs for a while while I talk to the Master. There you go, hurry along now."

Harry wanted to stay outside the door and listen, but didn't want to be cursed or hexed so he ran back through the house and up the stairs. Snape had tried to adopt him? How could he have made a mistake like that? They might not have had a lot of information for Harry about him, but surely they'd told Snape his name? He began unpacking his clothes out of the wardrobe and his school supplies out of the desk. Maybe Mrs. Mayer would let him stay at her house until the Father came back to get him that evening. Harry tried not to let the sting of what had happened get to him. He'd been nervous, yes, but for just a few hours he'd believed he was going to a real home to have a real family. Now it was just like a cruel joke. Snape's words kept playing through his mind as he threw things back into his trunk. ‘I did not ask, nor would I ever, to adopt Harry Potter.' It was the Dursleys all over again. Just a reminder that Harry wasn't welcome anywhere. Then Draco's words floated through his mind from several days before, and Harry thought cruelly to himself, maybe if he tied a steak around his neck, Snape might want to keep him then.

Downstairs, away from where Harry could hear, Mrs. Millie Mayer was giving Severus a piece of her mind. He didn't usually get an earful like this from anyone other than Minerva, but Millie Mayer was one of the few he didn't mind getting scolded by. She was a teenager when he was a young boy and she'd often been tasked with watching him. If she'd scolded him as a child, he didn't feel so bad about being scolded now. It was like they were family.

"How could you say such a thing to him? He came all this way thinking he was getting adopted."

"There has been a mistake."

"How could you make a mistake like this Severus Snape! You're the one who wanted to adopt a boy. Is he an orphan or isn't he?"

"His parents died, but he has a family. He chose to run away from them before he came to Hogwarts. He put himself in an orphanage. Undoubtedly they didn't cater to his whims enough to satisfy him."

"Oh yes Severus, because an orphanage would cater to him more than his own flesh and blood."

"You don't understand," Severus said, growing irritated.

"What don't I understand? Tell me because you're right. I don't understand how you could so cruelly turn a boy away after getting his hopes up like you have."

"The orphanage said they had a boy of magical descent who needed a home. They didn't tell me much about him other than that he was well-behaved and that his parents had both died. They lied to me."

"Really? The clergy?"

"Harry Potter is the most errant, incorrigible child at Hogwarts."

"He's been nothing but polite since he's been here. He couldn't stop saying how nice the house and property were."

"No doubt the people at the orphanage told him he was going to a family of wealth and he jumped at the chance."

"Severus Snape, you'd better do something to make this right or I'll haunt you long after I'm gone."

He gave her a look that said, ‘you wouldn't dare,' but she seemed angry enough that she just might.

"What do you expect me to do?"

"That's for you to figure out but I'd suggest you at least try to give him a home. Regardless of what you may think he is from an orphanage. You wanted to adopt a child, and there's a child upstairs right now willing to be adopted."

"He would not want me to adopt him. We do not get along. As I said, he's incorrigible. He refuses to be instructed. He will be nothing but trouble as he gets older."

"Whose fault is that?"

"You think it's mine?"

"No," she said. "If he's rough around the edges it's because he hasn't had anyone to bring him up right. Now you have a chance to do that. You'd really send him back to the orphanage without at least trying to make things work? If you send him back and he grows up a miscreant, then it really will be your fault for not bringing him up when you had the chance."

"That is where you are wrong. I have not signed the adoption papers yet. They weren't supposed to be signed for another month to be certain things were going to work smoothly with his placement here. If I take him now and attempt to ‘bring him up' it will be nothing but one fight after another. In the end, when he ends up getting himself thrown in jail, then it will be seen as my fault for the way I brought him up. I wanted a child to learn the family traditions and continue the family line after I'm gone. How can I get that with the child I've been handed?"

"I seem to remember your grandfather saying you were unteachable and too much of a trouble maker to amount to anything. He said you were more trouble than you were worth."

"And I was," Severus reminded her. He'd left Hogwarts and gotten involved with Voldemort, which in the end had caused his best friend and her husband to die, orphaning their child. Millie Mayer knew some of it, but not all of it. She knew he'd been in trouble with the law and that there had been a death, but not that he'd been the cause of Harry Potter's orphanness. His stomach squirmed at the memory.

"Yet here you sit, the head of the family, Potions Master at Hogwarts, head of Slytherin House."

"I didn't think you paid attention to all of that," he said quietly. She was a Muggle after all.

"You're as good as family Severus, I pay attention. So does Arran. Your own parents and grandparents may not be here to be proud of you, but we are. If you send that boy back to the orphanage though, there's nothing to be proud about in that." She turned and headed for the door back to the sitting room.

"Where are you going?"

"Home to fix Arran his dinner. I can't make your choices for you, but if you send that poor boy back to the orphanage I don't want to be here to see it."

She left, and a few moments later he heard the front door open and close. She had gone and left him there all alone with the Brat-who-lived. His mind still wasn't even made up yet, but he thought it was rotten of her to leave him there to deal with it all on his own.

He reached for the phone to call the orphanage, but set it back down halfway through dialing the number. She was right in one thing, the boy had probably misbehaved as much as he had because he'd had no one to teach him any better. His relatives were likely too soft on him before he ran away, and he knew the people who ran the orphanage Harry was in were soft because of the way Harry continued to act while at school. He'd complained relentlessly to the Headmaster about all the rules that had been bent and broken for Potter and nothing had come of it. If he was the boy's guardian he could change that. Perhaps instill some fear of self-preservation into the boy. At the very least he could keep the child from running off after Basilisks and Death Eaters who had Voldemort sticking out the back of their heads.

Severus sighed and stood up, steeling himself for the confrontation he was about to have with the boy.

He half expected the room upstairs to be destroyed when he got up there, but it wasn't. He found Harry inside sitting on his closed trunk in the middle of the floor. Harry stood up when he saw the Potions Master standing in the doorframe and was quiet. Severus preferred the quiet, especially when it came from the lips of children, but now the silence was unnerving. He wanted the boy to fight with him so he could just change his mind and send him away.

"I did not expect you," he said. Potter remained silent. "The adoption papers were not to be signed for another month to be sure the placement was working as it should, so there is still time for you to return to the orphanage."

"I'm all packed sir," Harry said quietly. There was something in the boy's voice Severus didn't want to acknowledge, so he ignored it.

"Perhaps it would be best if you went back," Severus said, thinking perhaps he could talk the boy into wanting to go back instead of throwing him out. "If you were to stay here there would be hard work to do. I would not cater to your every whim as you are used to."

He expected the brat to mouth off to him or argue, but there was only silence.

"If you wish to stay there will be high expectations of you. I have my doubts about keeping you but would be willing to set those doubts aside until the one month trial has ended."

"What do you want me to do sir?" Harry asked.

Severus narrowed his eyes at the Gryffindor. He was actually considering staying?

"You will be educated and tested on the family traditions, business, values, and customs. You will do your chores and you will behave yourself as I expect you to without fault. I will not tolerate laziness, disrespect, or misbehavior."

Harry knew that was exactly what the man was expecting from him. He expected him to be lazy, disrespectful and to cause trouble. That's what the Dursleys had expected from him. Harry had spent years trying to prove them wrong, trying to prove he was worth their love and affection, but in the end had failed and decided to try his luck elsewhere. He thought he'd done ok for himself at the orphanage and at Hogwarts (except where Snape was concerned).

Something gnawed at him that he was supposed to be trying to prove himself. It was the old feeling he always had at the Dursleys. If he wanted Draco to stop making fun of him, this is what he had to do, but was it worth it? He wasn't sure yet. If Snape was willing to give him a one month trial, Harry thought he might as well go with it. The worst case scenario would be that he'd end up back at the orphanage and show up to Hogwarts at the end of the summer to take whatever new insults Draco had come up with for him. Whatever Snape had in store for him couldn't be anywhere near as bad as the Dursleys. Snape was cruel at times, and stern, but with Mrs. Mayer coming around to check in and do housework he couldn't see himself getting into too much trouble here.

"Yes sir," he said, looking up and meeting Snape's eyes.

"You intend on staying?"

Harry nodded.

"Then unpack your things again and come to the sitting room." Snape swept out of the room in a hurry and Harry wondered if the man was going to have a panic attack. He strained his ears to listen but didn't hear anything aside from the man's receding footsteps as he went downstairs.

He sat back down on his closed trunk to think for a minute. It would be good to prove Snape wrong, to finally show him that all those things he said about Harry at school weren't true. He wasn't lazy, he wasn't always up to something, and he wasn't a bad person. He was just Harry. Maybe if he could prove that to Snape he'd have an easier go of things at school when he returned, even if it meant Draco still taunting him. As he stood and unpacked his things again, Harry didn't dare to think that he could prove enough to stay past the one month trial, or that he might actually like it here enough to stay. The Dursley's didn't want him and Snape clearly didn't want him. He couldn't expect to change that. It was best not to get his hopes up, he decided. Instead he'd just take it for what it was, a month out of the orphanage and a chance to prove Snape wrong. Besides, he'd wanted a summer job anyway, hadn't he? Mrs. Mayer made decent biscuits, maybe he'd just do his work and eat as many biscuits as he wanted. It would be just like working at the bakery...

Still trying to convince himself, Harry found Snape downstairs sitting in the sitting room writing something down on a piece of parchment. When he noticed Harry standing there he motioned to a fancy looking sofa opposite the one he was sitting on, and Harry took a seat.

"There are rules for living here Potter. You are to do your chores as I have stated, but you're also to keep your room tidy and clothing clean. When not working you are to present yourself in a well-kept manner. I expect your body to be clean and your hair to be combed and kept trimmed."

"Yes sir."

"You will address me as sir or professor at all times," Snape continued, as if Harry hadn't spoken at all. "You will not interrupt your elders, you will pay attention, and you will not argue. I do not care what schedule you keep so long as your chores and learning are done by the end of the day. Meals are not always at regular times, therefore you will fix yourself breakfast and lunch, and I will call you for dinner between five and seven. I do not care what time you go to bed, but you are to be in your room by nine. After nine you are not to be out of your room unless it's to use the bathroom."

Snape looked up to check if Harry was listening and found Harry's eyes meeting his. He looked back down at his parchment and continued with his rules and expectations. "I am not your keeper Potter. You're expected to be responsible for yourself at thirteen years of age. You may travel around the property or into town as you see fit, but I expect a note left on the kitchen counter or for you to leave word with Mrs. Mayer if you leave. You are not to use Mrs. Mayer as your personal servant. She is paid by me to help with upkeep of the house. If I find that you are using her to run your own errands there will be unpleasant consequences. You will do what you're told, when you're told to do it. You will knock before entering my library, and you will not enter if I am not inside. You are not to enter my private room upstairs. Potions brewing is to be done in the basement only, and only with my permission."

Snape set the parchment down and Harry thought for a moment he might be done with his tirade of rules, but he only turned and picked up a stack of books off the end table next to him.

"These are the books you will study out of," he said. "I will not test you on the top three books, but you will be expected to know them and conduct yourself by them after this week, whether you are here or in town. You are not to go into town until all three of these have been read." Harry looked at the top three. They weren't very big and all three were in varying shades of blue. He wanted to look at the titles to see what was in them but Snape had already set them aside and was moving on to the rest of the stack.

"The next four are books about the Prince family business. I expect you to read them thoroughly and ask if you have questions. I will be testing you on what is found within these books before you will be allowed to participate in any further activities." Harry didn't understand what further activities he was talking about, but hoped he would once he read through the books. He hadn't been expecting to spend his summer reading, but was willing at this point to do what he'd been told to prove to Snape that he could do what he was told.

"Are there any questions about what was discussed Potter?"

Harry looked away from the books he'd just been handed and frowned. He didn't think so. It hadn't been a discussion really, just Snape spewing off one rule after another. "No sir."

"You will present yourself at the front door at six am tomorrow morning. We will be making a trip into the city."

"Yes sir."

Snape rose without giving a second look at Harry, went into his library, and shut the door, leaving Harry alone in the sitting room. Almost as soon as he'd gone, questions began popping into Harry's mind such as, where were the property boundaries? He'd been told he could roam at will but he wasn't sure where he was allowed to go. He also wanted to know what they'd be going to the city for, but figured he'd have to wait to find out.

Harry stood up and took the stack of seven books up to the room he'd been loaned and began to look through them. He got distracted when his hand brushed the soft, fluffy blue blanket on the bed however. If Snape had known it had been him that was coming, he bet he wouldn't have bought such a nice blanket for the bed.

The first three books appeared to be books on etiquette and how to conduct yourself. Two were written by wizards and pertained directly to interacting in their world, and one was Muggle. Harry flipped one of the wizarding books open to a random page and was surprised to find a few interesting things there. Perhaps he'd read that book first. There was a Muggle book on geology and geological formations, a book about how to magically extract certain types of ore, a book on magical uses of certain types of ore, and a book on conducting business in the magical community. The last few looked boring so Harry picked up the book on wizarding etiquette and began to read.

By the time he was twenty pages in, Harry felt like he had an understanding of a few things that he hadn't been able to grasp before. For instance, if you came from an old wizarding family, it was inappropriate to ever speak poorly of your family, no matter what your circumstances. It gave examples of family betrayal and witches and wizards cheating on their spouses, but said that under no circumstances were they to speak ill of people within their family. Some of Draco's words suddenly made sense to Harry then. The Slytherin never spoke ill of his family even though Harry thought Lucius was a real bastard. If he was like that in public, he had to be like that at home to Draco as well.

In the etiquette books Harry also found rules for governing families, how to divide up an estate when there were more than one surviving family member, and what to do if a family line was coming to an end: adopt someone else.

Harry looked up and frowned. The book's answer was to adopt someone else to continue the family line. That is what Father Cooke had said, wasn't it? Snape wanted to adopt someone to continue family traditions, or something like that? He was still young though, why didn't he just get married and have a kid? That would certainly be easier than adopting someone he hated. Wouldn't he rather pass on his family business and traditions to one of his own kids instead of to someone that he wasn't even related to and didn't like? He read through the next few pages but didn't find an answer. When he finished that book just before dinner, he hoped he'd find an answer in the other wizarding etiquette book.

Snape came to his door and told him dinner was ready at 6:45, and Harry followed him downstairs to the dining room. They were eating some kind of roast, and Harry wondered if Mrs. Mayer had put it in the oven to cook before she left, even though Harry hadn't smelled anything delicious cooking until now.

They sat silently and ate their meal, and when it was finished Snape excused himself and disappeared again, leaving Harry to go back to his room. Harry read until almost midnight, but had still not figured out why Snape would want him over his own flesh and blood. It didn't make sense, and Harry wondered over it as he fell asleep under the soft warm blanket, wishing the blanket had been meant for him, and not some other boy that would have been less of a disappointment.

At five Harry ventured downstairs and into the kitchen. Snape had said to feed himself breakfast and lunch hadn't he? Harry didn't think there would be anything there for him to eat, but there was a fresh bowl of fruit on the counter and in the cupboards he found oatmeal, cereal, and a variety of other things. He ended up eating two oranges and an apple. He'd spied muffins on the counter, but didn't want to get yelled at for taking Snape's breakfast.

At six am on the nose Snape appeared in the doorframe to the kitchen. His eyes fell on Harry and his lip curled, and Harry tried not to feel sick. If there was anyone who liked him even less than the Dursleys, it was Snape, and now he was living with the man.

"Come along Potter."

Harry followed him out the front door and wondered if they'd be apparating, but Snape led him up the driveway and over the little hill to to the road.

"Bainbridge is that way," he said, pointing to the left. "We're going to Hawes." He pointed down the road to the right. With a look around him he grabbed Harry's wrist and apparated them away. They reappeared in a thicket just outside of Hawes.

"Is it Muggle?" Harry asked, but all he got was a grunt of acknowledgement in return.

They stepped out of the thicket and onto the road. The town was just beginning to wake up and there weren't many out yet.

"There is no shopping in Bainbridge. You are in need of clothing."

Snape led him down a narrow street past two dozen shops, and right at six thirty they came to a door of a clothing boutique that had just opened as they walked up.

"You're here bright and early Master Snape," said a young woman, probably twenty as she opened the door for them and let them in.

"I prefer to miss the crowd."

"I don't blame you. Get's busy around nine. Everyone wants to come in for their cuppa and pastries at the cafes and start their shopping."

Snape appeared to know just what he wanted to buy and led Harry straight to a rack of polo shirts. He didn't give Harry a choice and pulled a light gray polo that looked to be Harry's size off the rack. He turned to a wall of shelves and also pulled out a pair of dark gray slacks.

"Will you be wanting a sweater vest too?" the young woman asked. She spoke easily to Snape as though he came in frequently.

"Yes."

"Blue perhaps?" she suggested, looking at the two gray items he'd already picked out for Harry.

"If you think that's best."

She held up a light blue sweater vest to Harry, silently asking if he approved, and he nodded. It was muted and almost gray, but he thought it was better to have a little color than nothing at all.

"He needs to be fitted for dress shoes."

"Leather?" she asked, "Black, brown or dark gray?"

"Gray," Severus said, "without a sheen."

She had Harry try on several pairs, and they finally found one that fit. Harry thought he quite liked them. They were more of boots than dress shoes, and were handsome. They were certainly the nicest shoes Harry had ever owned. Before they left Snape also picked out a package of dark gray dress socks, and then paid the woman in Muggle notes.

There were a few more people on the street when they came back out of the shop, and several sitting at a cafe across the road. Harry thought the coffee looked good and the donuts the people were eating even better, but didn't even think about asking if they could buy something. Snape had already just spent two hundred pounds on the one outfit. Harry didn't think anyone had ever spent two hundred pounds total on his clothes for the almost thirteen years he'd been alive.

"You have a hair brush?" Snape asked as they began walking back through town.

"Yes sir."

"You will make better use of it."

"My hair doesn't really lie flat sir."

Snape looked down at Harry's hair with a critical eye and his lip curled in the same way it had earlier that morning in the kitchen. A few minutes later he had steered Harry into a barber shop. This man didn't seem to know Snape, but he took Snape's directions on how he wanted Harry's hair cut in any case. Harry held his breath for long moments at a time as the barber cut his hair. Snape had directed him to cut it very short. Shorter even than Seamus or Draco wore theirs. When he was done and held up a mirror for Harry to see himself with, Harry wasn't sure if he was looking at his own reflection.

"Thank you," Harry told him.

"Best hair cut I've given all month," the barber told Harry. Harry looked at himself again and wasn't sure how he liked it. His face looked so exposed and he could clearly see his scar. One thing was for certain, there was no need to try to make it lie flat anymore. There was only a few inches of hair left and he thought it would be a breeze to comb each morning.

Harry thought they would go back to the thicket and apparate back, but they passed the thicket on the edge of town and kept walking.

"We're walking back sir?"

"It is less than three miles. By showing you the way I will ensure that there are no excuses about getting lost on your way to or from the city."

"I'm allowed to come back on my own?" Harry asked.

"You will be sent on errands to both Bainbridge and Hawes, as well as to Mrs. Mayer's house. From the house Bainbridge is less than a twenty minute walk. Hawes is a 45 minute walk. When you are sent to do errands there will be no dawdling."

"Yes sir."

Snape seemed to be in a hurry and Harry didn't doubt the walk would be less than 45 minutes. He was right. In thirty minutes they came up to two houses side by side with small front yards and fields behind them. "That one belongs to Mrs. Mayer. You are to be polite to her at all times, and when visiting you will be perfect company."

"Yes sir." Harry didn't know what he thought Harry would do when visiting Mrs. Mayer. Perhaps he thought he'd draw with crayons on the walls or stomp his foot like a little kid if he didn't get his way. Harry wished he convince him that he wasn't like that, but didn't think he'd be able to. Less than five minutes down the road from Mrs. Mayer's was the driveway leading up over the little hill and back to the house.

"When you go visiting or to run errands for me you will be presentable at all times. You will also be presentable when company is expected. You will wear these clothes and you will ensure that both you, the clothes, and the shoes are well taken care of and clean."

"Yes sir."

Snape gave Harry the bag of clothes and disappeared back into his library. Harry sighed, feeling like the entire morning had been strange, and went back to his room to hang the clothes up in the wardrobe. He tried them on before he did and looked at himself in the full length mirror hanging on the inside of the wardrobe door. With the sharp new clothes and haircut, he really didn't recognize himself. He looked like Draco with short hair, and he wondered what Ron and Hermione would think if they ever saw him dressed like this. The clothes were less fancy than what Draco liked, but they were sharp, and Harry felt different in them.

"Harry, Master Snape." Mrs Mayer was calling from downstairs. Harry listened and heard Snape acknowledge that he was in his library, and then Harry stuck his head out his bedroom door and looked down the stairs to where Mrs. Mayer was.

"Harry, look at you!" she said, approving of his new clothes. "I saw you and the Master coming back from Hawes this morning." She came up the stairs and followed Harry into his room. She gave a look around the room, as if to assess that it was still as clean and tidy as she'd left it the day before and said, "I assume this means you're staying?"

"For now," Harry said.

"If the Master bought you some new things to wear, then he intends on you staying."

"He said I had to wear it when I go anywhere." He turned and looked at her and asked, "Why do you call him Master?"

"It's just the way of things," she said. "He's the Master of the property and of the Prince family now. Someday I'll be calling you Master."

"I doubt it," Harry said before biting his lip. He hadn't meant to say it out loud. "I'm sorry," he said.

"What for?"

"For being rude."

She waved her hand at him. "You can be yourself with me and Arran Harry, we're family."

Harry pulled the sweater vest off because it was hot and hung it up in the wardrobe. He was glad the polo shirt was short sleeved at least. He wondered if he could get away without the sweater vest when he went into town on hot days.

"Mrs. Mayer?"

"Yes Harry?" she asked as she straightened the little stack of books Harry had been reading the night before on the desk.

"Do you think I need to call him Master?"

She turned to look at him and then sat down in the desk chair. Harry sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Since he's adopting you I would think you would call him father. But from the reaction the both of you had last night, I take it that's a stretch. What's happened between the two of you before you came yesterday?"

Harry bit his lip. He wasn't adopted yet, but the book had said not to speak poorly of anyone in your family under any circumstances.

"I'm family, remember Harry?" she said. "And I said you can be yourself with me. The Master isn't going to mind if you speak your mind to me or Arran."

Harry sighed. "He doesn't like me very much," Harry said. "He gives me detention a lot, and a couple times he tried to get the Headmaster to expel me."

"Did you do something that you deserved to be expelled for?" she asked.

"I didn't think so. The Headmaster and my Head of House said they were minor infractions."

"I see."

"I- I'm not saying I don't ever mess up... I do. I mess up a lot, and sometimes on big things," Harry told her. He was desperate for her to understand and to like him, because if he didn't have some kind of ally here it was going to be a miserable summer. The longer he stayed, the less likely it would be that he could go back to the orphanage, and he was torn on how hard he should be trying to make this work. If it was going to work, he'd need Mrs. Mayer though.

"I don't expect you to be perfect Harry." She stood up and smiled at him. "Did you get one of the muffins I left for you and the Master this morning?"

"I wasn't sure if I was allowed. I ate some fruit."

"Just fruit? That's not enough for breakfast. Come have a muffin. This is your home now too Harry and you're allowed to have whatever food is in the kitchen."

"Thank you," he said sincerely. She left the room and Harry changed quickly into a pair of shorts and t-shirt and his old sneakers and went down to the kitchen. Mrs. Mayer had two muffins and a glass of juice on the table waiting for him.

"Hawes looked interesting," he told her.

"Lots of shops and cafes and restaurants," she said. "It's nice having shopping nearby. There's a grocer and a tea house in Bainbrigde, but that's all."

"I think I'm allowed to go back to Hawes on my own," Harry said. He wanted to go back for a donut and maybe to buy some regular clothes, but he didn't have any money. He had a few knuts and sickles left in his trunk, but he'd need Muggle money.

"I'm sure you are," she said. "Do you think there's any odd jobs I could do to earn some money?" he asked.

She gave him a look he couldn't decipher though he wondered if it was surprise. "So I can buy some things in Hawes," he clarified. "I know I have chores here, and things I have to learn. I won't neglect those," he promised.

"I didn't think you would," she said.

"When you have some free time why don't you come by the house Harry. Mrs. Allan is always finding things for Arran to do and I'm sure he wouldn't mind some help. If you come to do some chores for her she'd have to pay you instead of using Arran for free." She seemed irritated by her neighbor and Harry smiled as he finished his muffin. Mrs. Mayer had chores to get to herself so Harry went back up to his room and pulled out the Muggle geology book and a parchment and quill and began taking notes. The sooner he got through these books, the sooner he'd have time to earn some money.

* * *

Harry studied for two days, but was having difficulty getting through the Muggle geology book. He'd also started the book about extracting certain kinds of ore via magic and potions, but that was equally as confusing and easily beyond his level of understanding. He took notes nonetheless and wrote down definitions to words when he found them, whether he understood them or not. He was halfway through both before he decided that he couldn't spend another day studying all day and needed to get out. It was his third morning there and Mrs. Mayer hadn't come by the day before. Harry had found dinner waiting for him the previous two evenings, but no Snape, and he was beginning to feel isolated.

Snape was nowhere to be found when Harry went down for breakfast, so he made a bowl of cereal and then went back up to put his new clothes on so he could look ‘presentable'. He left a note on the counter as he'd been instructed and went out. He wasn't even sure if Snape was in the house or if he'd gone to Hogwarts or elsewhere for the day.

Down the road, Mrs Mayer was on her hands and knees in her garden planting some kind of pink flower. Harry smiled and stood on the lane and asked, "Can I come over Mrs Mayer?"

She turned and smiled. "Of course Harry! Have you eaten yet?"

"Yes."

"Come and look what I've planted. I spent all morning pulling weed and finally had time to get this in."

"It's very pretty," Harry commented.

"There was a farmer's market yesterday in Hawes and I bought four or five of these." She looked up at him and said, "I'd ask if you'd like to help but I think Master Snape would be angry if you ruined your new clothes."

"I'd like to help," Harry said, "but he said I had to wear them when I go to visit or run errands."

"I'm family Harry. You don't have to wear that to come visit me."

Harry turned as if to go back to the house to change, and then turned back to her. "Can I help plant them?"

"Of course."

"I'll be right back then," he said and turned and ran back down the road and over the hill to the house, cutting across the tall grass and ignoring the driveway. In less than ten minutes he was back in his regular clothes, out of breath and smiling. It was nice to be able to go out as himself.

"That's better," she said as Harry dropped to his knees beside her in the shaded front yard and took the hand trowel she was handing him.

"I don't have spare gloves for you. Arran might."

"It's ok, I like the dirt," Harry said. He hadn't told the father when he'd driven him out here earlier in the week, but he was glad to be in the country. He had liked the orphanage and that the bakery was close as well as other opportunities to work, but he missed nature. He often sat outside at Hogwarts just to be out of the castle, and picked at grass or threw rocks into the lake. Using his bare hands to dig in the dirt and plant things was not an issue.

"Ok, break the root ball up, like this. Don't put it into the ground compact. You want the roots to spread out into the native soil and take hold more quickly. The plant will grow bigger faster this way."

She handed Harry a pot with a pink flower and he turned it upside down and did like she'd showed him, and then put it into the hole in the ground and pushed soil over the roots with his hands. They were done in no time and she led him inside to wash up and have tea and biscuits.

"You get them planted Millie?" Arran called from another room as she carried the tray of biscuits to the table and set them in front of Harry.

"Of course, Harry helped me."

Arran came into the room. "You didn't tell me we had Master Snape here."

Harry looked around for Snape, but when he looked back at Arran, found that the man was looking at him.

"Me?" Harry asked quietly.

He nodded.

"I'm just Harry," he said.

"Well the Master adopted you didn't he?"

"Not yet," Harry said quietly.

Arran looked at Mrs. Mayer and asked, "He helped you plant you say?"

"Yes. Came right over and put his bare hands in the dirt."

"Must not be a Master yet then," he said, and sat down to have biscuits and tea with them.

"There's hope for you yet," Arran said, and Mrs. Mayer slapped Arran's hand gently.

"Hush with that. Look at his face Arran." Arran looked up and saw Harry's pale face and wide eyes.

"Not that- not that there's anything wrong with being all proper like," he said. "I just mean, well I don't know. There's a difference between common folk like us and the rest of the world and lords and ladies and masters and all that."

"I'm just me," Harry said. He didn't want to be anyone else, and he wasn't sure what Arran meant. He knew Snape wanted him to learn proper manners from the books he'd given him, and the business, whatever that was, and to look presentable, but that was all, right?

"Tell us about yourself Harry," Arran said, putting another biscuit on Harry's plate, this one orange flavored and covered in chocolate.

"Uh, like what?"

"Well what do you like to do?"

"I like to fly at school," Harry said, testing the waters, and when neither seemed surprised, he continued with, "I have two friends, Ron and Hermione, and I spend a lot of time with them." He told them about how smart Hermione was and how easy it was to get along with Ron. Arran asked about their families and Harry described Hermione's parents who were dentists, and Ron's family who lived in a tall crooked house held together by magic. He'd only seen pictures of it, but he'd been hoping to visit sometime. Ron had described his family in great detail, and to Harry they sounded perfect.

"I didn't know I was getting adopted," Harry said. "I was going to try to get a job at the bakery this summer near the orphanage."

"Yeah?" asked Arran. "Why's that?"

"Well then I could eat pastries and have some money for clothes when I go back to school."

"The Master'll be providing your clothes now," he said. "Fine ones at that I'm sure."

"He bought a pair of clothes for visiting and errands," Harry told him. "And he cut my hair short. It was this much longer two days ago." Harry held his fingers apart by several inches.

They finished their tea and Harry said he'd better get back to study some before lunch. "You come back around tomorrow morning if you can and help me fix the back fence," Arran told him, and Harry smiled and told him he would.

He didn't feel as lonely and isolated when he walked back down the road and into the house, and that afternoon as he went back over his notes for what he'd already read he felt like he understood a few things he'd missed in his reading before.

"Sheep keep coming into the back and trampling Mrs. Mayer's flowers," Arran told him. It was just Harry and Arran this morning, as Mrs. Mayer had gone to do chores for Snape. She'd promised Harry as she left that she was putting in a pot roast to cook all day and that when he returned that Snape's house would smell amazing and his dinner would taste better than amazing.

Arran had Harry saw a piece of wood for him after he showed him how, and then hold it into place as Arran nailed it. Harry cut a second piece of wood and then Arran had Harry nail it into place. Harry bent several nails, but Arran had Harry do the nailing on the last three boards for practice, and on his very last nail, Harry hit it in mostly straight.

"Am I supposed to call you Mr. Mayer or your first name?" Harry asked. He wasn't sure. Sometimes Mrs. Mayer called him Arran and other times by his first name.

"When it's just you, me and Millie, you can call me Arran," he said. "Better call me Mr. Mayer when you're with the Master though. The Prince family puts a lot of importance on titles."

"What about Mrs. Mayer?" he asked. "What do I call her?"

"I'd wager she'd let you call her Millie when it's just the three of us. Don' call her that in front of Mrs. Allan though."

"Ok," Harry said.

He helped carry the tools back to the little shed in back of the house with Arran and then they stood back to admire their work. The broken section of fence looked like new, and Harry was proud, even of the bent nails he could still see.

"Mr. Mayer," called a voice, and they turned to find a woman next door in her own back yard. "Is that the new Master?"

"It is," he said.

"And he's doing chores for you?"

"Yes," Arran called across the yard.

"And you're going to keep him all to yourself?" she asked. She looked to be a few years older than Millie and like she would rather not be doing her own yard work.

"That's up to young Master Harry," Arran said, and Harry bristled at being called Master.

"Come here lad," she said, and Harry went to the low stone fence between the two homes. He'd just started reading the wizarding business book he was supposed to get through, and the first chapter had been about setting a price and all terms of a deal before starting work or signing a contract. "I have yard work that needs to be done and I could use a strapping boy to do it."

"What do you need done?" Harry asked.

"My back fence needs repaired too, and the lawn needs cut. The shed needs painted and two rooms inside need to be painted. The roof on the shed needs repaired too."

"I- don't know how to do all that yet," Harry admitted. He'd done a lot of work for the Dursleys, and he could weed and mow, but he didn't know about painting and fixing roofs.

"I'll teach you," Arran said, and Harry realized he'd come up to stand beside him.

"It's settled then," she said.

"Wait a minute," Arran said. "Nothin's settled til you work out the pay."

"Of course," she told him. "You wouldn't expect me to use the new Master as a slave. You know Master Snape would have something to say about that."

"That he would," Arran said.

"What would you like to be paid?" she asked Harry.

Harry looked to Arran for help, and Arran said, "You'll need to feed him tea and a snack when he works, and a wage on top. I'd say the price should be set per chore, what do you think Master Harry?" Harry bristled again at the name and wished he'd just call him Harry.

"That sounds good," Harry said.

"Five pounds to mow the lawn," she said, "it's not very big in front or back. "Twelve to mend the fence in back, ten to mend the roof on the shed and another ten to paint the shed. It's really not a big shed. And I'll give you seven per room to paint inside."

"And you'll provide all the materials," Arran said.

"I'll give Master Harry money to go buy the materials," she countered.

"Does that sound like a deal Master Harry?" Arran asked.

"Yes," Harry said. "I have learning to do in the afternoons. I can only work in the mornings, and maybe in the evening on some days." Harry was excited to have the money and the human contact. He was beginning to wonder if he'd see Snape at all again that summer. He was glad he hadn't seen much of him and nervous at the same time for when he did see him again. He knew he was going to be tested on those books and was nervous he wouldn't do well considering how much difficulty he was having with the material.

"Can you start today?" she asked. "The mowing needs done right away."

Harry smiled at her and nodded. He moved to climb the low stone wall separating the properties but Arran put his hand on Harry's arm to stop him as Mrs. Allan turned and went in her back door, presumably to pull out some money.

"I don' care if yeh climb walls and fences, but Master Snape will. Don' let her see yeh doin' it. She's no gossip but given who the Prince family are and what their reputation are around here, you'll be expected to upkeep it."

"Yes sir."

"Just Arran," he said.

"Ok," Harry said. Harry went out the front gate onto the road and then in the front gate of Mrs. Allan's front yard. She came out the front door and said, "The mower's in the shed. When you're done you can come in for tea and a cinnamon roll. Will you be joining Arran?" she called. Arran was in his front yard leaning on the stone wall, hat keeping his face out of the sun.

"No thank you," he called.

Harry retrieved the push mower from the back shed and set to work on the front lawn. When he was done in front and back Arran instructed him to rake the clippings and put them in the rubbish bin and then drag the bin out to the road since pick up day was tomorrow. Then he told Harry to go in and have his snack, which Harry was thankful for. Despite being a small yard, the push mower was harder to push than he though it would have been because it was rusted, and he was tired and hungry.

Mrs. Allan lived alone, and apparently she was just as eager for human contact as Harry was.

"I've lived here thirty five years," she said. "I was in the war you know. A nurse. Moved here ten years after that. I was only 16 when I went to work as a nurse. I thought it was very exciting to move away from home and get to go off on my own."

Harry ate his cinnamon roll and listened, but it seemed she was done talking about herself.

"What about you? Where are you from?"

"The Catholic orphanage in Leeds," Harry said.

"Yes, yes, I know about that. Where before then?"

"Erm, Surrey, and Godric's Hollow before that."

"What happened to your parents?"

Harry didn't actually know much about his parents. Someone had told him a few months ago that James was an auror, but no one had told him what Lily had done as an adult.

"My dad was in law enforcement," he said. "A bad guy came to the house and killed them."

"Really?" she asked, horrified. "That must have been so horrible for you."

"I was a baby."

"But you went somewhere else after that?"

"I went to stay with distant family but they weren't very nice. Then I went to the orphanage."

"I'm sorry to hear that. You must be happy to be here now though. Master Snape has a very nice home. Years and years ago, when I first came here, there used to be grand parties held there. I was invited a few times."

"It's very nice," Harry said. As Harry let his eyes roam, they fell on a faded quilt hanging over the back of the sofa.

"Do you like it?" she asked.

"Sorry?"

"The quilt. Do you know I sewed that when I first moved here? I was a dreadful seamstress. I'm better now." She pointed to a newer quilt with a more intricate pattern over a comfortable looking chair in the corner of the room. "I just finished that one last year. Mrs. Mayer sews too you know. There's a quilting club we're both part of."

"They're both nice," Harry said. He wished he had a blanket like that that he could call his own. The blanket on his bed was nice sand soft and he liked the color, but it wasn't his. It belonged to that other boy Snape would eventually adopt and bring to the house. That boy would probably want his blanket to be nice and new and clean when he came.

"Master Harry, do you want it?"

"Sorry Mrs. Allan?"

"The quilt on the sofa."

"I- I couldn't," he said. "You already paid me and gave me tea."

"You can take the quilt if you want. I was planning on making a new one anyway. That one really is my worst work. You can see every mistake I made sewing it if you look. The colors don't even go with the decor now. I'm going to make a pale green one to go on the sofa."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"You seem to admire it so well, and it might as well go to someone who will instead of being the worst part of my living room."

Harry dug the five pounds out of his pocket and set it on the table. "I can't take the quilt and the money," he said. "I didn't work for both."

She gave him a consternated look. "How about this? On your way out, hook the hose up to the sprinkler and set it out in the front yard. It needs watering. I'll turn it off in an hour. This evening you can come back and move it into the back yard and turn it on for me, and I'll turn it off again. Since you'll be walking all that distance to finish the yardwork, you'll have earned the quilt plus the money."

Harry smiled. "Thank you, I'll do that. And thank you for the tea and cinnamon roll. They were very good."

She folded the quilt up for him and Harry carried it home, the five pounds in his pocket and a smile on his face. He met Mrs Mayer on the way just before he made it to the driveway.

"Well don't you look pleased," she said.

"I earned five pounds and a blanket," he said.

"You did?"

"Yup."

"The Master is inside and there's a sandwich in the fridge for you."

"Thank you!" Harry called as he went past and she waved as she made her way down the road.

In his room Harry carefully folded up the blue blanket for the other boy and put the faded tan and green quilt on his bed. It was thinner than the blue blanket, and he wished it was plaid, but it wasn't bad. It had quilted faded green hills and two little stone houses in the front. It was the Mayer's house and Mrs Allan's house, and the longer he stared at it, the more he loved it.

After studying all afternoon and late into the night, Harry fell asleep under the quilt and dreamed that he had been adopted by the Mayers, and for at least a little he while was happy.

* * *

Arran showed Harry how to paint the next morning and Harry set to work painting the outside of Mrs. Allan's shed a dark attractive blue. She fed him tea and chocolate chip cookies. The next day Harry painted both her living room and a guest bedroom, and the day after that he borrowed Arran's tools and fixed the fence all by himself and was proud that the boards were straight and most of the nails were too. Each day when Harry started the first thing he did was set out the sprinkler on Mrs Allan's front lawn. Halfway through his work he'd move the sprinkler to her back lawn, and then he'd turn it off before he left.

"Harry, before you go we need to go get roofing material from Bainbridge."

Harry looked at his watch. It was already twelve, but he supposed he could eat his lunch quickly when he got back and stay up late studying if he was gone for too long.

"Ok."

Arran told Millie where they were heading and then he and Harry got into Arran's old truck and set off. The drive only took a few minutes.

"This is Peter's place. He had some leftover material from when he re-roofed his house. He's selling it to us for twenty five pounds." They pulled up in front of a stone house and got out. Arran didn't introduce Harry and Peter didn't ask who he was. They loaded the boxes of material into the truck, Arran paid, and they drove back out of Bainbridge.

"I'll drop you here Harry," Arran told him, pulling up in front of the the driveway so Harry could get out. "I'll take this home and leave it in the truck until tomorrow and then you can take it out and move it to the shed."

"Sounds good. Thanks!" Harry called. He waved goodbye and watched as Arran drove off. Harry would have skipped lunch to study, but he was famished and needed something in his stomach or he wouldn't be able to concentrate. He made a sandwich and then spent the rest of the day in his room trying to finish the dreaded geology book he understood little of.

* * *

Harry had grown quite comfortable in his routine of the last week. Every morning he woke up and ate, dressed, and left a note on the counter for Snape that he was going to see Mr and Mrs Mayer. Then he walked up the road and visited with Millie for a few moments and had tea before starting work at Mrs. Allan's next door. When he was done he would have tea with Mrs. Allan and head home to have lunch, then study until dinner, where he might or might not catch a glimpse of Snape, and then go back to his room and study until he was too sleepy to continue. Today was the last day he had work at Mrs. Allan's though and he wasn't sure what tomorrow would look like. He supposed he could keep coming to see Arran and Millie, but he couldn't pester them all day and would be left with nothing to do but return back to Snape's house.

"Ready to roof Harry?" Arran asked when Harry knocked on the Mayer's front door and let himself inside.

"Yes sir."

"It's Arran," he reminded him again.

"So polite," Millie said.

They drank their tea quickly and then went to let Mrs. Allan know they were ready to start work. Harry thought it was lucky that Arran knew how to fix fences, paint buildings and patch roofs or else he would have been out of a job because Harry certainly hadn't known how to do any of this until this week. Harry climbed the ladder to the roof of the shed and sat with his legs dangling over the side while Arran climbed the ladder and worked from there. It took them two hours, but when they finished the roof looked better than new.

This time when Mrs. Allan invited Arran to join them for tea, he agreed to come inside, and when they went in the back door they found Millie there already at the table. It looked like she'd brought sandwiches.

"You boys have been working hard. You deserve a big meal and desert."

"I made the cinnamon rolls you enjoy so much Harry," Mrs. Allan said.

"Thank you," he said.

After washing up, he joined them at the table and listened as the three adults talked about various neighbors in Bainbridge Harry hadn't met. He listened about how Mrs. Acker's son was back from University for the summer and how Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin's tea house was thriving because of her famous jam.

Finally attention turned back to Harry. "Harry, you've done a wonderful job all week. If you'd like to come back once a week and mow the yard I'll keep giving you five pounds for it. It certainly needs it with all the water it's been getting, and things look better than they have in years. I might have to plant some flowers like Mrs. Mayer."

"I'd like to come back and mow," Harry said.

"Looks like you ripped your shirt," Millie told him, pointing to his shoulder.

"He caught it on a nail," Arran said.

Harry looked down at it. "I'll have to go into town and get a needle and some thread."

"No need," said Mrs. Allan. She left the room and came back with a needle stuck on a spool of black thread. "You can take it and keep it. I've got plenty more. You do know how to sew don't you?"

Harry nodded. It was a necessity at the orphanage and even at Hogwarts. He wasn't good at it, but he could stitch it together well enough that he could still wear it. He didn't have many clothes with him, only a few pairs of shorts, four or five shirts, underwear and some socks and his old trainers. He'd given a lot of his clothes back to the orphanage before he left so other boys could have them.

That night before bed, Harry sewed the hole in the shoulder of his shirt and then took his clothes downstairs to wash. He studied at the table while they were washing and drying and then went back to his room. Snape passed him twice while he was reading but didn't say anything to him, even when he came right into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

It wasn't until the next day that Snape finally spoke to him. Harry was eating his breakfast slowly knowing he didn't have work to rush off to and that Mrs. Mayer would be coming at some point this morning so he could visit with her then. Snape came in and began making his own breakfast. He sneered as he sat down at the table with Harry, but didn't speak immediately. Harry took this as a good sign that he hadn't been yelled at or berated since he'd got there almost nine days before. It must have meant he was living up to the man's standards.

"You have been going to the Mayer's a lot this last week."

"Yes sir."

"What do you do there?"

"We visit and I-"

"Potter." Snape cut him off, and Harry looked up from his cereal to find Snape staring at him. What was he looking at? Had he not washed his clothes well enough last night? Was his hair not combed? He was certain he'd combed it before leaving his room that morning.

"Was I, or was I not explicit enough in my instructions to you not to use Mrs. Mayer for your personal errands?"

"Sir?" Harry asked. He was confused about what exactly was being asked of him.

"You have been using her to do your errands," he said angrily, and he stood up, pushing his chair back.

"No sir, I didn't, I promise."

"What do you call mending your shirt?" He pointed at Harry's shoulder and Harry looked down at his sloppy stitches.

"I mended it last night sir. I tore it on a nail."

"You expect me to believe that pampered prince Potter did his own mending?"

"I did," Harry said, standing up because he felt at a distinct disadvantage sitting when the man was towering over him. "Mrs. Allan gave me a needle and thread so I could fix it."

"And why pray tell would she do such a thing? I was not aware you were acquainted with her."

"I was patching her shed roof."

"You were doing chores for others out of the kindness of your own heart?"

"She paid me ten pounds, and when Mrs. Mayer saw I tore my shirt Mrs. Allan gave me a needle and thread to fix it. I did it last night before I did my laundry."

"You are to go to your room and write a formal apology to Mrs. Mayer for using her as your own personal servant. I was very clear to you that she is paid for specific things around this home, none of which are for your own personal gain." His voice was raised and Harry could tell he was on the edge of full blown shouting. If there was one thing Harry tried to avoid at all costs, it was making adults mad, especially this one.

"Yes sir."

"When Mrs. Mayer comes this morning you are to deliver the letter to her personally, and then you are grounded to your room unless you need to use the restroom or to fix yourself a meal."

"Yes sir."

Harry went upstairs and tried hard not to slam the door. He didn't need Snape stomping up the stairs and coming up to yell at him. He plopped into the desk chair and pulled out a parchment and quill. How embarrassing to have someone think so little of you that they wouldn't believe a single thing you said. Eventually Mrs. Mayer would start to catch on to what Snape really thought of him and wonder if there was a reason why, and then he'd lose the only lifeline he had here.

He only had twenty minutes to stew in his room and try to figure out how to apologize for something he hadn't done and write it down before he heard Mrs. Mayer coming in and announcing that she was there. Harry took a deep breath and stood up with the note and went downstairs. He was dismayed to find Snape waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

Harry tried to hand Mrs. Mayer the note, but Snape shot him a dangerous look and said, "Read it."

"What's this?" Mrs. Mayer asked, but Snape was still glaring at Harry and he couldn't help but avert his eyes down to the letter in his hands. He opened it and read, "Mrs. Mayer, I'm sorry for using you to run my personal errands when I was told not to. I'm sorry that you had to take your time to sew my shirt up for me when I should have done it myself."

Harry looked up, and it seemed that Snape was not satisfied. He really didn't know what else he was supposed to write however. One of those books had a chapter on how to write formal letters such as invitations and apologies, but he hadn't finished that book yet.

Mrs. Mayer looked from Harry, who was still staring at the note, to Severus, back to Harry and then back to Severus again.

"Master Snape, I don't understand."

Severus looked at her and said, "He was instructed not to have you do his own errands and chores for him. This morning I found out that he had been and he lied to me about it. Writing a formal apology to you is the beginning of his punishment."

"What errands?"

"You mended his shirt."

She gave Severus a consternated look. "Did he tell you he mended it himself?"

"He lied about that, yes."

"Why didn't you believe him?"

Severus looked at her and wanted to sigh. Somehow Potter had gotten to her. He'd tried to explain to her twice already about his rule breaking and conniving behavior at school, but she didn't believe him.

"Come here Harry," she said, and Harry looked up as she reached forward for both of his shoulders. She turned him so his mended shoulder was facing Snape and said, "Look closely at the stitching. Does that look like stitching an accomplished seamstress and quilter would use?"

Harry noted Snape looked like he didn't want to even look, but he did bend forward slightly to look more closely at the stiching. It was black thread on Harry's dark blue shirt, and it wasn't pretty, but it was holding the seam.

"I didn't mend his shirt for him Severus," she said, and Harry was surprised again at her use of his first name in such a familiar way. He couldn't figure out what the trigger was for her dropping the formality she and Arran always seemed to use. When was he supposed to call her Millie, and when should he call her Mrs. Mayer? When did they call him Master Harry, and when did they just call him Harry?

Snape wasn't answering, or maybe he had and Harry had just been lost in thought, but Mrs. Mayer was talking again. "Yesterday Harry tore his shirt working for Mrs. Allan and she gave him a needle and thread to stitch it up. If anyone, you should be upset with me for not teaching him how to do a proper job of it."

He had a feeling they were looking at him, but he was embarrassed already about the entire incident and didn't want to look up and see their faces. After a moment Snape said, "Go upstairs." Harry turned and went back up the stairs, but he didn't shut his door all the way. Harry didn't want him to yell at Mrs. Mayer and accuse her of lying too.

"What exactly has he been doing at your house all week?"

"He comes for tea in the morning and then he works. He helped Arran fix our fence one day and helped me plant flowers. When Mrs. Allan saw there was an able body young man willing to do work, she enlisted him to fix half a dozen things around her house. He fixed her fence, painted her shed, patched the shed roof, painted some rooms inside her house, mowed her yard, and some other things.

"Why?"

"She asked and he needed the money."

"He what?" As Harry listened at the door, just out of sight, he wondered why she didn't turn and run at the tone of voice Snape had used. Harry wanted to run and he wasn't even in the room.

"He only has a few pairs of clothes aside from what you've given him, and I assume no allowance. He expressed wanting to go into town to buy himself some things."

"Are you suggesting I'm not providing for him?"

"Are you taking a disrespectful tone of voice with me Severus Snape?" she challenged back.

There was silence for a few moments, and when Snape spoke again his voice was quieter. "My apologies."

"No one suggested anything. You asked what happened and I told you. He's been very polite with everyone, and he's done more than what was asked of him at both Mrs. Allan's and at our house. Arran didn't even pay him for fixing the fence, he just asked Harry for his help and Harry helped him. He had fun doing it too from what I saw, and Arran was glad for the help."

"I'm certain the boy has all manner of things to say about me when there ‘helping'."

"Not that I've heard, no."

"Only that I do not clothe him."

"He said he wasn't allowed to go visiting without his nice new clothes and I told him he needn't wear that to visit us, especially when coming to do chores. That was the only thing he said. Over tea he mentioned wanting to earn some money for himself and wanting to go back into Hawes to go to the shops. That's all. I suggest you owe him an apology for not believing him and then making him write a formal letter for something he didn't even do. I haven't been doing anything for him, but he has been doing an awful lot for us. You can call the house and Arran will tell you the same."

"There is no need."

"I should hope not."

Harry heard footsteps and wondered if she'd gone off to start her own work in the kitchen, but didn't want to look in case Snape was still down there. Instead he pulled one of his books from the desk and opened his window to let some air in and sat on the hardwood floor to read. He couldn't concentrate on the words on the page though. Snape wouldn't apologize to him, Harry was certain. He didn't need an apology, but it would be nice if the man didn't automatically think everything out of Harry's mouth was a lie. He couldn't remember a time when he'd actually lied to the man. Harry had told lies, sure, but not directly to Snape, and not even very many at Hogwarts. Most of his lies had been to his friends and other classmates about his family and why he'd ended up in the orphanage. He didn't need people to know all the details. In fact he wished they didn't know at all.

* * *

As far as Harry knew he was still grounded to the room, so he didn't come out for lunch, or dinner. It was eight when Snape came up the stairs and pushed open the half closed door. Harry was at the desk trying to study and ignore the rumbling of his stomach.

"You were told to study the books you were given, and you spent time instead doing chores for a few pounds for someone else."

Harry looked up at him and closed his book.

"You said I could go out and keep my own schedule so long as I got my studying done."

"Yet you have not."

"I did too. I study every day from lunch til' dinner and then til' bed."

"Not likely.'

Harry huffed in frustration. Why didn't he believe him?

"At that pace Potter, you should be done already."

Harry pushed four books forward in a pile. He'd finished the three etiquette books (the most recent one that evening), and the book on business. "I'm done with these and I'm halfway through the last two."

"Then you won't mind a test to assess what you've learned so far," Snape said. He sounded skeptical but at least he wasn't yelling.

"Fine," Harry said. Maybe if he answered some questions right he'd be ungrounded. He really wanted some of the pork chops he thought he'd smelled cooking earlier that evening.

Snape came further into the room and took the two books Harry was still working on from the desk in front of him and took note of where the bookmarks were.

"What are the seven uses of fire quartz?"

"Talismans," Harry started slowly, "and healing potions that deal with burns, refracting light while certain constellations are in the sky for arithmancy, and-" Harry couldn't think of any more. Those were the reasons he understood. There were more but the words were just a jumbled mess to him because the magic and concepts were beyond what he'd learned about or had something to make reference to.

"A poor attempt to study," Snape sneered. "They are used to help see qualitative properties in a variety of potions and magics, to locate veins of ore in the crust, and to draw dark magic out of wounds."

"You said seven," Harry said. "It was a test, there are only six."

Snape flipped the other book open and asked a series of questions about layers of the earth's crust, internal and external pressures on the crust and ores inside of it, and other things Harry had no understanding of. He remembered reading words that Snape was saying, but he didn't understand them.

"You have not studied at all. This is why your grades are so poor at school."

"No, I have," Harry said, desperate now to eat something. He'd study all night if he could be ungrounded so he could eat dinner. Hunger was one of the driving forces in him running away from the Dursleys. You could only go without for so long before you did something crazy or irrational to feed yourself. Two missed meals wasn't enough for such drastic measures, but it was still on Harry's mind.

"Yet you cannot answer any questions."

"I don't understand most of it."

"You would if you had read it." Snape was getting agitated again and so was Harry. Harry pulled open the desk drawer and pulled out the lined Muggle notebook Hermione had given him at Christmas and several pages of parchment he'd been taking notes on. He'd even used a highlighter Hermione had given him to highlight notes he wanted to go back over again to see if he could understand more by reading the information a second time.

"I tried. I studied hard."

Snape took the offered notes quietly and looked through them. Harry had pages of words with definitions next to them and page numbers so he could go back and re-read. There were also pages of questions about things he didn't understand.

"What are the highlights?"

Harry explained it to him, and wondered how much longer this would drag on. If Snape wasn't going to release him from his room then he wanted to go to bed and try to sleep through his hunger.

After a long silent moment, Snape said, "I apologize for not believing you earlier and making you write an apology for something you did not do."

Harry looked up at him. How odd. He never would have imagined Snape apologizing to anyone but Mrs. Mayer, who was now also on the list of people Harry didn't want to make angry.

"I also apologize for not believing that you took the time to study."

"I-" what was he even supposed to say? He wasn't used to people apologizing to him. "It's ok."

Snape turned to leave but Harry stood up suddenly and Snape paused and looked at him.

"Can I- am I still grounded to the room? I'm really hungry."

"I told you that you were grounded to the room except for the use of the bathroom or to come eat."

Harry frowned. He was sure he'd been told to stay in there except for the bathroom. "I can still eat when I'm grounded?"

"Yes. And you are no longer grounded." Severus watched as a look of relief swept over the boy's face. He was so certain he'd told the child that he could come out of his room to eat and use the bathroom. He had, hadn't he? He was also surprised the boy hadn't complained or thrown a tantrum if he thought he'd been told he couldn't eat, yet he hadn't. He'd just stayed in the room through lunch and dinner without complaint, studying as he'd been told to when he'd first arrived.

Snape left the room and retired to his own room, though he heard Harry's footsteps going down the stairs a minute later, probably in search of leftovers from dinner. Severus had noted that the boy hadn't come down to eat, but had assumed it was because he was pouting in his room, or protesting the injustice from earlier in the day. Apparently not.

As Severus mulled over the events of the day, the telling off Millie had given him (the second in as many weeks!), and Harry's surprising behavior, he thought about Harry's clothes.

When he had been expecting someone else, he had been planning on immediately taking the boy he was going to adopt to get an entire wardrobe. He hadn't taken Harry though, and he was wearing the same clothes he'd come in with. They weren't terrible, but apparently they were few. He'd also considered giving whatever child came in an allowance, but he hadn't given it to Harry. Harry had come up with his own solution however and had gone and struck up a contract for yard work and house repairs with Mrs. Allan. If Severus wouldn't provide, he'd provide for himself. Potter was- different than what he'd expected. Perhaps it was just because this was a new environment for him with a strict professor he knew didn't like him. Potter would have to tread carefully and test the waters in such a situation, and as Severus finally fell asleep, he was certain that was what was going on.

He tried not to feel uncomfortable as he turned his back to Snape and opened a cupboard for a bowl and then another for a box of Muggle cereal. He felt like Snape was watching him, but didn't want to turn around and look. He was worried the man would find fault with how much cereal he poured into his bowl, or how much milk, or would find something else to yell at him for, (aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon certainly would have). Snape remained silent however until Harry turned around and sat down at the table with his bowl of cereal. Snape was watching him.

"Have you made plans to work at Mrs. Allan's today?"

"No sir," Harry said.

"Then we will go into town."

"Yes sir." Harry wasn't sure what they'd be going into town for. His hair was still short and Millie bought all the groceries with money Snape gave her and brought them to the house. Harry had helped her carry them down the lane and put them away the other day.

"First I wish to see what you brought with you from the orphanage."

"Sir?"

"Finish your breakfast."

Harry looked down at his bowl and hurried to finish eating, wondering if Snape wanted to search his trunk for contraband. He'd certainly implied at school that Harry had things to hide enough times. Harry didn't have any contraband though. He didn't even have his father's cloak with him. He always sent all of his magical items, school books and robes home with Ron as he wasn't supposed to have them at the orphanage in case other kids got into his stuff. He brought his wand with him every summer, but he always kept it up his sleeve or in a pant pocket.

Harry finished and washed his spoon and bowl in the sink and then set them in the strainer on the counter to dry. Snape was waiting for him by the stairs and let Harry lead him up to his room. "Erm," Harry said, and opened the lid to his trunk and then the door to the wardrobe. He also pulled open the drawers to the desk and then stood there waiting. Snape only frowned however.

"I only wish to see your clothes Potter, not all of your belongings."

Harry closed the desk drawers and then watched as Snape's eyes raked over the few shirts and pants, and the one nice set of clothes he'd purchased, which Harry had made sure to keep in pristine condition.

"What about socks and underwear? What about a coat?" Snape asked.

Harry lifted several pairs of socks and underwear from his trunk and then said, "I don't have a coat."

"They did not provide you one at the orphanage?"

"Most of my stuff went back to the orphanage when I left for the other kids," Harry said. They hadn't made him give them back, but Harry had thought that being adopted his new family might buy him what he needed. Ron's parents always got him enough clothes to get through the year, even if they were used.

"Take my arm. We will apparate to town."

Harry closed the lid to his trunk and moved forward, uncertain. Snape looked irritated to have Harry touch him, and Harry reached forward carefully, afraid to be chastised for grabbing his arm in the wrong place or too tightly.

"Hold tight Potter. If we get separated in apparition you will be splinched."

"Ok," Harry said quietly. He gripped the arm tighter and the moment he did so, they had gone with a loud pop that made Harry's ears feel like they were under enormous pressure. Then the pressure was gone and they were out in the sunlight in a small grove of trees.

Harry let go and Snape led off. They were at the edge of Hawes again. Harry wondered if they were getting more nice clothes just for looking presentable, but they didn't go into the same store and instead Snape led Harry into a store that had clothes like the other boys his age wore at school on weekends.

From a pocket Snape withdrew a list that Harry wondered how he'd had time to write, and handed it to him. "Do not pick anything flashy or overly bright. You must still look presentable if company appears unannounced."

"Yes sir," Harry said, eyes wandering down to the list. It was a list of clothing with,

- 1 sweatshirt
- 4 pairs of shorts
- 4 pairs of long pants
- 2 pairs of slacks
- 3 pairs of sleeping pants or shorts
- 1 package of underwear
- 1 package of socks
- 4 short sleeve shirts
- 4 polo shirts

"You will come back with everything on that list, and if I find myself having to send you back repeatedly to make better choices, I will not be happy."

Harry refrained from wondering if the man was ever happy, and instead said, "Yes sir." He moved off to look at the clothes and tried not to notice Snape watching him again.

It was hard for Harry not to pick bright clothing, not because he really wanted a bright orange or blue shirt, but just because all the clothing was geared towards kids his age and there weren't that many things in muted colors to choose from. Harry was happy to have some new things though, and very happy to have the deep crimson hoodie that Snape let him pick out, even if he did sneer at his choice. Harry suspected he didn't scold Harry for it since Harry had purposefully only chosen one red thing.

When they walked out of the store Harry made sure to tell Snape thank you, though the man only grunted in response. So much for decorum, Harry thought. He wasn't surprised that he was the only one expected to uphold what he'd been told to read and live by however. Snape had always been rude to him and his friends and Harry hadn't expected things to be any different outside of school.

They apparated back to the house and Snape looked at Harry for a long moment and then said, "Do not make plans for this evening or tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir," Harry said, and then Snape disappeared into the living room and from there perhaps his private library.

Harry went upstairs to put his clothes away in the wardrobe and felt pleased for a few moments at how full the wardrobe was now. The nice outfit no longer looked so alone in there. He only allowed himself a moment of happiness though before he changed into a polo shirt and pair of slacks and closed the wardrobe door. These aren't for me, he reminded himself. I'm only here until he finds the right boy to adopt, then I'll be back at the orphanage. Harry felt like if he kept reminding himself of that it wouldn't hurt as much when it happened, because he knew it was coming.

Harry dug his money out of his desk drawer and counted it out again. He knew it was 51 pounds that he'd earned, but he liked counting it. He liked knowing he'd earned it all on his own and was capable of taking care of himself when given the chance.

Putting half of the money in his pocket, Harry wrote out a quick note to Snape and went downstairs and put it on the counter, and then left out the front door. He hoped a sage green polo shirt and dark gray slacks would make him ‘presentable' enough to go into town.

Mind set on getting some donuts, Harry walked lazily down the lane back towards Hawes. When he passed Mrs. Allan's and the Mayer's house he hoped to see them out in their yards, but Arran's truck was gone and the lights were all off at Mrs. Allan's house too.

It didn't take Harry that long to walk into Hawes, and he was happy to be there without Snape. He could go where he wanted now and explore the various shops and bakeries.

Harry was headed for the bakery on the opposite end of Hawes, but he spied people eating pastries outside a coffee shop and was drawn into it instead.

"What'll it be?" a young man behind the counter asked when Harry made it to the front of the line.

"Do you have donuts?"

"Sure," he said. "Which do you want?" He motioned to the clear display case and Harry pointed at a pink one and then at one with a clear glaze.

"That all?" the man asked, putting them into a paper sack. "You ordering a drink too?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't drink coffee."

"Not yet," the man said.

Harry knew some of the older students drank coffee in the mornings at Gryffindor table, but he'd never had the urge to try it. Ron had said it was bitter and disgusting.

"Is it bitter?" Harry asked.

"Only if you want it to be."

"I want something sweet."

"You like caramel?"

Harry nodded and the man began making up a cold drink that looked like it was made more of sugar and chocolate milk than coffee. Harry paid 8 pounds and thanked the man, but the man wouldn't let him walk away until he'd tried the coffee.

"Well, what about that?"

Harry took a drink and smiled. "It's good."

"Of course it is," the man told him, "I made it. Come back again and I'll make you something else just as good."

"I will," Harry said.

He left and walked up the street as he drank his coffee, unable to taste any bitterness at all.

There were a lot of people out shopping, and Harry had fun browsing at his leisure. He stopped to look at cut flowers from a flower stand and hand made vases and pots at another stand. He finally made it to the bakery and picked out two more donuts, figuring he could have two today and two tomorrow.

When Harry made his way home Mrs. Mayer was out in her yard tending her flowers, and Harry stopped in the lane and leaned on the stone fence to talk to her for a few minutes. He offered her one of his donuts, but she just thanked him and told him to take them home and enjoy them himself.

"The Master took you to get new clothes," she observed with a smile.

"Yes," Harry said. "I have a soft warm sweatshirt now too. I hope I get to use it."

"Why wouldn't you?" she asked, clipping several long flowers and putting them in a basket.

"Well, I'll have to leave eventually. The other boy will come and they'll be his."

"What other boy?"

"The one Professor Snape wanted."

She stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Harry. "Harry, you are the boy he wanted."

"It's ok," Harry told her, trying to sound cheerful, as though he didn't care. "The orphanage wasn't that bad. Besides, I'm sure the boy he adopts will get along with him much better than me."

Millie looked like she was going to say something else, but Arran opened the front door and called for her. He waved at Harry and Harry bade them both goodbye and continued on his way back to the house. He grabbed one of the books he wasn't finished with up in his room, and then took the book and the bags of donuts to the back yard and sat under the big tree next to the little river to spend the rest of the day reading.

He was still there when Snape came out the back door looking for him at five that evening. "Retrieve the two geology and gem books and bring them to the library."

"Yes sir."

Harry got the books from his room and put the last two donuts in the kitchen in a cupboard at the back where he hoped Snape wouldn't think they were from Millie and eat them before Harry had the chance to.

He found Snape in the library a minute later and Snape motioned impatiently for him to come in.

"I will answer any questions you have about what is found in these two books."

Harry sat down across from his desk and opened the larger of the two books to a chapter about extracting ores. "I don't understand about extracting ores with magic and potions. I don't know any of the spells or why it has to be done like they say it does."

"If certain ores are to be used for specific magical purposes, a potion for instance, it has to be removed in a way that will not alter the ore or interfere with the potions, wards, or magic it will be used with in the future."

"But why can you extract fire quarts with potions sometimes, but not others?"

"It depends on the use it will be going towards. If it's to be used in a potion, you cannot use a potion to dissolve the other minerals around it to reveal the ore. If it's to be used to help put up wards then using a potion would be fine, as long as the correct potion is used. If it's to be used in a talisman, the ore must be extracted manually with no magic or potions at all."

Harry asked several more questions from that book before moving on to the other book. Snape made Harry repeat several words until he was certain Harry was pronouncing them right, and also asked Harry questions about the things they'd just discussed to be certain he had a real understanding of them.

When they were done they ate a late dinner, and Snape told Harry to go to bed early and to be up at six thirty the next morning.

"Are we going into town again?" Harry asked, wondering what else he could possibly need, (although shoes crossed his mind).

"No," Snape said, and then left Harry at the dinner table and retreated upstairs.

Harry sighed and sat alone to finish his dinner. It had been strange interacting with Snape like this. He could tell the man was irritated with him and working hard not to yell, but Harry didn't understand why. Why didn't he just yell and get it over with? Why was he keeping Harry around at all?

* * *

Harry was up before six the next morning. Snape had said they weren't going into town, so he didn't think he needed to wear the nice set of clothes. He pulled on an earthy blue shirt and then his maroon hoodie, and a pair of shorts. Harry was tempted to put on his nice boots, but he didn't know what they were doing and didn't want to ruin them, so he pulled on his old gray trainers, which were worn unevenly on the left foot and always felt like they would give him a sprained ankle if he ran or walked too fast.

Snape was in his study when Harry went to the kitchen to fix himself breakfast. Instead of cereal Harry dug around in the back of the cupboard and pulled out his day old bag of donuts. He went to the table to sit and eat them as Snape came in with a half drank cup of coffee. He sat at the head of the table and seemed impatient. He looked at Harry without a word and Harry frowned down at the bag. What was he staring at? Again he wondered if his hair wasn't brushed, but he knew it was. It was so easy to take care of short. Was the man waiting for what was in the bag?

"Did you want a donut sir?"

"That would be nice, yes."

Harry held the bag out to Snape and the man pulled out the plain glazed donut, leaving the pink one for Harry. How odd, Harry thought, as he reached into the bag and took out the last donut and ate it. He glanced up at Snape, who didn't seem to have any complaints about the donut, but still looked irritated. Harry finished his donut as Snape finished his and Snape rose and motioned for Harry to follow him.

Just outside the kitchen in the entryway there was the staircase leading up to the second floor and to Harry's room at the top of the stairs. On the left of the stairs was a short hall with a bathroom at the end and a closet under the stairs much like the cupboard Harry had occupied for years at the Dursleys. There was another short hall on the right side of the stairs which led to a door Harry hadn't been in yet. This was where Snape led him. Harry expected another closet, but the door opened and led straight down to what must have been a basement. Harry followed Snape down the stairs, but was dismayed to find he was being led not into a basement, but a cool, moist passage with rough rock walls. Snape lit his wand and told Harry to do the same, and Harry didn't question being told to use magic outside of school when it was forbidden.

The stairs went down at least two flights, then spiraled left and went down another flight before opening into a passageway. Harry was reminded of Gringotts, but only for a moment. They were in a cave... or a mine. Harry wasn't sure. They were in a long straight corridor carved out of the stone, and every now and again there was an opening the size and shape of a doorway that led to other long straight corridors. It wasn't cramped like a mine though and there were no supports holding up the tunnel ceiling.

"This mine has been in my family for nine generations. We are the primary supplier of Fire Quartz, Heat Crystals, Luminous Rocks and Hearth Gems for the isles and several magical communities in Europe."

Harry expected Snape to stop and ask him what all of these ores were in a pop quiz, but he'd questioned Harry several times already about it the night before.

"Blaze Crystals are down every corridor to the left. There is a chamber with Blaze Crystals under the Mayer's and Mrs. Allan's home. As a result they enjoy homes that are heated and warm in the winter. If they have a fire in the grate it is not for need of heat."

Harry noted that each time they passed a corridor on the left the air coming from the dark hall was warmer than the cool air in the main corridor.

They stopped in front of a corridor on the right after another minute of walking and Harry peered down into it. There was faint yellowish green light spilling out of it, though Harry couldn't see the source.

"What is down this corridor?" Snape asked.

"Luminous Rocks?"

"Yes. This is the only corridor with them. There is no chamber at the end. The corridor follows a vein of the rocks. While everything in the mine is rare and valuable, the Lumionous Rocks are harder to come by than everything else, and sold for the highest price and in the scarcest quantities."

"What are they used for?" Harry was certain the books had told him, but he couldn't remember.

"There is a rare potion that when shaken produces light. The potion contains powder produced from the mining of the larger gems. Nothing from the Lumionous Rock corridor is to be wasted. Even the rocks surrounding the Lumionous Rocks is saved and put through a further mining process to produce every last speck of Luminous dust. There are also talismans and other objects that light up when touched in a certain way or spelled to do so. All contain these rocks."

At the very end of the main corridor there were two corridors leading to the right, and one straight ahead through an archway engraved with runes. "The two corridors to the right follow a vein of gold that has Hearth Gems embedded. These are used primarily in wards, especially secrecy and protective wards around homes."

"Gold?" Harry asked. If he owned a vein of gold he'd buy himself a house and pay someone to be his guardian on paper just so he could live on his own until he was 17. Then he wouldn't have to worry about living at the orphanage, or Snape kicking him out. Harry indulged in the fantasy for a few moments too long before he noticed Snape staring at him.

"The corridor through this archway leads to the chamber where Fire Quartz is grown and harvested," Snape told him with a frown when Harry's attention returned. Harry still had a lot of questions about just how a crystal could be grown, but it was something Snape had told him he'd teach him later once Harry finished reading the last two books.

"It is imperative that you learn about all aspects of the Prince family business, from how to run it, to how to mine the ores, and what all of the ores are used for."

"Why?" Harry asked.

The Potions Master stiffened for a moment, before giving Harry a serious look and saying, "Wizarding custom, which is as good as law, dictates that any long held family business that is directly magical in nature be looked after and cared for by a family relation if at all possible. If the end of a family line has come, the business is turned over to the nearest relation that petitions the government for it, including all family properties and assets needed to run the business. In my case, that includes this home and property."

"But-" Harry said, "you're still young. Your family line didn't end?"

"It is expected that if there is no heir by the time the last remaining family member is 42 that the business will be turned over. I am 41, and Lucius Malfoy has made it known that he intends to petition the court for the Prince family business, as he has an heir. We are fourth cousins, but he is the closest living relation."

"That's why you wanted to adopt someone."

"Yes."

Harry nodded. Given what he'd read in the etiquette books, it made sense now. If the Malfoys hadn't forced his hand, Snape wouldn't have tried to adopt Harry, or that other boy anyway. He hated kids.

Snape began to walk back down the corridor towards the stairs, which were so far away in the darkness that Harry couldn't see them. Harry followed and after a minute Snape said, "It is not enough to adopt an heir. It must be proven to the Ministry's satisfaction that the heir is being trained to run the family business. The Ministry will not check unless Lucius Malfoy makes a claim for the business or complains that my heir is not far enough along in the process of learning to be a suitable leader."

"How will he know?"

"You may be certain he will appear before the end of the summer and attempt to pit your knowledge against Draco's."

"I'll do my best sir."

"See that you do."

They came to the stairs and began their climb out of the mines and up to the house. When they were finally back in the entryway, Snape told him, "You may continue to work for the Mayers and Mrs. Allan, and go into town on your free time, but starting tomorrow you will be in the mines with me from eight am to noon each day. I will teach you how to extract the ores, answer questions, quiz you on what you have learned, and you will practice what you are taught. You will wear your old clothes from the orphanage. Do not go into the mines without me."

"Yes sir."

Snape looked Harry up and down once, and then left him in the entryway and went back to his library. Harry headed up to his room and took off his hoodie since it was starting to get warm, and sat down on the bed. A lot made sense now. Snape had seemed almost desperate for him to learn the material in the books, even though he'd only been there a couple of weeks. His family business was on the line, and he was having to trust Harry to help him. He was having to trust the one student he hated most.

Harry put some of his money in his pocket and went to the kitchen to leave a note, and then headed out the front door. He wanted to go back to Hawes and get more pastries. He made it into Hawes without incident, got his pastries and ate one on his way back down the lane. Mrs. Mayer was in her front yard gardening again as he passed by.

"Hello Harry. Did you bring back more pastries?"

"Yes Mrs. Mayer."

"Would you like to come in for a cup of iced tea?"

"If you have time. I don't want to bother you."

"Nonsense. I'm ready for a break anyway. I'll come back out this evening when it's not as warm."

She led him inside and declined to take one of Harry's pastries again. She gave Harry a cup of iced tea and then they went back to the front porch, where Harry asked if she knew what Snape's family business was.

"Yes of course. I've been down to the mines a time or two, but not for years."

"I have to study a lot or someone else will take the mines."

"The Malfoys," she said knowledgebly.

"He told you?"

"Remember, I was the master's nanny when he was young. In fact, one of the times I had to go down to the mines was to retrieve him. He was nine and snuck down because he wanted to work with his older cousins and grandfather. The Malfoy's have made a grab for the mines before. Several times in fact. It doesn't surprise me that they would try again. They have a young heir?"

"Draco," Harry said. "He's in my year at school and we don't get along. He's in Professor Snape's house."

"I see," she said as the breeze came across the small covered porch and cooled them both down.

"I have to know more than Draco. He gets better grades than me in most things at school."

"You'll do fine Harry."

As he thought about it, Harry wasn't certain he would do fine though. Draco was always able to one-up him at school. Whether it was during a duel or answering questions in classes, Draco was always one step ahead of him. The only class Harry usually did better in was defense, and it was a sense of pride for Harry that he'd made his house Quidditch team a year before Draco bought his way onto the Slytherin team. Draco had better grades and Harry barely scraped by in some of his classes, including Potions. Aside from the fact that Snape hated Harry with a passion, it was no wonder the man was unhappy to have him there: he was certain Harry wouldn't measure up to Draco when the time came.

"Thank you for the iced tea Mrs. Mayer," Harry said. "I have to go back and study now. I'm supposed to go to the mines again tomorrow."

"Would you like me to make you a sandwich before you go home?"

"No thank you."

She took his empty glass and waved goodbye and Harry hurried down the lane. That other boy wasn't here yet, and until he got here it was up to Harry to save Snape's family business. He didn't want to be responsible for him losing it. He also didn't want to face Snape's wrath for the next few years at school over it. Harry had to know more than Draco and he had to know it now. The Malfoy's could come at any time.

As they ate, Harry asked several questions about things he'd read about the day before. He'd finished another of the books, then gone back over each chapter and taken notes.

Snape answered as he drank his coffee, and then went over several safety rules about the mines.

"As I said before, you are not to enter the mines on your own until I give you permission to do so. The mines are stable and will not collapse, but the ores inside can be dangerous and unstable. You may not practice removing ores unless I am with you. If extracted the wrong way, the surrounding ore can be contaminated and will be wasted. I will be extremely unhappy if an entire tunnel has to be closed off and abandoned because the wrong method of extraction was used."

"Yes sir."

They went to the door down the short hall and then down into the mines, Harry wearing his hoodie again to ward off the cold.

"Tell me which of these tunnels contains which ores."

Harry led him down the long main corridor and pointed to each side corridor as they went, telling Snape which held Hearth Gems, which held Fire Quartz and so on.

"And how are deposits like this created in the earth?"

"An asteroid struck the earth's surface here and the heat and impact created the Fire Quartz, Luminous Rocks and Hearth Gems. You grow and harvest the Heat Crystals with magic."

Snape didn't praise him when he got the right answer, but he didn't berate him either, and that was just as good. It was the best Harry could hope for.

Through the archway with runes engraved around the edges at the end of the main corridor they followed a narrow tunnel until they reached a chamber. Their wand light glinted off of arm length red crystals jutting out of the cave walls at odd angles. Some were in clusters and others were by themselves. Harry noted some of the Fire Quartz crystals were bright red, and others were deep blood red.

"It looks like," Harry got closer to one of the bright red crystals and peered inside, "fire." The way their wandlight danced off of each crystal made it look as though there were flames inside, even though no flames were coming from Harry's wand.

"Have you learned about Fire Quartz in Transfiguration yet?"

"No."

"These are the only ores that were not created by the asteroid's impact. These have been grown and cultivated by my family for generations. They can be grown in any cave or from any rock with quartz, but they require an absolute lack of sunlight for ten years, and a potion that alchemists take knowledge of to the grave with them."

"But you have it?"

"It is always memorized and never written down. The potion when poured over pure quartz initiates a reaction in the minerals and begins the ten year process of growing the crystals. The longer they are left after the ten year period, the bigger they become. Larger crystals are more powerful, however there are not many uses for larger crystals. Typically the smaller ones are harvested as soon as they are ready."

Harry inspected a cluster of crystals, each the size of his thumb as Snape spoke.

"Some are made into talismans that can be worn around the neck to help with difficult transfigurations. If you should see someone wearing one, be aware they can likely change their appearance. There are some wizards that can do so at will, but that is a rare occurrence. Larger crystals can be used by Seers as a crude crystal ball, as the crystals cost less. Crystal balls cost a small fortune. They're also used in Scorching Staffs by mages."

"Scorching Staffs?"

"Mages reject the use of wands and opt to have staffs instead. Staffs typically have minerals such as Fire Quartz embedded into them to channel magic as opposed to a wand which have parts of living creatures. Mages believe themselves to draw magic from the earth, instead of from wildlife, despite that no magic is drawn from anywhere but from within yourself."

Harry was flooded with questions because aside from hearing snippets of stray conversations at school about mages, warlocks and other types of magic folk, he didn't know anything about them. Snape had more to say about the crystals however, so Harry held his questions in.

"The last known use for Fire Quartz is to make a device that can communicate over long distances. If one can find two crystals that are from the same cluster and are near identical, and can also find a skilled craftsman, then an Ember Seeing Stone can be made from each identical crystal. It is rare to find two that are remotely similar, let alone identical. Only two sets of identical Fire Quartz crystals have come from this nursery in the nine generations since it was started, though it is said that once or twice in a thousand years a cluster will present with all identical crystals. Myth says there was once a set of seven Ember Seeing Stones used by kings and queens to communicate battle plans over vast distances that were lost over time."

Harry was thoroughly impressed and soaking up the information like a sponge. He loved learning about magic, and loved being at Hogwarts, but there was a lot he had missed out on growing up in the Muggle world. There was a lot he still didn't know, and things like Ember Seeing Stones intrigued him. He would love to have a set so he and Ron could each have one and talk every day.

"Is information about the seeing stones in my books?"

"In the book with the red cover near the back. There are other types of crystals that can produce seeing stones, though they are not found in this part of the world."

Snape walked to a wall of the cave Harry hadn't noticed yet and to a box attached to the wall. He opened it and revealed a cloth basket, a small pick barely bigger than Harry's hand, a large pick Harry wasn't sure he would be able to lift, and a clipboard with an aging piece of parchment attached. It had instructions on how to harvest the crystals for each of their uses.

"Today I will show you how to harvest small crystals for talismans, and then you will practise."

"What if I break them?"

"It is expected that you will break some occasionally. They are difficult to work with, especially for the inexperienced."

Snape took the small pick and the cloth basket and led Harry to a small cluster of crystals the size of a pinky finger, all connected together at the base. Snape carefully tapped at the base of one of the crystals and it made a ‘chink' sound and fell into his hand.

"If it is fractured, it is of no use." He handed the crystal to Harry, who inspected it. The crystal was perfect and unblemished.

"There is a sanding tool upstairs that is used to clean up the bottom of the crystal where we made the break. When we have a large enough batch, they are taken to a seller in Bristol who creates the Transfiguration Talismans. Small crystals of this size are sold to him for four Galleons a piece. He sells them for seven when he is finished making them."

He showed Harry three more times, and then handed the small pick to Harry, who took it nervously.

"Angle it down at the base. Too much force will result in a crack, not enough force will not shear the crystal off."

Harry broke the first two crystals, and was waiting for Snape to shout at him, but he didn't. On Harry's third crystal he made a clean break and was able to add it to the bag with Snape's perfect four.

At noon they headed back up to the house and ate lunch, and then Snape showed Harry the sanding tool and they sanded the bottoms of the twelve crystals they had harvested.

"We will go back to the Fire Quartz chamber tomorrow, and for the next several days to harvest some of the larger crystals."

Harry nodded and went up to his room. Snape had let him keep the useless broken crystals, and Harry pulled them out of his pockets now and set them along the edge of the desk and on the empty shelf above the desk where he could see them. They didn't dance with light now that they were broken, but they were still pretty when the light shined through them, and he thought his friends might like to have them.

Today hadn't been so bad, he thought. Snape had only grown irritated with him a few times, and he'd had fun learning about the crystals and what they were used for. After he'd gotten over his nervousness about breaking them, he'd had fun harvesting them too. It was dark and cold in the mines, but Snape had been there with him and he didn't feel claustrophobic surrounded by all the Fire Quartz like he had all those years in his cupboard under the stairs.

As he stared at the broken red crystals and searched through his book for information on the Mage's staffs and seeing stones, Harry recognized anxiety creeping up through him. It took him a while to figure out what he was anxious about, but when he did it unsettled him. He was starting to like it here, and was having trouble quashing down the hope that he would get to stay.

* * *

Every couple of days Harry made a trip into Hawes for donuts, pastries, or one of the caramel coffees, and brought the pastries back to share with Snape. The man was still irritated with him often, especially if Harry couldn't remember information from a previous lesson, but Harry was growing used to it as they went to the mines and spent several hours each morning learning about the crystals.

They practiced in the Fire Quartz chamber for almost a week before moving into the Heat Crystal chamber where they had to wear dragonhide gloves to manually mine the clear warm crystals that radiated heat. Snape quizzed Harry daily until he knew backwards and forwards the information on how the Heat Crystals were used in certain anti-poison potions to draw poisons out of the body. They had to be administered at St. Mungos if you had to take one because they could also do damage to the body. The Heat Crystals could also be used to create magical fires that burn very hot when combined with several spells in the ‘Blaze' category.

They practiced removing Heat Crystals in all five chambers before Snape was satisfied that Harry had enough information to move on to the next type of ore.

They only spent one Saturday in the two corridors with the Hearth Gems. These also had to be removed manually from the gold vein without the use of magic or potions, but it wasn't as hard as Harry might have expected. They had picks that were about as long as Harry's arm, and they drove the picks into the gold, which was a soft precious metal, and then used the pick to wedge the orange gems out. These weren't always smooth and shiny like the Fire Quartz and Heat Crystals, and sometimes looked like regular round rocks embedded in the gold vein, but when cleaned up, polished or cut open, they looked like liquid orange gel, though they were solid.

"Hearth Gems are also used to make new connections to the Floo Network," Snape explained to him as they carried out two baskets of the gems. "They are valuable, but not in as high of demand as the other ores since each can be used up to ten times to create a new floo connection, or twice to set a protective ward around a home if the home or property is not large. We are not the only ones with a supply of Hearth Gems in the isles, and they are not considered rare in North America. However, a basket of them like the one mined today will go for a hundred and twenty Galleons."

"What about the gold?" Harry asked. "Don't you mine that for money?"

"If there was a need for it, it could be done. The gold in the vein is full of impurities and would take a lot of work to smelt down into pure gold. So far the need has not been there. There are enough other precious gems to continue the family business for several generations. Even then, there are other pockets of the ores that have not yet been tunneled to."

As with the Fire Quartz, Harry was allowed to keep damaged ores that couldn't be sold or wouldn't be useful, and he was beginning to have a nice collection that had spilled over to the window sill. The broken bits of Heat Crystals no longer radiated heat, and sparkled in the sunlight, and Harry couldn't help but play with half a piece of Hearth Gem that made him think of smooth orange jelly.

* * *

"Millie?"

Harry heard Arran come in the front door. It must have been around lunch time if he was looking for Millie. Harry hadn't seen her yet today, but he didn't have time to stop what he was doing to tell Arran that, because Snape was waiting for him down in the mines. He would tell Arran when he found the small pickaxe Snape had sent him up to the house to look for in the cupboard under the stairs. There were old baskets in here, a stack of old books, and a bucket with a mop, but Harry couldn't find the pickaxe. There was plenty of room to crouch over and look, but it just wasn't there. He hated to think of going back down into the mines empty handed and getting yelled at.

"Millie?" The door to the cupboard Harry was in snapped shut as Arran went by to look in the bathroom next to the stairs, and Harry stood straight, hitting his head on the underside of the stairs. He fumbled in the darkness for the door handle, and jiggled it when he found it, but it was locked from the outside. What had seemed like a lot of empty space a moment ago suddenly seemed like a tomb. It was Harry's tomb under the stairs at Privet Drive and he was sealed in.

Harry jiggled the handle again anxiously but it didn't budge. He backed up, expecting to back into his cot, but it wasn't there. Aunt Petunia's mop and bucket were there though. He reached up for the light pull but couldn't find it and bit his lip to keep from shouting out. His Aunt hated when he shouted after being locked in, and she'd tell Uncle Vernon when he got home. Then Harry would really be in for it for making a scene.

He reached for the light pull again, and when he couldn't find it or his cot the panic bubbled up in him faster than he would have thought. Trapped. Trapped. He was never getting out. The last time they'd locked him in they didn't feed him for a week. It had been over a break from school so the teacher's never called to ask if he was ok or why he was missing.

Harry didn't care if he got in trouble for shouting and making a fuss. He couldn't spend another moment locked in his cupboard! He began pulling on the door handle, kicking the door, and pounding with his fists on the walls. Why had they taken down his light pull? What had he done to deserve this?

The door opened suddenly and Harry fell out at Arran's feet, tears streaked down his cheeks.

"Harry- what?"

Gentle hands reached down to pull Harry up, and Harry let him, eyes darting around to be certain it wasn't his uncle there to thrash him, though if it was, it would still be better than being locked in the cupboard under the stairs.

"Hey, hey, calm down now. Did I shut you in there? I'm sorry lad, I was looking for Millie. I didn't realize you were in there when I passed in the hall and shut it."

Harry swiped at his eyes, making one last look around the short hall and finding only Arran there, looking at him with surprise and concern. He tried to force his breathing to calm and found it difficult. "S- s'all right," Harry said.

"Are you sure? Do you want me to get Master Snape?"

"I- no, no, I'm ok." He swiped at his eyes again and said, "I have to go back downstairs. He's waiting for me."

Harry hurried around to the other side of the stairs and to the door leading down to the mines, but when he opened it, the darkness threatened to engulf him. Not the cupboard, not the cupboard, he told himself. He stepped inside and shut the door, wand suddenly remembered in his back pocket and lit. If he would have remembered when he'd been locked in the cupboard a moment ago he might not have panicked, but he hadn't been in the cupboard in Snape's house, it had been the cupboard at Four Privet Drive.

Harry breathed heavily for several moments and then steeled himself for the descent back down to the Potions Master, pickaxe forgotten. All of Harry's energy was focused on making it down the dark stairs, and reminding himself that Snape was waiting for him at the bottom and that he wasn't alone.

* * *

Lucius Malfoy was too impatient to wait until the end of the summer. Snape had told Harry that, and he was right. It was only July and the man had come knocking uninvited, Draco at his side. Fortunately for Harry it was a day they weren't scheduled to go down into the mines, and Harry had dressed in his best to go out with Snape when the Malfoy's came knocking. They were supposed to go to Bristol to take the Fire Quartz to the craftsman to make Transfiguration talismans. Now it would have to wait.

Snape opened the front door and Harry was surprised the man didn't sneer.

"Hello dear cousin," Lucius said, and Snape stepped back to let him in. Lucius didn't seem happy to see Snape despite the friendly words. He patted Snape's shoulder and said, "I hear you have a new son. Where is he?"

Snape motioned to the stairs where Harry had paused halfway down. Lucius looked up and his lip curled to see Harry. Draco looked surprised but quickly sneered at him by way of greeting.

"Ah, young master Snape," Lucius said slowly, "or is it Master Potter?"

Harry came the rest of the way down the stairs and held out his hand to shake. He'd rather lose his hand than shake with the elder Malfoy after what had happened with Dobby just over a month ago at the end of his second year, but the recently read books on decorum and wizarding traditions were fresh in his mind.

"I'm pleased to see you cousin," Harry greeted, though he couldn't force the friendliness into his voice that Lucius had for Snape.

"Say hello Draco," Lucius said, pushing Draco forward a little, and Draco looked disgusted at Harry's outstretched hand. He took it in a shake, squeezing hard as though he wanted Harry's fingers to pop off, and said, "Cousin."

"Perhaps we can speak privately for a moment while the children catch up. I'm sure they have a lot to talk about."

Snape motioned for Lucius to follow him to the library and left Harry and Draco alone in the entryway. As soon as the adults were gone, Draco looked Harry up and down and said, "Amazing what a little money can do eh Potter? How'd you lie and cheat your way into this? Did you kill the boy he was going to adopt?" Then Draco's eyes glinted and he said, "Tie a hunk of dragon steak around your neck? Dragon's blood is worth forty galleons an ounce. I'm sure even uncle Severus couldn't resist."

Harry clenched his fist behind his back so Draco couldn't see and said, "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. Would you like some tea or a pastry?"

Draco ignored his offer and said, "If you think you're taking over the Prince gem business you're wrong. Father has a team of barristers. They'll never let it happen. Potter's aren't even related to the Princes."

Harry turned and grinned at Draco and said, "He's my father, of course I'm related. You and I are fifth cousins now right?"

"He'll never be your father." Draco laughed then. "Honestly Potter, how'd you end up getting adopted by the one person in the world that hates you more than The Dark Lord?"

"I'm not sure what you're talking about. He took me fishing yesterday," Harry made up, "and we went hiking last week. We've spent hours playing chess, though I can't ever beat him at it and he set me up in the biggest room of the house."

"You're lying."

"Am I? How much time has your father spent with you this summer?" Draco's cheeks tinged red and Harry pushed a little further, hoping he wasn't pushing the boy so far that they got into a brawl. Harry was certain he'd be grounded and made to re-read all of the etiquette books if they did. "I'm sure if you asked, father might adopt you as well. Then you could spend hours every day with him working in the mines side by side. Bring some dragon blood when you ask."

They heard the adults coming back a moment later, and if Draco was going to start shouting at Harry he never got a chance to. Lucius didn't fail to notice Draco's red cheeks however. His eyes snapped to Harry and he said, "How much does twelve ounces of Luminous Rock dust sell for?"

Harry stopped himself from biting his lip. They hadn't worked with the Luminous Rocks yet and he didn't know. All Harry could do was say what he did know and try to insert some of the fake confidence into his voice he'd used with Draco a minute before. "The price varies. It's the rarest thing we mine and nothing goes to waste. The dust is valuable and we process and reprocess every scrap of material until the dust is exhausted." Harry hoped he'd used all the words right. He didn't want the man to laugh at him or Snape to yell at him later for embarrassing him.

"Fifty Galleons an ounce Potter," Draco said from behind him. He sounded excited to have once again one-upped him.

This time Snape asked a question of Draco before Lucius could open his mouth again. "How many Ember Seeing Stones should a Fire Quartz nursery produce in it's lifetime?"

Draco frowned and shook his head, and Harry answered instead, "Two to three pairs at most."

Snape stepped forward and quickly asked Draco, "And where must one hit a Fire Quartz Crystal the size of a finger, as opposed to the size of an arm to break it cleanly off?"

"At the base on both," Draco said.

"That is incorrect," Snape told him, and turned to Harry.

"At the base with a medium tap of a small pickaxe on finger size crystals, and for large crystals you have to use a small diamond hand drill to drill holes around the base and then pour a freezing potion in to expand the holes and break the piece off." They'd only processed one large crystal so far and an Alchemist had already come to pick it up, but Harry remembered things by doing them, and it had taken them two days to remove the massive red crystal, so the memory was sure to be with him for a long time.

"Come along Draco," Lucious said, and moved towards the front door. He opened it and pushed Draco out ahead of him and into the sunlight. Before he left he turned to Severus and said, "This isn't over cousin. Expect a letter from my Barrister."

Snape didn't respond and moved to close the door after Lucius apparated away with Draco.

They were quiet for a moment and Harry tried to quash the anxiety he was feeling, wondering if he'd done enough to not get yelled at or thrown out. Finally Snape said, "You did well. I fully expect Lucius and his barristers to want a test administered at some point by the Ministry between you and Draco to see who has more knowledge. However, it's unreasonable to expect someone to learn a trade in such a short time. I do not believe the Ministry will administer that sort of test until at least a few years have passed."

Harry was certain he wouldn't be here in a few years. Maybe Snape should just adopt Draco. Then he'd have an heir who would do him proud and not have to worry about Lucious Malfoy at all.

"Gather the basket of Fire Quartz. We have an appointment to keep."

Harry picked up the basket from the kitchen counter and came back to the entryway where Snape apparated them away to Blackpool. Harry wasn't going to let himself see past the end of the summer. If he could just make it back to Hogwarts without going back to the orphanage then Draco would have no reason to make fun of him. That was his goal.

* * *

"It seems like he's doing well with his studies?" Millie asked Severus as she put a pot roast in to cook for the day. It would be ready for Severus and Harry by dinner.

Severus unfolded his paper at the table and said, "Surprisingly."

"He passed inspection by the Malfoy's then?"

"Lucious practically threw a fit and threatened me with a team of barristers before trying to quiz him."

"You're not worried are you?"

"No. He does not have a leg to stand on. The burden is on him to prove that I should not have the mine, or that I am not training Harry to take care of it. Given that we have already distributed almost eight hundred Galleons of ore out into the magical community at large through various channels since returning from Hogwarts, the Ministry will have nothing to complain about."

"Especially not since Harry helped mine it."

"No."

Mille accidentally dropped the cup of rice she was getting ready to put into the pot to cook with the roast and it scattered across the kitchen floor. "Oh, is it going to be one of those days?" she asked the rice on the floor. Severus set his paper down on the table and stood to go into the entryway. He opened the closet door under the stairs intending to retrieve a broom, but was met with a cascade of items that came tumbling out.

"Master Snape? What was that?" Millie came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron and stopped at the sight of the mess on the floor. There was a broom, mop bucket, a chair on it's side, a tall lamp with a shade that had broken when it hit the floor, and a myriad of other household items. "What's all of that doing in there?"

"I assumed you were ferreting items away to take home later," Severus said, as confused as she was. None of the items were of value.

She walked the few steps over to him and lightly hit him in the shoulder with her hand at his dry joke. "Well if you didn't do it, how did it all end up in here?" she asked.

Harry walked in the front door at that moment and paused at the sight of them staring at the mess on the other side of the stairs.

"Would you care to explain?" Snape asked. He seemed confused, but not angry, so Harry hazarded an answer he wouldn't normally give an adult, "No?"

"Put everything back where you took it from."

"Yes sir."

Snape cast a quick reparo at the lampshade that had broken, and then left the mess there for Harry as he went back to the kitchen with Mrs. Mayer.

"He's an odd child," Severus told her a few minutes later when Harry had taken several items to another part of the house.

"All children are," she told him, and went back to preparing the pot roast.

Harry had come to look forward to the comfortable daily routine he and Snape had created together. Breakfast (with pastries Harry had gone to town to buy), work in the mines followed by lunch, work and study of the minerals they had mined, and one or two trips a week to other parts of the country to deliver the goods they'd mined and cleaned up.

While Snape still acted irritated with Harry frequently, Harry had grown used to it and wondered often if it wasn't that the man was irritated with Harry, but that it was just the way he spoke. The more Harry began to suspect that this was the case, the less he felt like he had to tiptoe around the Potion's Master for fear of reprisal.

Harry knew things would never be as he'd told Draco. He knew Snape would never take him fishing or hiking, or play board games with him, but Harry had never spent as much time with an adult before as he was spending with Snape, and he enjoyed mining the gems and working with the minerals alongside the professor. For all that he had lied to Draco about his relationship with Snape, he felt like the man who had accidentally adopted him was like a father anyway. Snape had even laughed with Harry in the mines the other day when Harry had finally managed to correctly mine a piece of Luminous Rock, when he'd been struggling with it for over a week before that. It felt good to laugh with him and to know he'd pleased him.

That shift in Harry's attitude about Snape led him to relax in a way he shouldn't have. While his mind should have been screaming at him that he was still on his own, that he was still an orphan, it was silent.

* * *

Harry sat on his bed and held his old shoes in his hands, turning them this way and that as he examined the new hole in the side and the broken laces. He really needed some new shoes to wear. He couldn't wear the nice boots into the mines, because those were only for going into town. Snape had just reminded him the night before to polish them and keep them clean and had given him shoe polish and a brush to clean the boots up.

Snape had already bought Harry a lot of clothes, for which Harry was grateful. The only thing he really needed was another pair of shoes. He was confident that the man would buy him a pair or give him some money to go into town to get a pair himself. Harry pulled the shoes on and went down the stairs for breakfast. It was his day off today so he'd have time to go get new shoes in town.

In the kitchen Harry pulled down the fresh bag of donuts and sat down to have one as Snape came in to make himself a cup of coffee. After Snape had seated himself and reached for the bag, Harry asked, "Sir, I was wondering if I could have a new pair of shoes."

Snape didn't look up from The Prophet as he took a drink of coffee. "You have not overshined the new pair of boots and worn a hole in them I hope?"

"No sir, they're fine. I meant for working in... or for when I'm not going into town."

Snape looked over the paper at him and then back at the Prophet again. "I was under the impression you were earning money to buy your own clothing."

Harry froze. He barely had ten pounds left because he'd been bringing home pastries for breakfast for the past several weeks. Snape had liked them so much, he'd just kept buying them. Snape didn't say anything for several more minutes as he finished his coffee. When he rose from the table a few minutes later he said, "Keep yourself out of trouble today. Do not stay up late. We must rise early to deliver minerals to London tomorrow."

Harry barely heard him as he stared at his half eaten pastry on the table in front of him. He'd been wrong. Snape still expected him to buy his own clothes. Why had he bought him clothes before? At first it was just so Harry could look presentable, and later probably because he'd already planned on getting clothes for that other boy. Harry had practically forgotten about the other boy because he'd grown too comfortable here. Now that he thought about it, the orphanage had promised to check back after a few months to be sure the placement was ‘working out'. They'd check to see if Snape had bought him any clothes. Now the man had and that was the end of it. His duty was done.

This bitter realization felt like a heavy weight was crushing his chest. This was Harry's fault. He hadn't been paying attention and had moved beyond hope of getting to stay to want. He wanted to stay. He wanted Snape not to find a different boy to adopt. Though his attitude had changed towards the man and towards the situation, reality had not. He was still Harry Potter. Snape still hated him... was disgusted by him like the Dursleys. In that moment Harry felt like he was living at the Dursleys, where the bare minimum was done to keep him alive. If nothing had changed, he might as well still be living with them. His mind flickered to the cupboard under the stairs again... the one under Snape's stairs. He wasn't safe here, and as he realized it, the weight on his chest only felt heavier.

Harry rose from the table to throw his pastry away, and went out the front door and out to the lane. He'd need to earn some more money so he could get shoes. He'd have to stop buying pastries too. All of his money should be saved if he was going to have to take care of himself.

That afternoon Harry mowed the Mayer's lawn followed by Mrs. Allan's. He watered both lawns and pulled weeds at both houses. He also dusted Mrs. Allan's house and helped her clean out several kitchen cupboards. Harry offered to wash the windows for Millie, but she told him he looked tired and sent him back to Snape's house. It was after six in the evening when he returned, though he didn't go inside. Instead he went to the creek behind the house and sat under the tree he could see from the bedroom window upstairs. He counted his money, and with the ten pounds he had and the money he'd made today, he had twenty four pounds. Not enough for shoes yet.

Harry didn't come in until dark, at which point he made himself leftovers from the fridge and went upstairs. It wasn't fair, he told himself, but then maybe life wasn't supposed to be. Why were other kids allowed to have what he couldn't? What the other boys in the orphanage couldn't have?

* * *

Harry spent every spare minute over the next week working for the neighbors. Mrs. Allan had recommended him to another neighbor half a mile down the lane towards Bainbridge, and Harry had gone down there to clean up an old garden that was overgrown with vines and weeds, and to repair a fence at a little cottage in Bainbridge. Snape didn't question that Harry was gone so often, so long as Harry was there for mining and cleaning up minerals afterwards. What had felt like quality time spent with the man a week and a half ago, felt like a chore now. Harry flinched when the man's voice grew irritated with him, and he kept quiet as much as possible. Not a father, just a boss. That is what Harry had wanted for the summer anyway, wasn't it? A job? He wished he could talk himself into feeling happy about the prospect again like he had at the start of the summer.

As Millie had pointed out, things had been going surprisingly well with the Gryffindor. He hadn't expected the child to work so hard, or to appreciate the predicament Severus was in with the mine, the Ministry and the Malfoys. But Harry had been working hard, as if the mine was just as important to him.

It was more than Harry's hard work that had made Severus laugh though. The boy seemed happy. It shouldn't be anything considered out of the ordinary, but it was. As Severus thought back to the boy's time at school so far, he realized that the child rarely ever smiled or laughed or seemed genuinely happy. But here he had laughed over a success in the mines, and since then Severus had seen him smiling other times too when he took a moment to pay attention. The child was... at ease. Was the boy ever at ease at school? Perhaps only when with Granger and Weasley in private, and if it were so Severus never saw it.

At first Severus wasn't certain if he cared or not if the boy felt at ease there. He was there for a purpose, and if he was fulfilling that purpose and not destroying his home or peace then Severus was satisfied. While Severus wasn't certain if he cared if the boy was happy and at ease, he was certain he was disturbed when he detected a new nervousness and anxiety in the child only days after that moment of laughter in the mines.

As it was when Potter first came to stay, he was making himself scarce again. He showed up on time to go into the mines, and made himself available when asked for further work on the minerals and gems, but other than that he was gone. On his days off he disappeared early and came back late. He knew the boy was eating, because he'd checked, but he rarely saw him at meals anymore. According to Millie he was doing yard work for various neighbors. There must have been something the boy wanted to buy. He'd asked Severus for new shoes a few days back, and Severus had intended to get him some, but hadn't put any further thought into it after that because they'd been busy. He couldn't be saving for shoes. In all likelihood he wanted new flying goggles or something else of the sort to take back to school in September.

If it was just that he was making himself scarce, Severus might not have noted an issue at all, but the boy was also flinching away from him like he was waiting to be struck. It startled Severus as much as the boy's laughter a week before had. If Severus raised his voice at all, grew irritated that the child had forgotten an important step in the mining process, or seemed remotely displeased, the boy pulled into himself and shut down. What had changed? Severus hadn't yelled or shouted at him since weeks ago when he'd chastised the boy unfairly for having Mrs. Mayer do his chores when she hadn't.

Severus was still pondering this change in Harry over the past week as he pulled on work clothes to go into the mine for the day. He had considered asking him, but didn't think the Gryffindor would tell him if he did. Perhaps he'd ask today what the boy was saving up to buy. He already had a racing broom but he wouldn't put it past the Gryffindor to save up for the new Firebolt that had recently come out.

Downstairs Severus had a bowl of porridge for breakfast and wondered why Mrs. Mayer had stopped buying the pastries she had been bringing over for the past few weeks. He'd have to ask her and ask which shop she got them from.

Harry came in a few minutes later and filled up a bottle of water.

"Are you eating?" Severus asked him.

"I had breakfast before you came down sir."

"I see."

Ten minutes later they were ready to go into the mine. They'd be bagging up luminous rock fragments today to grind to dust over the course of the next week. Severus led the way to the door that led down to the mines and was describing to Harry how many rocks they'd be collecting and the process of grinding them up. He opened the door and went down twenty steps into the darkness, still talking before he asked Harry something and realized he wasn't there to answer. Severus looked above him in the darkness and spotted the boy at the top of the stairs just inside the stairwell leading down.

"Is there someone at the front door Mr. Potter?" he asked, thinking someone must have knocked just as they'd begun their descent to the mines, but Harry didn't answer.

"Potter?"

The boy turned and bolted the few steps back up the stairs and out of sight. What in the world?

Severus climbed back up the stairs and expected to find Harry in the entryway, but instead found the front door open and walked out. It took him a moment to spot the boy because he was on the ground in the yard. He was on his knees, face buried in the grass.

Severus came out of the house and walked slowly over to him. "Potter what are you doing?"

There was no answer, though the child was muttering something under his breath and breathing heavily. Severus leaned in to hear what the child was saying and noted he was digging his fingers into the grass as if trying to make sure it was there. "Not the cupboard, not the cupboard, not the cupboard."

Severus didn't know what that meant, and didn't know what had brought this on, but the child was clearly in distress.

"Potter," he said carefully, but he received no response again.

"Perhaps we should take today off and you should spend the day in your room."

Harry tensed at that and then sat up, eyes red. "No sir, I didn't mean to do anything wrong. I don't want to be grounded."

"You have not. It is not a punishment. If you would prefer to spend the day out of doors then you are welcome to do so."

Harry nodded to himself and sat back on his rear and swiped a sleeve across his face and then took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Do you want to tell me what-"

"No!" Harry cut him off, but then looked sheepish. "No sir. Thank you."

"Very well. I will be in the house if you need me."

Severus retreated into the house and then into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. He could look out the kitchen window and watch Harry on the front lawn. How odd. What did, ‘Not the cupboard?' mean? He didn't know. He stood and drank his tea for twenty minutes watching Harry through the window before Harry got up and went around the side of the house, presumably to the creek, where Severus often saw him studying.

With the boy's change in demeanor and what had happened today, Severus wished suddenly to see the child laughing and at ease again. It was a disturbing change he didn't know the cause of and didn't know how to fix. That the boy didn't want to talk to him wasn't surprising given their relationship. Severus supposed he'd never given the child a reason to talk to him about any issues he might have before. It gave him a lot to think about.

* * *

Harry wasn't certain what he was going to do. He had fully intended to go into the mines and work with Snape, but the moment he opened that door and stepped into the darkness, his vision tunneled in and he was certain he was in his cupboard under the stairs at 4 Privet Drive. Snape might have called to him or yelled at him, he didn't know. He was in the cupboard, and the door to it was open behind him, so he'd bolted out while he had the chance, and then out into the yard. In the brightness of the early morning light, Harry realized he wasn't at Privet Drive, but his heart was still clenched with fear as though he was. He'd thrown himself onto the grass and pressed his face to the ground to block everything out except the feel of the grass on his face and the smell of the earth. That was how Snape had found him, tears and all, muttering like he was crazy. He wasn't crazy, Harry reassured himself later that evening as he lay in bed. He wasn't.

He wasn't crazy, but he also didn't know what he was going to do tomorrow when it was time to go into the mines again. He didn't know if he'd be able to go down into them like normal, or if he'd have another freak out unexpectedly. Since his purpose was to be here to mine and to learn to mine, he didn't fancy telling Snape that he could no longer go into the mines themselves. He'd be cuffed about the head like his uncle used to do when Harry upset him, or tossed out on his rear end. He supposed the latter had always been an inevitability, but he wasn't looking forward to speeding that process along before he had any money to get himself bus fare or a train ticket back to the orphanage.

Harry fell asleep fretting about the next morning, and going over scenarios in his mind. Perhaps he'd just pack his backpack in the morning in case he did get thrown out.

* * *

Harry took one step down the stairs towards the mines and his vision didn't tunnel in. A second step, and nothing. A third step, and then a fourth. He was on this step the day before when it had happened and he'd been whisked back to Privet Drive in his mind. Snape acted as though nothing had happened the day before at all, and led him all the way down the stairs and into the mines without incident. Huh. Harry was stumped. Perhaps the day before was just a fluke.

They spent the morning pouring Luminous Rock dust into bags and carrying them to the foot of the stairs to carry up at lunch time. The work went quickly, and they made several more trips up and down the long stairs to the house without incident. Later that evening as Harry climbed into bed, he thought it had been silly of him to pack his bags at all. Maybe he would make it through the summer after all.

* * *

Harry finally had enough money for a new pair of shoes. He'd asked Millie and she had told him the little shoe store that had just moved into Bainbridge had sneakers for boys at a reasonable price, so he dressed in the nice polo shirt and slacks Snape had given him just for going into town, and put on his nice boots as well and set out for Bainbridge. Technically he'd never been given permission to go into Bainbridge, only Hawes, but he'd been into Bainbridge four or five times now to do yard work without Snape's permission and figured one more time wouldn't hurt. It was only a 15 minute walk into the center of the small village and Harry didn't plan on being gone longer than 45 minutes or an hour. He had another book to get through which Snape had given him to read and he wanted to finish it by that evening.

Harry made his way into Bainbridge and found the shoe store without any issues. Within just a few minutes the shop owner had helped him find a nice pair of sneakers, and Harry paid him the 45 pounds he had saved. The sneakers were deep red, almost maroon, and he was looking forward to having something nice to wear when school started again in a couple months. Draco would have nothing to make fun of him for if he showed up with nice clothes and decent shoes. He'd have to work hard to save up for some nice new shirts and school supplies too. Maybe he could start picking up some work from people in Hawes.

After his purchase Harry thanked the shop owner and walked out with his new shoes tucked safely in the shoe box. He wanted to put them on right away, but didn't want Snape to be mad that he wasn't wearing his nice clothes in town.

At the edge of town a boy a few years older than Harry called out to him. "Whatchya got there?"

"Shoes," Harry said. The teen looked to his friends and nodded at Harry's feet. "Those nice boots you got not good enough for the little master?" The teen hopped off the low stone fence he and his friends had been sitting on and came over to Harry.

"Leave him be Jasper, he's ok. I seen him workin' Mrs. Green's yard the other day," another boy said. There were two of them still by the fence.

"Don' look like he's been workin," the boy named Jasper said. "Prince's an' Snape's don't work yeah? Look at his clothes. Master Snape probably bought ‘im a whole wardrobe an' now the spoilt little master wanted new shoes on top."

"I'm just Harry," he said.

"Yeah, we know you're not really his," one of the other boys said, still leaning against the fence. He looked like he couldn't care about Harry one way or the other.

Harry tried to continue down the lane but Jasper moved in front of him.

"Must be nice to move in with a rich bloke yeah?" Jasper pressed forward and Harry took a step back. "What's it like living with the creep anyway? They say he's richer than the queen... that his walls are encrusted with jewels."

"It's just a normal house," Harry lied, mind flitting to the mines under the house where the walls really were encrusted with jewels.

"But he is rich ain't he. Pays servants to come cook an' clean for him. To cook an' clean for you."

"It's not like that," Harry said. "If you'll excuse me," he tried to move past them again but Jasper held out a hand.

"You can go when you hand over the box."

"I bought these with the money I earned doing yardwork," Harry said. "They're mine."

"Then give me the boots yer wearin. Master Snape bought those didn' he?"

"I can't," Harry said.

"Come on Jasper, you really want the Master to come tearin down here lookin for you when you beat up his kid?" the nice boy still sitting on the fence said.

"Never see much of the bloke do we?" Jasper said. "Don't reckon he'll come out at all. Heard he's so rich he has a mansion somewhere he spends most of the year at. That true?" he asked Harry.

"He's a teacher at a school far away," Harry said.

Jasper held out his hand for the shoebox.

"No," Harry told him. Without warning Jasper reached out and punched Harry in the face. Harry fell backwards onto the dirt lane, head spinning and a bright light flashing in his eyes as he stared up at the sky.

"I'm tellin' ya it's not worth it," the nice boy said, though he never moved to stop Jasper or help Harry up. "Leave him be."

Jasper bent over Harry, blocking out the bright sunlight, and Harry blinked several times to clear away the bright flash of light still in his vision. He reached down and took the box lying on the lane next to Harry and pulled the lid off.

"Wait," Harry said, but Jasper pulled the shoes out and dropped the box on the lane.

"Not my size, but I'll sell em and get, what, forty pounds outta em?"

"I need those," Harry said.

Jasper lifted Harry by the front of his shirt, causing the polo shirt to rip slightly from Harry's weight, and set Harry on his feet, where Harry glared at him as he swayed. "Get him to buy ya another pair then. That's what having a rich da is good fer." Jasper turned and walked away, his two friends following him down a side lane, leaving Harry there feeling dumb and useless staring after them.

Harry looked down at his torn shirt and tried to brush the dirt from his clothes. His pants, shirt and shiny black boots were filthy. There was no way he could sew up the rip in the front of his shirt without Snape noticing. As Harry began to make the ten minute walk back to the house, he reached up to touch his eye where Jasper had hit him and flinched hard as his fingers brushed it. His best hope was to hurry into the house and up to his room before Snape saw him and change into different clothes. He couldn't hide his eye, but the clothes he could hide away until he could wash the shoes and pants and potentially save up money to replace the shirt.

Harry's plan was doomed to fail however as Snape was in the kitchen when he came home and called out to him as soon as Harry opened the door.

"How close are you to finishing the book I gave you to read? You will need the information for the work we are to do tomorrow in the mines."

Harry couldn't just ignore him and run up to his room, so he stepped carefully over to the kitchen entrance and stood there, dirty and tattered clothes hanging off of him, black eye plain to see.

Snape turned from the counter when Harry didn't answer and was silent for a few moments as his eyes raked over him, but Harry watched as the man's face morphed into anger.

"You have been fighting," he said through gritted teeth. It wasn't a question.

"No," Harry said.

"The black eye and ruined clothing suggest otherwise."

"They ambushed me."

"I find it hard to believe that you could have made enemies so quickly here. How you even found the time to find other children to pick fights with-" he paused and stared at Harry's bruised eye again and said, "Go to your room. You are to stay there until morning."

"But they weren't kids, they-"

Snape pointed towards the hall and stairs and said, "Now Potter."

Harry turned and hurried up the stairs, closing his door quietly so he didn't give the man a chance to shout at him for slamming the door. Harry had hoped for some bruise balm or something for his eye, or a painkiller for the headache caused by getting punched, but that wasn't to be. Harry wasn't surprised that he didn't want to know Harry's side of it, but he'd expected help with his face at least. Teachers at Hogwarts always made sure student injuries got treated, even minor ones for fighting. It was a harsh reminder once again that they weren't at Hogwarts, they were in Snape's home.

Harry thought back on what the boys had said... what they had implied. They thought Harry was a spoilt brat who was given whatever he wanted because he had a ‘rich dad'. He didn't have a dad at all however. He didn't even have a home. He was living in a home, but it wasn't his. His home was the orphanage.

Harry stared at the desk and windowsill where his fragments of broken ore sat, glistening in the light. Those were his, he earned them, but they didn't belong in this room, this room meant for the other boy. Suddenly Harry missed the orphanage in a way he never had before. He'd never been homesick for the place while he was away at Hogwarts, but he was now. The father's from the church who ran the place were nice, even if a few were strict, and the rules were easy to follow. That was Harry's home, and he wished he'd never left. It wasn't entirely true, because he'd had fun in the mines and he loved spending time with Millie and Arran, but- he paused and stopped thinking about it as his head gave a particularly painful twinge and began to throb.

Harry got on his knees and pulled his backpack out and began putting the few things that were his in the trunk. He put on his ratty old sneakers that no longer fit, and filled a side pocket on the backpack with his worthless gems. He left all of the new clothing Snape had bought in the wardrobe where they belonged along with the blue blanket that sat folded on a wardrobe shelf. They would be waiting for the other boy when he came, whenever that was.

Harry waited until it was after midnight and he was certain Snape wouldn't come up to check on him, and then he quietly opened the bedroom door and snuck down the stairs and out the front door. He didn't look back as he walked up the driveway and over the little hill to the lane. He was only sorry he wouldn't have a chance to tell the Mayer's and Mrs Allan goodbye before he went home.

* * *

Harry was not at the kitchen table eating the next morning when Severus came down for breakfast. The boy was probably wallowing upstairs and dragging his feet getting ready for the day, upset that he'd been sent to bed without dinner.

"Potter!" he called, but when the boy didn't come down Severus went up to his room and rapped smartly on the door. "Potter, we have work to do." He pushed the door open and found the room empty. The bed was made and the boy's shoes were gone. Thinking Harry had risen early and eaten and then gone out, Severus went back down to the kitchen and made himself coffee and eggs. Perhaps the child had gone out to tell Mrs. Mayer about his horrible potions master grounding him unjustly. Severus waited half an hour for the boy to return, but when he didn't he sighed and went out to find him.

Down the lane he found Mrs. Mayer in her garden on her hands and knees pulling weeds.

"Good day Mrs. Mayer," Severus greeted, standing in the lane and not opening the gate to enter her yard without permission.

"Oh Severus," she greeted brightly. "Are you on your way to Hawes for the day?"

"No, I have work to do with Harry this morning and came to fetch him."

"Harry? He's not here. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning when he came to ask me about a store in Bainbridge."

"Hm, I assumed he had come here. He knew we had work to do this morning but was not at breakfast."

"Maybe he's studying or went to do some work for one of the neighbors. The Greens have had him doing all sorts of work setting their garden to rights this last week. You know how overgrown it was."

"Perhaps."

"Would you like me to send Arran to check with the Greens?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Severus said. He'd deal with the child when he returned for lunch, or heaven help him if he came back as late as dinner expecting a meal when he'd skipped out on work for the day. It was possible he'd forgotten, but that didn't excuse the irresponsible behavior.

Before he turned to leave Severus said, "I've been meaning to ask you where you get the breakfast pastries."

She stood up from where she'd been kneeling next to the flowerbeds and asked, "What pastries? The ones Harry goes into town for every few days?"

Severus frowned. "The ones you have been buying and bringing to the house with the groceries. You stopped buying them and I wondered which shop they came from."

She smiled at him. "I haven't been buying them. Harry goes into town every few days and spends his money on them. He said you quite enjoyed some of them, so he kept going back for more."

"Harry bought them?" he asked for confirmation, in case he hadn't heard right.

"Yes. I think he goes to a few different shops to pick ones he likes."

"Hm." The child had bought himself some pastries and when Severus had demanded one, thinking they were part of the normal groceries Mrs. Mayer brought each week, the child hadn't batted an eye and had given him one. Harry had gone out of his way to keep going into town to buy them. He had stopped almost two weeks ago however. Perhaps that was why the child had been working for neighbors again, he'd run out of money.

"Thank you Mrs. Mayer."

"Tell Harry I said hello."

"I will do so."

Severus turned and went back down the lane to the house, though Harry still wasn't there when he returned. Lunch passed and Severus spent several hours preparing new grading ruberiks and looking through curriculum to prepare for upcoming classes. He liked to do as much of the work as he could at home so he didn't have to return to Hogwarts until a few weeks before school began. When dinner time came and Harry had still not returned, Severus took a walk around the property and then checked the door to the mines to be sure the wards were still up and that Harry hadn't gone down to the mines on his own. At seven he walked back down the lane to the Mayers to ask again if he had come by.

"I haven't seen him," Arran said. "Millie!" Millie came out the front door, apron on and looking like she was in the middle of cooking dinner. "Harry come by today? Last time I seen him was yesterday when he went into Bainbridge for shoes."

"He went to buy shoes?" Severus asked.

Arran leaned on the fence to talk to Severus since Severus was still standing in the lane. "His were too small and pretty worn," Arran said. "He worked for a couple weeks getting money together for a new pair."

"That's right," Millie said, coming to the gate to talk to Severus. "I told him the little shop in Bainbridge was best. What color did he pick?"

"I do not know," Severus said. "He had been fighting yesterday when he returned and I sent him to his room. This morning when I woke he was not at breakfast. He has not returned for lunch or dinner."

Arran and Millie gave each other a look. "He was fighting?"

"Yes, a common occurrence at Hogwarts as well. He came home with his shirt torn and a black eye."

"Who was he fighting with?" Arran asked.

"He did not specify."

"Not many kids to fight with in Bainbridge," Arran said, scratching his head. "A few young ones, five, six years old, and a few older boys from secondary school, and a girl around Harry's age. Don't think he'd pick a fight with any of them, especially not those older boys. They're pretty big."

"He has been known to pick fights while at school and frequently gets into trouble. He has several behavioral issues that are difficult to deal with. A few days ago he ran out into the yard and buried his face in the grass. The only words I could get out of him were something about a cupboard."

"A cupboard you say?" Arran asked.

"I wonder what that was about," Millie said.

Arran looked uncomfortable for a few moments and then said, "Few weeks back I came over looking for Mrs. Mayer. I didn't realize she'd gone to town for groceries and thought she'd gone to work at your place Master Snape. I walked past the cupboard under the stairs and pushed the door closed so I could check the bathroom at the end of the hall you see. After a few moments I heard loud noises coming from inside and when I opened the door Master Harry fairly fell out, all panicked and crying."

Millie put her hand up over her mouth. "That's why he filled the cupboard with all those things," she said.

"He acted like it wasn't anything," Arran said. "I would never do anything like that to him on purpose, but he had this haunted look in his eyes when he came out of there, like a trapped animal who was never going to get out."

Severus' mind went back to the day Harry had fled the dark stairwell leading to the mines and gone out into the yard. He'd been shaking and had looked haunted, like Arran had described. ‘Not the cupboard, not the cupboard, not the cupboard.'

As soon as he found Harry he intended to find out exactly what had gone on that day. Surely getting locked in the one time by Arran couldn't have caused such a reaction, could it?

"Thank you for telling me." Severus turned to leave, thinking he would search the house and property again before heading into Bainbridge and then Hawes to look for the boy, when Millie's hand reached out across the low fence and touched his wrist. Severus turned back.

"There's one more thing Severus," she said quietly. She watched his eyes to make sure he was listening. "I thought maybe it was just because he'd come from an orphanage, so I didn't tell you. I thought maybe once he settled in he'd realize he was staying."

"What do you mean?"

"He's convinced he's not staying, that you'll send him back to the orphanage because he wasn't the boy you wanted to adopt. He told me he knew none of the things you bought were for him, that they all belonged to the other boy, the one you wanted."

Severus didn't know what to say to that. He had intended to adopt some other boy, some boy that wasn't Harry Potter, but Harry was there and he had bought him clothes and tried to teach him everything he'd intended for the boy he adopted.

"You haven't been able to find him all day," Arran said when Severus remained silent. "You think he ran away?"

"Arran, you don't really think he did do you?" Millie asked. "Where would he even go? To school?"

"Back to the orphanage," Arran said.

They looked to Severus who couldn't deny either possibility. If Harry had money he could take a bus, or even a cab or train.

"There's that train station over in Clough," Arran said. "Only nine miles. Take him a few hours to walk there. Train only comes in the evening. Round about nine wouldn't you say?" he asked Millie.

"I will check there first," Severus said.

"I'll drive out the other way and check out Redmire Station," Arran said. "That one's about 11 miles."

"I'll check around the house again," Millie said, "in case you missed something there."

Severus nodded and looked up and down the lane to check for anyone watching, took note that Mrs. Allan's car was gone, and then apparated to an isolated field near Clough.

The sun was starting to set as Severus made his way from the emtpy field to the train station. He kept his eyes peeled for Harry as he walked down the road but didn't spot him. If he couldn't find him here he'd have to walk the entire nine miles back to the house and try to find Harry on the road.

Severus didn't see Harry on the short walk to the station from the field, but as he approached the train station he spotted a sorry looking character sitting on the stone platform with his legs hanging over the edge. He didn't look up as Severus approached him.

"Where are you headed?" Severus asked quietly.

"Home."

"The train doesn't go through Bainbridge."

"Leave me alone. I'm not going back there."

"Why is that?" Harry didn't answer him and Severus said in an irritated way, "You are angry about being punished for fighting."

"That's why I'm not going back!" Harry shouted, causing someone who was waiting inside the station for the train to look out the window. "Right there!" Harry pointed at him angrily, "You were never even willing to give me a chance! I never fought with anyone! I went to buy shoes and an older boy stopped me and beat me up when I wouldn't give my shoes to him!"

Severus gave Harry a doubtful look and Harry turned away from him again. "You cannot go."

"Screw you."

Severus raised his brows, surprised by the crass words from the usually reserved boy. It was then that Severus realized that Harry was a reserved boy, and in that moment he couldn't really imagine the child picking a fight with a stranger.

When Severus was silent Harry said, "You just want me to go back so you don't lose your business. I'm not even a person to you, just free labor."

"What do you want?" Severus asked. He'd never intended to adopt a child to use as labor. He'd intended to have an heir. He couldn't deny that he hadn't exactly lived up to his end of the deal however. You couldn't have an heir if you weren't willing to be a parent. He had no idea how to get Harry to come back with him when he had offered him nothing up to this point.

Harry jumped to his feet and shouted, "What do I want?! I want to quit being teased about not having any parents! I want Draco Malfoy to stop telling me I should tie hunks of meat around my neck so my relatives will take me back! I want teachers at school to stop looking at me like they feel sorry for me, and random people to stop giving me used holey clothes like I don't have anything better so I might as well just take what they give me! I like the orphanage! It's not so bad! But I want to be normal, just for once, like I actually mean something to somebody. Like I'm not just some disgusting thing someone found on the bottom of their shoe."

Harry's shouting caused a man and woman to come out of the train station. Harry was riled and looked ready to fight the man who towered over him.

"You all right son?" the man asked.

Severus turned and said, "I am the boy's father."

The man raised his hand in apology and stepped back inside the station. As soon as the door was closed Harry hissed, "You're just saying that to drag me back there! You're not my father!"

Harry picked up his bag and hopped off the raised train platform. He crossed the tracks and startled a moment later when he realized Severus had followed him to the road.

After a few moments Severus said quietly, "I haven't been your father, but you are my son."

What did that even mean? Harry didn't know. He'd tried to be his son, tried to do the best he could there. At first it had been pure survival, but for a moment he'd let his guard fall and had genuinely wanted to stay, to know what it was to be Snape's son. Harry didn't suppose he'd ever know what that was like though. What he did know was that was tired, his face hurt and that his head had been throbbing since he'd been hit the day before. There was no way Snape was going to let him go. Harry turned back to him and stared back at the train station, waiting for Snape to apparate them away. When he was certain no one was looking, he took hold of Harry's arm and they were gone.

They reappeared in the empty kitchen at Snape's house and Snape told Harry to sit on the kitchen counter. Harry did so as Snape left the kitchen, bag at his feet on the floor. A minute later Snape came back with a rag and got it wet and began cleaning dirt from Harry's face, and then he applied a purple potion to the rag and began dabbing at Harry's black eye. Harry felt a cooling sensation as if ice had been applied and some of the pain lessened.

If Snape wasn't going to let him run away, he'd have to convince the man to let him go back to the orphanage, or to send him back. Maybe he could apparate Harry directly there.

As Snape continued to dab the potion on Harry's eye, Harry said tersely in response to Snape's earlier statement, "I don't have a father."

Severus looked at him for a long moment, bruises and all, and said, "You do now."

Harry crossed his arms and looked away, grimacing at the throbbing pain in his head as he did so.

"Tell me what you're thinking," Severus said, pulling the cloth away.

"It's not nice to say things you don't mean."

"I mean it."

"You just want me to stay put and not run off again so you don't lose your estate."

"I may have adopted you to begin with to save the estate from the Malfoys, and I would rather not lose it, but if I have to give it up to prove a point to you, I will."

"What point?"

"When I first contacted the orphanage looking for a boy to adopt, I should have made a commitment to you then, to meet all of your needs. Not just clothing and food and shelter, but emotionally as well. I didn't commit to that then, but I am now. It was unfair to expect to bring you into this family without that commitment."

Harry stared at Severus as if he were crazy and Severus looked consternated in return. "You mean for that other boy... the one you expected to show up, not for me. You probably did plan on loving him. Then I turned up. It's not fair to make promises you can't keep. You can't do anything like that for a person you hate."

"I- was unsettled to see you here. I have found myself proven wrong time and again about you and your behavior however. I will admit- it hasn't been bad having you here."

"Stop it," Harry said, jumping down off the counter and making a grab for his backpack.

Severus looked confused. "Where are you going?"

"Away," Harry said. "Back to the orphanage where I'm meant to go. I'm sorry you have to lose your business. Maybe you can murder Draco's father or something and adopt him."

Harry could hear Severus calling after him as he went out the door, but didn't turn back. It wasn't until a few moments later when he felt a hand on his arm that Harry realized hot tears were trailing down his cheeks. It was cruel to get his hopes up that things would be any different than they always were. He might as well have been back at the Dursleys.

"Harry-"

"Get off!" Harry swung around and shoved the man hard in the chest with both hands, but Snape didn't let go of his arm. Bag falling to the ground in his struggle to get away, Harry made a wild swing that connected somewhere on Snape's body and then fell backwards and tripped over his bag.

"Harry?"

He buried his face in his arms as he sat on the ground and tried to stop the flow of tears. He felt Snape kneel next to him, but the man didn't say anything, probably fearing he would only continue to make things worse.

"It's going to be the same as every year," Harry said, finally lifting his wet face from his arms.

"What is?"

"I'm going to go back to Hogwarts without a family. I'll watch everyone say goodbye to their parents on the platform and as soon as I get on the train Draco will come along and scoff at me. He'll make a big deal about how another family didn't want me and how useless I am. He'll do it in front of everybody just like he does every year."

"I want you Harry."

"No you don't. As soon as I mess up you'll throw me out and be done with me."

"I brought you back when you ran away."

"Because you had to."

"And I haven't thrown you out despite that you just broke one of my ribs."

Harry looked up at him and noted that he seemed to be in some pain, but the concern on his face was overriding it. After searching his face for long moments, Harry finally said, "You should get rid of me. There's a reason I don't have a family."

Severus raised his brow but Harry motioned towards the Potion Master's injured rib.

"All I am is trouble. I don't deserve a family. The orphanage is where I'm supposed to be."

"Every child deserves a home and someone who cares enough to treat them right."

"I'm not a child. I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, remember? It wasn't in the deck for me." It hurt to admit, as he'd so often pushed the thought away that he didn't deserve a family. He spent so much time loathing Draco for pointing it out that he'd denied it until he believed Draco was wholly wrong. But Draco had been right. He was the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-All-Alone, and there wasn't much he could do to change that.

"You're wrong."

Harry frowned but didn't look up at him.

"It is I who do not deserve to adopt you. It is my fault that you do not have parents to care for you."

This did cause Harry to look up.

"What do you mean?"

"Come into the house and I will tell you."

Harry stared into Snape's black eyes for a moment, and then stood. He swayed, head throbbing, but stayed upright and followed Snape into the house. It was rare to hear anything about his parents, and it was possibly the only thing Snape could have said to get him back inside.

Harry lay in bed that night staring at his dark ceiling, mulling over the details of the story Snape had told him that evening. It was like something out of a novel and at first Harry had been sure the man was lying, spinning a tale to keep Harry there listening for as long as he could, but the more of it he told the more haunted the man looked. Snape had known his mother, been friends with her even, but had hated Harry's father. Harry's father had almost killed him when a prank had gone wrong at school, and his father's best friend had tormented Severus for years afterwards, pushing him further and further away from Lily. It had in part led to Severus joining Voldemort, and had led to him telling Voldemort a prophecy he'd overheard in a pub. A prophecy he hadn't realized was about Harry and his parents. It was a prophecy that had led Voldemort to murder his parents and leave Harry an orphan.

Harry had stayed quiet throughout the tale, and at the end Snape had seemed... wary, like he expected Harry to try to curse him or hit him again. He hadn't expected Harry to keel over sideways and pass out because his head was throbbing horribly.

Severus had used a potion to wake Harry up and then given him a potion for the pain in his head, told him he had a concussion from the fight, and helped him to bed. Harry had stayed quiet throughout. He didn't know what he should say to a man that had caused the death of his parents. Had he really caused their deaths though? Harry didn't know how he felt about it at all. Voldemort would have killed his parents with or without the prophecy, that was one of the only things Harry was certain of as he lay in bed thinking it over.

Harry's mind was racing with all of the new information he'd been given about his parents and about Snape. With what James had done and how Jame's best friend Sirius had driven Snape and Lily apart, the way Snape had always treated him made a lot of sense in a way Harry and his friends never understood before. They'd talked for hours on end over the last couple years about why Snape hated Harry so much, and Harry had had a few dozen detentions to ponder on it. It wasn't just the way Snape had been treated though, it was what Snape had done. He believed he was the reason Harry's parents were dead... the reason Harry didn't have parents. Maybe Snape didn't hate Harry at all. Maybe he only hated himself. Those were some ghosts the man had to deal with. Harry only wished Snape would stop taking it out on him.

What had he said the night before? That Harry had been his son, even though he hadn't been a father? He'd also said Harry didn't deserve to be in the orphanage and that he deserved someone who would treat him nicely. Harry just wasn't sure if Snape really wanted to be that person. Harry closed his eyes and thought hard, trying to remember every word Snape had told him during the story before he'd passed out. Harry was sure he hadn't gotten all of it. Had the man said at the end he wasn't sure if Harry wanted to stay since Snape was the one responsible for his parents deaths? Did that mean he wanted Harry to stay? Did he want Harry to want to stay?

He fell asleep a few minutes later, head still hurting, and was chased around his dreams by confusing questions he didn't have answers to.

The next morning Harry came down to breakfast and found his favorite pastries waiting on the table. Snape was sitting there drinking coffee, but he looked different somehow. Harry couldn't put his finger on what it was, but the man was quiet and wouldn't look at Harry. He didn't say they had work to do that morning so Harry went back to his room for the day. The same scene replayed at lunch, where neither of them talked, and then again at dinner. Snape gave him another potion for his head without Harry asking, and then Harry climbed the stairs to go back to bed because he still wasn't feeling well. His eye was doing better and was a far lighter shade of purple thanks to the potion Snape had given him the night before. At least he was on the mend.

As Harry sat on the edge of his bed, he found himself staring into the wardrobe at the blue blanket. It wasn't fair that the blanket go to another boy when Harry had worked so hard in the last month and a half. He'd done everything he could to please Snape, to follow the rules, and to help the man keep his family business. Harry wanted that blanket and didn't want another boy to take it from him. And he didn't want to go back to the orphanage. He stood up and pulled Mrs Allan's quilt off the bed and unfolded the soft blue blanket, running his fingers over it. Snape was just going to have to deal with him. There could be no other boy because Harry was him.

* * *

Severus stared quietly into his coffee, waiting for Harry to come downstairs. It had been two entire days since he'd told the child about his part in his parent's deaths, and it had been two entire days since Harry had spoken to him. If the boy never said another word to him, he would be right to do so and there wasn't a thing Severus could do about it. He was surprised Harry hadn't demanded he take him back to the orphanage as soon as possible. Then again, he did have a concussion. Maybe he didn't remember everything he'd been told the other night, or perhaps he had not understood all of it. Whatever the case, Severus had been waiting for two straight days for the child to yell himself hoarse at him. What he had not expected was for the child to come down the stairs that morning with a list of demands.

Harry came into the kitchen with a piece of paper and sat down at the table. He pulled a pastry off the plate in the center of the table and began to eat, and didn't say anything about the paper until he'd finished.

"You have to take me hiking before school starts," Harry said.

"What?" Severus asked. It was the last thing he'd expected the boy to say.

"At least once every holiday. And you have to take me fishing before school starts too, and play chess with me."

"Why is that?"

"You're stuck with me. I'm staying and you're not giving my room or stuff away to another boy. I told Draco you take me hiking and fishing and we play chess."

"I see. Is that what is on the piece of paper?"

"Some of it."

"What else?"

"I need things like clothes and shoes that fit. I don't wanna wear them until they're so tight they hurt my feet and are falling apart. And you have to ask my side of the story before you decide to punish me. I'm not James and it's not fair that you treat me like I'm always up to no good."

"I will try not to treat you as I have before."

Harry was quiet for a moment and Severus asked, "Is that all?"

"I can't work in the mines every time you wanna go down there... the stairwell freaks me out sometimes."

"Is there a reason for that?"

Harry looked away and Severus said, "If you are having difficulties you need only tell me."

"And there's one more thing."

"Yes?"

"You have to get my shoes back from Jasper."

"Is he the one who beat you up?"

Harry told him the story and finished with, "He wasn't scared of you at all. He said he rarely ever sees you come out even."

"Is that so?" Severus said, and Harry was glad that for once the frightening smile that played across the man's face was a nefarious plot not aimed at him.

* * *

Harry, as it turned out, had ghosts of his own he'd never told anyone about. Perhaps it was only that he'd had no one to tell before, Severus thought.

Severus had retrieved the shoes from Jasper and dragged the teen by his ear, whimpering and crying all the way down the lane to apologize to Harry (in front of several neighbors no less). He'd taken Harry hiking one day, and played chess with him every evening for a week. And Arran had come over one evening to teach them both to fish in the river behind the house. But still when they returned to work in the mines two weeks after Harry had first run away, Harry couldn't force himself to go into the mines each day.

Several times he'd stopped on the threshold of the stairwel leading down and shook his head no, hands shaking and palms sweaty. There was never a repeat of the moment he'd run into the yard and buried his face in the grass, but he appeared shaken each time he'd been overwhelmed at the entrance to the stairs leading to the mines. It didn't happen every time they had to work, but it happened often enough that Severus really began to question what had happened to the child to make him dislike dark enclosed spaces like the stairwell and the cupboard under the stairs.

"Do you wish to talk about it?" he asked, just as he did every time it happened, and like always Harry told him no.

One evening after playing chess, where Harry almost beat him after so many failures to so, Harry asked if they could try fishing on their own before it got dark. Severus agreed and retrieved the fishing poles and tackle he had borrowed from Arran from the closet under the stairs. When he turned with the poles he spied Harry staring into the closet.

"Would you prefer to wait outside when I open the closet?"

"I'd prefer if there wasn't a closet."

Severus handed him a pole and they headed into the backyard to the little river and sat down on the grass. They were quiet as they baited their hooks and sent their lines into the water, and then as they waited as the sky grew darker and crickets chirped and birds sang around them.

"We do not need a closet in that space. We can remove one wall and turn the space into a bookshelf under the stairs. There is never enough space for books."

"You would do that?"

"If you wish."

After a few moments of silence Harry said quietly, "My relatives didn't like me. My cousin got a bedroom to himself, and an extra bedroom for all his toys upstairs, so there was no room for me. I slept on a cot in a closet under the stairs."

Severus wanted to say something about what he'd been told, but didn't know what. Instead Harry filled the quiet for himself. "When I didn't do all my chores, or I was too much to bother with, they locked me in. Sometimes for days. They didn't open the door to give me meals even. I was just in there, and they were out there. There was nothing I could do."

After a long moment Severus' fingers and knuckles were starting to hurt and he realized it was because he was gripping his fishing pole tightly in anger. To hear that it had happened to any child was appalling and it made Severus want to destroy something. In his silence, Harry spoke once again.

"I- forgot about it until I accidentally got locked in the closet under the stairs. I know Arran didn't mean to, it was only an accident, but it was like I was right back there again, trapped in the closet and forgotten about. And then I tried to go into the mines and the stairwell is so narrow and dark, it was the same. I- it wasn't as bad the first time it happened because I knew you were down there waiting for me but then you did something that made me remember I didn't belong here at all. It made me feel like I was still there with my relatives. Then I really couldn't go down the stairs, even when you were down there. I see the dark space and I can't breath. I can't see anything but the inside of the cupboard."

Over the last two years that he'd known the boy he'd believed the child had just run away from home because he was spoiled and wasn't getting pampered enough. It had never crossed his mind that Harry had had good reason to leave... that he could be happier living at an orphanage than with his aunt and uncle.

"You will always belong here," Severus said, when he realized he'd been quiet for far too long. "With me."

"I know," Harry said, "you're stuck with me," and he gave him a lopsided grin that didn't reach his eyes.

"No," Severus said, "because I want you here. I will not let them hurt you again."

"Are you gonna drag them by their ear down the lane to apologize to me?" Harry's smile reached his eyes this time.

"If that is what you wish." With their entrails hanging out, Severus thought angrily.

"No," Harry said.

Harry stiffened in the next moment when he found Severus' arms around him. Was this what being hugged felt like? He didn't know, he'd never been hugged before. He relaxed after a moment and leaned into the contact.

"We will remove the closet tomorrow morning. I am certain Mr. Mayer has the tools required to rebuild it."

"He can show us how," Harry said as Severus let go of him. "I know how to build lots of things now."

"Then you can show me."

As they sat there and fished, not even getting a bite as the sun faded and the stars came out, Severus wondered what other ghosts Harry had hiding in his past, and hoped some day the boy would feel comfortable enough to tell him.

* * *

Severus and Harry ripped out both sides of the cupboard under the stairs with hammers borrowed from Arran the next morning, and Severus banished the debris with his wand. Arran came with lumber and paint at lunch and they began building a double sided bookshelf that could be accessed from the short hall on one side of the stairs and the hall leading to the mines on the other side of the stairs. It took them all day to finish it and paint it. Severus dried the white paint with a flick of his wand and the three of them stood back to admire their handiwork.

"What books are we going to put here?" Harry asked. He knew Severus had a library full of them.

"Your old school books," Severus said, "and the other books you accumulate. Perhaps we should take a trip to Flourish And Blotts to fill up some of the shelves."

"Your own library Master Harry," Arran said, tousling Harry's hair.

Harry raced up the stairs and came down with his old school books and put them on one of the shelves. It barely filled half a shelf and there were a dozen to fill.

"Flourish And Blotts it is," Severus said, and it was barely a week before they had filled in one side of the shelves with all manner of books that interested Harry. The books ranged from spell books, to history books and novels. Some of them were even Muggle and had been bought on a trip to the bookstore in Hawes. Harry told Severus he would read them all.

The cupboard under the stairs no longer being a cupboard and no longer a threat to Harry, Severus set to casting lighting charms on the stairway leading down to the mines. The charms would have to be renewed every few years, but it was well worth the effort given how brightly lit the stairwell now was. It was still narrow and winding, but if Harry could never bring himself to go down there again Severus wouldn't complain. Harry deserved to feel safe and wanted, and Severus was determined to make that a reality for the child he had brought to Bainbridge from the orphanage. For the child that had spent a summer becoming his son.

There was a wardrobe so full of clothes the door could barely close, and the desk against the wall was full of things to draw and write with.

Sometimes there was a trunk full of school books and robes sitting at the foot of the bed, but it was gone now, as it's owner had taken it away to school. All of these things in the room belonged to Harry of Bainbridge, a boy who knew just where he belonged.

* * *

"Harry! Over here!"

Harry turned in the crowd trying to spot Ron. He could hear him calling to him but Platform 9 ¾ was busy with parents and children and all manner of pets trying to carry trunks and owl cages onto the scarlet train.

Someone nudged him and Harry turned to find that his friend had come to him instead. "Hey mate, been looking all over for you."

"Right here," Harry said.

Hermione came up to them a moment later with a big smile and said, "That's a nice trunk Harry. Is it new?" His old one had been second hand from the school and the hinges were barely working.

Draco Malfoy passed by them at that moment and Harry grinned as he met the boy's eyes. "Thanks," he said to Hermione without turning away from Draco, "my father got it for me. We took a trip to Diagonalley last week."

"Your father Harry?" Hermione asked, confused. Draco walked away and Harry turned back to find both of his friends looking at him.

Harry pointed to a tall figure with long black hair who was just about to exit the station. "I got adopted this summer. I live in Bainbridge now. Maybe you could come over over on Christmas break. I'm not spending it alone at the castle this year."

Ron's eyes found who Harry was pointing at just before he disappeared and said, "Was that Snape you were pointing at?"

"No, I was adopted by the Malfoys!" Harry said cheerfully. Several people turned and Ron's face drained of color. Harry slapped him hard on the back though and said, "Of course it was Snape."

"Harry, you're gonna give me a heart attack. Who was it really? Or are you still at the orphanage? I didn't see any of the Father's dropping you off."

Harry gave his friend a serious look and said, "I got adopted by Professor Snape, and Draco is beside himself about it. He came to our house this summer and he was so angry I thought he'd punch me."

"But-" Ron stammered, "why don't you seem upset? It's Snape. Was he horrible to you all summer?"

Harry motioned for them to climb onto the train, and once they were in a compartment by themselves Harry told them about his summer in Bainbridge, about running away to take the train back to the orphanage, and about the father who came to get him. He told them about the father who dragged a teenage boy crying all the way down the lane by his ear to apologize for hitting Harry and stealing his shoes, and about hiking, playing chess and fishing in a river that apparently had no fish because they never caught any.

"A father did drop me off at the station," Harry said to finish his story, "but it was mine this time, not one from the orphanage." For the first time in his life Harry was looking forward to heading to school knowing he had a home to go back to when school was over. He was no longer Harry of the orphanage. He was Harry of Bainbridge, and as much as he belonged to Bainbridge and to Snape, Bainbridge and Snape belonged to him.