Harry felt out of place. He wasn't supposed to be here. He knew it, and he was certain Snape knew it too. Every few hours the Potions Master came into the room to check on him, apply bruise balm, give him potion, and ask if he needed anything. It was awkward and Harry felt it every second that the man was there. Snape wasn't supposed to act like this. He wasn't supposed to offer Harry pudding or draught for upset stomach from all of the other healing potions. He wasn't supposed to act concerned. It was confusing, especially because Harry still saw the real Snape under the false exterior. Under the concern was the tense, oft irritated, snarky man that roamed the Hogwarts dungeons looking for trouble makers (namely Harry and Ron). Harry couldn't help but feel like anything he would do or say here would get him in trouble. Snape had asked him several more times why he hadn't fought back out there in the Muggle world, and each time Harry had failed to answer, retreating into himself. He knew the man was irritated.

While Harry often watched Snape as he came and went, he tried to avoid eye contact, and he was sure this irritated the man too. Why wasn't he saying anything about it? He was supposed to have yelled at him by now... set him to chores, or something. He wasn't sure what protocol dictated when they weren't at school, but Harry was in the man's house... in his domain. Surely there had to be some rules, and Harry was sure they would be strict ones, ones that he could break easily without trying.

"How are you feeling?"

Harry startled from his reverie as professor Snape appeared from the hallway, and though he gave a quick glance up, he threw his eyes to the bed quickly because Snape was looking at him.

"Ok."

Severus crossed his arms as he continued looking at the quiet teen. He never knew if the child was really feeling ok, or was feeling unwell and was unwilling to say anything. Why he was unwilling to ask for the medicine he needed, Severus wasn't certain beyond that the child obviously wasn't used to having someone take care of him.

"Is your stomach still upset?"

Harry stayed quiet and fidgeted with his hands. He wanted to throw up, and wondered if he puked just then if that would be a good enough answer. Something inside him wanted to laugh at that, but he knew he'd better not. He wasn't supposed to laugh in front of Snape.

"Mr. Potter, if you make me go through this line of questioning every time I come in, you will only prolong the awkwardness you seem intent on fostering."

Harry's eyes flickered up briefly and then back down again. Severus left and came back a few moments later with several potions. He set the familiar pink stomach calming draught on the night stand and stood straight again, arms crossed. "If your stomach is upset, you may take a small drink of that, but no more than once every hour. Sit up so I can re-apply the bruise balm."

Harry struggled to sit because his ribs hurt, and startled when a hand gently gripped his arm and helped him sit. The hairs raised on his arms and he hoped the man hadn't noticed. He wasn't used to people touching him. He wasn't used to being treated like this. He wasn't used to Snape... or at least, this Snape.

Closing his eyes and swallowing back a flood of emotions that he didn't understand, Harry tried to concentrate on the darkness of his eyelids until Snape was done and he was alone again. It was just too strange to be here. Not that Harry disliked having a warm bed and as much food as he wanted, but he didn't understand why Snape was giving these things to him. He hadn't adopted him, not really. No one would do that and he didn't deserve it in any case. No, at some point the other shoe would fall... Snape would take him back to the orphanage or the Dursleys (who he was very aware lived just next door, and was fearful that they would show up at the front door demanding him back any day now), or Dumbledore would show up to tell Harry it was time to go back to school. Snape had lied to him, that was it. It had to be. Just another lie to trick Voldemort, or the Ministry, or... Harry lay back on his pillow and closed his eyes again. He didn't want to think about it. The thoughts that kept circling in his mind were making him feel sicker and dizzier. The best thing to do was just sleep, so he did.

* * *

"AHHH!"

Harry was being pinned to the ground and smothered. Uncle Vernon had finally decided to kill him in his cupboard. No, they were in Swanage now, and he was in his dusty basement. Harry struggled but couldn't free himself. But Uncle Vernon was far too light... no, he wasn't in the basement, he had been at the Orphanage for days. It had to be Kirk and the others. Panicking, Harry screamed out again hoping the others would help him. There was a bang somewhere above him and he felt strong hands on his shoulders for a moment as he continued to struggle. It couldn't end this way! Unexpectedly he was free and he scrambled until he met a wall, shielding himself from the blows he was sure were going to come raining down on him any moment now.

"Potter." Warm hands closed on his wrists, but Harry pulled them in towards his body with all his might as he tucked his head down. Even though no one was on top of him now, he still couldn't breath and feared his lungs were damaged.

"Potter, it's over."

Harry grunted as the hands tried to take hold of his wrists again. No, no one had come to help him. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

"Harry."

Harry opened his eyes and was confused to find himself on the floor in a dark room with Snape in front of him, holding his wrists. Harry looked around to verify that Kirk and the other boys, or Vernon and Dudley weren't there, and then tried to suck in breaths, but his airway felt closed and an unnatural sound came from his throat instead.

"Harry, look at me."

Harry's fearful eyes locked on the Potion Master's and he let his hands be pulled away from his chest. Severus let go of them and said seriously, "It was a dream. You are safe, but you are having a panic attack. You need to take slow, deep breaths."

He shook his head, but Snape wouldn't let him break eye contact. "Slow, deep breaths," he said again and Harry tried to think about what he was saying. Slow, slow, breath, you have to breath. Harry didn't know how long they were on the floor before he was finally able to breath properly again, but as soon as he was able, he closed his eyes and let his head fall back to the wall.

"Would you like to talk about what just happened?"

Harry swallowed and didn't say anything.

"Mr. Potter." It was a tone that said Harry had better open his eyes or else he was going to be in trouble, so he did, but he was too embarrassed to look at his professor.

"I was trapped."

"You rolled off the bed. You were wrapped in the blankets."

"Yeah."

"And your nightmare?"

"Didn't have a nightmare."

"After the display I just witnessed for the last ten minutes, I am disinclined to believe you."

Harry suddenly felt like snapping out, 'I'm disinclined to sit here anymore,' but didn't because he didn't know what Snape would do.

"Did you fight back?"

Harry did look up at that as he tried to push himself up but he was feeling weak, probably from the potions. He'd been feeling weak for days now as his bones healed. He ended up right back where he was, rear on the floor and back against the wall.

"Would you like help?" He didn't answer. After long, silent moments, Severus sat down, tired of kneeling.

Harry eyed him wearily. "What are you doing?"

"You are unwilling to ask for help when you need it, and unwilling to speak about your dream, or answer my questions. I will wait."

"You- you're just going to sit on the floor in the dark?"

"It is something you seem content to do," Severus observed and Harry frowned. They sat there for long minutes and Harry knew Snape would tire of this eventually and go back to bed. He looked at him and realized for the first time that the man was indeed in his pajamas (blue), and his feet were as bare as Harry's were. It was cold there on the floor, what was wrong with him? He struggled to get up again, not liking the awkwardness of sitting there across from his professor for no reason at all, and failed again. Snape didn't ask if he wanted help and Harry didn't ask for it.

"Are you going to stay here all night?"

"I'm a patient man Mr. Potter."

Harry snorted then, throwing his hand over his mouth in horror and chancing a glance to see what kind of trouble he would be in, but Severus only raised a brow.

"Yes?"

"Well-" Harry hedged. "You're not the most patient..." thoughts of him shouting at Neville in Potions and snapping at Harry to hurry up in detention came to mind.

"Hm."

Feeling drained Harry desperately wanted to be back in his bed to go back to sleep. He tried for a third time to get up but didn't even make it two inches off the floor. Eventually he'd have to crawl to the bathroom because he had to go. He wished Snape would just go away already so he could crawl down the hall without being embarrassed. After another twenty minutes, Harry knew he could no longer wait. He would have to crawl right past Snape, and practically over the top of him with how close he was sitting.

"I-"

Snape raised his brows when Harry didn't finish, but he also didn't say anything.

Cheeks turning red, Harry cleared his throat. "I need to use the bathroom."

Severus raised his hand and indicated the door a few feet from Harry. "Be my guest."

Harry glared at him. The man knew he couldn't get up. The potions were sapping all of his strength. Why wasn't he asking if Harry needed help? It irritated Harry to some extent that the man only raised his brow. He's daring me, Harry realized. He's daring me to do it myself or else ask for help. Well if that's what the man wanted that's what he'd do. He'd ask for help with every little thing and annoy him senseless.

"I need help," he said, feeling smug, but was surprised when Snape rose suddenly before him in the mostly dark room and lifted Harry just as quickly to his feet from under his arms. The swift motion of rising made Harry's vision go dark and he swayed, but Snape pushed him against the wall and held him there until Harry opened his eyes again and was able to see.

Harry dragged his feet down the hall as Snape kept his hand on Harry's upper arm, ready to catch him if he fell, and was glad to be allowed privacy in the bathroom. He thought about his plan to annoy the man by asking for help with every little thing and thought it would be funny to ask him for help while in the bathroom, but nixed the idea because he didn't think he could stand the embarrassment. He finished and went back to the hallway, holding onto the door frame for support until Snape took his arm again and lead him back to the room.

He allowed himself to collapse face first into the bed and didn't have time to think on his plan to annoy the Potions Master any longer as his eyelids fell closed. He was too tired to think about it, and he wasn't awake long enough to feel Snape pulling the covers up over his back.

* * *

Harry wasn't sure what to feel about the way Snape had been acting. Harry had been a pain to deal with being sick and weak from the potions and unable to do much of anything for himself, and he'd been even more of a pain he was sure by asking for help with every little thing. He felt very much like Dudley or like Draco Malfoy. He'd asked for help to get to the bathroom several times, he asked for Snape to bring him a fresh shirt to change into, and he asked him for a pair of socks on top of that. The man didn't seem annoyed and Harry lost interest in trying to get a rise out of him, so he stopped asking for things. What was wrong with him? At Hogwarts Snape would have snapped about him being spoiled and pampered and using his fame to order people around. Here he just did as Harry asked and did so quietly, without even a frown or snide remark.

The days passed quietly as Harry healed. Snape occasionally still asked him why he didn't fight back or if he was hungry, or how he was feeling, but that was the extent of their words with each other for the five days it took Harry's bones and other injuries to heal. The only other real sounds was the racket Harry made almost every night, screaming or thrashing about and knocking things off the nightstand in his sleep. Snape would always come in to see if he was all right, but Harry never spoke to him about the dreams.

Harry supposed he had always had the dreams. He'd woken Ron a few times at Hogwarts and the Burrow, and sometimes Uncle Vernon would yell at him at night from down the hall to shut up. He couldn't remember having any nightmares at the orphanage, but he didn't really sleep long enough at the orphanage to dream. He was constantly woken in the middle of the night by Kirk to get beaten or by other boys rising to use the bathroom at all hours.

He never liked waking other people with his dreams, but he felt even worse about doing so here. Uncle Vernon was irritated by his screaming in the night, and Ron mostly pretended to still be asleep to keep Harry's dignity intact. But Snape always came in to see if he was ok. It was strange. The man never looked worried or concerned when he came to ask Harry if he was ok. His face was always impassive when dealing with him since Harry had screamed at him at the rubbish bins almost two weeks ago. Harry didn't like it. It was unsettling because he didn't know what the man was thinking or when he was angry. If he didn't know when he was angry, he couldn't predict when he would snap.

The door opened and Snape appeared, almost as if he knew Harry was thinking about him. Harry glanced up to see if there was any sign of the man's mood on his face, but there was none, so he looked away and focused on a spot on the bed. He'd been able to get up and walk around his room today and go to the bathroom by himself. He was still a little weak and tired but his wrist and ribs felt great and the bruises were almost gone. Snape had said earlier this morning that the potions would be out of his system by tomorrow afternoon.

"Where are your things?"

"Sir?"

"Your school things and clothes. Where are they located in your aunt and uncle's house?"

"In the basement in a closet. It's locked."

"Can the closet be seen from the basement window?"

"Yes sir."

"I will return. You are to stay here."

He turned to leave and Harry frowned at his back. Where was he going? Surely not to get his things. Harry panicked then, wondering if the man was going to go and tell his relatives where Harry was, or to tell them to take Harry back because he was too much trouble. Harry opened his door and found the hall empty. His window looked out at the bay and he needed to find a window that looked towards his aunt and uncle's house. He tried the next door down the hall and found it locked. The next door was unlocked and he opened it cautiously in case Snape was inside. Harry hadn't been told he couldn't explore the house, but he was sure it was a rule.

Squinting because the curtains were closed and the room was dark, Harry stepped inside and felt like he was going to get caught somewhere where he shouldn't be. This was obviously Snape's room, and the man would kill him if he found him in here. But he had to see out the window!

Harry hurried across the room and pulled the curtain aside just far enough to see out. Snape was heading towards the back yard and the basement window. Was he crazy!? It was the middle of the day! Harry's eyes darted to the driveway and he was relieved to see that neither car was there. Uncle Vernon was at work and Aunt Petunia was probably out buying something for Dudley. Dudley always went grocery shopping with her because that way he could point out exactly what he wanted to eat and what sweets he wanted. Often he came back with an entire bag full of candies, cookies and cakes and another bag full of nothing but crisps. When Harry looked back to the backyard, Snape had disappeared from view. Harry couldn't see his little basement window from here.

He waited anxiously and several minutes passed before Snape came back into sight and came into the backyard via the gate that linked the two properties. Remembering he was where he shouldn't be, Harry's heart started to beat frantically and he hurried back to his room where he sat on his bed. His palms were sweaty so he wiped them on his only pair of pants.

Snape came up a few minutes later and stuck his hand into his pocket, withdrawing Harry's shrunken trunk and broom.

"I was able to retrieve them from the window without going inside. The window is too small for my frame." He gave Harry a close looking over then as if wondering how Harry could possibly have fit through it.

"It's a tight fit," Harry said in answer to the unspoken question.

Harry's trunk and broom were unshrunk and Harry went to it and pulled out his wand. He hated being without it because it made him feel vulnerable. Snape stood over him as Harry rummaged through it, and when Harry stepped back with his favorite shirt to put on, he noted that for the first time in days, the man had an expression on his face. He seemed unimpressed.

"These are all of your belongings?"

"Hedwig and her cage are at Ron's house."

"And this is all of your clothing?"

Harry looked back at the trunk. A few shirts and three pairs of pants that were too small. Holey socks and some underwear that weren't much better.

"Yes."

"You do not have enough to get through one week."

Well, it was better than at the orphanage Harry thought, where he washed his clothes every other day. When Harry didn't say anything, Snape crossed his arms.

"Tomorrow we will go into town."

"Sir?"

"I have errands to run. We can get clothes in town." He left before Harry could say anything. Harry had a bag full of wizard coins but no Muggle money. How was he going to buy clothes?

Instead of having dinner in his room, Snape asked him to come downstairs and Harry obeyed. He had seen the downstairs the first night when he'd come in but that had been a week ago and he'd been in the middle of a panic attack so he hadn't been paying attention.

There was a large living room with an old piano that looked like it rarely got used, and a few Muggle electronics like lamps and a radio, but no telly. There was a coat rack on the wall with several dark coats and robes hung from it, and a shelf on the floor under it with two pairs of boots and a pair of dress shoes. The curtains were open and it felt very bright compared to the dark oppressive hallway upstairs, or to Snape's dark room, which Harry really hadn't paid attention to when he'd been inside.

Through a door frame in the living room was the dining room and kitchen. Harry sat at the table and Snape set a plate of steak and kidney pie in front of him with a fizzy drink. Harry stared at the can. Snape drank this sort of thing? It was distinctly Muggle... Ron thought fizzy drinks were a treat for special occasions because that was the only time his family went to Muggle grocery stores.

"Is there something wrong with your drink Mr. Potter?" Snape asked, sitting across the table with his own meal. Harry noted that he had coffee.

"No," Harry said, but he was too curious for his own good. Would Snape allow him to ask a question? "This is... Muggle."

"You don't consume Muggle foods?"

"I do... I didn't think you did."

"We live in a Muggle neighborhood and I do not like to go all the way to Diagonalley or one of the other wizarding villages to shop for groceries."

"Oh."

Harry didn't often get to drink fizzy drinks. Dudley and Uncle Vernon did, but Harry was usually only allowed to have water or sometimes milk. At Hogwarts they drank pumpkin juice or other drinks like butterbeer.

They ate in silence and Harry wondered what else Snape had in the pantry that was Muggle. Did he buy crisps too? There were certain kinds that Harry liked. Wizards had crisps that tasted like root beer, orange creme, licorice and sweet things, but Harry liked the Muggle crisps that were salty. If he was going to have something sweet he wanted chewy candy or some kind of pastry or other desert.

After dinner Harry went back to his room and pulled out his summer homework. He might as well get it done now that he had his books back. There were four essays to do and he had almost nine chapters to read in various books, as well as a list of questions he was supposed to answer. He was in no hurry, thinking he'd be in this room for the rest of the summer aside from his trip into town with Snape tomorrow. He lazily read one of the assigned chapters in his Charms text and wrote down a few notes for his essay, and then went to bed, not certain what to expect from tomorrow.

* * *

"How much money do you have with you?" Severus asked after breakfast.

Harry dug in his pocket. "Two Galleons worth sir."

"That is not enough for clothing." He held out his hand, and Harry uncertainly handed his handful of coins over down to the last Knut. Snape looked at it for a moment as if counting and then reached into his own pocket and withdrew a black leather wallet. He handed Harry 26 pounds from it, and Harry took it with a frown. That was awfully nice of him to exchange it for Harry. But then again he had said they weren't going to go to a wizarding village today. Harry knew about Diagonalley and Hogsmead but he wasn't sure where else witches and wizards would shop.

"Where do wizards shop?" Harry asked as they headed for the door.

"Aside from the obvious, there are hidden wizard stores across the country. There is also a small alley in Tinworth with about eight stores, Danger Alley in London, which is off limits to you," here the man gave Harry a pointed look to further warn him off from ever going there, "a shopping center in Falmouth and several areas in Mould-on-the-Wold that are completely magic."

"Oh."

"We will be staying in Swanage today."

He led Harry out the front door and Harry followed. He hadn't really been out of the neighborhood at this point except to go to work at the cafe. That was the furthest he'd been and he didn't know what else was in town. Harry was surprised when Snape lead him right down the street to the cafe, which was full of people in the daytime.

"Sir- where are we going?" They had crossed the street and were heading right for the cafe where Addy worked. Harry didn't have any desire to go in there.

"Right here," he said. They stopped outside and he opened the door, motioning for Harry to go in ahead of him. Addy wasn't behind the counter but Harry didn't expect her to be. She didn't start work until the afternoon.

Harry wondered if Snape just wanted a cup of coffee, but he went right up to the counter and said, "I wish to speak to the manager."

"Just a moment," the barista said and went into the back room. Addy's brother came out a minute later. He spotted Harry and frowned.

"Yes?" he asked Snape.

"It has come to my attention that you owe this young man money. He worked here for two weeks and was denied pay at the end of that time."

"He was paid in food!" the manager said angrily, trying to keep his voice down so his customers didn't hear.

"How many pastries did you get?" Snape said to Harry sharply, and Harry tensed up. Was the man mad at him now?

"I think eleven."

Snape turned back to the manager. "How much do you pay your employees?"

"Six pounds an hour."

"How much are the pastries?"

"One pound."

"Then he ate eleven pounds worth of pastries," Snape said. "He worked for fourteen days for four hours a day. His pay would have been 336 pounds. After the pastries that's 325 pounds that you still owe him." Harry supposed with all of the measuring he did in Potions that he would be very good at maths.

The manager stared at him. "He was a lousy employee. He was fired."

"He worked hard and quit because you refused to pay him. Regardless, you still owe him for the days that he worked." Snape began to raise his voice from the low tones he had been using and Harry was certain the man wanted to make the manager nervous that customers would start to listen in on the conversation. "Should I contact the authorities?" he finally asked the man across the counter.

"No." He went to the register and agitatedly counted out 325 pounds. When he came back he thrust the wad of money across the counter and into Harry's hands. Snape did not say thank you, and turned to leave.

Harry was stunned. He turned to follow Snape out, who was already out the door, but the manager stopped him with, "Kid. Don't come back in here. And don't bring your dad back either."

Harry stared at him. His dad?

"Go on," the manager said, sounding wary and tired, and Harry put the money in his pocket with the other 26 pounds he had and walked out. Snape was outside waiting for him, and Harry stared up at him as they continued to walk down the street. Why had he done that for him? Harry thought that if Snape ever did have kids that they would probably be well looked after. When he wasn't yelling at Harry or putting him down or trying to give him detention he wasn't all that bad.

They walked for almost ten minutes before they made it to a small clothing store for men and boys. Snape didn't say anything and Harry didn't need telling twice. He'd never had this much Muggle money before, or time to go and get clothes.

Harry wasn't impressed with a lot of the clothes which were mostly summer and beach wear, but he did get several pairs of cargo shorts and a few t-shirts and a pair of sandals.

"There is another shop up the road," Snape said when Harry had paid for his purchases, and Harry was pleased to find that the next shop had normal clothing. Harry was able to get pants, socks and underwear, more short sleeve shirts, and several zip up hoodies.

They also stopped at a shoe store and Harry got a pair of sneakers and a pair of hiking boots. His money was dwindling and he only had ten or eleven pounds left.

"Thank you," he said when they exited the shoe store.

"For?"

"For getting my money from the manager."

"It is something you should have done," he said and he gave Harry a stern look. Harry wasn't sure if he was putting him down or giving him advice. "Nevertheless, it was your first job and you could not be expected to know how to stand up to an employer."

Behind a building Snape shrunk down Harry's purchases and gave them back to Harry to put in a pocket, and then they went to the grocery story, 'The Co-Operative Food'. Harry watched curiously as Snape put item after item into the cart. He felt out of place. He was with Severus Snape in a Muggle grocery store. Harry supposed he would fit in here because he was raised Muggle, but wizards used house elves to do this sort of thing, didn't they? Maybe Snape couldn't afford to buy or hire one.

"What kind of foods do you like?"

Harry stared at him. No one cared what Harry liked. He just ate what was given to him and did so without complaint. "I'll eat anything sir," he said.

"I am aware of that fact Potter. I asked you what you liked."

Harry couldn't help his eyes from traveling towards the crisp aisle and without a word Snape turned the shopping cart in that direction.

"You will choose twelve things to put into this cart."

"You want me to buy twelve bags of crisps?"

"Twelve items. I would advise against twelve bags of crisps."

Harry frowned. "What kind of things do you want me to put in?"

"Whatever non-sensible things that boys your age like to consume in ungodly amounts."

Harry almost snorted. Only Snape could put it like that. He walked forward and put a bag of red crisps into the cart and then looked at Snape expectantly.

"My shopping is done. We will not leave the store until eleven more items of your choosing are in the cart."

Great, Harry thought. He's going to follow me around. He had half a mind to disobey him and just throw eleven more bags of crisps in to get the task over with, but the man had been nice to him and he didn't want to make him angry. He'd much rather deal with this Severus Snape than the other less pleasant version of him.

Harry put a box of canned fizzy drinks into the cart in the next aisle as well as several chewy fruit flavored Muggle candies he thought he'd like to try and then went to the refrigerated section of the store and put yogurt in the cart. Dudley hated yogurt because it was healthy and so Harry always got to eat it when Aunt Petunia bought it, even if it was past the expiration date. It was one of the only sweet things he'd ever been allowed to enjoy.

"Five more things," Snape said. He'd been keeping count apparently. Harry didn't know what else to add. He ended up putting in a package of cookies and a box of individually wrapped cakes with frosting striped like a zebra. The last things he put in the cart were bagels, cream cheese, and a whole pineapple. Snape raised his brows at the last addition but didn't say anything as he turned the shopping cart towards the checkout lines.

Outside he discreetly did a charm to make their load lighter and they headed back towards the house. Harry looked at his watch. It was lunch time and he wondered if his aunt and cousin would be home. He didn't want to be seen because they'd make trouble for him. There were 27 more days until Hogwarts and he didn't want to spend those days with them.

Petunia's car wasn't there when they got back and Harry hurried into the house anxiously.

"I believe they are in London," Snape said as Harry took the four bags of groceries he was carrying into the kitchen and set them on the counter.

"Sir?"

"Your relatives. I overheard them talking yesterday about a trip to London."

"Oh."

Harry didn't know which cupboards to put the food in so he watched where Snape put things so he could help next time, and then watched as the man made two sandwiches.

"You may eat the snack foods in your room provided that all trash, dishes, and crumbs make their way back to the kitchen before you go to bed at night. If I find ants in your room that will change."

"Yes sir," Harry said. Snape had put all of the junk food Harry had picked out in one cupboard and Harry took that to mean that it was now his cupboard.

Harry took the red bag of crisps and disappeared up the stairs, presumably to his room as Severus continued to put groceries away. The boy seemed... confused, but happy. At least happier than he had been in the last several weeks, and likely since he had gotten off the Hogwarts express to return home. Severus on the other hand had grown more and more perturbed since first finding out that Harry lived next door and was apparently not being treated well. The boy wasn't resistant to being helped it seemed, only to helping himself. He didn't ask for things he wanted or needed at all, and refused to tell Severus when he was hurt or feeling unwell. Whenever Severus asked him what he was thinking about or going through his eyes glazed over and he simply shut down. What was even more disturbing was that in going back over his dealings with the boy at Hogwarts he could think of many instances when the boy was unwilling to ask for help there as well, meaning that Severus had judged the boy's character wrong from the start.

Poppy often spoke of Harry's friends having to drag him to the Hospital Wing when he was sick instead of him going in on his own. The child never asked for help in any of his classes, (something Albus boasted about in staff meetings. "He's such a strong lad, don't you agree? He always figures out a solution on his own,"). Severus shook his head. Headstrong was the word he had thought whenever Albus boasted about him. Stubborn, and reckless. Harry failed to tell teachers about major issues he and his friends were dealing with, such as the Philosopher's stone, the basilisk in the walls, or Sirius Black.

As Severus poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table to mull events over, he realized now that perhaps it wasn't recklessness and stubbornness that led Potter from one event to the next. It was only that he didn't like to rely on people, or perhaps didn't know how. That and not sticking up for himself, though Severus thought that this was probably a new part of Harry's personality. The only thing he had ever admired about the boy was the way he handled himself in those dangerous, reckless situations. He had now faced down Voldemort, or versions of him three times, and had also faced down Sirius Black before Harry knew the true events that had lead the man to be put into Azkaban. Severus had been trying to bring about Harry's defiant ‘stand up and fight' streak since he'd taken him from the orphanage, but how to get him to start asking for help when he needed it... he hadn't a clue how to tackle that issue. What he wanted was Dumbledore's advice, but he didn't fancy speaking to the man just now and bearing his wrath. He was certain the Headmaster had been notified by now by some sort of Ministry Magic that the boy's guardianship had changed to Severus, but he'd yet to hear a word of it. No, he'd rather wait until they were back at Hogwarts to deal with that cluster of basilisks.

* * *

"I have several things I must retrieve from Hogwarts in order to prepare for the upcoming school year."

Harry looked up from his spot on his bedroom floor where he was lying and writing his Charms essay.

"Ok," he said. Harry wasn't certain if that meant he'd be going with him or not, but the man answered his question with his next sentence.

"Can I assume you have enough to keep you occupied here until I return? I should not be gone longer than an hour."

Harry nodded. He only had another paragraph or two to finish up his Charms essay but after that he had planned on doing the reading for his Potions essay. He didn't want to think about the punishment he'd receive for not turning that in on time when the professor knew he'd had the time to complete it.

"Then I will return in one hour. After that I will make lunch and we can discuss going to get your school supplies." He turned and left the room and Harry wondered how that would go. He usually went to get his supplies with the Weasleys. The owl carrying the school supply list had come last night after dinner.

Harry finished his Charms essay and read over it and then thought that before starting his Potions essay it might be nice to make lunch so it would be ready when Snape returned. The man had been nice to him the last couple of weeks after all, feeding him, getting his money from the cafe, and liberating him from the orphanage, even if it was all just a ruse. Harry went downstairs and began pulling items out of the cupboard to make sandwiches. He was halfway through the first one when he heard loud noises outside. There was shouting and it sounded like some of the metal rubbish bins had been knocked over though he wasn't sure if it was their bins or not. Harry went to the living room window and saw nothing on the street, then went to another window, one that faced the Dursleys, and his insides chilled. Jason and another boy Harry didn't recognize were out in front of the Dursleys with Dudley. Dudley was on the ground on top of two knocked over rubbish bins and Jason was laughing as the other boy pushed Dudley down as he tried to get up. Suddenly Harry's fear of being discovered by his relatives was nowhere to be found. He didn't know what had seized him but something had and he ran out the front door and over to the other boys. He placed himself between the two boys from the orphanage and Dudley.

"Oh look, there's the liar now," Jason said with a laugh. "I wondered if yeh were dead bein' taken out by that loony tha' lives next to yer cousin."

"Not dead," Harry said, searching his mind for how Jason knew about his relation to Dudley but then remembering that he'd told him at the start of the summer.

"Not yet," said the nameless boy. He sounded like Kirk but his hair was different and he was dressed in nice clothes and expensive new trainers. Harry looked more closely and realized that it was Kirk. Kirk smirked.

"Just come back for a visit, yeah? Me new mum and dad bought me a lot of nice things and I convinced them to bring some nice things to the orphanage for the other boys too. They thought that was a respectable thing for me to do." He glared at Harry. "See somehow they got the impression that I was a troublemaker. That I was throttling other kids. They set me to a strict schedule and enrolled me in a military school to set me straight." Here he ran his hand over his short and very strict looking new haircut.

Some of Harry's former courage left him as he realized that Kirk was there not to torment Dudley, but to find Harry and throttle him again. Dudley was just the bait since they knew Harry was living with Snape next door.

"You know them Harry?" Dudley asked, trying to extricate himself from the rubbish bins and finally managing to stand up behind him. There was a shake to Dudley's voice and for just a brief moment Harry wondered what Dudley had thought about his cousin's disappearance or if he'd even noticed he was gone at all.

"Yes," Harry ground out. His fists were balled up. He wondered if aunt Petunia was home or even Uncle Vernon. He was half afraid Dudley was going to switch sides and grab him from behind.

"He looks afraid Kirk," Jason said. "They both do."

"Oh, don't be afraid Spit Licker. You know it isn't that bad."

"You'd better go inside," Harry said to Dudley, and at that moment they heard Aunt Petunia standing in the door somewhere behind them calling to Dudley. "Dudley, come here. Right now, come along. You don't need to be involved. Come inside," she pleaded with him.

Harry could feel Dudley backing up towards the sound of his mother's voice, and a smirk broke out on Kirk's face again as Jason gave a chuckle. "Now he is smart isn't he," Kirk said. They both lunged at Harry at the same time and knocked him to the ground on top of the rubbish bins. Harry struck the air twice and then hit something solid but wasn't sure how much damage he'd done to the other person since the blows kept coming down on him. Instead of trying to fight he focused on covering his face and head and hoped he wouldn't need too much bone regrowth potion after this was over. It seemed like forever until the blows stopped making contact with his body but was only a few moments. Harry opened his eyes as Jason shouted and Kirk cursed. Harry looked through his hands and arms. Snape was standing there clad all in black in the bright sunlight and Jason was on the ground looking dazed behind him. Snape had Kirk by the arm and both looked murderous. Harry looked around for Dudley and Aunt Petunia but they were gone and the front door was closed. He supposed they had probably locked themselves inside.

"Let go of me you bastard," Kirk said, trying to wrench his arm free, but Snape held tight, jaw set firmly and lips in a thin line.

"I think not," he said.

"My dad's police."

"Good," Severus said, "then he'll be here shortly, and all of the witnesses involved can give their side of the story to him."

Kirk looked around and realized now that several other neighbors were standing outside or in their open front doors. He struggled for a moment and tried to hit Snape in the face, but in one swift move Snape had moved out of the way and was now holding both of Kirk's arms from behind. A siren sounded briefly and Harry tore his eyes away from the scene before him to see that a police car was pulling up. As the officer stepped out of his car Harry watched the man's eyes travel from Snape, who was just letting go of Kirk, to Jason who still looked dazed, to Harry lying between the fallen rubbish bins, covered in blood and beginning to bruise.

"Allrigh' lads, what's goin' on here?"

Kirk began shouting right away. "This creep came out of nowhere and began hitting us officer! My dad's an officer!"

The officer frowned and then looked to Snape as he was the only adult who seemed to be involved.

"I came home from an errand and found these two on top of my son hitting him. I cannot speak to how it started." He motioned to Harry on the ground and noted that Harry's eyes were glazed over again.

The officer turned to Harry. "What's your side?"

Harry looked up and then let his eyes drop back to the ground somewhere near the officer's feet. "I heard some noise and looked out the window. They were trying to beat up Dudley so I came out."

"He's lyin!" Jason shouted, but the officer held up a hand to quiet him.

"Dudley?"

Harry motioned behind him to the Dursley's front door and the officer ignored everyone else for a moment as he walked up the steps and path to knock on the door. Aunt Petunia opened it and looked past the officer to Harry with disdain.

"I need to speak with Dudley."

"It's those awful boys," Petunia said, "the lot of them," she added. "They started this. My Dudley's got nothing to do with it."

"Tell him to come out," the officer said and she moved aside to reveal Dudley, who looked irritated more than anything else.

"They started it," he said. "The ugly two. They jumped me and then my cousin came running out of nowhere and told them to shove off."

"And your cousin is?"

Dudley pointed to Harry who was now picking himself up off the ground.

"I heard what that man - Snape said," Petunia interrupted, pushing her way back into the conversation. "He's not Harry's father. He's a liar. Harry ran away weeks ago. He's thrown his lot in with those hoodlums."

"Maam, those boys are from the orphanage over on Gilbert Road. Is the other boy - Harry, really your nephew?"

"Yes! We have custody of him! Not that we want him back after he's brought those boys around here to hurt Dudley."

The officer was about to ask for proof but Snape had pulled, seemingly from thin air, proof that he was Harry's legal guardian and walked it up to the officer on Petunia's front step.

"Ridiculous," she said, but turned her nose up at the papers, not wanting to look at them. "Good riddance to him. You can take him." With that sorted out the officer walked back to Kirk and his friend. Several elderly neighbors had come over now to tell the officer what they had seen, and their story corroborated what Harry, Dudley, and Snape had told him.

Snape and Dudley watched with some satisfaction as the officer loaded up the two boys and the bicycle into his car and drove away towards the orphanage, but Harry's eyes were glazed over when Snape turned back to him again.

"Go inside," he said, and Harry did as he was told, followed closely by Snape. Harry didn't turn back to look at his aunt and cousin, but knew that they were watching him go into the house just next door. Now they knew where he was, and on top of that Snape was mad at him for getting into a fight. He shouldn't have gone out of the house.

Snape swept past Harry and into the kitchen and Harry stopped where he was and just stood there. Was he going to get a wooden spoon to hit him with? That's what Aunt Petunia would have done, and he still half expected her to come barging in the front door with a wooden spoon any moment.

Severus came back into the living room a moment later with a handful of potions and bruise balms and found Harry staring at the front door.

"Lock it if you are worried about it," he said, and Harry turned to stare at him blankly, and then went and locked the door.

"Sit."

Harry went to the couch and did as he was told.

"I'm sorry," he started off right away. It was better to apologize first off. Then maybe his punishment wouldn't be quite as bad.

"For what?" He began unscrewing a lid off a jar of bruise balm.

"Going outside," Harry said.

"You were not banned from going out, though I am surprised that you did."

Harry eyed him warily.

"It happened as you told the officer?"

"They pushed Dudley down and I heard the racket."

"I did not realize you and your cousin were that close."

"What do you mean?"

"You do not fight back for yourself, but you put yourself in danger for him."

Harry heaved a sigh and then realized that his face hurt when Snape touched his cheek below his eye with the cold balm. Harry flinched and pulled back, but then held still when he realized that Snape was still waiting to put on the balm.

"You are a mystery," Snape said as he began applying the balm. Harry looked up and held his gaze for a moment. He didn't think he was a mystery. Snape was a mystery. He flinched when Snape touched a particularly tender spot above his bruised eye.

"I want to know why you do not fight back."

I know you do, Harry thought to himself, but remained silent. Why should he fight back? It was just what he was used to. It was always worse if he fought back. Fighting back meant he had a reason to. Fighting back was holding on to a belief he'd let go of a long time ago. He could barely remember what it felt like to believe he was worth the trouble. No one else thought he was anyhow.

Severus felt perturbed when Harry's eyes glazed over again. Stubborn child, he thought to himself, but then stopped himself from saying it out loud. Maybe he wasn't stubborn. Just what he was though Severus didn't know.

After putting the bruise balm on Harry's face, neck, arms and wrists he stood up and went to put the potions and balms away. Harry stayed where he was on the couch. Harry was out of the orphanage, so why was Snape keeping up this ruse of adopting him? Well, maybe he had to today to keep Harry from going back to the Dursleys, but he didn't have to go and tell that officer that Harry was his son. He wasn't. Harry had had exactly one father and he was long gone. He wished Snape would just drop it already. It was cruel to lead Harry to think that he had someone- anyone at all to be there for him. It was better if Harry didn't get his hopes up. The fall wouldn't be as hard later if he didn't.