Harry was furious. He was just so angry. This time aunt Marge really hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately for her, getting Harry furious didn’t do her much good. Personally Harry thought she deserved everything she got, even though the Dursley’s were enraged, which might not be all to good for him. His uncle was even more unreasonable than usual, and had with a tremendous amount of rage, blatantly refused to let Harry stay with them any longer. On the other hand, he supposed even living on the streets would be quite the upgrade from his usual summers. Not to mention that he had quite the bit of gold, so he could easily book a room at the leaky cauldron and stay there until term started.

He would of course have preferred to stay with his friends for the summer, but that was not possible at the moment. As a matter of fact he had been a bit jealous of both Ron and Hermione at the end of term when they were discussing their plans for the summer. But he was genuinely happy on their behalf, especially for Ron and his family. They had always been so good to him, and he knew they didn’t have as much money as they should have had. Mr. Weasley had been invited to speak of the extension of muggle technology at an international conference, and was allowed to bring his family for a bit of a vacation. Therefor Ron, Ginny and the twins had traveled out of the country for the summer. Percy was of course caught up in his job and didn’t want to go. Therefore he stayed behind to look after the house and their pets. Harry had sent Hedwig along, and Percy had promised to take good care of her. Even though he missed her very much, he knew he had made the right choice. It just was not safe to have her in the house with his unstable uncle around.

Hermione was also traveling with her family. She and her parents were apparently visiting a lot of different countries for the holiday’s. She had been very excited about all the places she was going to see, and all she would learn about the cultures, both magic and muggle. And he must admit that it did sound pretty cool. She had been especially exited about the ancient magical history of France, and the newly discovered uses of fluxweed by one of the most skilled potions masters of Europe. Apparently he had discovered that fluxweed plucked at the full moon not only was useful for polyjuice potion, but also had great effects when used alongside the Runespoor eggs in the Baruffio’s brain elixir. Supposedly it would make the common side effect of a critically depleted magical core, less severe. Regardless of the fact that neither Ron nor Harry understood half of what she was babbling on about, it did sound quite impressive.

This events however led to the fact that Harry had no idea where to go, without an owl to contact anyone and with he’s friends gone and unable to help. And despite the fact that Harry had a huge vault with piles of fat golden coins, he didn’t have a single penny available at this time.

Harry had been storming down the streets with an impressive speed, considering the overly large and heavy trunk he was dragging along. But even the white hot rage he had been feeling could not keep his body moving at such a pace any longer. He had slowed down to a moderate pace, and was trying to think of what to do. He slowly came to a holt and sat down on his trunk with his head in his hands, trying and failing to come up with a single idea. This was how he sat when he suddenly heard a noise from the trees on the opposite side of the road. It sounded like a twig breaking, and he could probably have passed it of on the wind that was currently picking up it’s pace, if it had not been for the black soulless eyes staring at him from behind a bush. Harry jumped violently and fell of his trunk, he thrust his wand out of his pocket, pointing it at the huge doglike creature. All at once a light flew out of his wand casting light at the outskirts of the trees, the creature growled, and lounged in the opposite direction, and a massive bus nearly run him over. He was taken aback when the bus stopped quite violently, and the doors flew up to reveal a guy at the entrance.

Harry spun his head, and with his heart hammering madly, took in the strange scene. In front of him was a huge purple bus with three floors, and on the steps stood a young bloke, that could not be a lot older than himself. He had hair that reached just above the shoulders, a freckled face, and was currently reading a card in a way that was obviously meant to be a professional manner.

“Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizaard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this evening.” The guy apparently named Stan stated. He paused, and looked down at Harry.

“What are you doin down there for, ey?” He asked in a much less professional manner.

“I fell over” Harry mumbled , rather confused of the whole situation

“Well, w’hat you fall over for then?”

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Harry stated, a bit annoyed.

“Well, come in then, no point waiti’n for the grass to grow.” He said while dragging Harry’s trunk inside. With a final apprehensive look to the woods, and the feeling of cold panic not quite letting go, Harry followed the strange guy inside.

“Take ‘er away Ern!” Stan called out to the driver. And at once the bus shot forward at a tremendous speed. Harry had just enough time to grab the nearest handle before everything was thrown backwards in the bus.

The ride that followed was decidedly one of the weirdest he at experienced. He paid 3 sickles for the trip to the leaky cauldron, and a hot chocolate that Stan poured all over him when the bus took an especially sharp turn. For awhile he was busy trying to get used to the sensation of being squished, stretched, and thrown around, but after a while it became a bit more bearable. He then caught a glimpse at the cover of the paper the conductor was reading, a man who was holding a badge, and looking quite deranged was pictured on the front page.

“Who is that? That man?” Harry asked.

“Who is that?... Who is... THAT is Sirius Black that is! Don't tell me you've never been hearing of Sirius Black?” Stan stated incredulously.

When Harry shook his head, he continued.

“He's a murderer. Got himself locked up in Azkaban for it.” Stan said mysteriously.

“How did he escape?” Harry asked, definitely interested now.

“ Well that's the question, ain’t it? He's the first one who did it. He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who. Reckon you've heard of him?”

“Yeah... him I've heard of.” Harry said quietly, not utterly keen to discuss that subject. But the conversation with Stan had at least given him something to think about for the remainder of the trip.

When Harry got off the bus, right outside the leaky cauldron in London, he thanked Stan and turned around to face non other than Professor Dumbledore and the minister of magic himself. He felt his heart sink in his chest, in the action of the moment he had all but forgotten about the accidental magic he had used to blow up his aunt. He sure had gotten himself in to dire straits now.

“Ah, Harry, my dear boy, quite the magnificent moment to turn up, I must say” Dumbledore said, and gave Harry a wink.

“Harry? Harry Potter?! I though’ you looked a bit familiar! Do you see that Ern! It’s Harry Potter!” Stan more or less shouted out.

“Yes, yes, it’s Harry Potter. Well, thank you for getting Harry here safely, but we rather must be off.” The minister said while shooing Harry inside the pub while asking Tom the innkeeper to bring along Harry’s trunk.

_______

Harry sat rather confused in a comfortable armchair by the fire. Dumbledore and the minister who sat across from him had just finished telling him a baffling tale about a Sirius Black, who was supposed to want to kill him. Or more exactly Dumbledore had told him about this man in his usual vague manner, though quite straight forward, while the minister sat beside him trying to sugarcoat everything. He seemed a bit embarrassed that such a heavy guarded prisoner had been able to escape his fierce prison guards in his time as minister, especially considering that this was something none other had managed to do. To Harry’s great astonishment they had just about brushed over the fact that his aunt Marge had been bobbing up and down in the ceiling for over an hour, with the minister just uttering a few short sentences about the matter;

“The magical reversal squad has been to your aunt and uncle’s house. So that’s that, and no harm done. However, they are a bit reluctant to let you stay the rest of the summer. But not to worry my boy! You will have a nice and safe place to be for the remainder of the holidays.”

Even though Harry had a slight feeling of unease, he couldn’t muster any true sense of fear whether it was for his living arrangements or Sirius Black, at the moment he was just too tired.

Dumbledore, good hearted and kind as he could be, was as always to some degree a manipulative bastard. Therefore he chose this moment to discuss Harry’s living arrangements, very aware that he would not be at all happy, but at the moment hopefully too tired to argue that much.

“However, there is one more thing I would like to discuss with you. I wish to talk to you about where you are going to live for the remainder of the holiday’s.” Dumbledore said with a smile.

This did get Harry’s attention.

“Well, there really isn’t anywhere for me to stay is there Professor? I mean Ron and Hermione are out of the country, and my aunt and uncle definitely do not want me there. Can’t I just stay here at the leaky cauldron?” Harry asked in a hopeful tone. He could only imagine three whole months of Dursley free holiday’s to enjoy in Diagon alley and muggle London. His hopes of a nice, relaxing summer however were soon to be crushed to pieces by Dumbledore’s next words.

“Ah, no I’m sorry Harry but that is just not safe for you at the moment. I have in fact arranged for you to live at a more secure location, with an adult to look after you.” Dumbledore said with that all to familiar twinkle in his eyes. Harry was definitely uneasy, the expression on Dumbledore’s face told him that this was not something he would like nearly as much as the old man in front of him.

“Um, okay. Where is it then, and with who.” He asked a bit apprehensively.

“You will be living with Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy, at Professor Snape’s summer home.”

“WHAT?!!” Harry shouted out. He may be tired, but not even that could take away the blow of that statement. He could not believe it, this really could not be happening. He stared blankly at the headmaster, begging to the heavens that he had misunderstood, or that this was some sort of twisted joke.

“Now, Harry, it won’t be so bad. Maybe you all could learn to get along.” Dumbledore answered calmly. His eyes twinkling madly.

Harry just stared at him with his mouth slightly open. No, no, NO, he could not go there. If he had to stay the whole summer with Snape AND Malfoy, he would not come back to Hogwarts in one piece. He gulped, horrible images of the many forms of torture Snape would do to him before he mercilessly killed him sprung to his head. The things Snape could do to him with nobody around to stop him, Dumbledore could not be SERIOUS?! This would make his uncle’s treatment of him seem rather merciful, and Harry honestly felt that they hurt quite enough. As a matter of fact he rather thought he had enough pain at the moment, with his yearly “coming home for summer present” still being quite fresh on his body.

Before Harry could even get himself together to argue his case, Dumbledore stood up, patted him on his thigh, and with twinkling eyes said

“Really now Harry, it could even be fun.” Dumbledore winked at him “Would you care for a lemon drop?”. Harry shook his head to get rid of the fog that had clouded his thoughts, and when he opened his eyes Dumbledore was gone, and in his open palm laid a small yellow sugary sweet.

_______

When Harry woke the next morning he felt gloomy. He was starting to think that the headmaster had gone barking mad, leaving him with Snape of all people. Not even one single thing could go right in his life. He must really have been an awful person in an earlier life to deserve this. He swung his legs sideways of the bed, and started getting ready while he was drowning in his own self pity. At least he had gotten one night of peace before all hell would break loose. That was if you where counting a restless night packed of nightmares peace.

Tom had come to see him a bit earlier to inform him that breakfast was on the table, and that Snape would be there within an hour. With a huge sigh and a angsty feeling in his chest he dragged his feet slowly down the worn staircase that led down to the pub. The leaky cauldron was a bit worn, but still a cozy place to be. The pub itself was painted in darker, soothing colors that gave a homey feeling. The bedrooms on the other hand was light and cheery with views of muggle London and diagon alley. It really was a nice view, he would have liked to sit up in his room, thinking over this new events while watching all the people scurrying around below, but unfortunately no such luck for him. He had finally managed to drag himself downstairs for breakfast, and the landlord greeted him cheerily while leading him to the table.

Harry sat down and looked around. There were a few other people sitting in the pub, either eating, drinking, or just having a chat. Some travelers were eating breakfast while talking excitedly about the activities they wanted to try out. A few wizards sat at the other side of the pub with a bottle of beer each. Though he thought it a bit odd to be drinking alcohol so early in the day, he didn’t linger on it. An old women, who Harry thought looked a bit like the old witches displayed on the pictures of muggle children’s fairytales, sat in the corner shooting him furtive glances. Harry shuddered and quickly turned back to his breakfast. He really wasn’t hungry at all, his stomach was turning in knots and made it rather uncomfortable for him. However he did drink some glasses of pumpkin juice. He had always found it fascinating that a juice made out of such a plant would taste good, but it really did. He wondered how it was made, and why none of the muggles ever drank it.

However he was yanked out of his reverie by a soft, cold voice.

“Potter” the potions master sneered with venom in his voice. Harry spun around, taken aback for a moment, and seemingly lost for words.

“But of course, famous Harry Potter can’t eat such a plain meal at such a mundane place, famous Harry Potter can only eat the finest prepared meals served by his servants on golden plates.” Snape spoke with with sarcastic contempt.

Harry could feel a crimson flush creeping up his chin. He stared the potions master in the eyes with poorly concealed anger. Harry supposed he should have expected the insults straight away, and although he was not especially surprised by the remark, it did nothing to rile in his anger. Snape stared down at him with disgust before grabbing his upper arm and dragging him forcefully towards the door.

“Since nothing is good enough for precious prince potter there will be no breakfast for you today. Maybe you even will experience a new sensation most of us call hunger.” He sneered. No doubt the pampered Potter brat had never even been hungry before, with his family spoiling him rotten, standing at the ready to fulfill the brat’s every need.

This statement got Harry’s anger to boiling point. As it was Harry was no stranger to the sensation of hunger, even to the point of starvation. But the thought of those memories only brought him pain and humiliation. In the present company anger was a much safer reaction. Therefor he was about to make a furious retort on the matter but clamped his mouth shut at the last second, it would not do tho rile his Professor up so early in the morning. Therefor he bit down on his tongue, using all his self control to calm himself down while being dragged along like a sack of potatoes.

When outside, Snape stalked towards the nearest alley, where a black car stood parked. The car was of the nice sort, a shiny BMW with black leather seats and an overall high class look. Even his uncle Vernon would approve, he was especially fierce on judging others on their vehicles, and made a point of always having a modern fancy car to show of in.

“Get in” Snape let go of his arm, thrusting him towards the car. Harry was confused, we’re they supposed to travel by car? Wouldn’t that be a lot less convenient than by magical transport?

“Ehm, sir?” Harry asked confused, though he made a point of using a polite tone.

“I said GET IN POTTER!” Snape nearly shouted at him.

Geez, he was even more short tempered than usual. Harry did as he was told anyways, thinking it best to try to behave for the time being.

As he got in the backseat he took in his surroundings. The interior was plain but classy, and gave a clean look. He watched as his Professor got in the driver seat and started the motor. He would have thought the scene comical, had it not been for the fact that Harry felt he was a fugitive on the way to the gallows to get his head ripped off. The fact remained however, he could never have pictures the overgrown bat to be driving a muggle car, even just knowing how to didn’t seem to fit Snape’s character.

“As I am in no mood to listen to your stupid questions and insolent behavior I will tell you the basic information. We will be driving to my home as we can not apparate or take the floo as it is under a series of protective enchantments. As neither you nor mr. Malfoy have been there before the enchantments will not allow you to use any means of magical transportation. Your trunk has been sent along already. We will pick up mr. Malfoy at the outskirts of London, and the ride will be approximately around 5 hours. There will be no need for you to torment me with your annoying voice.” Snape sneered out in Harry’s direction.

Harry just nodded. 5 whole hours with Snape and Malfoy in a car was not what Harry had been hoping for. He would at least have time to think about which approach he should use towards the potions master. At the moment he thought that he’s summer with the Dursley’s behavior might be the best one, as Snape had quite the similar temper as his uncle. But this would of course only work if Harry could control his temper. He rarely had that problem at the Dursley’s as it all was more or less programmed in to him at this point. But his uncle was dumb, and predictable, while his Professor was, loathe as he was to admit it, smart and quite unpredictable.

Harry looked towards the Professor and studied his appearance. His hair was actually a bit less greasy than usual, and in muggle attire he looked a very different. He never really could have pictured any of his Professors with muggle clothes, as they never wore anything like it at school. And although Snape still was dressed in dark clothing it did suite him. He had tied his hair back in a low ponytail, and wore black slacks paired with a dark grey sweater that fitted him quite nicely. Harry did have to admit that this outfit made him look a whole lot younger, and made his body look a lot more muscular, something that his usual loose fitting robes counseled quite well. At least the look of contempt on his face was just as he remembered it.

He turned to look out of the window at the blurring mass of streets and houses they sped past. He did wish he would have had a bit more time before Snape decided to drag him out of the leaky cauldron. Although he had not eaten anything, he had drunk several glasses of juice, and should probably have gone to the loo before they left. 5 hours was quite a bit of time, and with the current mood the Professor was in, he guessed he would not be overly pleased if Harry started nagging him about a bathroom break. Well, he would just hope that they would at least stop once.

The car came to a holt right in front of a platinum blonde teen. Draco opened the passenger door with a sneer and a look of disgust.

“What is this wreck? I am not going to be traveling like a lousy muggle!” Draco exclaimed indignantly.

“Draco just get in, I will not discuss this any further” Snape said impatiently. With a huff Draco got in, sending Harry an ugly look.

“Potter“ Malfoy spat with as much venom he could muster, all the while staring at him with a disgusted look. Harry had already decided to try the Dursley approach first, and therefor he was defiantly resisting the urge to come with a snide remark or an ugly retort. Instead he settled for a neutral nod towards Draco, even though it hurt his pride deeply. But he guessed if he was going to survive the summer he had to make some sacrifices, and he might as well start straight away. The look on Malfoy’s face was almost worth it anyway. He looked extremely taken aback, before he sneered, gave Harry one final ugly glare and turned to Snape. Harry could not help but smirk a little at the blondes obvious discomfort.

“How long will I have to endure this utter torture?” Malfoy drawled on in an irritating manner.

“We will be there in about 5 hours” Snape answered neutrally. At this Malfoy let out a loud huff before he slumped against the seat, not looking the least bit happy.

_______

Music was playing on a comfortable level from the radio, and beside from the small snippets of conversation between Malfoy and Snape the car ride had been quiet. Surprisingly Harry didn’t think the silence was too uncomfortable, at least if they didn’t talk to him they didn’t insult him either, and he was quite content to keep it that way. He did have one problem however. As the time had passed he had found it increasingly difficult to ignore.

“Ehm, sir? How long will it be until we’ll be there?” Harry asked a bit timidly. Snape cast him an ugly glance.

“About 3 hours. What is the problem? Doesn’t the car ride meet prince Potters standards?” Snape said mockingly. Malfoy let out a snigger, and Harry’s cheeks flushed. He actually did have to use the bathroom a bit badly right now, but asking Snape to stop would be suicidal. He didn’t think he could stand the humiliation. But on the other hand 3 hours was quite a long time. He was split in half, his bladder really wanted him to beg Snape to stop, but his pride wanted him to just clench his teeth together and endure it. He shifted restlessly in his seat trying to find a better position, but to no avail.

“No sir, it wasn’t that. I was just wondering if you were planning to stop anywhere soon” He tried to stated neutrally as if he didn’t care whether he was or not.

“Why, what is the problem now? In contrast to what I’m sure you are used to I will not be doting on your every need and want. You are a spoiled brat, you don’t see Draco complaining do you?” Snape sneered maliciously.

“No, Ijustkindofneedtousetheloo” Harry stated very quickly.

“Speak clear boy! I can not understand a single word coming out of that worthless mouth of yours” Snape said agitatedly. Harry took a deep breath and repeated himself in a clear whisper.

“I just kind of needed to use the loo” He could feel his cheeks burning with the humiliation of having to ask for the loo like another toddler.

“You are almost thirteen, wait until we arrive” Snape said plainly. This made Malfoy snigger once again, and Harry’s flush increased considerably. The problem was that Harry would never ever have asked if he thought he could wait for them to arrive, and he thought Snape would know that. But thinking through it he realized he probably was more than happy to have a couple of mortifying story’s to spread about Harry once back at school. He really was an evil greasy bastard. Harry shifted in his seat again, determined not to give either of them anymore dirt on him.

Another hour in and Harry was growing quite desperate, he could not sit still for longer than a couple of minutes at a time, and had crossed his legs in an effort to ease the pressure. There was nothing for it, he would just have to ask again.

“Professor, couldn’t we just please stop soon?” He almost begged, hating himself for the display of such weakness.

“I told you to wait Potter! I am not delaying our arrival just so your pampered behind can get whatever you want!“ The Professor snapped furiously.

Harry cringed at this, at his wits ends and seeing no solution. To his astonishment even Draco seemed a bit uneasy. He shot Harry a quick glance before he turned quickly back. Had he not known any better he would have thought it was a tiny amount of sympathy hidden in his cold eyes. However he did know better, and was expecting Malfoy to at least make some degrading comments of his situation any moment . But as they never came, Harry tried to focus all his remaining energy on ceeping calm and in control. This was definitely not the time to wonder about Malfoy’s lack of ruthless behavior.

As he relaxed he could feel a spurt of pee hit the inside of his trousers. Utterly horrified he clamped down with all his might, managing to stop the flow. He was mortified, he was nearly wetting himself and was almost 13 years old. No thirteen year old wet their pants! Timidly he looked down on his trouser, and breathed out a sigh of relief when there were no visible evidence. He drew his knees up to his chin, one hand clenching down on his privates he leaned towards the window, closing his eyes and bending his head down. Fortunately this position did help a bit, so he clenched his teeth together and held on with all his might.

Severus knew he had been a bit harsh, spoiled brat or not. But he was still quite sure the child was exaggerating. He looked at the boy in his mirror, and saw his small frame huddled together leaning against the window. He may not like the brat, but he knew he had gone a bit too far this time as the insufferable brat seemed to be in some distress. With an internal sigh he turned his eyes back on the road and despite his words looked for a sign that showed the nearest place to stop. Unfortunately it seemed the nearest one was about an hour away, as they just drove past the last one. As much as he would like to believe that the child was just exaggerating the whole situation, a tiny part of him doubted that the child it all up for a bit of attention. He drew a hand over his face, it was too late to do anything about it now anyway.

_______

20 minutes of agony later Harry felt his composure faltering. A forceful stream escaped his exhausted muscles. He gasped quietly, and tried with all his might to get his muscles to obey, but to no avail. He was really panicking as he felt his backside grow warm and wet, but no matter how hard he tried he could not stop the flow. No, no, no, this just could not be happening! Suddenly he felt his bladder totally give up. An expanding wet spot was making its was down Harry’s trousers and splashed to the floor. As if the sound was not enough of a giveaway, the faint smell of urine filled the air. This had to be a horrible nightmare, of all the things that had ever happened to him this had to be one of the worst in his memory. He felt his eyes burn and buried his head in his knees as he felt a tear of humiliation escape his eyes. He would never be able to live this one down.

Harry had he’s head bowed down as he waited for the scathing remarks to come. When none came he was completely baffled. Could it be that they had not realized what he’d done? As none of them where neither deaf nor blind it seemed wholly unlikely. He could not wrap his head around the lack of insults, he was after all sitting in a car with Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape. Both had made it quite clear that they despised him on several occasions, and neither had ever before missed an opportunity to harass him. Still, he did not dare to look up. He was so utterly humiliated, and all he wanted to do was to sink down in a hole in the ground and never come back up. As this wasn’t really an alternative at the moment, he settled for curling up into a ball and pretend he wasn’t there. Not that it was really doing him any good.

On top of everything he felt himself starting to shiver from the cold wetness that engulfed him. He was so ashamed of himself that he felt nauseous. He could not even get himself to look up, much less ask to get to change his clothes. As his trunk had been sent along already he did not even have anything to change into. He was most definitely not going to ask for anything from Snape, he would just have to survive the remaining hours of humiliation and discomfort. With a reminder to himself of everything else he had endured up until now, this one should be manageable. This of course did nothing to ease the harm to his pride.

Somewhere along the way the tears slowly dripping from his eyelashes stopped. He had managed to fall asleep in the same huddled position, hiding as much as possible of himself from view.

Severus pulled up at the nearest petrol station. He got out, filled fuel on the car, and gave Draco some muggle money and told him to go inside and pay for the gas. Draco gave him a weird look, but went with only a slightly dissatisfied expression on his face. When he saw that Draco had gone inside, he looked around. Satisfied that no one was near by he drew his wand. He went back inside the car, pointed his wand at Potter and mumbled a quick drying and freshening charm. Before anyone could notice he had pushed his wand back in his sleeve. Appeased that the child in the backseat had stopped shivering, he started the car again, and waited for Draco to get back in.

The rest of the ride went peacefully. It only took 15 minutes before Draco too had fallen asleep, leaning against the window. A few blonde strands of his normally slicked back hair had fallen astray and was hanging in his face. He looked a lot more innocent than his usual superior act allowed.