He raised his hand and knocked on the door, thoroughly chilled now from the cold air and falling snow. Petunia opened it and stared at him, not inviting him in, though she did step aside so he could get in out of the cold. She didn't look angry, but she did look wary of him being there.

"Your uncle is out," she said. "Take your things up to your room and then make yourself a sandwich. He'll be home soon with takeout."

"Yes aunt Petunia."

Dudley was in the living room watching the telly but didn't seem to notice that anyone had come into the house at all.

Harry took his backpack with clothes and a few of his apprentice books up the stairs and set it at the foot of his bed on the floor. The room was cold and lifeless, and for the first time Harry wished he was back in his own quarters by the warm fire with the sparkling Christmas tree.

As he went back downstairs he noted that the Dursleys had a tree decorated all in white fairy lights with blue and white ornaments and ribbons in the living room next to the telly. There were already two dozen presents beneath it. It seemed they weren't going to see aunt Marge this year then.

Just as Harry finished making himself a sandwich, his uncle came in with takeout, and Harry held his breath, hoping his uncle would remember that he hadn't minded Harry's presence so much that summer.

Vernon came into the kitchen and set down a huge paper sack of food. It smelled amazing but Harry didn't think there would be any for him, so he took a bite of his cold ham and cheese sandwich at the counter and watched, eyes wary as his uncle's eyes took in his appearance.

"Why did you come back?" his uncle asked. He wasn't angry yet, or if it was he was hiding it well, which was something he wasn't usually good at.

"Professor Snape thought it would be better if I had a break from school."

"And why is that? How are your grades?"

"I'm top of the class in Potions. I have passing grades in everything else."

"I thought you said you were top of your class in something else... Defense?"

"Not this term."

"Why not?" his uncle snapped.

Harry looked up at him through the fringe of his bangs to see just how angry he was. "It was a rough term. I've been getting much higher marks in Herbology... I did a big project for Potions that got me extra credit in Herbology too."

"Don't make excuses," Vernon said, though he turned back to the bag of takeaway and began pulling boxes of food out and setting them on the dining room table. It appeared that there probably was enough food for Harry, but Harry wasn't invited to eat with them and was sent to his room by aunt Petunia as soon as he finished his sandwich and washed his plate.

That night before bed his aunt pushed Harry's door open and stood in the doorframe, taking in his appearance. Her eyes swept over his hair and then down to his nicer than normal clothes and then over his frame, as if looking for injuries or anything else that had changed about him. If anything he was bulkier than normal because he was well fed at Hogwarts.

"Why was it a rough term?" she asked. Her eyes were cold, as though she didn't care as she stood there with her bony arms crossed over her chest. Harry wasn't sure why she was asking though. The fantasy he'd had flashed before his mind again, of her greeting him and asking how school had been for him.

"There's a new teacher in Defense. She's not very nice. She's been trying to get me in trouble. She tried to have me expelled but master Snape stopped her."

"What did you do?" she asked. "For her to try to expel you?"

Harry looked down at the bed, wishing she didn't look so... empty, when talking to him, like she couldn't care less. He couldn't figure why she was asking at all.

"Nothing. I was doing a project for potions. The other teachers gave me points and extra credit for working so hard. She accused me of all sorts of things."

"And that's why Snape sent you back for Christmas?" she asked, voice positively icy.

Harry willed his voice to be steady as he said, "He thought after being away all term you would want to see me for Christmas."

She didn't say anything for long moments and Harry looked up. He caught a brief look of sadness in her eyes before she turned and left his door without a word. Twenty minutes passed and Dudley came into his room.

"Mum says to tell you dad's off work for the next two weeks. We're going to see aunt Marge next week. She said to stay up here if you can and out of his way."

"Thanks," Harry said. Dudley gave him a nod and left.

Christmas was off to such a lovely start.

* * *

Harry never did anything to provoke his uncle. His aunt always warned him not to and he always did his best to heed that advice knowing the consequences for being anywhere in the vicinity if Vernon was upset for any reason. It had never stopped his uncle from seeking him out to take his anger out on him though. Harry didn't know what his uncle had been upset about this time. His uncle hadn't even seemed upset when he'd thrashed him three nights after he'd returned to Little Whinging. He'd simply walked up to Harry and done his worst. Harry almost thought that his uncle just didn't want to take him to Marge's house because she despised him, and had done his best to make Harry run away. It had worked.

He winced as his backpack rubbed his shoulder in just the wrong way as he crossed Little Winging on foot. It was early, just five am, and the sun was just starting to rise as he traipsed through the snow, white flakes still gently falling from the sky.

He was sure his ribs were broken, and potentially his collar bone too, though he was hoping it was just badly bruised. He had a black eye, but was thankful his uncle hadn't done more to bruise his face. If he kept his hoodie on, it hid the bruises on the right side of his neck and shoulder well enough, as well as the bruises on his arms.

Harry didn't have another place to go in Little Winging other than the library, so that's where he went. It would be warm inside at least, and he could have a few hours to plan out his next move. He could potentially ask for money from people on the street so he could take a bus to London, or even down to Ottery St. Catchpole so he could spend the holidays with Ron. Snape would be pissed if he ever found out Harry had spent Christmas with Ron's family, but let him be pissed. He wasn't the one out walking around in the snow aching from head to toe.

He used his hand to clear snow away from a spot on one of the steps leading up to the front of the library and sat down, hood pulled up over his head and sitting hunched forward to try to conserve body heat until the library opened. It was another two hours before he started to see cars drive by on the main road, and a familiar voice spoke, startling him in the quietness of the snow covered town.

"Harry? Is that you?"

He looked up and was glad to see the only friendly face in Little Whinging, Mrs. Clarke the librarian. She stared at him for a few moments, eyes drawn to the black eye he'd received the evening before.

"Come inside. Come on now, I'll unlock the door. It's too cold for you out here."

Harry stood up and followed her up the steps and into the library without a word. It wouldn't open for another hour yet, but he was thankful she trusted him enough to let him inside. She led him to the front counter and then behind it where the librarians worked. He took a seat on one of the stools behind the counter like he'd done so many times that summer while working there.

"I thought you were with your great uncle," she said quietly.

"I was."

She gave another look to his black eye. "Have you been? Really? Or have you been with your aunt and uncle all this time?" She sounded as though she was really worried that he'd been stuck here, and a tenseness he hadn't realized he'd been holding in his stomach and shoulders let go. It had been there since he'd returned four evenings before.

"He had to go away on a business trip," Harry lied. "He brought me back here a few days ago... just for the holidays."

"Can you call him?"

"He's across the pond," Harry lied again.

She gave his black eye a look again and then said, "I'd like to just call the police, but I doubt that will help you in any way."

"It won't," Harry told her, looking away.

Harry didn't know what was happening at first when she stepped towards him and wrapped him up in a hug. He stiffened because she was touching a dozen bruises, but she wasn't squeezing him tight enough to hurt his ribs, so he relaxed and hugged her back. It was the welcome he'd wanted from Petunia but had never gotten. No one was ever glad to see him aside from his friends, and it felt so nice to be back in a safe place with someone that did care.

After long moments, Harry let go and she stepped back. "What can I do to help you Harry?"

He shook his head. He didn't know. "I have friends in Ottery St. Catchpole that would have me for the holidays until we go back to school. Or I could just go back to my great uncle's flat in London. He was going to come back in a few days anyway."

"You'd be safe there?" she asked, and Harry nodded.

"The library closes at five tonight. There's no one else working today so I have to stay. I can drive you this evening though. Have you eaten anything today?"

"No maam."

"We'll order something in for breakfast and lunch then. I can't have my best helper going hungry all day."

"You don't have to. I don't have any money to pay you back right now."

"I don't need money for a few meals for a friend," she chastised him lightly. "If you're going to insist on not eating until you pay me back, you can shelve some books while we wait for breakfast to come."

He gave her half a smile and moved gingerly for the cart of books behind the desk waiting to be reshelved. If Umbridge hadn't been so adamant about checking Harry and his friends so frequently, he would have taken refuge in the Potions nook of the Hogwarts library more often. He missed it even, because he hadn't been there in weeks.

She called for takeaway and twenty minutes later a boy just a few years older than Harry delivered two styrofoam boxes full of eggs, muffins and bangers. There was still another half an hour before the library opened, so Harry didn't rush to finish his breakfast.

"How have you been Harry?" she asked him, watching him as he finished his meal as they sat behind the front counter together.

"All right."

"How have you been really? How has school been?"

He shrugged.

"Tell me about it," she prompted him.

"There's a new teacher that's been trying to get me in trouble every day. She searches my bag and if I'm with my friends she searches them too. I never have anything worth getting in trouble for though. She tried to get me expelled a couple weeks ago."

"Oh dear," she said.

"The other teachers know I'm not doing anything wrong. I was made a Prefect actually," Harry said.

"Really? That's wonderful."

"Prefects get extra privileges and duties. Two of my friends are Prefects too. There's a special Prefects bathroom and a meeting room where we have meetings once a month."

"I'm so proud of you Harry. Are you doing well in classes?"

He nodded. "I'm passing everything and I'm top of my class in Chemistry," he said.

"That's wonderful. It makes sense with your great uncle being who he is."

"Hm?" Harry asked, focused on scooping up the rest of his eggs.

"Your great uncle. You said he worked for a pharmaceutical company and travels a lot."

"Oh," Harry nodded, mind trying to search for whatever he'd told her before about this new mysterious relative that he'd been living with. "Yeah. He's been teaching me a lot. He wants me to go into Chemistry after I graduate."

"Is that what you want?" she asked.

He shrugged.

After the library opened they continued their conversation off and on throughout the day. Harry offered to shelve more books despite no longer being on the payroll, and she let him. He was happy to help given that she had volunteered to drive him to London that evening which was an hour away.

She ordered delivery for lunch, and then at five when the library closed, took Harry by car to a restaurant where they ate a quick meal and started towards London.

"Do you know how to get to your house?" she asked him.

"It's a flat in Camden," Harry told her. "I can get us there."

"Do you like living with your great uncle?"

"Yeah, it's all right. Much better than with my aunt and uncle."

"I hope so," she said as they drove down the dark motorway.

"He buys me clothes and stuff, nice ones," Harry added. "And this was the first year in a while I had all the supplies I needed for school. That's why I was working this summer, to be able to buy my books and uniform. He bought them all this year." It wasn't exactly true, uncle Vernon had bought his books, and Harry had had to pay him back with what he'd earned from the library, but Snape had bought his apprentice books. "And I have a better room with him than I did in Little Whinging."

"That's good Harry," she said. Actually, once Harry started thinking about it, Snape had provided an awful lot for him. Everything he needed and more. The man hadn't needed to buy him the school cap and scarf, or a second trunk, or a very expensive pair of dragonhide gloves that were master grade. Beyond the required items Harry wasn't really sure why Snape had bought those things. The man and his motives were often still a mystery to Harry. Ron maintained that Snape was bonkers. Harry wasn't sure if he was or if he wasn't, only that he frequently made things worse for him. If he was honest though, really honest, Snape often made things better for him too. He had saved him from Umbridge under the Pitch, and had gotten him away from the Dursleys off and on over the summer. He had even gotten him away from Umbridge over Halloween and given Harry an adventure with Soren he was certain he'd never forget.

"So thoughtful?" she asked.

Harry laughed a little. "My best friend Ron thinks he's bonkers."

"Is he?"

"Just eccentric," Harry said. Snape wasn't, not by any means of the word. Dumbledore was eccentric. Snape was just... difficult at the best of times.

As they made it into Camden an hour later, Harry kept an eye out for the opening to the little magical alley and after a few minutes said, "This is it. We can park on the street." She pulled over and turned the car off.

"Thank you," Harry said. "For feeding me and letting me get out of the cold this morning and driving me here."

"It's really no trouble Harry."

He opened the door to get out and she opened hers to get out as well. He paused and said, "Erm, are you coming too?"

"It's dark. I want to make sure you get inside safely."

Harry didn't know what to do. Camden Alley didn't scream magic but he'd definitely be in trouble for bringing a Muggle in. It was dark and he wagered she wouldn't be able to read the apothecary sign at the end of the alley, but still. People on the alley knew he was Snape's apprentice and he would catch hell if they got angry and told Snape about it. They might even contact him before the holidays were over and then Harry really would be in trouble.

"It's a private neighborhood," he said. "It's gated. We're not supposed to bring other people in. I don't want to get my uncle in trouble."

"I don't think he'll mind terribly," she said, getting out of the car and shutting the door. "You're his nephew and you're young. I think he'll care more about you getting inside. You have a key don't you?"

Harry nodded and shut the car door. He didn't have a key, he had a password. He had the password to the gate that would let them in too, and hoped it hadn't changed since he'd been there that summer, not that he'd ever had a chance to use it as he wasn't allowed out of the alley and into Muggle London on his own.

Harry hurried ahead of her to the gate and whispered the password, relieved when the gate clicked open. He held the black gate open for her and led her through the tunnel under one of the tall buildings and into the alley between the bookstore and stationer's shop.

"It's down at the other end," Harry said, pointing. The alley was empty despite that it was before seven. There was a string of warm yellow lights above the bookstore, and down the side alley Harry could hear a few people talking as one of the restaurants was still open.

"This seems like a nice little pocket of London," she said as they made the stairs leading up to the upper flats in Snape's building.

"It's quiet," Harry told her. He led her upstairs and barely breathed the password to the door as he pretended to fiddle with the door knob as if he had a key. It opened and he led her inside and flipped the switch, dropping his bag on the floor.

"This is your home?" she asked.

"Yeah," Harry said. "Kind of hard to see because it's dark but there's a little balcony that overlooks the alley. There's actually a lot of people that live here. Even some kids that go to my school live across the alley." He'd never interacted with any of them, but he knew who some of them were. He opened the door that led to his room and said, "This one's mine." It was pretty sparse inside since all of his things were at school, but it was as he had left it the last time he'd been there. The bed was made and the desk chair was pushed in under the desk.

Mrs. Clarke nodded in approval and then put a hand on each of his shoulders. "I'm glad you have a safe place Harry. As much as I'd love to see you on a regular basis, please try to convince your great uncle that it's not safe for you to return to your aunt and uncle's house in Surrey." She looked at his black eye again, which Harry knew looked pretty bad despite that some of the swelling had gone down since it was almost a full 24 hours since he'd been hit. "I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I'll tell him," Harry lied, trying his best to sound sincere. Snape would never believe him if he did tell him. If Harry could just lie low here until January 5th then he could get back on the train to school and Snape would never have to know he'd run away at all.

Harry told her he wanted to walk her back to the alley entrance, that way if anyone saw then his great uncle wouldn't get in trouble for bringing strangers into the neighborhood and letting them wander alone.

As they walked back down the dark alley, she said, "I mean it Harry. I want you to tell him the truth. I don't think he'd make you go back there again if he knew."

"I will."

"What about food?" she asked.

"There's food in the pantry," he lied. He hoped Snape had left something in the cupboards, but wasn't sure if he had or not. "He'll be back in a few days."

"He has a phone doesn't he? If you need anything, look up the library in the phonebook and call me."

"I will, I promise."

At the gate she gave him another hug, they wished each other Merry Christmas, and then she left, facing an hour drive back to Surrey. Harry was sorry to see her go. It would be lonely in Snape's flat without her there to talk to. It had felt so nice having someone ask about his term at school and to be proud of him for becoming a Prefect. He'd only become a Prefect because of his status as an apprentice, but still. It was nice to have something to be proud of, and someone to be proud of him for it.

As Harry walked back down the alley, hands in his pockets to keep himself warm, he didn't know there was a set of eyes watching him from the flat above the stationer's shop. His mind was on his Prefect duties and the patrols he'd spent talking to Hermione over the last two weeks. This was the first time he'd really felt proud to be a Prefect. Is this what his parents had felt like when they'd become Prefects? He knew Ron was proud to be one, despite that Fred and George often teased him about it. Now he knew why. Only a few students each year became Prefects... there were only 24, well, now 25, and as McGonagall had said, students looked up to them and listened to them. The younger Gryffindors had definitely been paying him more heed since he'd got his Prefect badge.

Back in Snape's flat Harry locked the door and searched the cupboards. He wasn't hungry now, but he would be in the morning. There was nothing in them. Not even a can of soup or a tin of tuna. They were empty.

This was a fine mess he'd somehow gotten himself into. Maybe it wasn't too late to try to make it to Ron's house, though he was certain Ottery St. Catchpole was hours east. It was too far to walk when he was hurt, and he didn't have any money with him.

Harry decided to go to bed and tackle the issue of food or transport to Ron's house in the morning as there was nothing more he could do about it that night.

* * *

Two days had passed in the flat without food. Harry had spent his time trying to study his apprentice books, though the hungrier he got the harder it became to focus. Eventually he gave up and took to the window leading to the balcony where he could watch people below. He didn't want to go out onto the balcony because he didn't want people to know he was there and contact Snape about a squatter living in his home. That was the last thing he needed... Snape breaking down the door in a rage. The man would yell himself senseless over Harry disrespecting his home and personal belongings.

To be fair, Harry did feel wrong about being there. It was odd living in Snape's home without him there. It was lonely and cold, but also the only safe place Harry really had access to until he could figure out how to get to Ron's house. He could borrow an owl from someone on the alley, but that led to the same issue of them potentially contacting Snape about Harry being there when he shouldn't be.

By the third evening at Snape's flat, Harry's mind was feeling fuzzy from hunger. His stomach ached along with his bruises and broken bones, and the only thing he could do to try to make himself feel full was drink lots of water from the tap.

Harry was sitting on the couch spacing out, mind jumbled as he thought back over the term in a haze of hunger when someone knocked on the front door. He frowned, hoping it wasn't a neighbor. He rose and looked through the peephole. It was the woman that worked at the Chinese restaurant on the side alley.

He unlocked the door and opened it, senses immediately being assaulted by an array of good smells coming from a white plastic sack she held in her hands. Clearly she was supposed to be delivering food and had gone to the wrong flat.

She held it out to him, and too hungry to think of a proper response, Harry asked dumbly, "What's this?"

"Food."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't order anything."

She just stared at him and held the little bag with a takeaway box out to him.

Harry turned and looked around, as if some coins would just appear on the kitchen counter to pay her with. "I can't," Harry said, "I don't have any money to pay you with."

She held out the bag even more insistently. "Take it."

Harry reached out hesitantly and took the bag. There was some kind of terrible... delicious mistake. The smell of the food was making his stomach rumble. He wanted to rip the bag open and eat every morsel of whatever he found inside. He looked up from the bag to ask if she was able to put it on Snape's tab or something, but she was already gone. She'd disappeared so quietly that Harry startled to find the landing empty.

He was sure there would be hell to pay when Snape found out he had accidentally ordered takeaway and put it on his tab, but Harry would deal with that when the time came. For now there was food and he hadn't eaten in two full days.

Harry hurried into the kitchen and pulled open the silverware drawer. In his haste he accidentally grabbed two forks, and hurried to sit on the stool at the counter. Inside the box were noodles, chicken, vegetables, and a delicious sauce. It was one of the meals Snape had ordered during the summer, and Harry was grateful to have something in his stomach. He didn't know when his next meal would come or from where. There were still more than two weeks left until it was time to go back to school, and while he knew he could go several days without eating, he didn't think he could go for weeks.

Stomach full, Harry threw the box and plastic bag away and washed his fork, putting it back in the silverware drawer. For the first time since he'd been there, he fell into a peaceful sleep, stomach full.

* * *

Harry was surprised when there was another knock on the door around lunch time the next day. Surely everyone on Camden Alley knew Snape was away for the school year, and aside from the woman that had accidentally given him someone else's food the night before, he hadn't expected anyone else to come knocking.

The knocking grew more insistent as Harry pondered on who could be on the other side, and when he finally opened it, he was surprised to see the delivery woman again. She held out a plastic bag that looked like it had two food boxes in it this time.

"Take it," she said.

"Is this going on Professor Snape's tab?" Harry asked warily. He was excited for the food, even whilst being wary of the consequences of taking it.

"It was already paid for." She pointed at the food and said, "Lunch and dinner. Eat every bite. Don't waste it."

"I won't," Harry said. "What do you mean it was already paid for?"

She seemed to be busy though, like she had other deliveries to get to, and ignored his question as she hurried off down the stairs. Harry shut and locked the door and took the food to the counter. In one box there was fried rice with beef and vegetables, and in the other there was some kind of meat dumplings next to a small portion of meat and vegetables. Harry's mouth watered and he put one box in the Muggle fridge that ran on magic and took the fried rice to his spot at the counter to eat. He couldn't believe his luck, and didn't understand how someone could have already paid for these meals. Maybe Harry had been wrong and there was no tab. Maybe Snape had already pre-paid for a number of meals which Harry was now eating. He was certain the man would be upset with him and wondered how many meals the man had paid for in advance and why he would do such a thing.

Thinking there was no way the delivery woman would show up a third day in a row, Harry skipped dinner that night, eating only one of the dumplings in the fridge, and saving the rest for breakfast the next morning. He had to stretch any food he could get if he was going to make it back to Hogwarts.

The next day at lunch there was a knock on the door and when Harry opened it, the delivery woman wasn't there, but there was a bag with two boxes of food in it, along with a note. ‘I said eat every bite! Lunch and dinner! Don't waste food!'

How did she know? Harry took the two boxes to the counter and put one in the fridge without looking into it, and sat down to eat the other. This would be the first day all week where he would have three full meals. By the time he got through the delicious noodles he'd been brought for lunch, Harry decided he had to know what was going on. He didn't want to be seen out in the alley so Harry decided to go after dinner. He knew from the one time Snape had sent him to pick up takeaway over the summer that the little Chinese restaurant was open late until almost nine, so he waited until 8:50 to head out onto the dark alley, bundled in his favorite hoodie.

Down the side alley he went into the Chinese restaurant and waited at the counter. The elderly man that tended the restaurant was nowhere to be seen, but after a few minutes, the woman who had been delivering food to Harry that week came out, and gave him a wary look.

"Don't waste food," she chastised him.

"I won't," Harry said.

"You didn't eat every bite of what was given to you."

"I'm sorry," Harry said. "I did. I was saving it for breakfast this morning. I ate it all."

She pursed her lips but didn't say anything to that. "No breakfast delivery. Only lunch and dinner."

Harry took this as his opportunity to ask her what exactly was going on. "I appreciate the food," he said, "but I don't understand why you're bringing it to me. Has Professor Snape pre-paid for it?" He wanted to say he would be in trouble for eating all of Snape's pre-bought food, but that would make Snape look bad, and the man was big on appearances within Camden Alley.

"Pre-paid... yes."

"I don't think I'm supposed to be eating his pre-bought meals," Harry said.

The woman scoffed, then sneered at him briefly, narrowed her eyes and said, "Not pre-paid for him. Pre-paid for you."

"For me?" Harry asked with surprise.

She pointed at a wall, and Harry's name was there on a little whiteboard, along with the exact location he slept. There were several other names there, though the locations they slept were written as, ‘Door stoop of 1412 Gloucester Ave,' and ‘Train tracks behind the wall of Dumpton Place.'

He looked back at her. "I don't understand," he said quietly.

"When people order from us they have the option of paying for an extra meal. The extra meals are handed out when needed for those who are hungry." She tapped sharply on the whiteboard. "Your name was put there by the stationer three nights ago. Professor Snape always buys extra meals. Everyone on Camden Alley does."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. His mind was spinning. People bought extra meals when they ordered takeaway, so the food could be given to homeless people? His eyes flickered back up to the board. But Harry wasn't homeless exactly, just hungry. The stationer must have seen Harry come in the other night since his shop and flat above it were right next to the tunnel entrance to Camden Alley. He must have watched and seen that Snape wasn't here with Harry, and put Harry's name on the list. He didn't even know these people and they were taking care of him... making sure he didn't go hungry.

The woman made an unhappy noise, and Harry looked up and realized she was looking at him. She handed him a napkin across the counter and said, "Dry your eyes."

He took the napkin and swiped at his eyes with his sleeve and then the napkin and stuffed it into his hoodie pocket. "Thank you," he said, trying to make the words come out steady and unbroken. "For feeding me."

"When you have money, you'll buy extra meals."

"Yeah," Harry promised. "I will." He didn't know when he'd have any money. It could be years. But he counted back to how many meals had already been delivered to him and promised to keep count of how many he ate in the future. He'd make sure to replenish all that he'd eaten as soon as he could, even if he couldn't do that until he was an adult.

There was a shuffling noise behind the counter, and Harry looked up. She was handing him a bag with a box in it. She pointed to the board and said, "Take this to the man here. Go out the tunnel entrance and to the left. He's down two doors in front of the newsagent."

"Yes maam," Harry said.

"Psh." She gave him a hard look again and said, "None of that. It's auntie."

Harry raised his brows at that. She seemed to be waiting for him to comply though, so he said, "Yes... auntie."

That finally got a small smile out of her, so he took the box and left, heading toward the tunnel entrance and exiting with the food out into Muggle London. He'd never been allowed out of the alley by himself before aside from when Mrs. Clarke had dropped him off, but he turned left and went down two doors to the newsagent and found a man sitting on the ground with his head down.

"Erm, this is for you," Harry said.

The man looked up, and reached up and took the bag with the takeaway box. "Thank you lad," he said.

"You're welcome sir."

The man laughed and motioned to himself. His clothes were dirty and his beard long and scraggly. "No one calls me sir."

"Well I will," Harry said. The man didn't know what to say to that, so he started opening his box of food, and Harry left him there to return back to Camden Alley and Snape's flat. He hadn't prepared the food... hadn't pre-paid for it, but his chest felt full of happiness that he'd been able to deliver it.

As he made it back to Snape's flat a few minutes later and opened the fridge to pull out his own evening meal, Harry thought about delivering food to the man on the Muggle street. He was used to being the one in need. He was used to his friends sharing their supplies, to Ron's mum giving him used clothes, and now to the Chinese restaurant giving him meals. This had been the first time in a long time he had been able to give to someone else however. For just a few moments it made Harry feel like he was worth something to someone, even if it only meant he was valuable to that homeless man for a moment in that he had delivered his dinner. Instead of being helpless, for a few minutes he'd been helpful. It only made Harry double down on his promise to himself to pay the restaurant back for every meal they'd fed him. He'd have to find a way to pay back the kindness of the stationer too, who had put his name on the list in the restaurant.

* * *

The brat had no respect! Severus seethed as he pulled his cloak around himself to ward off the cold wind that had been blowing all morning. Potter's friends had tried to send him Christmas gifts by owl, but the owls had been unable to deliver them, and worried, they had contacted Hogwarts. At first Severus had assumed the boy had put up some sort of ward despite that he wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school, or had some sort of talisman on him that kept his whereabouts unknown, and had gone to Privet Drive to tell him off. The brat wasn't there however and neither were his relatives. As the boy had said, they must have been on vacation.

Still assuming the child had a ward up around himself, Severus had done a locator spell on his aunt and then traveled to Witheridge, where he was informed by the boy's irate uncle and his nasty sister that the boy had never shown up for the holidays. Vernon Dursley proceeded to chastise Severus (the nerve) for ten minutes about sending word that he'd be coming home and then not returning the boy as promised.

The brat was going to pay. He clearly couldn't be trusted. Severus should have ensured he made it into his relatives home instead of leaving him on the doorstep and apparating away. As he strode away from the home in the country in Witheridge, Severus narrowed his eyes. Where would the boy have run off to? He clearly wasn't at Hogwarts. Severus would have known if he were. If he were, the boy would have made his presence known and protested the moment Umbridge and Filch demanded his project be moved out from under the Pitch. Pomona and Dobby had spent two hours carefully packing the mushroom project away and moving it into greenhouse five to appease Umbridge and save the project from certain destruction. Umbridge had then gone down to the Pitch to ward the underside of the stands to keep students out. If Potter was at the school, he would have thrown a fit.

Severus didn't know where Granger lived, but he remembered hearing she was going to be traveling with her parents for the holidays. The only place that remained then to check was the Burrow.

Tired from apparating several times that day over long distances, Severus would have rather gone back to the castle, but he couldn't simply abandon his search for the Gryffindor now that he was his ward. One quiet year, that's all he wanted. One year where the boy didn't throw himself into danger at every turn. Mountain trolls, death defying Quidditch stunts, Basilisks, dragons, and absconding from the safety of his relatives home... the list never ended.

Potter wasn't with the Weasleys, and they were concerned that Severus didn't know where he was either. He'd accosted Ron for five minutes before the redhead had angrily shouted back at him that he wasn't the one that was supposed to know where Harry was.

Fatigued from jumping from place to place, chilled from being out in the cold all day, and a headache beginning to form, Severus decided to return to his flat for the evening as that was closer than apparating all the way back to Hogwarts. He doubted he'd be able to safely apparate for days after this and would have to take the train back to the school and then explain himself to the Headmaster. He was only supposed to be out for one day, not two. He really should get the fireplace in his flat connected to the floo. Then he could floo in to Hogsmeade and walk back to the castle from there instead of spending all of his energy on long distance apparations.

Taking a breath to steady himself for his final apparation that day, Severus closed his eyes and disappeared from the snowy yard outside the Burrow with a pop, reappearing in his flat. He muttered unfriendly things about disrespect to himself for several seconds before he became aware that the lights were on and that he wasn't alone.

Out of his periphery he saw the dark shape of a person standing a foot away and just as the person tried to bolt he reached out a hand and grabbed whoever it was by the front of the shirt and pulled them close.

Severus' eyes must be deceiving him, because it wasn't a burglar or a death eater come to bring him to Voldemort, but the missing brat-who-lived. "Potter!"

The fifteen year old threw his hands up in front of his face and whimpered, and Severus let go of the front of his shirt, feeling scalded. That was the second time the boy had acted as though his Potions master was going to strike him. The boy was muttering something, arms still in front of his face and cowering. Severus leaned forward ever so slightly to hear what he was saying.

"Please don't, don't, please don't," Harry was whimpering. He was breathing hard, hands over his head, shaking.

"Potter, what is it you think I am going to do?" he asked, warily. He was too tired for this. He wanted to collapse on the couch or in his bed and sleep. His core wasn't depleted but he'd used enough energy apparating around the country that day that it might as well have been.

Breathing heavily Harry took a step back and let his arms fall slowly, revealing a mottled black eye. A rock fell into the pit of Severus' stomach. This was the second time the boy had come from his relatives with a black eye. He'd also come from them with a broken arm. The boy's uncle had claimed he'd never made it to them days ago. Now Severus wasn't so sure.

"Slow your breathing," Severus said. "You're going to hyperventilate."

Harry didn't look like he was trying to comply, but Severus wasn't sure he would be able to tell even if he was.

Deciding to give the boy some space for a few moments to regulate his emotions, he let his eyes travel around the flat. It was as he left it aside from Potter's unexpected presence. It was clean and tidy, and there were no dirty dishes in the sink. How long had Potter been here? Had he walked from Little Whinging? He'd dropped the child off five days before. How long had it taken him to get to Camden?

When his eyes came back to the boy, his breathing had calmed a little more, and Severus found himself being watched by scared green eyes.

"Sit."

Harry sat on the edge of the couch, looking tense, and Severus sat in the armchair.

"What happened to your eye?"

Harry looked away and shrugged.

"Why are you not with your relatives?"

Another shrug.

"How did you get here?"

Harry relaxed a little at this question and said, "My friend the librarian drove me."

He raised his brows. How many librarians was he friends with? Irma spoke highly of the child, though as far as Severus knew he hadn't been spending time in the Hogwarts library recently as he'd been trying to stay out of Umbridge's sight.

"Why here Potter?"

He didn't answer for long moments. Finally he said, "It's warm."

That was true enough Severus supposed, but not the answer he was looking for. If he'd had a ride he was surprised Potter hadn't gone all the way to stay with the Weasleys.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself for however long it was going to take to get the answers he wanted from the boy so he could go to bed, and said, "I dropped you off on the doorstep to your relatives house five days ago Potter-"

"Please-" Harry interrupted him. His eyes came up from the floor to meet Severus', and he was startled to find fear and sadness in them. "Please don't make me go back there again."

Severus looked into his eyes for long moments, arguing with himself to not look into the boy's thoughts as that was not only rude but a breach in trust to do so without permission. Instead he settled on asking again, "What happened to your eye?"

The child looked down and seemed to shrink into himself. Severus felt chilled.

"Which one of them hit you?"

Harry swallowed. "Uncle Vernon."

"And the black eye earlier this summer?"

Harry gave a little nod but that was all.

"The broken arm?" Severus asked. Harry nodded again.

He found himself balling and unballing his fists so hard that his joints began to hurt. "Does your aunt know?"

"She tells me to stay out of his way."

"She allows this to happen," Severus corrected with a snap, and Harry closed his eyes and stilled. Severus huffed and tried to calm his tone again. "Where else are you hurt?"

Harry's lip trembled then as he stared straight ahead towards the windows looking out over the dark alley, though Severus doubted he was seeing what was in front of him. The fringe of his bangs was down in his face and Severus gave him the time he needed to answer. "My ribs and shoulder."

"Are they broken?" Severus asked.

Harry nodded. Severus took a deep breath and held it. Why hadn't the child told him? Why hadn't he said something? He could have kept him from going back all of those times in the summer! But Severus knew why he hadn't told. It was the same reason Severus had hid his bruises when he was a child. To think that it was happening to Lily's son... to his apprentice!

Then Severus grew wary. The boy needed a healer and there was no way he could apparate him to St. Mungos or back to Hogwarts. He could potentially apparate himself one more time, but apparating another person with him would be more energy than he could spare.

"You need a healer and I cannot apparate you to St. Mungos tonight. Stay here. I will return with a healer in a few minutes." He rose and went to the door, but before he left he turned and said, "I meant what I said Potter. Stay put."

The boy nodded but didn't turn around. Severus left him there and closed the door. The neighbors downstairs had a rather large fireplace connected to the floo. It wasn't so late at night that it would be rude to knock on their door and ask if he could contact St. Mungos.

While Snape was away, Harry clenched his eyes closed. This was bad. This was exactly what he hadn't wanted. Someone must have told Snape that he was here. The stationer maybe, or the woman from the restaurant... they knew he was here, but really, he'd had the lights on in the flat for five days and anyone could have figured out that it wasn't Snape and contacted him since they all knew he was away at Hogwarts during the year.

The man was clearly upset, and Harry didn't want to know what his punishment would be. He didn't even know what he had left to take away. His father's cloak maybe, or his photo album. Harry had already lost his freedom, his dorm, Quidditch, both libraries... his heart sank. Snape could ban Harry from seeing his friends. That would be possible now that he wasn't living in Gryffindor tower.

Snape was only gone a few minutes and returned with someone else. Harry didn't look up until the second man introduced himself as a healer.

"Hey there lad, I hear you've got some broken bones that need mending. Nothing too serious I hope. I doubt we'll need skelegrow tonight. My name's Healer Barnes. Can I have a look at you?"

Harry nodded.

"Let's get your sweatshirt and shirt off so I can see what's going on with your ribs and shoulder. Your master said you thought they were both broken."

Harry struggled to get his hoodie off as it didn't have a zipper, but the healer helped him to pull it gently off over his head, and then did the same with his shirt. Harry shivered at the cold air in the room and heard Snape say a heating spell from somewhere behind him.

The healer let out a heavy breath. "That's some bruise. It's covering a large portion of your chest. This one on your shoulder is big too. Not too much swelling though. When did you get hurt?"

"Four or five days," Harry said.

"Have you taken anything for it?"

Harry shook his head and the healer began to run diagnostic spells.

"Two broken ribs and a broken collarbone. The breaks aren't too bad. I can wrap your ribs and wrap your arm to hold it to your side tonight. A few doses of a bone knitting potion will have you mended in no time. I'm going to have to give you a strong bruise balm for the bruising though. These bruises won't heal quickly."

He slathered Harry's chest, shoulder, and back in bruise balm and then took out a long roll of thin bandages and wrapped Harry's ribs and then pulled Harry's left arm to his side and wrapped it to his chest to hold it in place. "Just for tonight. The bone knitting potion will work best if the broken bones are kept still. These bandages can come off first thing in the morning, and then you'll need to take two more doses of the bone knitting potion tomorrow." He measured out a large dose of the red bone knitting potion and made Harry drink it. It tasted like cherry cough syrup and burned all the way down Harry's throat.

He helped Harry get his shirt back on, though his left arm would have to stay trapped under it for the night, and then began to work bruise balm into the skin around Harry's black eye.

"Can you tell me what happened to cause these injuries?" the healer asked. "I have to put it in the report. It'll go in your medical record, but no one else will see it."

When Harry didn't answer the healer asked quietly, "Would you rather master Snape leave the room?"

"No," Harry said, "I already told him."

"Can you tell me?" the healer asked with a lot more patience than Snape had had with him that evening.

Harry used his free hand to fidget with the hem of his shirt. "My uncle went after me."

"What did he do?"

Harry shrugged. When the healer seemed ready to wait him out however, Harry said, "He just- pushed me around. He hit me. Yelled at me a bunch." He shrugged again.

"And has this happened before?"

"I guess."

"Thank you for telling me Harry."

The healer was still sitting on Snape's coffee table facing him. He looked past Harry to where Snape had been standing behind him the whole time and said, "He's not going back there is he?"

Severus shook his head. "He will not be. I went to check on him and found him missing. When I returned here I found him in this state and he told me what has been happening when he returns to his relatives. As I already have custody of him, the choice is mine."

The healer nodded. "Good. These things can get messy going through two court systems. You said they were Muggle didn't you?"

"Yes," Severus practically growled.

The healer left the potions and extra strength bruise balm with Severus along with instructions. Before he left he looked him up and down and said, "Are you going to tell me what's going on with you?"

"Excuse me?" Severus asked, arms wrapped around himself as he gripped his shoulders, pensive about Potter's injuries.

"You look like you're ready to fall over. Are you going to tell me or should I scan your core?"

"I may have made one too many long distance apparations today."

Harry turned from his spot on the couch to look at both men just as the healer began to nod. "Ah, thus your need for the use of your neighbor's floo." He used his wand to scan Snape without his permission, but the man didn't glare at the healer any more than he already was.

"Sixty percent. Bet you're feeling that, and you will be for a few days. You could do with a strong core replenishing potion."

"I will buy one at the apothecary in the morning."

"See that you do. If I get a firecall from Harry in the morning because he can't wake you up, I'm going to have some stern words for you. And see that you don't overextend your core like this in the future."

"I had little choice. I was trying to find my apprentice."

The healer looked back at Harry and then put a hand on Snape's shoulder, which he tolerated. "I'm glad you did. Just don't do this again." He bade them both good night and merry Christmas, despite that Christmas wasn't for several days yet, and then left, closing the door on his way out.

Harry was watching Severus and it caused him to sneer. "Do not give me that look. I do not require tending to. I will be fine after a good night's rest and a potion which you can fetch in the morning."

Harry turned back around and ran his hand across his face and then through his already messy hair.

"When was the last time you ate?" Severus asked from behind him.

"There's food in the fridge."

"You purchased food?"

Harry stilled and Severus sighed. "However you obtained it, short of theft, you are not in trouble Potter."

He turned from his spot on the couch and stood up, looking anxious. "The woman at the Chinese place brought it to me. After I was here for a couple days she started bringing food. She said I could pay her back."

Severus opened the door to the fridge and found half a box of takeaway. "Did you eat dinner?"

"I had half of that. I was saving the other half for morning."

"May I have it?"

Harry found it such an odd question. It was Snape's flat, he could have whatever food he wanted. "Erm- yeah, go ahead."

"I will send you with money for breakfast in the morning."

Harry wondered how long it had been since Snape had eaten as he watched him devour the rest of the food in the takeaway container. Maybe he needed it to help replenish his core. Just how many times had the man apparated that day and where all had he gone?

"What am I losing?" Harry asked after several long minutes. His throat was tight.

"Excuse me?"

"What am I losing? For making you come after me like this," Harry clarified.

Severus stared at him from the other side of the counter for long moments. Instead of answering his question he asked, "Why did you come here Potter?"

Hadn't he already given him an answer? What had he told him? That it was warm? Wasn't that a good enough reason? "It's the only place I had to go."

Snape didn't seem to know what to say to that so he didn't respond for several moments. The next thing he said was, "Explain to me how you got here."

"I left early in the morning, while it was still dark. I went to the library and waited for it to open and Mrs. Clarke said she'd bring me here after the library closed. Then she drove me."

"Mrs. Clarke is a Muggle?"

Harry looked down at the ground and didn't answer.

"You are not in trouble for doing what you needed to do to get to a safe place Potter."

"She's a Muggle."

"How did you explain where you were going to her?"

"She thinks my great uncle came to take me to live with him. He works with pharmaceuticals and is away for work a lot. I said he dropped me with my aunt and uncle for the holidays because he had a business trip. When I told her you'd be back in a few days she said she'd bring me here."

"You're a terrible liar," Severus said. The only problem was that the child wasn't a terrible liar. It had been a clever story rooted in truth... just enough to be twisted to fit what a Muggle needed to hear. Potter had clearly hidden the truth about his relatives from everyone as well. Well... he'd tried to tell Severus he shouldn't go home for Christmas. When he told the truth, Severus hadn't been willing to hear it.

"I am sorry I forced you to return home when you tried to tell me you did not want to."

"S'ok," Harry mumbled. "I always stay at the castle for Christmas." The boy had told him that too. Severus wished now that he had heard it.

He sent Harry to bed and told him to get some sleep as the bone knitting potion would do its best work when Harry was resting. When he was certain the child had gone to bed Severus collapsed onto his own bed and stared at the dark ceiling of his flat. The world had been turned on its head in a matter of moments for him. Everything he'd been seeing these last months... all of Potter's odd behaviors... the way his uncle had set up this apprenticeship... it all aligned into an ugly truth he'd never stopped to consider.

He rubbed hard at the spot between his eyes. Potter hadn't trusted him enough to tell him the truth of his situation at home... of the abuse he endured at the hands of his relatives. Severus couldn't say he blamed the boy. Despite that their relationship had changed to that of apprentice and master, Severus didn't have the best relationship with the child. He did what he could to keep him at arms length, and before that summer he and the boy had never gotten along. Perhaps Harry saw him like he saw his uncle. That thought disturbed him. It disturbed him how Harry assumed he was going to be struck. Did he assume that of everybody, or only of Severus? Yet, despite the child's misapprehension about Severus, he'd come to this place when in need. He thought of Severus' flat as somewhere safe when he had nowhere else to go.

Severus had known Potter didn't want this apprenticeship... that his uncle had set it up for him. Knowing now that the boy had been abused by his relatives changed things. This wasn't his uncle wanting to set him up for a future, it was another act of abuse... one Harry was having to live with daily despite being away from his relatives and at school. Severus shouldn't keep the boy on as an apprentice under these circumstances. It was wrong to do so. By keeping him as an apprentice he would be contributing to that abuse perpetrated by Vernon Dursley. There was only one problem with dissolving the apprenticeship however: if he filed those papers with the Ministry he'd no longer be the boy's guardian, and Harry would have to return to his relatives. The healer was right in his assessment of that nest of basilisks: it could be messy to remove a wizard child from the custody of their Muggle guardians. It would have to go through the Ministry of Magic and the Muggle courts, and through it all Harry would be with his relatives, who could demand that he go to Muggle school instead of Hogwarts.

Finally too exhausted to think about it anymore, Severus fell into a fitful sleep. There was nothing more he could do until after he talked to Harry in the morning.