Harry opened the cupboard and made a noise.

"Muuuum!" He cried with a touch of a whine to his mother, hanging the laundry in the backyard.

"Yes dear?" Emmeline shouted back.

"We're out of crisps!" Harry cried. "Can I run down to the corner Tesco's and grab some more?"

"Harry," Severus said with a frown as he opened the pantry door and crossed his arm. "Please, for the millionth time, no shouting in the house like a hooligan."

"Sorry dad," Harry apologised with a blush. 

"And no, you can not go down to Tesco's." Severus said plainly.

"Why not?!" Harry cried incredulously, despite his father's admonishment. Emmeline had walked in by now and was watching the argument before her unfold with a tired sigh. She'd been waiting for this.

"It's dangerous." Severus reminded him. Harry gaped at him.

"It's less than ten minutes away! And if god forbid anything happens I can run back home-"

"It's far too great a risk!" Severus cut him off angrily. Harry scowled.

"I hate being trapped in this house! I can't go anywhere on my own! It's ridiculous!" Harry shouted as he stomped away.

"Harrison!" Severus bellowed furiously.

"Just leave me alone!" Harry snapped angrily. 

Then there was a quiet, almost timid knock on the door. 

Harry blinked and turned to the door with a blink. 

"Who on earth-" Emmeline began before Severus lifted his hand for silence and drew his wand, creeping towards the door with well practised stealth. Harry held his breath as he father reached the door and peered through the peephole. Then he drew back with shock, making both Emmeline and Harry jump and opened the door fully.

"Miss Mathers,"he said quietly, stepping aside to allow the girl to enter. She remained rooted in place, so Severus cleared his throat and tried again. "What brings you here?"

"W-what were you shouting about?" She asked quietly, twisting knots into her jumper. Both Harry and Severus exchanged a wince with each other.

"It was nothing!" Harry quickly insisted, putting on a somewhat forced smile. Then it relaxed a bit as he tried for humour. "Dad would tell you I've really bought into the whole 'stubborn teenager phase' thing." Severus let out a grunt of agreement. 

"Come inside dear!" Emmeline suddenly cried with a smile, "I'll whip you up some cocoa… you didn't walk here did you?"

"N-no," Lucy confirmed nervously, taking a selfconscious step over the threshold. "My mum dropped me off at the end of the droveway. She had to get back though… so she couldn't walk with me." Lucy explained, peering at her sneakers. Severus‘s face twitched as he closed the door behind her. Harry stepped forward, keeping his stance un threatening as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“So, what brings you up here?” he asked casually.

“It came.” Lucy admittedly candidly before she drew a familiar letter out of her back pocket. “The letter you all said would come.” she held it out to Harry with a somewhat weary expression. Harry took it with a grin and read it. It was the same green ink he remembered from his own letter, and the same red Hogwarts seal. And the same owl post stamps.

Miss. Lucy Mary Mathers

The Bay Window Bedroom of the St.Margaret’s Bay Cathedral Rectory

12 Chuch Street,

St. Margaret’s Bay,

DOVER

“Oh that’s Wonderful darling!” Emmeline cried with a smile before she took the letter from Harry and handed it back to her with an encouraging smile. “Go on! Open it!” Lucy flinched slightly and wrung her hands.

“I… I don't know if I should.” she insisted. “I mean… what if it's not an acceptance letter… what if it's something else?” Lucy insisted.

“That's Professor Mcgongall’s handwriting,” Harry informed her. “She's the deputy headmistress. It's the same letter I got when I turned eleven. So trust me when I say, that's definitely a Hogwarts acceptance letter.” Lucy looked back and forth between Emmeline and Harry before she took a deep breath and tore it open.

“Why don't you read it to us,” Severus said casually. Lucy jumped slightly at his voice before she nodded and drew the first page out of the parchment envelope.

“‘Dear Miss. Mathers, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!’” Lucy began, voice rising to a crescendo with a beaming smile.

“Told you!” Harry insisted with a laugh. Lucy grinned before she cleared her throat and began to read again.

“‘Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment…’” she paused and dug into the envelope to retrieve the other paper with an intrigued humm. “‘Term begins September 1st. We await your… owl?’” Lucy blinked. “Owl? What do they mean by that?” at this Severus leaned back and gave a sharp whistle. There was a fluttering sound before a loud shriek and then a sound of shattering glass.

“Oh for the love of Merlin!" Severus snarled as he stood up and marched into the kitchen. "ORVILLE! HEDWIG!" Lucy blinked, leaning away from the sound with worry then felt her jaw drop as Severus returned with a snowy owl on his shoulder and a tawny in his hands. "You are both acting like petulant children! Behave yourselves!"

"Hedwig." Harry piped up quietly. The snowy took off, but not without clipping the top of her wing onto Orville's head, who gave a squeal of displeasure. "Hedwig!" Harry admonished. The snowy puffed up and repositioned herself on his shoulder so that she was facing away from the group. Lucy put a hand on her mouth to hold back a giggle.

"If you two can't behave, one of you won't be allowed in the house anymore." Severus warmed the owls sternly. Hedwig spun her head around and gave him a look which was surprisingly sad for an owl. Orville did the same, giving his long-time master a puppy-dog like expression and gave a worried sounding warble. The potions master groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. Emmeline chuckled before she cleared her throat and straightened up. 

"In the wizarding world we use owls to deliver letters. As you can see, they're not like normal wild owls. They're far more intelligent,and have very distinct personalities." Lucy nodded. 

"I'll go get some ink and parchment!" Harry declared. "Then you can write your letter! And trust me, you want to! The alternative is a bit… chaotic." Harry recalled with a weary chuckle. Lucy blinked at him and Severus cleared his throat.

"That was only because of who you are, Harry." He explained. The teen blinked and his shoulders slumped a bit before he turned away.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked quietly. "Why is Harry any different than everyone else?" Both Emmeline and Severus exchanged a glance.

"It's a very long story darling." Emmeline finally responded. "But suffice to say, Harry is special… even amongst Wizards." She clarified when Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Here you go!" Harry cried as he rushed back down the stairs with a quill and parchment. "Have you ever written a letter before?" Lucy nodded

"We had penpals last year in primary. I got a letter from someone all the way in America!" Then she looked closer at the implements Harry had given her and bulked. "but… not with a feather before."

"Don't worry!" Harry repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time. "You'll get the hang of it. Took me just a few days!"

"Hardly," Severus drawled. "Your handwriting is abysmal!"

"I'm trying my best!" Harry argued.

"Don't be discouraging Severus!" Emmeline admonished grumpily. The potions professor grunted. Emmeline huffed before turning to Lucy with a softer expression. "If you'd like, I can help you learn how to write with it for a bit before you write your letter."

"Yes please," the young girl said gratefully before Emmeline led her to the dining room table and began her quick explanation of how to hold the quill.

Harry sat on the sofa with Lucy with a bright smile as she played with snappy on the floor.

"Who's a good book?!" She purred to the furry creature as it hopped around her making excited cooing noises "yep! It's you! Snappy! Snappy is a good book!" Suddenly Harry's eyebrows jumped up as the book flipped onto its front and presented its bottom for scritches. Snappy almost never did that. "Oh, such a good book!" Lucy cried as she gave the enchanted textbook a hardy scratch of his proverbial belly. Suddenly a throat cleared.

"Miss. Mathers," Severus began cautiously. "It is nearly 5 in the evening. Don't you think it would be prudent to begin making your way home?" The little girl's face fell a fraction while Snappy suddenly flipped over and began whining slightly.

"No whining." Severus admonished blandly. Training Snappy had been slow going. He thanked the gods that the author had had the forethought to not make the book produce waste. Snappy gave one last petulant whimper before going still. 

"Do I have to?" Lucy whined. Then her eyes lit up. "I can give you my phone number and you could call my mum and ask if I could stay! I'm sure she'd say yes!" 

"Unfortunately, we do not process a telephone." Severus admitted blandly.

"No phone?!" Lucy asked incredulously "but then how do you keep in touch with people?!"

"Owl post."

"Only?! But doesn’t that take a long time?" Lucy demanded. She sent the reply to her Hogwarts letter hours ago and Orville still hadn't returned.

"It depends on the species of owl, the distance, and weather." Severus explained. "Hedwig can make it all the way to Hogwarts and back in about a day, provided she is not sidetracked by bad weather. But we only use her in the winter, when she is least likely to be spotted. Orville can make the trip in about 3 days."

"But that's forever!" Lucy cried in horror “a phone would be so much faster!”

“Magic doesn't mix with electricity very well.” Harry explained casually. “Most of the time it wouldn't work properly.

“What about the lights?!” Lucy cried, pointing to the ceiling light.

“Gas.” Severus said casually. “Lit and doused instantly with magic.”

“Really?” Lucy cried in awe.

“Don't think I haven’t noticed how the conversation has derailed, miss. Mathers.” Severus drawled. “Say goodbye to Snappy and Harry, then it's time to go home.” the young girl sighed and gave the book another pat before climbing to her feet and giving Harry a tight hug. Harry leaned down and pulled her in. He held her as tight as he thought she'd like when he released his grin she was still clinging to him.

"Lucy, I know how you're feeling. It probably feels like you're all alone." Harry whispered, "but trust me okay. it's gonna be alright. You're not alone anymore." The girl drew back and gave him a surprised look, her lips tugged up into the smallest, most unsure smile. Then she turned back to Severus. The man's posture was stiff and Harry could see in his face that his dad really didn't want to bring her back to a place that wasn't treating her right. But he also knew that until her parents did or said otherwise, his father had no choice but to return her. 

"Here," Emmeline said, rushing forward with a small bag of cookies and a thermos of hot cocoa. "Be sure you drink all of that when you get back home."

"Thank you Ms. Emmeline." Lucy said. "Bye Harry, bye bye Snappy." Then she turned to Severus. He pulled open the door and gestured for her to leave ahead of him. Then they were gone. Harry and Emmeline stood in the living room staring at the door for a few minutes before Emmeline let out the most forlorn sigh Harry had ever heard.

"She'll be fine." Harry whispered. "I was."

"Fine and happy are two very different things, Harry." Emmeline reminded me. "And, I'll remind you, that you were not as 'fine' as you thought you were."

"At least she's got an actual bedroom!" Harry argued with a weak grin. But Emmelines face was so distraught that Harry couldn't keep his mirth for very long. "Sorry."

"We all do things to cope." Emmeline muttered before she flopped down onto the couch and began furiously knitting. "Some have better -damn- coping skills then others." Emmeline said, quietly cursing with each dropped stitch. Harry watched her then went to the couch and leaned into her. Just for a small comfort. But Emmeline immediately dropped her failing knitting and pulled him into a full hug. They stayed like that for a very long time until the door opened again. They both looked to see Severus holding Chinese take away with a grin expression.

"We are going to help her," he declared. "One way or another. It will be done."