Soon as I’d settled outside, careful not to drop my rose-petal decorated china plate, William came and sat very close – much too close – to me.

“William, remember what mum told you. You don’t want thrashed twice in one day, do you?” his strawberry-blonde, stocky sister hissed.

“Belt up, Sarah! I want to get to know Harry a bit better. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Harry?” William asked.

I took a bite of dry biscuit; I couldn’t say anything. The older boy, with his yellow hair and tall frame, was quite frightening, but if I ran inside to Mister Snape everything would go wrong. William would never be my friend if I got him in trouble or if he thought me too young and fussy. Mister Snape would be angry I’d interrupted him and that nice lady and he’d never let me come to tea again. No, I’d faced many scarier people than William before. I could do it again.

“I’m sure you would. You’re shy, aren’t you? What are you hiding?” Could the boy see into me? He just kept going in a supposedly genial tone.

“So how is it livin’ with old Snape, there? I heard round town you were roughed up when you first come up. He hit you?”

When the tailor Grey had said this, it made me feel warm and cared for. But the way William said it . . . it seemed he wanted it to be true. Like when Aunt Petunia gossiped with her nosy friends on the telephone.

“No,” I managed to say, but then I thought of that day with the belt, and my face must’ve showed my thinking.

“That’s a lie. He has hit you! What else does he do? Why did he take you in anyway?”

“He knew my mum. He’s my godfather. He’s very good to me, and kind, and he got me these new clothes.” My voice dropped off after that.

The three of us ate in silence for a few moments, but William was staring at me with an evil grin. I’d never taken so little pleasure in eating my entire life.

He started up again.

“You know everyone in town thinks him beastly, don’t ya? They say he’s not right. Never married, you know? Hated his father as well, from what mum says.”

What was this boy getting at? I could feel the air around me starting to spark as I got hotter and hotter with anger.

“He makes you polish his knob, don’t he?”

“What are you on about?” It couldn’t be what I thought!

“How big’s his todger, eh?” William continued.

Sarah tried to interrupt, but her brother pushed her out of the way.

“Bit daft, are ya? Does he fancy skinny little boys?” he finally said, from two centimeters in front of my face.

“No! Of course not!” This was a rude, rude boy and I couldn’t allow him to say these things about my Snape!

The next few things happened lightening quick.

Sarah slapped the side of her brother’s head as she hissed, “William! You bleeding wanker!”

William said, “Harry, you’re protesting too much for it not to be true! He probably comes at you every night!”

William flew up into the air like a rocket, twisting and turning. He collapsed a few feet away from Sarah, landing solidly on his bum. He yelled like it killed him. And I ran.

………………………………………………………………………….

Chloe was out the back door half a pace behind me. Harry was nowhere in sight.

“Mum!” Sarah called, grinning like mad, “Will finally got his!”

“Teasin’ the little one, was ‘e?”

By this time, the lanky dimwit had picked himself off the garden ground. “A ‘course not, mum. You told me not to, didn’t you?”

“Mum! Harry’s a witch just like cousin Hannah!”

I am certain my face displayed a rare look of surprise when Chloe looked over her shoulder at me, winked, and said, “Don’t be silly, Sarah, Harry’s not a witch! Boys are wizards, are they not, Severus?”

After a gobsmacked pause, I removed myself from this quite random, surreal situation.

“Thank you for . . . tea, Chloe. I must be going.”

As I walked away she laughed and smacked William across the back of the head.

………………………………………………………………………….

I knew they weren’t supposed to see that. Just like taking off the cloak. Just like Mister Professor Snape – no, Godfather! Just like godfather changing to regular clothes. They were normal, but we were wizards. We had to hide it.

And I’d failed. Miserably.

Wanted to go see Grey, see his smiles. He would like me anyway, wouldn’t he?

But, no, that couldn’t be. If he knew I was a freak, he wouldn’t like me either. Only other wizards would tolerate . . .

“Harry!”

Mister Snape had just come in the back screened door. Would he take me to an orphanage instead of back to the Dursleys? I’d got it in my mind now that would be better, an orphanage. At least there’d be other children to take some of the beatings instead of just me.

“Yes, sir,” I called from the loo. I was trying to make my face look like it hadn’t been crying.

He swore, then climbed the stairs.

“We can’t seem to get along with anybody, now, can we?” he asked, with something that could have been half a smile.

Was he playing with me? Deciding I’d better play along, I said, “No, sir?”

He laughed!

“Did he fly backward like Albus?”

A look of mischief hovered in his eyes. This was quickly getting scary. I was trapped here, in the lavatory. Mister Professor Snape stood in front of the door, so tall, with a look of mischief in his eyes. Uncle Vernon always had that look about him just before he did something new, something unexpected, something . . . painful.

And now – my breathing sped up – now Mister Professor Snape was talking about Albus Dumblesdore, my elder, who I hurt, who wanted to take me away.

But Headmaster Dumblesdore wanted to give me to another family, not the Dursleys. Another magical family who wouldn’t think I was a freak.

Somehow, that thought made my chest ache even more.

“Harry? All right, there, lad?” my Snape whispered, kneeling, looking at me, seeing me.

In one harsh breath, I managed, “I’m sorry, sir. It was an accident, again. I didn’t mean to, I felt so angry and the tingling energy built itself up, then William just sort of . . . took off.”

The Snape man laughed again, and I looked at him just in time to see his expression of near joy slide back into hatred.

“What did William say?” Mister Snape spat.

“I don’t . . . I don’t think I can . . .,” How could I repeat those disgusting words, especially to him! I swallowed, hard. “Awful things, sir, about – about you.”

………………………………………………………………………….

The boy’s accidental magic stood up for me? Me? A child, a Potter, standing up for me -against teasing - on such a basic, primal level that a nasty boy like William would be thrown on his arse? Merlin, was the world coming to an end?

Being strung on a tightrope-walker’s clothesline between anger and amusement was quite odd.

Harry, however, was not sensing the amusement in the situation. My first thought was to distract him by bringing up plans for his upcoming birthday, but changing the subject hadn’t worked so well last time.

“Are you finished in the loo, child?”

“Yes, sir.”

I was ‘sir’ again, for now. I wanted to remedy that quickly.

“We didn’t have much of a tea, did we, now? Let us go down to the kitchen and have a bite.”

He followed silently. I was glad I knew him well enough now to know he wasn’t sulking; it truly would have been infuriating having a pouting little boy following me about the cottage.

He sat deathly still, perched on the edge of one of the tottery kitchen chairs, barely even breathing; waiting.

Chuckling, I had to shake my head at this entire experience. I felt twelve years old again, only this time, I had a friend! Anyone catching a glimpse of me like this would think me half knackered.

Settling down across from the boy with a pot of tea and two mismatched cups, I tried to put him at ease as quickly as possible.

“Harry, look at me.” I was graced with the small-animal-in-headlights glare again, but at least he looked. “You are not in trouble. I will not hit you, whip you, beat you, punish you, or send you away. You are not in trouble. Now tell me what I said.”

There. If that didn’t cover everything, we were really in for it.

………………………………………………………………………….

Letting out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, I rushed to say, “I’m not in trouble, won’t be hurt, and I . . .” Did he really mean that part? Truly? “I get to stay with you?”

“That is correct. Now, I want to hear all of the details. What did the prat’s face look like when he flew into the air?”

Suddenly we were both giggling, which quickly progressed to whooping, screaming laughs complete with a snort here and there. I laughed until I coughed and sicked up, but godfather simply waved his wand with that cleaning spell and kept right on chuckling.

This must be what a family is supposed to feel like! How did I get so lucky?