“Severus! How good of you to drop by. Would you care for tea?” said Dumbledore as Snape stepped out of his fireplace.

“Thank you, Headmaster. Tea would be most appreciated.”

“Severus, you know you can call me Albus. After all these years it should be easy enough for you to drop the formalities.”

Snape sighed and nodded. He took a sip of his tea and eyed the headmaster over the rim of his cup. Dumbledore said, “I can see that you have something important to share with me this morning, my dear boy. I hope it is not too troubling.”

The potion master gathered his thoughts and began. “I find myself in a rather unsettling position.” Dumbledore nodded and waited patiently for him to continue. “As you know, over the last twenty odd years, I have found myself in the …control, shall we say, of two very powerful wizards.” Albus made as if to speak and Snape cut him off. “It was my own doing and I do not blame you for my situation, Albus. But of late,” he said, “I find myself being maneuvered by a third, very powerful wizard.”

Dumbledore’s eyes widened slightly at this admission. He continued to wait for Severus’ explanation. “It is the Potter boy,” he began, and Dumbledore’s expression became even more avid. “As you know, I left headquarters last night to deliver Lupin’s potion. While he was drinking the potion an owl arrived. A white owl.” He could tell he had Dumbledore’s attention now as the man leaned forward slightly. “It carried no message but apparently intended to bring Lupin to the boy.” Snape smirked at the memory of Remus’ anxiety. “I managed to persuade the bird to lead me instead of the wolf and subsequently found him again.”

The smirk fled as he remembered the encounter. Snape struggled with his emotions for a moment, hating the guilt he felt for hexing the boy. In fifteen loathsome years of teaching he had never hurt a student in his care. With a reassuring pat on the knee, Dumbledore urged him to continue. “Just tell me, my boy. I’m sure you acted appropriately.”

Snape looked at the carpet with its swirling gold stars and huffed. “I evidently clipped him with a curse as he was escaping from headquarters. It was Recompensoria.” Dumbledore frowned but said nothing. “He had been under its influence for several hours and was beginning to …weaken.” The headmaster’s scowl caused him to flinch and stop speaking.

“Pray continue, Severus,” said Dumbledore coolly.

“I explained the counter and he agreed to it. After several…tense moments… he was released but then lost consciousness. I apparated him back to my cottage and put him on the couch for the night.” Snape took a fortifying sip of tea. The headmaster appeared to be calming down now that he knew the brat was all right.

“Is the boy still there?” asked Albus civilly.

“Yes, I have secured him in such a way that I feel confident he cannot escape.” Albus’ raised brow prompted him to clarify. Severus described the binding and silencing curses and, still prompted by the eyebrow he said, “I told him the house elf would be punished if he got away again.” The headmaster gave him an amused glance.

“How very Slytherin of you, Severus.”

Acknowledging the jibe with a tilt of his head, Snape continued. “I am here now to arrange to deliver him back into your custody.” He sat back in his chair and idly watched Fawkes preening himself as he gathered his thoughts. After running his finger around the smooth gold rim of his cup he continued. “The dilemma is that, as much as it pains me, I am inclined to agree with Miss Granger in her assessment of Potter’s mental status.” The headmaster’s intent expression prompted him to continue. “I am concerned that he may be susceptible to lapses in judgment while he is in this state. His desperation could make him decide to do something precipitous …”

“Go over to the dark side?” Albus prompted.

Snape snorted. “The boy could no sooner go to the dark side than fly to the moon on that Firebolt of his.” He sobered a bit and continued, “But he might go rogue on you, Albus. Refuse to join the order. That dueling club of his might persuade him to use them to back him or he might decide to go in alone in a suicide mission. I think you need to give him a little rein and let him get to know his own mind. He needs time to grow.” He spread his hands. “Potter asked me what odds I would give that he would live to see adulthood.” He folded his arms as he finished the thought, “I wouldn’t take the bet.”

Albus sat back, fingers steepled, and considered what Snape had said. After a few moments of contemplation he said, “The boy would need someone to check in with,” he said musingly. “He’s still too vulnerable to be left completely to his own devices.”

“How about the werewolf?” said Snape.

Albus gave him a longsuffering look. “Remus,” he said, “would be an excellent choice except he is still recovering from the loss of Sirius. He would have little to offer the boy in the way of stability. To say nothing of his lycanthropy.” He sat back and ran his hands over his long white beard. “I must give this some thought.”

“The boy requires careful shaping, Albus. Otherwise we shall be left with a tool we cannot use. Choose wisely.” Severus glanced at the clock. “I have been here too long. The brat will be finding ways to escape.” He stood and moved over to the fireplace. “If you will firecall me with your choice of guardian I shall see that the boy is delivered there immediately.”

“I will come by in a couple of hours, Severus. Do try not to lose the child in the meantime.” Dumbledore gave a smirk to rival Severus. “Let us hope he hasn’t realized you don’t need to say the words to do wandless magic.”

Snape rolled his eyes and stepped into the fireplace.

As Snape exited the floo he immediately knew something was wrong. The cottage reeked of magic and the silence was ominous. Pulling out his wand, he cautiously eased the door to the kitchen open. He took in the scene and, cursing loudly, moved the rest of the way into the room.

Sprawled on the floor was a tall, dark haired wizard. His robe was rucked up and partially covering his face. Snape knelt and flicked the collar of the cloak aside, revealing the man’s identity. It was Nott, one of Voldemort’s inner circle. He was thoroughly stunned, blood trickled weakly from his nose and his jaw was slack.

Straightening up Snape moved over to the table. Harry slumped in his chair, hands still tied behind him. His eyes were closed and his head was against the back of the chair. He was taking rapid, shallow breaths and a fresh bruise bloomed on his cheek. Snape said carefully, “Potter?”

Harry’s head snapped up. His eyes opened and flicked anxiously around the room, finally settling on Snape. The chair squeaked loudly as Harry shoved himself away from the table and tried to stand. Snape grabbed his shoulders and pressed him back into his seat. “What happened?” he growled. A flick of his wand cancelled the silencing spell.

The boy looked frantically around the room. “Widget?” he slurred. With his eyes sliding shut Harry sagged forward and collapsed on the table. Snape cursed and spun around, looking apprehensively for the elf. He blew out a relieved breath as he saw him cowering by the fireplace.

“Come here, elf,” he said in a calm voice. The elf scuttled over, nervously wringing his hands and staring at the floor. Snape ground his teeth but tried to remain composed “What happened here, Widget?”

“Master Severus, Widget did as you directed. Widget prepare breakfast then feed it to Mr. Potter.” The elf’s bulging eyes moved fretfully to the stunned wizard. “Nasty wizard come through floo. He strike Mr. Potter. Tell Widget to go away.” More hand wringing and shuffling punctuated his next statement. “Widget cannot disobey. Widget must not leave and Widget cannot release Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter stun bad wizard with his eyes.” The elf’s ears rotated back on his head as he looked up at his master with pleading eyes.

Snape snarled and turned back to Harry’s limp form. “Prepare a bed for Mr. Potter,” he said venomously. He ran a quick diagnostic spell then growling, “Mobiluscorpus,” he levitated the boy and began to walk toward the bedroom. Widget had the covers pulled back when he brought Harry into the room and settled the boy into the bed. Snape looked down at the comatose wizard and shook his head. “Potter. Does everything happen to you?”

Returning to the kitchen Snape obliviated Nott then levitated the man to the fireplace. He threw a handful of floo powder in and said, “Nott Manor,” as he eased the wizard’s body across the hearth. Tumbling through the floo network with an unconscious death eater was not a lot of fun but it was safer than trying to double apparate with someone of his size. He had only done it in the past in extreme emergencies. Once at Nott’s home he placed the man on the couch then disapperated.

With a sigh of relief that things were under control if only temporarily, he checked on the potion he had started brewing that morning before Potter woke up. It was ready so he removed it from the heat and after straining it through some bat wings he decanted it into several vials. “Should have known the brat would be using up all my potions. I’ll have to bill Hogwarts for this one,” he muttered. He took one of the vials into the bedroom the house elf had prepared for Potter.

The boy was starting to stir. He struggled weakly, his hands still bound behind his back. Snape could see his shoulders straining as he pulled against the restraints. Still more than half unconscious, Harry muttered a few words of which “fuck” was the only one understandable. His eyes opened slowly and blinked. As he caught sight of Snape he said, “Fuck,” again, this time with more feeling. Snape rolled his eyes and hauled Harry upright in the bed by the front of his jumper.

“Language, Potter,” growled the potions master. He smirked as he noticed the apprehensive way Harry was eyeing the vial he carried. With a contemptuous flick of his wrist he released his grip on the boy’s collar and watched him sag back against the headboard. “Don’t worry, Potter, this vial contains a potion that will help restore you to your usual obnoxious state of being. I do not dare poison you now as the headmaster will be arriving shortly.”

The thought of the imminent arrival of the headmaster had the desired effect. Panic blossomed on the boy’s face. Snape’s smirk deepened as he watched the wheels turning in Potter’s head. It was easy to see the escape plans being developed and then discarded as the young wizard considered his options. Wanting to keep the Gryffindor off balance, Snape leaned in close and spoke in his most malevolent voice.

“However, Potter, your orphan status does make it easier to deal with you. No one to complain about harsh treatment and the like.” His eyes glittered like black ice as he spoke.

The effect on the boy was not exactly as he had planned. Instead of deepening his fears it seemed to bolster his flagging courage. “It’s also convenient for me, Professor. There’s no one to be embarrassed about my disrespectful conduct. No distracting coddling or using them as hostages either. It’s altogether a much better situation, don’t you agree, Professor?” Harry practically spat the last sentence and his eyes matched Snape’s in their malice. Snape felt the boy’s magic tugging at the ropes binding his wrists.

“Stop that, you idiotic boy!” Snape shouted. He leaned in close and put his hands on the wall on either side of Harry’s head. The boy looked properly frightened again.

“Stop what, sir?” he asked quickly.

“If you do not discontinue this use of wandless magic you will permanently deplete your magic core. Is that your intention, Potter?” Snape raged, his face close enough now that he was sure Harry could feel the vibrations of the words hitting his cheeks. The boy was silent, eyes wide and fixed on Snape’s. “You are already suffering from magical exhaustion, any further use and you will likely be in a coma,” snarled the professor.

“But, I haven’t done any magic,” Harry squeaked.

Snape abruptly moved off the bed and turned away in disgust. He looked back with a scowl. “Must I list it for you? At the headquarters you performed wandless summoning twice, as well as the petrificus totalis hex. You then opened the door and unshrunk your possesions. Today I have witnessed accio plus whatever you did to Nott. That doesn’t even touch on resisting the crutiartis curse in your vision and fighting the recompensoria curse while riding that motorbike all day.”

“I used magic to fight those curses?” Harry asked his fear momentarily overshadowed by curiosity.

Snape rolled his eyes and sighed. “Of course, Potter. Why else would some wizards be able to resist better than others?” When Harry still looked blank, he continued, now in lecture mode. “Some wizards are able to access their core of magic to help shield them from the effects of curses. The effects are slowed down or the pain may be lessened. With training some have been able to throw off certain curses completely, especially if the caster is weak in his magic.”

“So now I’ve used up my magic?” Harry asked, aghast.

“Not yet but if you continue in this vein you could do that very thing.”

Harry looked skeptical. Snape rolled his eyes again and continued. “Like it or not, Potter, you are still an underage wizard. It takes time to develop the skill and strength needed to do wandless magic. Most wizards never do it at all. You are doubtless very gifted but even Professor Dumbledore had to be trained to use his magic.” He waved his hand at the boy and said, “Couple the magical exhaustion with your physical fatigue and you have a dangerous situation. You will continue to pull from your magic in an effort to offset bodily weakness.”

He moved back over to the bed and sat on the edge. Pushing the hair back from his face he looked at Harry imploringly. All trace of malice was gone, leaving only bitterness in its place. “You must let me help you through this, or suffer the consequences. And I think you realize that the consequences would be dire for all of us.” Snape snorted at the mutinous look on the boy’s face. “Don’t worry, Potter. It will only be for a short time. Dumbledore will find you a place to stay soon enough.”

Snape flicked his wand and the ropes fell away from Harry’s wrists. Harry gratefully brought his arms in front of himself and rubbed the left shoulder. “I don’t want him to find me a place to stay,” Harry said fretfully. “I can take care of myself now.” At Snape’s raised brow he said, “As soon as I get over this, that is.”

“Why were you using wandless magic in the first place, Potter? You had your wand most of the time.”

Harry rubbed his shoulder some more and said, “I thought that if those prats at the ministry could trace my magic then probably Dumbledore and Voldemort could do the same.” He shrugged. “Seemed like the wandless stuff might be tougher to pin down.”

Snape huffed and said, “How strange to hear you using common sense. Next you will be telling me you’ve signed up for Ancient Runes.”

“How long will this take?” Harry asked abruptly.

Snape could see the boy was tiring. It was important to get the potion inside the brat before he fell asleep again. “I don’t know, Potter. The potion I have prepared will temporarily dissociate you from your magic core to give it time to recover. If you take the potion it should be able to restore itself quickly. Without it…” He left the rest unsaid, hoping the boy would forget his ridiculous ‘rules’ about potions. Harry twisted with indecision but finally relented. He held out a shaky hand and accepted the proffered vial. Snape kept his sneer to a minimum as the boy choked down the potion.

“You’ll need to take it again tonight and at least twice more tomorrow.” Harry nodded unenthusiastically. He tried to sit up straighter but failed. Snape looked at him sharply.

The boy’s skin had gone very pale and there was a hint of sweat on his brow. His fears were confirmed when Harry clutched the front of his jumper and slurred, “’m hot.” The eyes that met his were glassy and unfocused. Snape put his hand on Harry’s forehead. He was burning with fever. The boy gave him a look of pure confusion then said, “I’ve gotta go.” He tried to stand but only managed to pull the duvet over his head.

Snape cursed. The potion also prevented the boy from drawing on his magic to heal himself. “Now he’s sick, how perfect,” he muttered as he pushed the boy back onto the bed and straightened the cover. “Probably exposure. Drat! Now Dumbledore won’t want to move him,” he moaned with his hand over his face. Resigned to a few days of tending to a sick Potter, he went to his potions cupboard for a fever reducing tea. He was brewing it at the stove when Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace.

“Severus! Are you making tea?” asked the headmaster.

Snape gave him a look of loathing and explained about Harry’s illness. Dumbledore quietly went in to Harry’s room to check on him. A few minutes later he returned and said, “You are right, my boy. He is too ill to move at this time.” There was an irritating twinkle in his eye as he continued. “In any case, I have decided that you are the best man for the job of chaperoning Harry’s summer. I found your argument most persuasive but could think of no one who would be better suited.”

Snape’s teeth were clenched but he refrained from comment. The idea of spending his time indulging the golden boy’s emotional outbursts was beyond toleration. He feared that if he spoke now he would find himself in an even worse situation. Dumbledore’s eyes searched Snape’s. “I know you understand the need to guide him this summer and help him come to terms with his destiny, Severus. Do you also understand that his emotional wounds are part of the problem?”

“Merlin’s balls! You all coddle the brat, Albus. I shall attempt to free him from his erroneous belief that he can save his friends by staying away from them but the rest of Ms. Granger’s treatment will have to wait until he returns to school. I am sure she and the rest of Potter’s fan club will have him back to his obnoxious self in no time. I am neither interested in his emotional frailties nor capable of addressing them.”

Floo powder in hand, Dumbledore eyed Snape speculatively. “We shall see what comes of this endeavor, my boy. I think you may be surprised at the outcome.” His expression returned to its usual annoying smile and he threw in the powder. “Let me know what you work out, Severus.” He stepped into the green flames and was gone.