For a while Harry just lay there, feeling miserable about Severus' news. But eventually he began to feel a little guilty, especially when he remembered the expression in Severus' eyes when he'd made the ‘prison' comment.

Harry rolled onto his side and covered his face with his hands. Okay, that had been low, cruel even. He didn't like knowing he'd said something so cruel. He'd definitely have to apologise for that.

It wasn't even true, really. He liked living down here with Severus. It was almost like having his own home. Sometimes it was almost like having his own family. Harry froze as that thought flitted through his mind.

Family?

He was pretty comfortable now with the idea of Severus and himself being friends. Friendship was fine; he had lots of friends. But family?

He and Ron and Hermione were family. He and Ron had said before that they were brothers. He loved Hermione like a sister. He suspected that Ron and Hermione's feelings for one another were not quite sibling-like, but they loved one another, too, even if the signs of romance were all but unnoticeable.

And the Weasleys. Harry had grown used to thinking of them as ‘almost family'. They were the closest thing to it that he'd ever have, he'd realized that long ago, and he was grateful to them.

But Ron and Hermione were like a brother and sister. The rest of the Weasleys were like extended family. Harry had never really had anyone to fill his parents' place.

For a time, he'd had Sirius. For a brief, glorious time, Harry had thought that he'd finally found someone all his own. Someone who really loved him and wanted to be with him. Someone who would care for him and teach him and protect him. But it hadn't quite worked out, with Sirius being a wanted fugitive and having to stay hidden. They'd done the best they could, and Harry had hoped that one day he'd be able to live with his godfather and they could be a real family.

But then Sirius had died.

Harry took a deep breath and refused to let himself think the rest of that thought...that Sirius had died because of him. He'd made mistakes, but Sirius' death wasn't his fault. That was what Severus kept telling him whenever Harry had nightmares about it, and he'd made Harry promise that he'd tell himself that, too. Maybe someday Harry could even believe it.

Severus.

Harry lowered his hands and looked at the closed door to Severus' office. It was ironic, but Severus had actually been the one doing all the things that Harry had once hoped for with Sirius. Severus took care of him, protected him, and taught him. Heck, Severus was even giving up his career for Harry.

It was obvious that Severus cared for him a lot. But what would Severus think about the idea of them being like a family?

Harry realized suddenly that he himself really, really wanted it. He wanted Severus to be his family. But it was a little scary, too. His dreams of having a parent had died with Sirius. Harry didn't know if he could let himself hope for that again. It would hurt too much if it didn't work out. Maybe he should just be content with having Severus for a friend.

After all, the way he'd just acted, Harry couldn't blame Severus if the man was furious with him. He and Dumbledore were trying to keep Harry safe and alive...Harry knew that, even as upset as he was at the idea of being confined to the dungeons. He knew that Severus just wanted to protect him, and Harry had acted like a spoiled child and said a really hurtful thing to the man who had taken him in and cared so for him.

He hadn't meant it. Not really. It was just that he'd seen all the things he enjoyed about Hogwarts being taken away, unfairly, and his anger and frustration had overwhelmed him. For a moment it had seemed as if he were scarcely better off than he'd been at the Dursleys, locked away in the cupboard under the stairs.

Of course, that wasn't the case, and Harry could see that now that he'd begun to calm down a little. He was still much better off than at the Dursleys. He still had friends and people who cared about him here.

Harry sighed and sat up. He needed to apologise and try to make things right again between him and Severus, and he might as well go on and do it. He slipped his fleecy dark green robe on over his pajamas and shoved his feet into fuzzy slippers. Then he took a deep breath, went over to the closed office door, and knocked on it.

The door opened and Severus stood there, his face an unreadable mask.

Harry swallowed hard. "I'm sorry," he said. "About the prison thing. I didn't mean it."

There was a long silence, then, "I know you were upset. I can't blame you for not wanting to be confined down here." In spite of the words, Severus' voice sounded stiff and he turned to go back into his office without making any further gestures.

He'd really hurt Severus, Harry realized, feeling lower than a worm. He cast desperately about for a way to make things better, and then realized that there was only one way. He didn't want to talk about the Dursleys, but he did want Severus to understand why he had felt so despairing.

"Can...can I come in? I need to tell you something."

Severus nodded and stepped aside so Harry could enter. Harry went into his office, and he couldn't help but notice that for someone who had said he had a potion to brew, Severus hadn't made much progress. An empty, unlit cauldron rested in the center of the table, and two jars of ingredients sat beside it, but they hadn't been opened and there were no scales, knives, or other tools in sight.

Silence stretched out between them, Severus waiting impassively, and Harry wondering how to explain. Well, beginning was the hardest part, so he might as well just say it, he decided.

"I really am sorry. It's just that...that when I lived with the Dursleys, everything was so horrible. You know some of it already, but there's a lot you don't know. Until I came to Hogwarts, I lived in a cupboard. The cupboard under the stairs. I had a cot and a blanket, but it got pretty cold in the winter. And in the summer it was so hot, and it was always so dark. Sometimes I was afraid I would suffocate in there. I still hate small, dark places..."

"Harry," Severus interrupted, his voice sounding strangled. Harry looked up; he'd been looking down at the floor, and saw that the professor's face was ashen. Severus stepped close and wrapped his arms around Harry.

Harry gulped back a sob, but then Severus' hand came up to cradle the back of his head, and then Harry was clinging to him and weeping. Severus held him, murmuring soft, soothing words that Harry couldn't hear over his sobs. But that didn't really matter. It was the sound of Severus' voice that mattered, and his arms holding Harry, comforting him, keeping him safe. That was what mattered.

When he could speak again, Harry turned his face slightly from Severus' chest, and tried to explain, "You see why Hogwarts has always meant so much to me? Because it's all I have, and when you said I couldn't go to class, or go out at all anymore, just for a minute, I almost felt like I was being locked back in my cupboard. Stupid, I guess. But..."

"No, it's not stupid," Severus told him gently. "I understand."

"But I didn't mean it, Severus. I like living here, with you. I really, really like it. And I sounded so horrible and ungrateful..."

"Shh," Severus shook his head. "It's all right, Harry. I do understand."

Harry took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, though. I couldn't blame you if you didn't want me to live here anymore."

"Harry!" Severus hugged him tight again. "That never crossed my mind. Not even for a second." He held Harry back at arm's length and gazed intently into his eyes. "Harry, you will always have a home with me. I promise." For just a second, he faltered. "If you want it, that is."

The knowledge that Severus was vulnerable, too, made Harry reach out and hug the man to him this time. "I want it."

Then he was enfolded in Severus' arms again, and they held each other.

Finally the professor cleared his throat and said, "Well, perhaps it's a bit late now, but standing in my office isn't necessarily the most comfortable way to have a long discussion. And we do still have a few things to talk over, so why we don't go sit on the sofa in the living room?"

They did, Severus pouring drinks for them both first...a butterbeer for Harry, and wine for himself. Then they sat side by side on the sofa, and Severus asked quietly, "Would you like to tell me more about the Dursleys?"

Harry hesitated. "I don't want to whinge on about them."

"You're not," Severus spoke in a firm voice. "Quite the contrary, I wish you had told someone about them earlier."

Harry glanced at him curiously. "Why? I'd still have to live with them, you know. Because of the blood wards."

Severus got an odd look on his face, as if he had actually forgotten the blood wards. Then he scowled, but Harry knew it wasn't directed at him.

"Something could have done to help you," the professor growled. "You're not going back to them this summer, Harry. At least, not alone. I'll promise you that, too."

Much as he wanted to believe that, Harry just couldn't. He had to go back to the Dursleys, now more than ever, now that Voldemort was back and not troubling to hide his re-appearance. But Severus was still looking rather fierce, so Harry decided not to contradict him. He only nodded.

Severus took a deep breath and went on more quietly, "But the point right now is that you aren't whinging, Harry. Keeping all these feelings bottled up inside you isn't healthy. It's much better if you share your problems."

Harry gave him a sidelong glance. "You don't share your problems," he said softly. "You know a lot about the Dursleys, but you've never told me about your family."

Severus froze for a second, then raised an eyebrow at him. "And see what a bitter, vengeful man I became? You don't want to be like me."

"You're not really like that anymore, Severus." Harry leaned against him. "I could do worse."

Severus was quiet for a long moment. When he did speak, his voice sounded a little odd, sort of thick and raspy. "I will tell you about my family sometime."

He cleared his throat. "But right now we are talking about you." He set his glass aside, wrapped an arm around Harry, and touched his lips to the top of Harry's head.

It was that light touch that made Harry begin. He told Severus everything: about Dudley and his gang going ‘Harry-hunting', about all the Christmases and birthdays when he'd been ignored, about all the snide, hateful comments Aunt Petunia made. He talked more about being locked away in the cupboard for hours and hours at a time.

He told Severus about being sick with the flu or a virus but never seeing a doctor, only being locked away to suffer chills and nausea in solitude. And finally, he told Severus about the night when he was twelve, when Dobby had come to warn him against returning to Hogwarts and had ruined the carefully orchestrated dinner party that Uncle Vernon had planned, about his uncle's mad fury and how he had ripped his belt off and beaten Harry across his back, until Harry had given in and screamed in pain and then had been left locked in his room to survive on cold soup for the rest of the summer.

"Ron and the twins rescued me, and I was able to spend the rest of the summer at the Burrow," Harry whispered. "That was the year we got blocked from getting on the train, and we came in the flying car, remember? Course we should have just waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, but at the time we panicked. Well, I panicked and Ron was trying to calm me down. But all I could think was that I had to get to Hogwarts, that I couldn't take a chance on being sent back to the Dursleys."

Glancing up, Harry was surprised at the expression on Severus' face. Severus felt things, very deeply, Harry knew, but he usually was good at presenting a cool façade. Harry had seen him enraged before, back when they had still been enemies. But he had never seen Severus look like this; his face pale and stricken with raw pain, his black eyes glimmering.

Severus held him so tightly that Harry couldn't breathe and after a minute he had to twist his face to catch a breath.

"I'm sorry," Severus' voice rasped painfully. It was all he said, but he sounded as if he couldn't say anything more just then.

Harry blinked. "None of that was your fault."

Severus seemed to be fighting to control his emotions. "I wasn't there for you. None of us were there for you." He bit each word out as if it hurt him to speak.

Harry didn't know what to answer, so he didn't say anything. After a while, Severus seemed to calm down a little and asked, "Do Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger know how you were abused?"

Harry shook his head. "They know some of it, but not the worst. They know my aunt and uncle never wanted me, and that they make me wear Dudley's old clothes and don't give me enough to eat. But they don't know the rest of it."

"But you went to the Weasleys soon after you were beaten," Severus said.

"I hid it from them," Harry replied softly. "I was too ashamed to let them know."

"There's no reason for you to be ashamed," Severus sounded fierce again. "You did nothing wrong, and it was not your fault. And no matter if you had been disobedient in some way, you wouldn't have deserved to be beaten. No child deserves that."

"Yeah, I know that now," Harry agreed. He shrugged. "But it's still kind of hard to talk about."

Severus sighed. "I know," he said heavily. "I know."

There was a pause and when Severus spoke again, his voice was cold and dangerous. "The Dursleys will be brought to justice. They will pay for what they've done."

Harry bit his lip. "I know they deserve...well, something bad. But we can talk about something else now, Severus? Please?"

Severus nodded. He closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, he seemed calmer.

"Well, as I said before, I do understand why you objected so strenuously to the idea of staying in our rooms all the time."

Harry started to say something, but Severus stopped him. "But I was trying to tell you, Harry, that I am going to try to make it as pleasant as possible for you. I know you need your friends, and to have some contact with the outside world. So...your Gryffindor friends may come and visit in the afternoons..."

"What about my Hufflepuff friends?" Harry had to ask, just to lighten the mood. "And Luna's a Ravenclaw."

Severus just rolled his eyes. "And I am going to be the faculty advisor for your Defense club, what do you call it? Dumbledore's Army? So you can attend those meetings. I suppose we could arrange for you to attend the Quidditch matches as well, if you are willing to sit in the faculty section."

Harry frowned, but Severus went on, "And perhaps Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger could join us."

Harry smiled and Severus said wryly, "Do these negotiations meet with your approval then, Mr. Potter?"

"They do." Harry held out his hand, and they shook on it.