Harry waited anxiously for Snape to continue, to announce his fate.

"Take another sip of milk first - don't want you dehydrated," Snape nodded to the glass.

Harry grabbed the milk and swallowed the rest of it, hastily wiping a hand over his mouth once he was done and setting the glass back on the table. "All right, I'm done."

"Good. Well, I could try and keep you in suspense, but I would hate to keep you in agony. Best to learn the truth, right from one's own lips. In short, I plan to keep you here for now. Wait," Snape held up a hand before Harry could protest, "let me finish and then you can tell me you how you feel."

Harry pressed his lips together, distrustful of Snape, but wanting to hear what the man would say.

"You are all alone," Snape said quietly. "No one cares about you, not your family at least. You have been missing for days and do they care? Not a bit. The other night when you were tucked in bed with Vampyr to watch you, I went to your uncle's home. They were sitting in the living room, completely calm and uncaring that their dear nephew had disappeared."

Harry wasn't really surprised that the Dursleys felt that way about him, but he refused to tell Snape that.

"You know your family hates you, don't you?" Snape prodded gently.

"Yes, I do," Harry nodded before he could stop himself.

The corners of Snape's mouth lifted quickly, but then his face went blank again. "Why should I not keep you, a friendless little boy who no one cares about? I see no reason to let you go."

Snape waited a few seconds to see if Harry had any sort of response, but when Harry said nothing, Snape continued,

"Of course, your next concern should be how long I plan to keep you. Aren't you curious?"

"Yes," Harry blurted, "yes, I want to know."

"I could be arrogant and say forever," Snape remarked carelessly. "But that would not be true. Eventually I would die before you and you could escape, say fifty years from now. But you're such a cunning, clever boy. I daresay you could escape successfully when you are nineteen, twenty, if you really wanted to. I could tell you that I will be holding you captive for the next eight years, but that is such a long time to a very little boy. And that last thing I want to do is break your spirit."

Snape took a sip of tea and Harry leaned forward, desperate for the man to continue.

"So," Snape set the tea down, "I will be keeping you the rest of the summer. You will stay here, exactly how you have been, sleeping in your same room, wearing the same clothes, studying your lesson, and calling me ‘Father.' Should you behave yourself and obey me and do exactly what you're told without arguing, there is a chance, a very small chance, that I will allow you to go back to Hogwarts."

Harry sucked in a grateful breath, relieved more than he could say at Snape's words. He knew Snape would probably not let him go, but at least there was the possible of a chance, a tiny glimmer of hope in all the darkness.

Snape smiled. "But if you are naughty and rebellious and I decide you can't go to Hogwarts, then you will remain here with me indefinitely. Do you think you can be good enough to persuade me to let you go?"

"No," Harry answered bluntly. His eyes opened wide at his answer, and he covered his mouth, wondering where that came from.

"Yes," Snape's eyes gleamed, "now we arrive at the truth of the matter. Do you think that this is a nice house, Harry?"

"No, it's small and ugly," Harry said from behind his hand. He blinked, dropping his hand. "What - why - what's happening to me?"

"Ah," Snape leaned back in his chair and pulled out a small vial, "I slipped a bit of this into your milk which you have drunk so quickly. Veritaserum. Colorless, odorless, tasteless, and you drank it all. Do you know what that is?"

"No, I don't. Is it poison?" Harry gulped. His stomach began to tighten, and he wondered if he could throw up before the potion took effect, whatever it was.

"Truth serum," Snape looked positively evil with glee. "Highly toxic, completely effective, and illegal to use on students. Whatever questions I ask you, you will have to answer truthfully, no matter what I ask. Shall we have a little question and answer right now?"

"No, I don't want to," Harry objected. His mouth was moving without his permission, his lips forming words against his will. "Please . . ."

"What is your name?" Snape asked him, ignoring his pleas.

"Harry James Potter."

"And how old are you?" Snape ran his thumb over the top of the vial, looking at it instead of Harry.

"Eleven, almost twelve."

"And do you like living here?" Snape shot him a hard glance.

"No," Harry blurted out. "Yes, no, yes - I don't know."

"You feel conflicted?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Harry nodded, praying tears would not fill his eyes which were already stinging.

"Do you like playing with your toys in your room?" Snape ran his fingers lovingly over the vial, rolling the object up and down in his hand.

"Yes."

"And which toy is your favorite?"

"The dragon," Harry replied, hating the feeling of his mouth moving of its own accord. "With or without its wings, though I like it better with the wings on."

"Do you like Vampyr?"

"Yes, I like him now," Harry replied. "But not at first - he was mean to me and I was scared that he would bite me. But I like him now."

"Do you like the games we play?"

"Not really. You keep changing and I get confused."

"Do you think I'm good at playing the games?" Snape tucked the vial back in his pocket and turned his full concentration upon Harry.

"No, you're bad at them," Harry winced at his own voice. He tried to keep his mouth shut, his teeth clenched tight together, but the moment Snape asked a question, Harry had to answer.

"Would you run away if you got the chance?"

"Yes," Harry admitted, sniffing slightly, "any chance I get though I feel bad for sneaking off."

"If you run away, do you think I would hunt you down and bring you back?"

"Yes, you would. Please, sir, let me -"

"Do you like me, Harry?" Snape's voice grew tight.

"No, you scare me."

"How do I scare you?"

"You keep changing and I don't know what's happening and I'm worried that you'll hurt me and I can't do anything because you're bigger than me."

"And smarter," Snape smirked. "Don't forget smarter." He stood up and walked behind Harry's chair.

Harry craned his neck to watch him, but Snape turned his head back. "Eyes straight ahead, Harry. No looking at me when you answer this next bit."

"Please stop," Harry begged as he looked at the table. "Don't make me answer any more questions. This isn't fair - you're making me tell you things I don't want to."

"Nonsense," Harry could hear the smile in Snape's voice, "I've been wanting to get a truthful answer out of you for some time now. You've been so naughty, lying to me all the time and thinking you're gotten away with it. Now you have no choice but to tell the truth. Do I make you feel small and helpless?"

"Yes."

"Do you fear me all the time?"

"Not always," Harry confessed.

"When?"

"When you let me play with toys and make me eat and let me sleep in a nice bed and didn't let me fall from the tree and helped me feel better after the cellar."

"But you still fear me," Snape reminded him. "Are you afraid I'm going to spank you again?"

"Yes," Harry swallowed, "but I'm more scared that you are going to hurt me in other ways. You make me feel bad when I didn't do anything."

"Do you hate me?" Snape said in a low voice.

"No," Harry felt his body start to shake, "but I don't like you when you're mean."

"But you don't hate me," Snape repeated, sounded almost satisfied. "I knew you were lying about that. You don't hate me, you can't hate me. No crying, Harry, keep yourself together. Just one more question."

Harry braced himself in his chair and raised his hands to his mouth. He knew the last question was going to be a bad one, something that would sting.

"What is your greatest fear?"

"Mph mph!" Harry replied.

Snape turned his chair around to find Harry pinching his lips together with his fingers, determined not to answer. Snape reached down to free his mouth, pulling one finger off at a time though Harry pinched his lips as hard as he could. Keeping both of Harry's hands in his own large hands, Snape knelt down to look Harry straight in the face.

Harry's green eyes were large and scared, and he kept shaking his head, wanting to pull his hands free.

"What is your greatest fear?" Snape repeated, his voice soft and gentle though his own eyes were intense. "Tell me right now. What is your greatest fear?"

"That I'll be all alone and no one will love me," Harry choked, hating the words as he said them. He closed his eyes, waiting for Snape's mocking laughter to fill his ears.

"There," Snape said quietly, "was that so hard?"

"Yes!" Harry cried. He yanked himself out of the chair, pulling his hands free, running for the door.

Snape caught him around the waist and held him back.

"Let me go!" Harry shouted, writhing in Snape's grasp.

"Stop it," Snape ordered. "I mean it. You're supposed to behave if you want to go to school this fall."

Baring his teeth, Harry jerked one last time and then stood still.

This was the end. Snape had beaten him. Snape had found out his worst secret, his sad pathetic little secret and exactly how Harry thought about everything. Snape had won.

"I hate you . . . some," Harry had to add the last word. "And I think my mum would have, too."

Snape whirled him around. "Say that again."

"My mum - I think she would have hated you."

Snape blanched, and then he gave a half-smile, half-sneer. "The potion's wearing off, I guess. I gave you a small dose anyway."

"No, it's not," Harry answered truthfully. "I don't think my mum would like what you've done to me."

Snape seemed at a loss for words. A muscle worked furiously in his jaw before he declared, "Well, you never got to know your mother. How would you know how she felt?"

"Because she was my mother."

"Enough," Snape stepped back.

"So you don't like it when I tell the real truth - you only like the truth when it makes you feel good? That's not the whole truth, just your truth."

"Quiet, Harry, no one wants to hear you talk. You speak only nonsense anyway, like a silly boy. No one cares about you, remember?"

"Dumbledore does," Harry crossed his arms and dug his fingers into his arm. "Dumbledore does or you would have let me talk to him. You knew he'd take me away if he saw me here. That's why you hid me upstairs. So who's the liar now?"

"I will spank you again," Snape threatened.

"Go ahead," Harry challenged, feeling rather reckless. "Then you'll know I really hate you for punishing me when I've done nothing wrong except tell the truth."

"You annoy me to death," Snape grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him towards the door.

"Where are we going?" Harry demanded, but he did not try to pull away.

"I'm putting you out to play for a while and give me a moment of peace," Snape told him. He snapped his fingers for the dog, and Vampyr trotted out the door into the warm sunshine beside Harry. "Climb any trees, and I'll put a chain around your neck like a dog and chain you to the house."

"You've threatened that already," Harry told him, very disrespectfully. "Stupid Snape can't find any new threats."

"Why should I? You're still scared of me."

Snape had him there again. Harry scowled, but Snape shut the door on him, leaving him out in the walled garden with the dog.

Harry stood there fuming for a few minutes. He wanted to believe in the chance that he might get to go school if he were good, but he knew it was just a ploy of Snape's to make Harry miserable yet again. Harry could already picture Snape's face when he would say, "What? You thought you were actually going to school? Are you honestly gullible enough to think that I would let you go? Poor stupid Potter. . ."

Harry lifted his head in determination. Snape might have won, but Harry would make sure that victory had no joy in it. He couldn't beat Snape, but he could annoy the man in little ways, get under his skin and irritate him.

"Watch this," he told Vampyr.

And then Harry made his way to the row of plants along one side of the garden. The garden bed needed weeding, but Harry could still see that straight row of plants among the large weeds. Quick as he could, Harry whipped off his shoes and sock and then stepped barefoot into the garden bed.

He stepped on one plant and ground it into the dirt, putting all his weight back on his heel.

Vampyr gave short yelp, but Harry protested,

"It's payback for what he did. You know I'm right."

The dog looked torn, but he stood still, watching Harry stand on the plants.

Knowing the dog wouldn't interfere, Harry began to stomp on all Snape's plants. With every one he crushed, he felt a little burst of exhilaration inside him. Take that, Snape, and that! There, that would show you, you slimy bastard!

The weeds got crushed along with the plants, but then Harry wasn't content with just smashing. He wanted to destroy the whole bed so Snape couldn't save any of his precious plants for his potions.

Falling to his knees, Harry began digging with his hands, thrusting his fingers into the dirt and yanking up handfuls. He tore at the limp plants and jerked up roots and flung dirt in the air.

Vampyr settled down on the ground behind him, watching Harry with sad eyes as the boy ruined the garden bed.

"Watch this," Harry cheered, grabbing a large handful of dirt and plants. He threw them up in the air and watching then fall in clumps of brown and green. "It's raining dirt!"

Vampyr whined, but Harry started clawing the mud again.

What a mess! Snape would never have his garden bed again. And the man could not make his nasty potions ever again.

Harry looked down at his muddy hands and got another idea. Snape had given him a bath twice and insisted on scrubbing Harry clean. Snape obviously did not want him dirty, and cleaning him again would be nothing but trouble, and anything that caused the man trouble -

Harry sunk his hands in the dirt and began to rub mud and torn leaves onto his arms. Once they were coated, he applied the dirt to his face.

"Ha!" Harry laughed. "Let's see him get this out."

He lay down in the disheveled bed and began rolling back and forth. Vampyr's head followed him back and forth as Harry turned over and over again in the mud. When Harry sat up, his clothes were smearing with grime, barely noticeable under the muck. Harry even lifted his shirt to rub the dirt on his stomach and back.

"Look at me, I'm a like a pig," Harry told the dog. "Maybe I'll track it all over his small ugly house, rub it on his books."

Harry grabbed two handfuls of the ground-up dirt and dumped it on his head, grinding the stuff into his hair. He was beginning to feel very filthy, especially as the stuff started to dry on his face. It felt slightly itchy, but he didn't care as long as he could pay Snape back. Maybe he could jump on the bed before Snape caught him, even icking his dirty feet against the walls.

Yes, he was quite disgusting now - time to show Snape.

Standing up, Harry grabbed handfuls of mud and began flinging them at the windows like snowballs. But where snowballs would have splattered and slid down the windows, the mud just splattered and stayed there. But Harry kept flinging it, hoping he could cover all the glass in dirt or maybe even break a window or two. Snape could not ignore him forever.

Sure enough, a moment later, Snape charged out the door. "Harry, what is -" his voice trailed away as he saw what Harry had done.

"Look at this," Harry taunted, flinging out his dirty arms. "Look what I did - I guess I'll never get to go to Hogwarts now. That's fine with me - I'd rather tear up your garden."

Snape strode forward, furious, but he stopped a few feet from Harry.

"I crushed all your plants. And then I rolled in them," Harry added triumphantly. "Look at me now. Just look. Your plants are all gone."

"Harry," Snape said in a hoarse voice, "not just the plants. What about the weeds?"

"They're gone, too," Harry smiled, his teeth white against his muddy face. "All crushed and rolled on and torn apart. So there!"

"That wasn't just weeds," Snape said in the same strangled voice. "That was poison ivy."