Platform Nine and Three Quarters was crowded, as it always was on the morning of September the 1st. Families gathered together in little knots, hugging and saying good-bye; first-year students looked either fearful or eager; older kids called to one another and hurried to join friends; younger siblings watched enviously and parents surreptitiously wiped tears from their eyes even as the great scarlet steam engine puffed out billows of white smoke.

A steady rain fell against the domed glass ceiling and though those inside were protected from the worst of the cool damp weather, it was still chilly. Harry shivered slightly and was glad that Severus had insisted on ordering more winter clothes for him. Today he was wearing a thick dark green rugby shirt with a navy stripe across the chest and a new pair of jeans, along with his trainers.

Of course he would have to change into his Hogwarts uniform before the train arrived at its destination that evening, but Harry had his school clothes, shrunken and neatly folded, in his pocket.

Severus had noticed him shiver. "Are you warm enough?" The professor was dressed warmly himself, in his usual black robes, though these were his nicer ones, with emerald and silver braid along the linings.

Harry nodded. "Yes, thanks, and thanks for arranging all this for me, Severus."

His father nodded. "You are welcome." His voice was solemn, but his eyes were warm and kind.

Harry smiled at him; then caught sight of a familiar group coming through the barrier from the Muggle side of the station. "Oh, there are the Weasleys. Come on."

As they made their way through the crowd, some of the students recognised them and stared at the sight of Severus Snape and Harry Potter walking side by side, apparently quite amicably, but no one dared to approach them or say anything, though the teenagers cast curious glances at one another and muttered among themselves when the Potions Master and the slight dark-haired boy had passed.

Harry was aware of the attention, but he ignored it. People shouldn't be so surprised. The newspaper articles had said that he'd been staying with Severus all summer and would continue to do so, but he supposed that the actual sight of the two of them together, and not at each other's throats, was still rather a shock to the Hogwarts' students.

Of course it would be nothing compared to when they discovered that he and Severus considered themselves father and son. But that was all right with Harry. He hoped that most people would be accepting, and if he were honest with himself, he had to admit that he was a little nervous about how his other Gryffindor friends would react. He really hoped that they at least would be supportive, once the initial shock had passed, but even if they weren't...

Well, Severus was his father and Harry loved him. He was happy and grateful to have a family and he wasn't going to let anyone ruin that for him. Severus was watching him and once he saw that Harry had noticed, he raised an eyebrow slightly. Harry smiled to show him that he wasn't concerned about the whispers. The corners of Severus' mouth quirked upwards in response.

They joined the Weasleys, where Mrs. Weasley promptly engulfed Harry in an exuberant embrace and the rest of the redheaded clan gathered around, clapping him on the back and shaking his hand. Severus looked slightly startled when they greeted him enthusiastically as well, but then he relaxed, nodded, and returned the handclasps with more warmth than was his custom.

"Sorry we're late. We waited for you a few minutes before Dad said you were probably already here at Platform Nine and Three Quarters," Ron remarked to Harry.

"Oh, yeah, Severus Apparated us directly here," Harry explained.

"Wish Mum and Dad would have done that for us, too, but I suppose it might have been difficult with all our stuff." Ginny eyed their enormous cartload of bags with Pigwidgeon's owl cage perched precariously on top.

"Sorry, guess I should have told you how we were coming, but I didn't think about it," Harry told them.

Ron shrugged. "No problem. Neither did we."

Just then another family came through the barrier and bumped into them.

"Oh, excuse us, we're most sorry," Mr. Weasley said solicitously before motioning to his own family. "We'd best get out of the way."

So they all moved off a bit to the right. Besides the Weasley parents, Ron, and Ginny, Fred and George were along to see them off, too, so they made a rather large crowd. Harry noticed that they were all dressed nicely again, with the twins and Ron in shirts like his own, though Ron's was a deep royal blue, while the twins wore bright canary yellow and black trousers instead of jeans like Ron and himself.

Ginny wore a rose shirt and a rose and brown patterned skirt with brown boots. Her dark red hair fell to her waist, long and thick, and Harry thought that she looked quite pretty, though he quickly squashed that thought. He couldn't afford to think like that. It would only lead to hurt. Even if there were some girl who might be interested in a short, scrawny guy like him, he was still a slave and no girl would ever want to date a slave.

For a moment Harry felt the familiar pain and shame threatening to overwhelm him, but then there was a light touch on his arm and he turned to see his father studying him in concern. He shoved the dark feelings away to the back of his mind. Today was supposed to be a fun occasion. Severus had given up his last planning day so that Harry could ride on the Hogwarts Express with his friends, and it would be ungrateful of him to mope about and ruin it.

Not to mention, he'd been looking forward to today and he didn't want to spoil things for himself. There would be plenty of time in the future to be depressed about the slavery spell, after all.

Years and years of time.

Oh, he was doing it again. Harry shoved the gloominess away once more with grim determination and nodded almost fiercely at his father, who didn't look reassured in the slightest.

Severus wasn't the only one who had noticed his mercurial mood either. Before the professor could say or do anything, Ron stepped close to Harry and asked quietly, "Everything all right, mate?"

Harry nodded. In an effort to change the subject, he asked, "Where's Hermione?"

Ron looked as if he knew what Harry was doing and for another moment he just watched his friend, with a vaguely unhappy and worried expression. But then he seemed to decide not to press the matter.

"She's coming with her parents. They should be here any minute," he replied, looking around.

As if on cue, the Grangers appeared in the distance, Hermione's father carrying her bag for her and Hermione herself holding onto Crookshank's traveling case. Ron waved to them and they came hurrying over. The adults greeted one another cordially while Hermione set her cat down and then threw her arms around both Harry and Ginny.

"Harry, Ginny! It's so good to see you!" She brushed her hair back from her face and gave Ron a rather shy look. "Hi, Ron."

"Hi, Hermione." Ron seemed a bit flushed as he and Hermione hugged. Harry raised one eyebrow at them. He'd long suspected that his two best friends had feelings for one another that were not quite familial and for their sakes', he was happy. But he did have to worry over whether it might affect their friendship. And if Ron and Hermione did start a relationship...well, a dating relationship, that is...where would it leave him? Harry didn't think he could get along without his brother and sister.

But then he felt ashamed of himself for being so selfish. He loved Ron and Hermione. If they wanted to date, he should be happy for them. He was happy for them, he told himself firmly. And it was probably foolish to worry, anyway. Ron and Hermione weren't dating yet, and if they did decide to do so at some point, it didn't mean they would forget about him. Their friendship was stronger than that.

Wasn't it?

Fred called to Ginny, and she strolled back over to her parents and the twins as Ron and Hermione stepped apart. Ron noticed Harry's expression. He grinned. "Hey, you've got the arched eyebrow thing down. Better watch it. You look like exactly like Sn...um, your father."

"Are you implying that that would be a bad thing, Mr. Weasley?" Severus cut in smoothly.

Ron's face turned as red as his hair. "No, sir! Not at all. I just meant, with the eyebrow and all...um,"

They all stared in stunned amazement, even Harry, when after a moment of glowering in mock severity, Severus relaxed and actually chuckled. "Never mind, Mr. Weasley. I simply have to get in a bit of practice before term starts."

Just then, a little further down the platform, a scuffle broke out between two groups of younger boys and Severus heaved a sigh.

"As I am officially here as a faculty supervisor, I suppose I ought to restore order and strike fear into the hearts of miscreant students. Harry, remember what we discussed." He headed off to break up the fight.

Ron and Hermione looked curiously at Harry. "What did you discuss?"

Harry shrugged. "Oh, nothing much. Just, Severus is kind of worried that we'll over-react if we see Malfoy. That's why he's here actually, to ‘run interference' if Malfoy and his goons show up. He asked me to stay within eyesight until we're all settled on the train."

"Humph, well, if I see Malfoy, I'm going to..." Ron began, scowling at the mere mention of the Slytherin boy's name.

"Do nothing at all, unless he provokes you first, and then you will call for me or for another professor if it is at all possible," Severus interrupted, giving them all a stern look.

They all jumped in surprise at his sudden re-appearance. But then Ron burst out, "You can't mean that you're just going to let him get away with...what he did to Harry!"

"Lower your voice at once, Mr. Weasley, unless you wish to announce the news to the entire platform," Severus answered coolly.

Ron frowned, but then dropped his gaze and muttered. "Sorry, sir." He glanced over at his friend. "Sorry, Harry. We won't let anyone know, promise."

Harry nodded and glanced at his father because he did want to know if Severus would answer Ron. He really hadn't thought much about Malfoy, which was kind of strange, actually, now that he thought about it, but he was curious to know if the other boy would face any consequences.

Severus' gaze swept over the three of them. After a moment he cast the muffliato spell and said quietly, "As a matter of fact, no, we do not intend to ‘just let Mr. Malfoy get away' with anything. Truthfully, criminal charges should be brought against him, but if we did, the entire wizarding world would know every detail and Harry doesn't want that."

"Right," Harry put in swiftly.

"So we have to handle the matter privately. Albus has come up with an idea for a punishment for Mr. Malfoy, but I'm not sure if it is the best way to handle the situation, and we are still discussing his plan. But in the meantime, I am his Head of House, and I'm sure you three can attest to the fact that I can certainly make a student's life difficult. Even more so when that student is a Slytherin, if I so wish."

Hermione looked satisfied and Ron slowly grinned. "Brilliant, sir."

"I'm so glad you approve," Severus drawled. Then he grew more serious. "Now, believe it or not, I have no wish to place you in detention this year. You are Harry's good friends and I appreciate how supportive you've been these past few weeks. However, if you begin a fight right before my eyes, I'll have little choice in the matter. I assure you all that Mr. Malfoy will be severely punished. He has hurt my son, and I won't let that pass. But the three of you need to stay out of it, if at all possible. Do you understand."

He waited until they had reluctantly nodded, none of them looking particularly happy. Then he nodded back at them and swept off to scowl at some older students who had become loud and boisterous.

"He doesn't really think that we're going to tattle to professors every time Malfoy crosses our path, does he?" Ron remarked. "We'd end up being the outcasts then."

"No, he knows we can't," Harry agreed. "But he is a professor. He has to say stuff like that."

"I think Professor Snape was warning us, too, not to start something right in front of him," Hermione added. "But if he doesn't actually see us involved, he might not investigate too strongly."

"Well, I just hope he's not around when I see Malfoy then," Ron replied. "But even if he is, it'll be worth it if I can just get in one good curse first."

Harry looked at him. "But don't do anything too bad, Ron. I don't want you getting into a lot of trouble for me."

"But it's just not right. He should be in Azkaban," the red-haired boy said in a low, but angry voice.

Harry just kept on staring at him with a troubled expression. He'd been afraid of this. He didn't want Ron's temper to get the better of him and have his best friend end up in serious trouble because he was trying to exact justice for Harry.

Hermione spoke up. "Malfoy's not going to get off, Ron. You heard Professor Snape. I think that if Malfoy starts something, then we'll go after him, but if he doesn't, then we should wait and see what Dumbledore and Professor Snape have in mind. If we don't think it's enough, then we'll come up with something ourselves."

"But what could they do to him that would be enough, Hermione?" Ron demanded bitterly. "Harry's whole life is affected. He almost died. I can't think of anything, except maybe Azkaban, that would be enough punishment for Malfoy."

"I am actually here, Ron," Harry said dryly. "You don't have to talk about me like I'm not."

"What do you want us to do, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry sighed. "I don't know. I suppose like you said, wait and see what Severus and Dumbledore do, and then we'll see. But if he starts something first..."

"Then he'll regret it to his dying day," Ron said grimly.

"We may be getting in a fuss for nothing," Hermione said after a moment. "It's almost eleven and there's no sign of Malfoy. Maybe he did decide to transfer to another school or be tutored at home or something. He's got to know he's in trouble with Dumbledore if he comes back to Hogwarts."

"He'll be back." Harry shook his head. It would be too much to hope for that he'd never have to see Draco Malfoy again.

"Well, I think we've spent entirely too much time being upset over Malfoy," Hermione said firmly. "Come on, forget about him and let's go say good-bye to everyone. We'll need to board the train in a minute."

So they re-joined the larger group. There was a great round of hugs and handshakes, admonitions to be careful, entreaties to write often, and well-wishes.

Fred and George slipped a box into Harry's hands. "Some of our newest stuff and a few old favourites." Fred winked at him. "Just a little ‘thank you' for helping us get our start. Use it well."

"Um, thanks," Harry managed to say just as the steam engine gave a great blast of its horn and they had to hurriedly grab their bags and scramble aboard.

The Hogwarts Express was crowded inside as kids hurried to find compartments. Ron and Hermione had to meet with the other prefects up front for a time and they vanished into the first carriage after promising to join Harry as soon as possible. Ginny spotted some friends of her own and took off after them, smiling over her shoulder and saying, "See you later, Harry."

For a second Harry stood in the aisle, feeling slightly lost, but then he shrugged and began hunting for a place to sit. Severus was farther down the aisle, glaring at the excited, chattering students and brusquely ordering them to find their seats. The sight of his father and the box in his hands was a sharp painful reminder to Harry. He wasn't allowed to own anything. Did the twins' gift count?

Well, as much as he hated knowing that he was a slave and the restrictions of the spell, Harry wasn't going to take a chance on it deciding to punish him. He vividly remembered Dumbledore warning him that the penalty for breaking a magical contract could be to suffer horrific excruciating pain and he definitely didn't want to risk that.

Harry swallowed hard and began hurrying towards Severus. He needed to get to his father and resolve this issue. He'd already wasted several long minutes. How much time would the spell allow before it began punishing him?

He pushed past other kids, muttering "sorry" and "excuse me" as he went...until all of a sudden he found himself face to face with a slender boy with grey eyes and white-blond hair.

Draco Malfoy.

For a second the two of them stared at one another, frozen. A great rush of fury and pain welled up inside Harry. He almost dropped the box to jerk his wand from his sleeve, but before he could, Malfoy swept by without a word and disappeared into an empty compartment, slamming the door behind him.

Harry stared blankly after him, torn between his tumultuous anger and hurt, and an empty deflated feeling that their confrontation hadn't amounted to anything after all. After all of Severus' concern and his friends' intense protectiveness, this actual meeting was rather disappointingly anticlimactic.

He realized suddenly that Severus was at his side.

"What happened?" His father demanded in a low tone.

Harry slowly shook his head. "Nothing. We didn't even speak."

Severus frowned thoughtfully at the closed compartment door behind which Draco Malfoy had disappeared. For a second Harry stared, too, but then he remembered why he had been so anxious to reach his father.

"Severus, quick, the twins gave this to me and I can't own anything!" He said in a fierce whisper. Severus glanced down at the box Harry was trying to force into his hands and then pulled him into the nearest compartment...fortunately, it was empty...and closed the door.

Severus conjured a sheet of parchment and a quill and swiftly scribbled a few sentences before thrusting them at Harry and taking the box in one smooth move. "Sign this."

Harry scrawled his name and then sank down on the seat, feeling as if his legs might give out at any moment. He'd made it in time. He was safe. He closed his eyes and began to shake.

His father sat beside him, sliding an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close. "Shh," Severus murmured softly, touching his lips to Harry's hair. "It's all right. There's no need to panic. Do you remember that first statement that Albus had you sign, when you woke up from the spell at the beginning of summer? The one where you gave your belongings to me?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, I believe he wrote a clause that included any items which might be given to you in the future, so I think you would have been safe even if you hadn't been able to give this box to me. But I had you sign the paper now anyway, just in case. Tonight I'll read over that original parchment again to be certain, but I don't think you have to panic every time someone hands you something. All right now?"

Harry opened his eyes and nodded again.

Severus kissed the top of his head and then sat back to regard him intently. "Are you certain nothing happened between you and Draco Malfoy?"

Harry drew a breath and forced himself to relax. "Yeah, I mean, yes, sir, I'm sure. He just brushed past me and went into that carriage."

"Hmm, that doesn't sound like him," Severus said.

A knock on the door interrupted them and as Harry and Severus turned to look, it opened and Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood poked their heads in.

"Harry, someone said you were in here. Is it all right if..." Neville abruptly broke off when he saw Severus, staring wide-eyed at the professor as if he were some sort of dangerous beast.

Luna just smiled serenely at them. She wore a particularly garish purple and red jumper and a faded pair of blue jeans, along with pink trainers. Her long blonde hair hung in two plaits over her shoulders. "Hello, Professor. Hello, Harry. Neville and I were searching for a place to sit."

Harry smiled back at them. "Sure, come on in, guys."

Severus murmured to himself, "I suppose it would be all right as long as I stay near by," and Harry knew he was concerned about Draco Malfoy being so close to their carriage. He had no doubts that Severus would spend the rest of the day between the two compartments, and never mind the rest of the train.

Severus nodded at Harry. "Very well. I shall be in the compartment next door if you need me."

He stood and strode out, snapping at Neville as he went. "Do close your mouth, Longbottom, unless you're actually trying to look imbecilic!"

After he had gone, Neville and Luna came in, placed their luggage overhead, and sat down beside one another, facing Harry.

"Um, I guess you're getting along better with Snape these days, huh?" Neville asked doubtfully.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, he's really different now. Well, I guess he wasn't with you, sorry about that, Neville."

Neville shrugged. "Not your fault. I just expect it from him now. But if you're all right with him, I guess that's good."

Luna nodded in agreement.

Harry smiled gratefully at them. They really were good friends. "Thanks," he said softly.

The train gave a lurch, then another.

"Oh, we're off," Luna exclaimed, sounding absolutely thrilled at the prospect.

They waved to the parents outside on the platform as the train pulled away with ever increasing speed. Platform Nine and Three Quarters was left behind, a mere speck in the distance.

Harry and his friends settled in for the journey.