Harry closed the door with a snap. He gazed at his new living space. This was better than his room on Privet Drive but smaller than the one he had inhabited at Malfoy Manor. He flopped himself atop the bed. This is ridiculous. Why would Dumbledore do this to him? Taking him from the only people that had ever truly cared about him? It seemed ludicrous to Harry.            

 Again his mind was reeling. He began to ponder what life would be like now he was the great bat’s slave. He imagined endless work of cleaning floors and arranging potion ingredients. It will be the longest detention ever served in the history of Hogwarts. He stared at the ceiling in horror. Why? He asked the blank wooden rafters. They stared back stiffly.            

Severus settled himself in the worn leather armchair beside his bedroom fire. Once again the old fool had managed to annoy him to no end. He had let the most petulant of his students into his place away from the world. He must do this to save the boy from himself, he reasoned. Harry needed this. Discipline and structure. A routine would be established. They would train early, then breakfast. Severus’s thoughts came to a screeching halt. Breakfast, that meant food. He had forgotten that he would have to provide for the boy. He could no longer just skip a meal and move on he would have to feed his new parasite. Having thought over his new revelation, Severus left his room and made with the dinner.            

Harry heard the door across the hall open and shut followed by footsteps. Moments later, smells began to waft their way through the crack beneath his door. Snape cooking? This was just too much for Harry to take in. Surely the man would come up with the worst dish he could think of to feed Harry. He decided to observe the possible assassination attempt in the kitchen.           

Harry swung the door open and there standing before the stove was his potions master in a black pinstripe apron.           

Severus felt Harry’s presence, “Potter, good you can set the table. Glasses are in the corner cupboard and plates are in the one beside it,”           

Harry hesitated but went to the cabinet and did as he was directed. He set the plates and glasses on the cherry wood table. He looked at the plates and remembered something from the Malfoys. He flipped the plate over there a P with a crown and snake wrapped around it; a family crest.           

 “It’s been a long time since I was an insolent youth like yourself but I can’t help but wonder how you plan to eat with your plate upside down,” Snape said in his snarkiest tone.           

 Harry set the plate down but nearly dropped it because he was trying to assure himself that Severus Snape had made a joke. He looked at the man and he was wearing a blank mask. Harry didn’t understand his potions master and doubted he ever would. There was something about this man that Harry couldn’t quite pick out. He knew there was something. But what?, Harry asked himself.           

“Potter, I would hope that someone along the way has taught you that staring is rude, especially when you do it so blatantly,” Severus said boring his dark eyes into Harry’s. Severus had to look away; he could see her in those eyes. Something then dawned on Severus, Dumbledore knew that he would. What a ridiculous trick, the bastard, Severus thought. Dumbledore obviously thought he would make an attempt to bond with the boy if he saw Lily behind Harry’s emerald eyes.           

“Sir?” Harry was unsure of what to do. They sat awkwardly silent, eating.           

Severus thought while he ate, would it really be that bad to band with Harry? Perhaps it would be better for Harry if he did make an effort. The boy had lost much of his humility as a result of his summer stay with his own arrogant godson. How could such  a boy have such a deep affect on another so quickly? True the two had spent nearly a year together. Severus stumbled upon a horrible realization; he didn’t even know his godson. Draco had been a sweet child but Severus now felt a sense of failure when he now noticed that he had missed the rest of the boy’s life. He was the cause of so many problems without knowing it; Severus was now more self-loathing than before.            

Harry sat watching his professor, the man was deep in thought and Harry let his own thoughts travel to other things. Something dawned on Harry; he had lost a part of himself over the last year. Draco had been a friend, he appreciated this but he couldn’t help but feel guilty for being the way he had been. He was unsure if he could carry in acting this way. He and Draco agreed on many things but equality certainly was not one of them. The two boys would simply have to agree to disagree, Harry reasoned.           

 Once Harry was finished with his food, he took his plate and rinsed it and headed for the kitchen door.           

 “Potter, There is something we must talk to you about,” Severus spoke up.

Harry stopped and sat back down at the table.           

 “What do you know of your parents?” Severus asked in a hoarse whisper.

“They were killed in an accident, You-Know-Who, their master, misfired a spell and they were killed in the cross-fire,” Harry said bleakly.           

 Severus looked up at the young boy in front of him; his eyes once again boring into Harry’s. As his thoughts raced, Severus realized that Harry had been lied to about what had actually happened. Severus wondered who could be so cruel to lie to this boy when he deserved nothing less than the truth.          

  “Sir, Can I ask why?” Harry said quietly.          

  Severus was still quiet; he wasn’t sure if he could tell all the horrible happenings of the past.           

 “Potter, who told you this?”Severus asked            

 Harry looked at his professor with curiosity; he could tell that the man wished to tell him something.            

“Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,” Harry responded.           

 Severus sighed; he was hoping he was wrong.           

 “Your parents didn’t serve the Dark Lord. It was a widely known fact that they fought against him” Severus paused to take in Harry’s reaction.           

Harry sat silent, listening intently.           

Severus continued, “Your parents died trying to save your life. The man or thing, the Malfoys claim misfired a spell, was actually an evil being; he was the most powerful dark wizard of the time. Voldemort ruined the lives of many people; your parents would never have associated themselves with such a person.”

Harry sat, silently taking in the information. He refused to believe it.           

“No, you’re lying,” Harry said in a dangerous whisper.           

Severus looked at the boy; his brow furrowed, “I have no reason to lie to you about this,”           

 “I don’t believe you! You liar! You’re just trying to torture me!” Harry yelled, tears burning his rage filled eyes.           

 “Harry,” Severus said barely above a whisper.            

The young wizard couldn’t bare the lies he believed were spewing from this miscreant of a human. Harry stood from the table and ran up the stairs. In his rage, Harry magically barred his door.            

Severus remained at the table, pinching the bridge of his nose. How could this have happened? A year has gone by and no one has told Harry the truth. The boy had spent the first 11 years of his life in seclusion from a world that knew his life too well and now he was in that world and no one had bothered to set him straight on what had happened.           

There was a loud pop and Severus jumped slightly out of surprise and looked up to see Lucius Malfoy. Severus had to bite his lip to stop from yelling at the man.           

“Lucius, What the hell were you thinking?” Severus whispered.           

“What are you talking about?” Lucius answered showing no emotion.           

“Telling Potter all those lies about how his parents died and that they were followers of the Dark Lord,” Severus said angrily.           

“We had to tell him something, the boy was hungry for information. I’m sure you didn’t want us to tell him the truth because that would entail the story about how his parents were nearly handed to the Dark Lord by his new guardian,” Lucius said lazily.           

“I had nothing to do with that. You know very well that I asked Dumbledore for their protection,” Severus said, his anger becoming more intense.           

 “Are you still telling yourself that lie?” Lucius replied, inspecting his nails.           

“I cared about whether they live or died,” Severus said, holding his head in his head.           

“You cared whether the woman lived, you cared nothing for her family,” Lucius replied.           

Severus remained silent, thoughts ran through his mind, images of Lily Evans dead on floor next to her son’s crib. ‘There was nothing I could do’, Severus told himself; he had tried to convince himself of this for nearly 11 years.           

 “I’ll just leave you then,” Lucius said quietly. The man stood, turned on his heel and exited the house with a ‘pop’.           

Severus looked around the empty, dark room and took himself to his room, returning to his all too familiar state of sulking.