Severus had spent part of the night deciding where to start with solving the problem Petunia had presented him with. He had decided it was a multiple layer problem. First - they needed to be away from Surrey, and therefore needed somewhere else to live. Second - they needed to be out from under Albus and Vernon's control. That one needed to be taken care of with divorce and/or guardianships. Third - keeping Harry out of Albus' control, and possibly out of his sphere of influence. Severus wasn't sure how that would be accomplished.

Severus finally got some sleep, dreaming of dragons and phoenixes. Weird.

Meanwhile Petunia had hustled two bundles of sleepy boy up to their respective beds. Now that her letter was off, she was almost sick with anxiety that Severus either would ignore her letter, or worse give it to Albus. Her certainty in Severus was shaky, now that she was waiting for his answer. So much depended on him.

Petunia slept very fitfully, and awakened to Harry and Dudley standing at her bedside already scrubbed and dressed with her breakfast of waffles and fruit on a tray. This perked up her spirits better than anything else could. Whatever Severus decided and whatever happened her boys would be okay.

She was a bit later than usual into the shower and into her clothing after the excellent breakfast, but it felt good to laze a bit. The boys were deep in the heart of Lily's books and their new books, spread over Dudley's floor. They had never been so studious.

She went downstairs to get a strong cup of tea.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Severus awakened with a groan, and opened one eye at a squeak at the side of the bed. Tinker stood at the bedside with a beaming smile and a hangover potion held out to him. Severus thanked him profusely and downed the vial. Tinker popped away to start breakfast while Severus waited for the potion to work.

Severus had thought long and hard about a good place to locate Potter and his Dursleys. After breakfast he apparated to a recent students home. Rigel Blackpool had graduated 2 years ago. He was an assistant Healer to the Welsh Dragon Reserve. He owed his job to Severus' tireless tutoring to pass all the testing with the highest marks in decades - leapfrogging over applicants that had been trying for years to get into that position.

Rigel greeted Severus with surprise, and looked at him in inquiry.

"I will need your assistance and discretion, but I can promise it will be worth your while." Severus said, with a serious look.

"I owe you a great deal, what can I help you with?" Rigel answered just as seriously.

"I need to purchase a home, a very private anonymous home for friends that are escaping an intolerable situation. No one can know they are here, and your silence may very well be tested." Severus cautiously explained.

"There are several empty houses in the outlying areas, not many people want to actually live here next to dragons. A lot of people floo into their jobs. You likely can take your pick." Rigel was curious about these friends' identities, but he was determined to show his mentor that he knew how to display discretion. "The person handling the dispersal of the houses lives here..."

Severus thought quickly, the fewer people who knew he was involved, at this stage the better. "If you can show me the houses, quickly, and then I need you to be an intermediary in buying it. I'd rather no one know that I am buying the house. No one at all." Severus repeated himself in flat tones that let Rigel know how imperative this was.

Rigel nodded slowly. Professor Snape was very serious about this, indeed. "Yes, I know where all of them are."

The pair of the scuttled around to the houses, avoiding all the other occupants of the Reserve. Severus had chosen the Dragon Reserve because Wales, like Scotland was still under the British Wizarding Ministry, but the Reserve itself was overseen by the International Federation of Wizards, which Albus was no longer the head of - the Heads only stayed in power for 10 years. The present Head was not a fan of Dumbledore, and this may, at some point be important.

The people of the Dragon Reserves were very private, and this also factored into his decision, as well. If Rigel told them an abused family on the run was hiding, they would close ranks around them.

Since Albus would be looking for a Muggle woman and two boys, he would likely only look in the muggle world. He hoped that Albus would not even think to look here on the Dragon Reserve.

He quickly looked at the houses, several were too small, and one was too run down. Two were a good size; he chose the one furthest out that was fairly big. It also had a big walled garden, which the boys could roam in. For awhile they might have to stay hidden, and having the garden to run in would be a life-saver for the boys, in that case.

"This is the one, Rigel. I will send a vault draft to you - it will be to you, and then you will pay the owner. Have them send the final papers through you. I know the Reserve Director will want to know who the occupants are. Tell him that it is a woman, and her children who are fleeing her husband who was abusing them." Severus told the horrified Rigel. Rigel immediately nodded in eager agreement.

Severus smiled he was sure he could count on Rigel's help in this. He left Rigel to seal the deal, and flooed back home.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Petunia spent most of Sunday taking headache medication while she paced nervously in the kitchen, thinking up arguments to convince Severus to help them. She would occasionally look in to watch the boys scour the books for information on the four houses and the founders.

They now had a large chart, divided into four quarters labeled with each house name and the pros and cons for being in each. Upon peering closely at the wizarding pictures, they could see that Harry's parents had been in Gryffindor, and Severus had been in Slytherin.

Those two houses now were at the top of the list of their favorites. They had a new pad of paper with questions specifically for Severus when he arrived, now that they knew he was teaching at Hogwarts in ‘potions'. They had looked up potions and Potionsmaster in their books, and Harry had found it fascinating. Dudley thought it sounded too much like cooking, but Harry found cooking quite enjoyable, especially now that he could eat what he made.

Petunia had told them she had sent the letter, and that she had told Severus that anytime after 9AM on a weekday would be good. The boys were eager to meet Severus, sure that he would agree to help. Dudley and Harry, at least, were staunch in their faith that Lily's friend would not leave them to sink.

Late in the evening Petunia sent them to bed with instructions to put the books and charts away safely. The boys had found that the moneybag had something called ‘wizardspace', and would hold all the magic books, even Lily's old ones and the albums, so they were placed in there, and up on a shelf in Dudley's room.

Harry and Dudley were peacefully sleeping, and dreaming of castles and of flying when Vernon arrived home. Vernon was jovial and full of self-importance on his arrival - he had found a new client and concluded the deal while on the last 2 holes of a difficult course on Saturday, they had faxed the papers that afternoon and they would be on the Department Heads desk when he arrived at work tomorrow. This had impressed his friend Jensen very much, and he was invited to a big party later in the month.

Petunia was about to retire when Vernon dropped his bomb. "I assume Dudley's birthday party will be this weekend. Marge will arrive for a visit on Friday afternoon." His little piggy eyes watched her for a reaction.

He was doomed to disappointment. Petunia had expected this, and simply smiled at him. "Of course she would be here for his birthday; the room is ready for her, as always." Vernon looked puzzled, but he shrugged and went into the kitchen for a late snack before bed.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

There were two people Severus wanted to see before going to Petunia's on Monday. One was Lucius, and the other was Albus. He decided to tackle the Headmaster first, since that would affect how he handled Lucius.

He apparated to Hogwarts gates and walked slowly to the castle, during the school year he could have flooed to his quarters, but the castle shut down all incoming flooes but the main floo during summer, and it was controlled by Albus. It was simpler to just apparate, and walk. He didn't get to see the beautiful Scotland summer often, so the walk was well worth it.

His excuse was the need for a couple of books for research, so he went to his quarters, and got them, knowing Albus would find him. Sure enough, as he pocketed the books, his floo flared.

"Severus? How unusual to see you during the summer. I assume books brought you." Albus smiled through the flames.

"You know me well, Albus." Severus held up the books in front of him.

"Come through, dear boy you can have lunch with me." Albus beamed. Severus stepped through the floo, and sat at the table. The pair sat at the table and Albus chattered eagerly about the newest moron to occupy the DADA position. It should be obvious by now that the position was cursed.

Severus thought he saw a possible opening to drag the subject Harry into their conversation. "Do you know who you want to try to recruit for the following year? It's a very important year." Unspoken was the implication that it would be Harry's first year. Sure enough Albus' eyes lit up.

"Yes, we must have a good DADA professor when Harry arrives. Professor Quirrell did well filing in last year when Professor Hular...well, he did an excellent job. He's in Albania at present, studying the habits of some dark creatures there - vampires in particular, I understand."

Severus curled his lip at Albus' description of Quirrell's abilities; they were only excellent in comparison to the last few decades of increasingly incompetent teachers. He still thought that since he carried the dark mark that the curse would overlook him, as an extension of the dark lord. Albus maintained it wouldn't, and was unwilling to chance it. Now and then he would apply for the job so they could argue about it again.

"Yes, he does seem to actually know the difference between a grindylow and a hinkypunk." Severus sneeringly referred to the professor who actually hadn't known. "So there will be at least one good DADA teacher while Mr. Potter attends, then."

"Yes, young Harry must know how to defend himself, we both know Voldemort will return to Hogwarts when Harry does." Albus looked sternly at Severus. "Your oath to protect Harry will likely be put into action."

"I will always protect Lily's child from whoever might try to harm him." Severus returned with a level look at Albus.

Albus was a decent Legillimins, but Severus had never had any difficulty hiding anything from him. Albus was only a mediocre Occlumens, worse - he rarely knew when someone as skilled as Severus slipped in. The prompts of Harry and harm had brought the memory of seeing to the charges of abuse that had required him to Obliviate the social workers. Albus had apparently thought that the monthly payment to Vernon would keep him from further abuse, and that Harry was just being raised ‘to not be a wimp', since Albus had no children he was a bit vague as to what that meant.

Severus slipped out within seconds thinking disgustedly about the expression that the road to hell was paved with good intentions. Albus' deep, focused commitment to seeing Voldemort permanently defeated precluded any consideration for the well-being of his tools. Severus had known that when he agreed to help him, but he had felt he was adult enough to deal with it.

Harry hadn't agreed to any of this.

Severus let Albus ramble a bit more, and then left - promising to have lunch again, soon, dear boy!

Severus walked slowly to the Hogwarts gates, thinking over what he had learned and plotting how to use this to persuade Lucius to his way of thinking.

He apparated from Hogwarts, straight to Malfoy Manor, and walked to the door.