Hermione knocked on Professor Snape's office door. It was 4:30 now and the letter she received that breakfast had told her the time to be there. She hadn't been sure what 'dress nicely' meant for wizards, but in the bottom of her trunk was a dress her mother had insisted she bring 'just in case'.

“Hi Hermione.” Stephen ran up to stand next to her. “Did Professor Snape ask you to come to his office to?” He asked. Hermione noticed that like her, he was dressed in formal muggle clothing with his book bag slung over his shoulder.

Hermione didn't have time to answer because the professor's voice came from inside his office.

“Enter.”

Stephen pushed the door open and walked into the professor's office. He'd hoped that he'd never have to come in here. Usually on students with detentions or in major trouble were hauled into the Potion Master's office. There was suppose to be all kinds of jars filled with pieces of bad potion students. He glanced at the wall.

“I don't harvest students Mr Cornfoot.” Severus told him, he recognized the look on the boy's face. Most of the students were thinking something along those lines when they were first sent to his office. “You are not in trouble.”

“Then why are we here?” Hermione asked. She gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth, she couldn't believe she'd asked such a bold question to the professor who seemed determined to hate Gryffindors. She'd only had one potions class, but she'd been paired with Ron Weasley and it had been an absolute nightmare.

Severus locked down his facial muscles, the last thing he wanted to do was smile and ruin his reputation. Granger was most definitely a Gryffindor. “A new project for bettering muggleborn-pureblood interactions.”

Hermione scowled when she remembered how many times she'd been called a mudblood. “Good idea Sir. It would help if there were better books for muggleborns. When I first read my potions textbook I found it very confusing.”

“How so?” Severus was always interested in improving potions and potion books. He loved working with complicated and delicate brews, but few students seemed to agree.

“I don't know the difference between ground and powdered. Or minced and chopped. The book was written for people who already knew the basics.” Hermione told him. “I looked up examples in the library, but the books were still difficult to understand.”

“That makes sense.” Draco said as he slipped in through the door. “Sorry I'm late Uncle.”

Stephen gaped at Draco. “He's your Uncle?” He asked, not yet knowing how almost all purebloods were related.

Severus nodded. “Draco is nephew. And this may be a school function, but it is an unofficial one.” He opened the door that most people believed lead to a private lab. “Draco, Hermione, Stephen. Welcome to my home.” He entered first and held the door open until they were all in the sitting room.

“Hello Draco.” Harry got off the armchair he was sitting on. He was wearing dark blue dress robes to show his Ravenclaw allegiances. “Hi Hermione, Stephen.” He nodded at the muggleborns.

Severus shot Harry a glance to remind him of what they'd discussed earlier.

“And Hermione?” He waited until the girl was looking at him. “I'm really sorry about what I said on the train. I hope you can forgive me.” He looked at her hopefully.

Hermione shrugged. “Sure. But you'll still talk to one of your prefects about quill practice?”

Harry nodded. “I talked to Prefect Caprio. He said he'd set something up.” He told her. “He said if you come by on Monday he'll find you someone to work with.”

Bellatrix choose that moment to walk in. She was also in dress robes, but hers were black and made of silk, worthy of being worn by the Head of the House of Black. “Severus, what are they doing here?” She asked, frowning at the two muggleborns. “I thought Draco was coming over for dinner.”

Severus sighed mentally. “The Headmaster decided to work on a cultural exchange program. Miss Granger and Mr Cornfoot will be dining with us once a week.” He explained. The Headmaster was working on setting up other pairs, they had simply had the easiest time and got started early.

“Are we going to eat soon? I'm hungry.” Harry said. He shot a look at the set table, knowing that the house elves had produced an amazing array of food for that night. And eating was better than listening to his parents fight.

“Of course. I'm sorry to keep you waiting.” Severus walked over to the table and pulled out his wife's chair. “Just try to relax and enjoy yourself Bellatrix. And no hexes!” He whispered into her ear as she sat down.

Draco sat next to Severus and Hermione ended up beside him. Harry sat next to her and Stephen was stuck between Harry and Bellatrix. The table was enlarged and took up most of the dining area now. But it was a good thing, because otherwise they'd be squished together.

Severus took his wand out of his sleeve and tapped the table. “This lets the house elves now that we're ready for the meal.” He explained to the two muggleborns. At their confused looks he elaborated. “House elves are creatures bonded to wizards. They do household and outdoor chores.” The meal appeared on the table. “And they make excellent cooks.”

Hermione frowned slightly at the idea. It reminded her too much of slavery that her parents were always talking about. Both of her parents were part of an organization to help stop child labour. But the distracted her.

The six filled their plates full of the delicious food and for quite a while the only sound you could hear was chewing. But Stephen squirmed under Bellatrix's glares, so his meal wasn't as pleasant as the others.

Finally the meal was finished and Bellatrix hurried away from the muggleborns and into her office. Severus lead the children back to the sitting room. But instead of showing them out, he motioned for them to take seats in the chairs.

“Thank you for having us Sir.” Hermione told him politely. “I learned some things I didn't know before.”

Severus nodded. “That is the point of the program. But I assure you, in my own home I behave quite differently then I do in class. I'm sure you understand.”

Stephen and Hermione both nodded. They understood that in class he wasn't the same person he was at home. And teaching them about pureblood families required him to not be their nasty Potions Master. But it was strange to know he had another side.

“Now Hermione, I believe you were having trouble writing with a quill?” Severus asked her and let his lips turn up slightly at her nod. “Do you know how to write with a quill Stephen?” He asked the boy, who shook his head.

Harry headed back towards his room and came back with the supplies for his Astronomy essay. “I'm just going to work on my homework.” He told his father.

“Same here.” Draco took out his Transfiguration notes and started to work on the assignment McGonagall had given them.

Hermione and Stephen both took out quills, ink, and parchment at Severus's direction. “Quills are very difficult to work with at first. It'll take some time before you get the hang of them.” He reminded the muggleborns.

Severus showed them how to properly hold the quill. Neither of them knew how to use the ink properly either. “Better Hermione.” He coached Stephen while Hermione practised sentences. The boy was gripping the quill strangely and crushing the sides of the feather.

Stephen couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong. He was holding the quill strangely, but it was exactly as the professor had shown him. “I don't get this!” He finally exclaimed in frustration.

Severus was ready to yell to. The boy's incompetence was really starting to grate on his nerves. He took a spare quill and changed it into a ink pen. “Try this. Just hold it however you would normally hold a muggle pen.”

This time Stephen took the quill in his right hand and let his fingers grip in down, instead of up. It felt better, not normal, but like it would actually work.

“Much better.” Severus turned the pen back into a quill. “You've got the proper grip now. Try to write something.”

Writing practice continued until just before curfew. Severus glanced at the clock. “Time.” He told the four children. They packed their bags and went to the door, ready to leave. “I'll see you all next Saturday.”

Hermione nodded. “Thank you Sir. For volunteering to do this.” She gripped her bag. “Do you think we could go over ingredient preparation for potions next time?” She asked, boldly since she now knew that there was nothing to fear from asking an honest question.

“I'm sure it could be arranged.” Severus told her. I'll just have to make sure Bellatrix is out of the house. I barely let her in my Potions lab, let alone muggleborn students!

“Thanks.” Stephen said before slipping out into the hall to follow Hermione.

Draco gave his godfather a hug. “Can I have another potion?” He asked, he was starting to feel tired again and he wanted to have the energy to play the next day. “Please Uncle Severus?”

Snape shook his head. “Only one a day. I'll send you anther one tomorrow morning. You should just go to bed tonight.” He gave his godson a quick hug. “Your parents invited me to dinner next month. Do you want to come?” He knew that first years often became homesick.

“I don't know.” Draco shrugged. He didn't want special treatment, but it would be nice to go back home. His parents had been so concerned when he'd gotten stuck in one of the Hiding Holes.

“Go to bed.” Severus gave Draco a light push out the door. “Don't forget your homework!” He called after the boy.

Draco simply turned around and stuck out his tongue.

Snape jumped when a giggle came from behind him. “Harry!” He gave his son a hug. “You should head back to Ravenclaw. You don't want to be caught out after curfew.”

Harry nodded and looked out into the dark halls. He was scared of the dark sometimes. It reminded him of the terrifying voice he'd heard in his mother's office, and of monsters he'd read about in books. And they were real. Werewolves and vampires and creatures no one wanted to even know existed. Muggles told each other stories to scare themselves. But wizards didn't. Because they knew that those horrible things were real and it wasn't something to make fun of.

“Is something wrong?” Severus grew concerned about the way his son was looking so fearfully into the darkening corridors of the dungeons. “Harry?”

Harry's eyes flashed back to his father's face. “No dad. Every thing's good.” He fiddled with his bag.

“Harry, if there's anything you need to tell me go ahead.” Severus looked at his son. He knew that he was hiding something. What kind of a father would he be if he couldn't tell when his kid was lying? “Is there something you want to tell me?” He crouched down to Harry's level. “Anything at all?”

Harry thought about all the things he knew. About the voice that talked to his mother and Professor Quirrel. How Professor McGonagall had gotten mad at him. How he thought Astronomy was boring and he wasn't really planning on doing his essay until the night before. But he didn't say of of those things.

“Every thing's fine dad. Have a good week.” He pulled away from his father and hurried through the halls. It still was scary, but he arrived at Ravenclaw tower quickly and followed a group of older students in.

“Harry!” The first years called to him from the corner they'd claimed.

“Hi guys.” He looked at the other boys. “And girls.” He smiled. Su and Padma smiled back. “What are you working on?”

Lisa sighed. “History of Magic. I can't keep all the goblins straight.”

“Here!” Kevin passed her a piece of parchment. “This is a saying they taught us in primary school to remember all the names.”

“My very silly house elf decided to wash dogs?” She asked read aloud. “What is that suppose to be?”

Harry laughed and explained, he'd learned the saying too. “Myrr, Voth, Syrth, Hicz, Erzz, Desls, Tryr, Wyzb, and Dyrt. It's the names of the leaders in the first goblin war.”

The others laughed. “I forgotten that.” Anthony admitted. “I never really got all the goblins straight.”

Then the curfew bell rang and disturbed their conversation. Kevin jumped, knocking papers all of the table. “Sorry.” He drew his wand to fix them and cast a quick spell to tidy them.

“Kevin?” Padma was staring at him in horror. Harry followed her gaze and felt his own mouth drop open.