Snape was leading the two boys out of the house and towards the back yard, he didn't notice Harry's interest or Draco's deep scowl when they saw the relatively large garden overcome with numerous weeds. He explained what needed to be done but remained oblivious to their reactions since he clearly expected them to already be aware of the garden and their tasks.

Harry was used to doing the gardening for the Dursleys so he was rather content with getting his hands dirty and knew what he was doing. Draco however had probably only gotten his hands dirty once or twice in his life and muttered constant complaints throughout his tasks, although he knew he couldn't bluntly refuse to do them; Snape had implied they had previously wanted to help him with his garden. Although Draco was disgusted to consider himself requesting such torture.

While Snape worked a little distance away with his more precious potion ingredients (neither boy noticed his absence of robes, most likely to fact that he was still dressed entirely in black), Harry went about his tasks easily while Draco struggled loudly with his.

Harry suddenly paused as a brown snake wriggled nearby in the direction of Draco. Acting without thinking, he hissed in Parseltongue to it and the other two glanced up at him in bewilderment, even though they knew of his abilty.

"Please leave. We mean no harm but your presence endangers us" He said to the snake, who paused and lifted up its head to look at him, soon hissing back in return.

"You speak?" The snake seemed surprised while its tongue flickered. "I am merely passed through. I shall not harm your friends if they remain still"

"Keep still, it won't hurt us if you do" Harry said. He noticed Snape was more casual although he looked displeased with his actions. Draco however was wide-eyed and distrusting; the fact that he didn't understand what Harry was saying to the snake only added to that.

"Goodbye, speaker" The snake said as he moved through the herbs and plants, several meters from Draco, who indeed didn't move but stared at it the entire time.

"You're going to send that after me in my sleep" Draco gulped, looking over at Harry with a renewed glare.

"As if" Harry snorted. "However, it's tempting" He added. "Wait, a Slytherin scared of a snake?" He couldn't help but laugh.

"I do not find this amusing" Snape spoke. "Harry, we have discussed this."

"Erm, right" Harry nodded, having not idea of such discussion of course but played along anyhow. "Sorry, but I was just telling it not to hurt us."

The group must have spent a good hour outside in the cloudy sunlight before an owl swooped over and landed nearby with it's leg raised towards Snape where a letter was plainly attached. He retrieved the envelope and read the contents before glancing at his garden with a wary expression and than sighed heavily.

"I have business to attend to" He informed them while the owl flew away and he pocketed his letter. "I assume I can trust your boys to take extra care in my absence?" He asked, looking at the garden again.

Draco was still grumbling and didn't reply so Harry took it upon himself to nod in response, still finding it strange how casual Snape was being to him.

"Very well" Snape nodded. "I will conclude this urgent matter and return" He walked away from the boys and returned to the manor. Each boy was relieved to relax their act since there was no need to continue it without Snape around.

"This is servant work!" Draco scowled. "Re-potting those screaming plants in Herbology was one thing but this...this is appalling!"

"It's not that bad" Harry rolled his eyes.

"Not that bad?" Draco echoed but then thought for a moment and a mocking smirk appeared on his face. "Well I suppose scum like you are used to such servitude, but I however, am not."

Harry chose not to response although he did clench his teeth together as he pulled more stubborn weeds that tried to squirm out of his grip. Snape may not be around for the moment but each boy worked with extra caution, begin careful not to ruin anything as they are certain Snape would be as mad as unimaginable hell. Although no matter how hard they tried, they still ended up sniping at each other.

"I'm sure I could pay Weaslebee to do this for me" Draco mused. "He'd probably do anything for the money" He snorted.

"Shut up, Malfoy" Harry growled deep in his throat.

"Or the mudblood" Draco added, ignoring Harry as he taunted his friends to let of steam.

"Shut up!" Harry snapped angrily and stopped working to glare at him, almost daring the Slytherin to give him a reason to punch him. Draco noticed the look but barely shrugged and continued with his tasks.

"I don't understand why we can't use magic" Draco was apparently not finished. "Or make that elf do it, seeing as he's basically worthless trash without-" But his words were cut off by Harry throwing a pile of dirt at him in retaliation. It missed his face but mixed too well in his hair.

"Hey!" Draco tried to shake the dirt from his hair angrily. "You'll pay for that one, Potter!" He grabbed his own handful but Harry effectively dodged it and instead threw a weed, which hit Draco in the chest and showered him with more dirt. And from then, another fight ensured.

"ENOUGH!" A booming voice caused both boys to pause in their tangle of limbs and dirt to look up at Snape. They recoiled away from the other and gazed around at the damage, their stomach sinking and faces reddening when they saw the wrecked rows, flattened plants and overall ruined herbs. Wincing deeply, they turn to look up at Snape while getting to their feet quickly.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape growled. "I leave you boys alone for five minutes and you have the nerve to..." He trailed off and instead of the expected scowling, the man merely looked tired and even sad as his gaze trailed over the destruction they had caused to his garden.

"Inside" He ordered without looking at them. "Clean yourselves and got to your rooms."

They weren't sure what to do or how to take this Snape's odd reaction, apart from turning and doing as they were told. The man said nothing more nor did he cast them a glance as he bend down and almost tenderly tried to save the rest of his herbs while gathering the other plants.

"That was weird" Draco frowned.

"No thanks to you" Harry added sourly.

"You threw dirt at me!" Draco scowled back as they entered the house.

"You were being a git about my friends and Dobby!" Harry reminded him. "Urgh! Can't you even try to be nice for one day?"

"Me, be nice to you?" Draco scoffed. "We're not even on friendly terms, Potter."

"I hate you" Harry narrowed his eyes, not caring how childish he sounded now but the look on Snape's face when he'd seen his ruined garden seemed to stick with him. He wasn't sure why he even cared, surely it could be fixed with magic and besides...didn't he despise the man too?

"The feeling is mutual" Draco drawled with an added eye-roll.

"Dobby wonders if sirs need anything?" The elf suddenly appeared in front of them.

"No!" The boys angrily in unison, still glaring at each other although Harry had a larger right to be as furious as they were.

"Dobby had a look around" The elf said. "Where Dobby thought it is okay to look" He added and the boys finally gave him their attention although Harry's fists remained clenched and Draco was trying to dust himself off.

"Dobby has learned that Mister Snape adopted Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy as babies. Dobby realizes that Mister Snape raised Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy in this world. Dobby is most surprised."

"We already figured that out, elf" Draco muttered.

"Thanks though Dobby" Harry added, casting another glare at Draco. "Did you find out anything else?"

"Dobby has not had time to look deeper" The elf said with a small smile.

"I wish Hermione was here" Harry sighed, all anger gone as he missed his friends now. "She would be able to tell us if the Room of Requirement can do this sort of thing, or at least she could figure it out."

"Dobby has heard of the Room of Requirement" Dobby said. "Dobby has heard that it can do anything. Dobby believes the room has responded to something yous both need" He nodded.

Draco and Harry looked at each other, wondering what they could possibly need that caused this place to appear. Not coming up with any bright ideas or theories that were likely to be corrected, they left Dobby to whatever he had previously been doing and made their way upstairs to their rooms as Snape had instructed them to.

Angry and confused, they slammed their doors at almost the same time and headed for a shower, neither wanting to ponder on what could possibly go wrong next or how they were ever going to return to their own world.

The boys remained in their rooms until dinner. Harry had been checking out his clothes and personal belongings while Draco read a book of interest. Neither were aware of how much time had passed since the incident with the garden (although Harry had an alarm clock, he paid it no attention), and were only aware of dinner when Dobby appeared in each of their rooms to announce it.

"I bet you washed your hair as soon as possible" Harry mocked Draco as they made their way downstairs, both silently nervous about facing Snape. "Lavender shampoo and all?"

"Shut up, at least I don't wear rags like a common house-elf" Draco glance at Harry's “home wear” that were Dudley hand-downs, although he had selected his least-torn of the lot. He had been meaning to change into some of the clothes he had here but it slipped his mind.

Harry was going to retort but decided to be quiet and sat down at the table, nervously glancing at Snape but the man was eating his meal and not looking at them although he did not appear as livid as they had expected.

"Sorry about the garden, sir" Draco spoke, only feeling guilty because he knew it was abnormal for Snape to be so silent and also because they had made quite a mess and despite it all, Draco did have a high level of respect for his godfather.

"Hm" Snape grunted but said nothing else, although that mere sound was hardly counted as speech.

During the course of the silent meal in which Dobby had prepared, the boys came to realize that they were indeed the only ones truly aware of what happened and to Snape it was probably just that they were acting strange rather than that something was different.

The meal was good, but neither really noticed it and kept glancing at Snape since was abnormally quiet and avoided their gazes, although his expression made it seem as though he was very deep in thought. Perhaps that was the reason for his lack of speech?

But even after he had consumed his meal, Snape stood and didn't say a word apart from saying he was going to his private rooms to work on a potion. That was considered normal behaviour on his part, but the expression and odd air about the man remained. Draco and Harry couldn't help but stare after his dark form in surprise; the man he hated in his time but could not find a reason to despise in this world.

"Dobby wonders if sirs are finished?" Dobby collects Snape's discarded plate and upon their nods, he gathers theirs as well, which vanish and re-appear in the kitchen.

"I thought you were free, Dobby?" Harry decided to focus on something else. "I mean, you've been cooking and cleaning even though we're not your family. I'll pay you back for it, I swear. We're really grateful."

Draco snorted at Harry's comment to pay the house-elf but otherwise didn't say anything else.

"No sir, Dobby is honored!" The elf insisted. "Dobby will not accept payment from yous while we are here. Dobby is happy to work unpaid here for a while."

"This is ridiculous, house-elves are slaves" Draco said in annoyance. "You're not supposed to be paid for it."

Harry ignored him and his eyes trailed to the doorway as he tried to think of a different topic that would break up yet another possible fight.

"Something's wrong" Harry sighed with a frown.

"And you didn't notice that until now?" Draco scowled at him.

Harry growled in response but refused to start fighting again, especially after what happened last time. "No, I mean that Snape seems to different here. It's like he really cares for us or something."

Draco quieted down at that. "Maybe" He shrugged. "It would explain why he didn't punish us. But I suppose if we grew up here, he'd have to like us at some point, right?"

Harry shrugged and got to his feet to find something else to do. He ended up following Draco into the living room. While the blonde grabs a book and decides to read over by the fire, Harry spots a chess board and sits across from it curiously. He notices his own name written on the side although it wasn't as neat as his handwriting was now although he'd certainly been the one to label it, perhaps he'd had this board for a number of years here?

"Dobby likes Mister Snape's house" The elf said as he surprisingly joined them a few minutes later.

"It's alright" Harry nodded in agreement and eyed the board again in boredom. "Dobby? Do you play chess?" He wondered while Draco glance up briefly to look at him as though he was sprouting wings from his head. Dismissing his words with a shake of his head, Draco returned to his book contently, concealing his amused smirk.

"Dobby does not know how to play nor has Dobby ever been allowed" The elf said, looking curious and concerned all at once.

"Well I'll teach you" Harry suggested, ignoring a snort from Draco's direction and was unaware that they also had an audience nearby the darkened doorway. "Come on" Harry insisted when Dobby looked at the board reluctantly. "There's no rules here, right? So you're free and can do whatever you want."

Dobby pondered and than climbed onto a footstool and eyed the chess board with a light nod while listening intently as Harry explained how to play. He wasn't so sure about the co-ordinates since he wasn't familiar with it, but was a quick and cunning learner.

Snape entered the living room and seated himself in a armchair nearby both of the boys. While he barely acknowledged them at all, he did appear less vacant in mood than he was before. Both boys glanced at each other but with nothing they could say with the man there nor anything to respond to, they each went back to what they were doing.

Snape waited until he heard Draco turn a page and Harry correct Dobby's attempt to establish the rules without error, only than did her glance up from his papers and eye each boy in turn. Neither of them were aware of how worried he was; it was impossible their odd behaviour to go unnoticed and he was more concerned with how different they were rather than their relapse in fighting. Harry wasn't smiling at him the way he constantly did, Draco wasn't smiling at all and they hadn't referred to him as anything other than “sir” since he had arrived home from a long day of work. And then this house-elf shows up? It was all confusing and Snape was sure he'd missed something.

But then there was the recent events with his garden. Another reason why he was anxious about the boys. Something was very wrong. Surely they remember how he had put so much work and dedication into that single garden, doing it all the muggle way and how much pride he had in his growing herbs? They had seen how important it was to him (a hobby they approved of, they had called it too), they had both wanted to help for that reason. In fact it had resorted to begged a week previous and now suddenly it was as though they simply didn't care.

All that work...only to have it entirely ruined.