After quickly drying off, Harry, for the first time in years, had the luxury of choosing what to wear. After a moment’s thought- Harry didn’t want to risk annoying Severus by being downstairs too late- Harry chose purple socks, black jeans and the lovely, aubergine t-shirt. Slipping on his school shoes- Gladrags hadn’t sold trainers- Harry ran downstairs.

Professor Snape smiled when he saw Harry’s face. True, the child’s eyes held a vestige of sadness but, considering the blank, dull gaze of yesterday, that was a colossal improvement. Harry’s small smile was better than the forced, hopeless grin and the slight tension in the child’s muscles, while not good, was better than his previous, hopeless slouch.

Severus picked up a plate and decanted two sausages, and a slice of haggis from the frying pan, before adding a piping hot potato-scone fresh from the oven.

“Here you go, Harry.” Severus said, setting the plate before the boy and pouring him a glass of orange juice.

“Oh wow, Sir, these are yummy!” Harry enthused, munching the buttered scone.

“Old Snape recipe, my grandmother used to make them” said Professor Snape with a faint smile. Although an intensely private, somewhat taciturn individual, Severus found it was surprisingly easy to talk to this child. However, given their similar pasts, perhaps a degree of kinship and intimacy was inevitable.

“I’ve been thinking, Sir” started Harry shyly as Snape sat down with his own repast.

“Yes, Harry?”

“Um, Slytherin’s pensieve… er, couldn’t he just have bottled a memory of him watching his own memories?”

Severus stared at the child, then snorted with laughter.

“I knew it was stupid” sighed Harry, green eyes dulling with disappointment.

“No, no Harry. I think you’ve cracked the enigma.” laughed Severus “it is easily the most logical solution and, I expect, that is why no one else has thought of it. Sadly enough, wizards are, on average, somewhat less gifted in the logic department than muggles. Most mages, be they ever so powerful, cannot figure out even the simplest riddle. It is really rather humbling, actually, that I didn’t notice it myself; I’m a bit of a dab hand at logic puzzles.”

Harry smiled shyly.

Severus cut a bite of haggis “I thought that, this morning, we could go out onto the beach and do a little Defence training. Professor Quirell” said Severus with a sneer “is apparently still on Curse of the Bogies: ‘Mucus ad Nauseam’ ad nauseum.”

“I’ve already mastered that curse, Sir.” said Harry, earnestly.

“Yes, I expect you have.” Severus replied neutrally, taking a sip of coffee “Therefore, we will deviate from his curriculum.”

“What will we be doing, Sir.”

“Although these are higher level spells, I think we might try learning expelliarmus, the disarming curse, accio, the summoning charm, and protego, the shield charm.”

“Those sound really useful” said Harry, thoughtfully.

“They are; a charm to disarm, a charm to call your wand and a charm to shield yourself. They may be difficult to master, especially for younger children, but, in my humble opinion, they are so essential that it is better to spend the first year mastering these three life-saving spells than a hundred little jinxes which, while effective on one’s peers, would not save one from a dangerous foe.”

Harry grinned.

“Some more owls arrived for you this morning” Severus said, removing his wand from the arm-holster and saying ‘accio’: a little box and a slightly crumpled scroll flew towards him. The potions master handed them to Harry and retreated behind his newspaper.

Harry opened the scroll, which was fastened with three little wax seals.

oOoOo

To: Hary Potter
From: M. Bulstrode, V. Crabbe and G. Goyle.

“Dear Hary,

We hope your having a nise tim with Professor Snape and that your feling better now. We hope you still want to be freinds with uz becos we miss you.

Your freinds,

Milly, Vin and Greg.

P.s. sory abut your run-in with the troll. We hope your ok.

oOoOo

The sentiments, so simply but clearly stated, brought a smile to Harry’s lips; Milly, Vin and Greg were often perceived by Gryffs to be aloof and unpleasant. Nothing could be further from the truth, however; they all suffered from mild learning difficulties: Vin was dyslexic and Greg and Milly were just talented at other things than schoolwork. People who did not know them, however, tended to be mean and call them names; Parvati Patil had even said that Milly was part hag. This meant that the trio were usually very shy and uncomfortable in the company of people from other Houses.

Harry smiled at the copper-plate writing: poor Milly tried to make up for her spelling, which was usually phonetic, by trying her best to write clearly. (As Blaise often said, it was a damn poor mind which could only think of one spelling for a word.) He guessed that Greg and Vin had petitioned her to write for them as well because their handwriting was even worse than Harry’s when he wasn’t using a quill tip.

Harry opened the little box, inside was a note;

OoOoO

Dear Harry,

Daphne, Tracy and I made these chocolates in potions for you. Professor Dumbledore has been showing us the most amazing sweet recipes and he’s even taught us to candy flowers! I made the violet creams, Tracy did the coconut ice and Daphne made the raisin fudge.

We hope that you’re enjoying your holiday.

Love Pansy, Tracy and Daphne.

oOoOo

Potions classes? But Professor Snape had said it was half term! Then again, yesterday was Friday…

“Sir! I thought it was half-term!” said Harry, clearly upset.

“Indeed it is, Harry.”

“But yesterday was Friday. And Pansy said they were doing Potions!”

Severus raised an eyebrow “Professor Dumbledore considered that, after your… encounter with the cave troll, a day off school wouldn’t go amiss.”

Harry blushed “Professor Dumbledore has them making sweets.”

“Oh Sh...sugaring sugar!” cried Professor Snape, jumping up. He suddenly sighed and sat down again. “Never mind, never mind. I expect he cleaned out the cauldrons thoroughly as, it seems, Ms Parkinson is in good enough condition to write.”

“Chocolate, Sir?” said Harry, offering Professor Snape the box. Severus tapped the carton twice with his wand and, when it glowed white, took a pansy-topped violet cream.

“Just for your information, Mr. Potter, in our 'Potions' period, we will be making a Forgetfulness Draught, which will aid you in writing your essay on Memory potions.”

Harry’s face fell.

“I thought that, for supper tonight, we might bake some profiteroles” Severus said, turning a page of his newspaper. He smirked when, predictably enough, Harry’s grin returned full force.

oOoOo

“Expelliarmus” Harry shouted, knocking Severus’s wand out of his hand. The little boy’s eyes lit up with pride and pleasure: it had been a tough quarter of an hour but achieving this was worth it.

“Very good, Harry.” Severus said with an approving nod. He picked up his wand, brushing the sand off it. “Now you’ve mastered the basic spell, let’s see how much force you can put into this. Ideally, you want my wand to come flying toward you and for me to be knocked over.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Sir” said Harry, earnestly.

“That’s why we’re practicing on sand, Harry. Now, come on: imagine my wand coming flying towards you and me falling on my backside. Off we go.”

Harry scrunched up his face in concentration.

“Mr. Potter, you’re casting a spell, not trying to defecate” smirked Severus.

Harry laughed “Sir!”

“Imagine your magic is a golden light which fills every atom of your being. Now, as you breathe in, drag that gold into a ball in your chest and push it out through your wand.”

Ten seconds later, Severus was sitting in the sea, soaked to the skin. Harry, a red, wand-shaped mark on his forehead, was torn between laughter and horror.

“Mr. Potter, remind me never to underestimate you ever again.” Severus stood up, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

“That was brilliant, Sir! No one’s ever taught me how to do something like that before!”

Severus cast a quick drying charm on himself and walked up the beach to join Harry.

“Time to move on, I think. The summoning charm is a useful little spell. Observe. Accio bruise salve”

A small pot of green cream flew out of the kitchen window and into Severus’s hand. He scooped up a fingerful and gently applied it to Harry’s forehead, which was beginning to bruise.

“Thanks, Sir”

“No problem Harry,” Professor Snape transfigured a shell into a soft ball and kicked it in front of him “Now: the spell is pronounced ‘A-see-oh’…”

oOoOo

Come lunchtime, Harry had the honour of summoning the picnic hamper onto the beach. ‘Accio’ had been somewhat more difficult to master than Expelliarmus and, for a while, Harry had despaired of ever learning it. However, Professor Snape had been firm and told him nothing worth having is ever easily obtained. Harry had been glad that they stuck with it: just an hour later he had not only the ball but a colossal pile of seashells beside him.

As Harry and Severus arranged the food on the picnic rug, a pretty, copper-coloured owl fluttered down beside him, holding out her leg to offer them a little cream scroll. Severus relieved the owl of her burden, smirking at the pink varnish on her talons, and scanned the letter.

“Well, Harry, it seems that we will have a guest for lunch. Professor Burbage, in fact.”

“Professor Burbage?”

“Curly blond hair, perpetually tanned, wears pink nail varnish…”

“Oh, I’ve seen her, Sir.”

“Yes. Well, I suppose I’d better let her in. Uroborus, admit Charity, Constance Burbage.”

The house shimmered. Severus stood up and walked over to a side gate which connected the house to the cliffside. Opening the door, Severus called out “We’re around here, Professor Burbage.”

“Coming” called the woman, there was a clicking of high heels and Charity Burbage came around the corner in white stilettos, a cream sundress and an immense straw hat.

“Hello Severus, hello Harry, love.”

“Hello Professor Burbage” Severus said pointedly.

Charity gave him an old fashioned look and strode towards Harry, who noticed that her heels didn’t sink into the ground.

“Aren’t you rather cold, Professor?” asked Harry guilelessly.

Charity grinned “I’m an Essex girl, love.” She rooted around in her handbag and pulled out a box “‘Professor’ Snape wrote to us last night, telling us how you were doing. We were right worried about you, after that run-in with the troll. Anyhow, he said how you’d had a nice day shopping at Elb and an afternoon at the beach. I brought you over some trainers as the Professor, here, asked what were a good brand.”

Severus, who had sat down opposite them, passed Charity a glass of pumpkin juice.

“Thanks ‘Professor’.” She said with a wink “How’d you like ‘em, Harry.”

Harry held up a trainer reverently; it was black with cool green thunderbolts running down the sides and lime-green laces. Even when Uncle Vernon was alive, Aunt Petunia had always brought him boring white trainers from bargain basements. Harry had always envied Dudley’s cool, brightly coloured shoes.

“I love them! Thanks Professor Burbage!”

“You’re welcome, love. Now, what have you been up to this morning?”

“We’ve been practicing disarming and summoning charms” Harry grinned “Look: Accio shell”

A beautiful, large, pink seashell flew into Harry’s hand and he shyly handed it to Professor Burbage.

“Wow! That’s brill, Harry. Most second years can’t do that!” she looked at the shell, “Thanks Harry” Charity took her hat off and stuck the seashell on the brim with a sticking charm.

“It looks really nice there, Professor” Harry said proudly.

Severus smirked and handed Harry and Charity each a plate. “We have hard-boiled eggs, cream cheese and pastrami bagels, some potato salad and a wonderful chicken-and-ham pie Harry made last night.”

“You men! I’m putting on weight just looking at all this.” Charity chuckled, taking a slice of pie “This is very good, Harry.”

“Thanks” blushed Harry, ducking his head and taking a mouthful of potato salad.

Severus smiled behind his bagel. Charity was a very good sort.