Harry woke ridiculously early the next day to a soft tapping. Hedwig was sat peering at him through one of the tower windows and he bounded over to let her in. He lifted her to his shoulder and detached the bundle of letters from her foot. She had obviously been to the burrow as he immediately recognised Ron and Ginny's handwriting as well as one of the twins.

The owl hooted softly and nudged his ear with concern and he realized that he must look very different to her. She hadn't seen him without the glamours for a while either.

'I'm all right Hedwig. I just have a cold.'

He pulled a biscuit out of his food stash and broke a piece off for her before chucking the letters onto his desk and running through to the shower. It felt so good to have energy again.

By the time Harry emerged, dressed and hungry, a breakfast tray had appeared beside his bed with three potions on it and a small roll of parchment which he immediately unravelled.

Mr Potter,

Should you need any assistance today I will be potions lab 5. I suggest you stay in your house and I have instructed the other students to leave you in peace. I will check in on you this evening.

Professor Snape

Harry added the parchment to the mess on his desk and tucked into his breakfast, happy to have an excuse not to see anyone for a while. He wanted to get back to his studies and think about the last few days. It had been his worst nightmare that someone would find out about the Dursley's but now that it had happened he felt a strange sense of relief.

He tried not to think about the fact that he would now have to tell Dumbledore or at the very least his head of house before next summer. The fact that Professor Snape had reacted so calmly had helped a lot and made him think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. So long as the newspapers didn't find out...Harry shuddered at that thought and decided he would not dwell on this any more today.

Instead he sat down to read through his letters and spent the morning replying to his friends and making the additions to his potions essay that the professor had suggested. Lunch appeared with a pop in the common room and Harry paused to eat before launching straight back into his study plan. Harry couldn't ever remember working this hard on his studies before but then he had never been allowed access to his text books over a holiday before either.

By the time Professor Snape appeared in the common room that evening, Harry had worked his way through every text book on the next terms list. He hadn't bothered to read in detail, just scan through looking for spells or terms that seemed difficult so he could label it and go back over more thoroughly later.

Severus walked into the room to find the boy cross legged on the floor beside the fire and surrounded by books. Every one of the books had now had been subject to the yellow label treatment, Severus noted with a wry smile.

'You've been busy,' he stated quietly.

Harry looked up nervously. Would the pleasant treatment continue now that he was feeling better, he wondered.

'Just skim reading really, so I know what to come back to.'

'I noticed that there were a few potions you wanted to practice before term in your notes?' The older man stated and at Harry's nod continued. 'I am working in lab 5 all this week on some supplies for the hospital wing so if you wanted to set up there tomorrow then I could supervise you?'

Harry felt his tension dissipate somewhat. Snape seemed to be holding the truce so he guessed he could too.

'That would be great sir, if it wouldn't distract you?'

'I'm sure I will cope,' Severus answered wryly. ' As you are in hiding so to speak, I thought you might like to join me for dinner this evening in my quarters rather than spend the entire day on your own.'

Harry's eye's widened in surprise. 'Erm..yeah, thanks. That would be nice.'

'Well, go grab a jumper then. We can take the floo from the main corridor and avoid your fellow boarders.'

Severus watched as the young man ran up the stairs to his dorm, his eyes going back to the pile of study notes on the floor. He honestly felt as if he was meeting a completely different Harry Potter. Severus remembered all of the conversations he had heard in the staff room, enthusing about Potter's talent, Potter's dedication, Potter's perfect essay mark. He had honestly thought his colleagues were completely deluded but now he wondered what on earth had been going wrong in potions?

It was clear that Harry truly was a dedicated student, but even allowing for his own misconceptions, the boy really did not ever produce anything higher that adequate in his class. Was it just not his subject? Given Harry's ambition to be an auror, that would be unfortunate. Severus decided he would put some time into finding out.

Harry appeared back in the common room, his head half out through the top of a baggy maroon jumper with a large dragon on the front.

Severus raised an eyebrow at this but the boy just grinned as he pulled the jumper over his T shirt.

'Mrs Weasley,' he said with a smile. 'She likes to knit.'

Severus pointed to the pile of letters neatly stacked on the floor. 'Do those need to go as well? I have some correspondences to send this evening so can add them to mine if you like?'

Harry grabbed the pile and followed his professor out of the common room.

)O(

They ate in the kitchen of Severus's rooms, perched on the end of a rickety pine table that was mainly covered in piles of essays, class notes and letters. Snape's quarters were not entirely what Harry had expected. The lounge and study were dark but not unwelcoming but it was clear that the kitchen was where the man spent most of his time.

'Do you have a potions lab down here as well sir?'

Snape shook his head and took a sip of his tea. 'I have a separate store cupboard down here for my private work but I use the lab behind the potions classroom. It is easier to keep an eye on those that take a while to brew if they are close to where I am teaching. What have you been been studying today?'

Harry went on to describe the charms texts he had been reading and his plan to practice some of the easier exercises before term started and revise a few he had had difficulty with last year. The professor asked questions now and then, mainly to encourage the boy to keep talking and ensure he stayed relaxed.

Once they had finished eating, he gave Harry the last of the potions he would need to take to clear his cold and handed the boy a small wooden box.

'That has a two week supply of a diet supplement I have been making for a national sports team. If you take one morning and night it should help you get your weight up before term starts. Do you have many jumpers like that one?'

Harry looked down at his Weasley jumper with a frown. 'I have a similar green one, why?'

'Because it's baggy enough to hide your figure.' The professor said quietly. 'You don't want to have to hide away for the rest of the Christmas break and I really don't want you to put your glamours back up.'

Harry nodded his understanding. He was an expert at hiding his appearance and was pretty sure he could pull it off now that the visible marks had almost gone.

'Can I move about as normal tomorrow, sir?'

Severus nodded. 'I don't see why not. It might be worth joining your fellow students at some point so they don't start panicking. Our Head Boy has been asking after you three times a day and is frankly starting to irritate me.'

Harry grinned at the professors snarl. When not directed at him, the man's humour was actually rather funny. For the first time Harry could see why the Slytherin's laughed when Snape was in full sarcastic flow in the classroom.

'Maybe I will join them for breakfast.'

'If you still want to have a go at that potion then come down for around 11. I should be ready to help you set up at that point.'

Harry nodded and got to his feet. 'I might as well walk back up to the dorms. Shall I add my letters to the pile?' Harry pointed to the large stack of addressed envelopes sat on the table and thought he saw a brief smile cross the professors face.

'Yes, just put them on the top. All those letters will be going off tonight.'

Severus walked Harry to the door of his chambers and waved away his 'Thanks for dinner sir.'

'You are welcome Potter. Try not to get lost on the way back to the tower won't you. That bloody Hufflepuff will think I've buried you in the grounds somewhere.'

Harry chuckled. 'I'll do by best sir.'

Severus watched the boy leave and then picked up the pile of envelopes and grabbed his cloak. If he got these all off tonight then he would hopefully have some replies by Christmas. Then he would have an idea of how to proceed.

If he was lucky, that annoying ghost might put in an appearance as well in the next few days. Then the fun could really begin.