Severus stepped out of the alley he had apparated to (it was the closest apparation point to his house and the one he always preferred to use), and stepped out of the shadows to glare at the sunlight. The street was empty as is usually was these days. This was how he preferred it. He flicked some dark hair from his eyes and dusted his robes as he began to walk along the street but soon realized that he wasn't entirely alone.

There on the front step of the house directly across from his own sat a young boy who was intently staring at him as though he had never seen another human being before.

'What?' Severus snarled at the boy; he did not appreciate brats who stared at him.

'Oh um, nothing.' The boy replied.

Severus glanced around the street and wondered where this boy had come from since he was sure that the only kids who lived in Spinner's End were punks and teenagers who liked to cause trouble at night. He had also never seen this child before.

'Who do you belong to?' Severus asked as though he actually knew the names of the annoying people who lived around him.

'I just moved here.' The boy pointed to the house behind himself, the one whose step he was sitting on. Of course. 'I'm...Cody.' He seemed hesitant to say his name and Severus was suspicious at first but decided he didn't care and prepared to leave.

'Cody Evans.' The boy concluded and Severus paused in his tracks. He felt a wash of pain upon hearing that last name and noticed that the boy had green eyes. Just like her.

He couldn't formulate a response so Severus quickly turned and crossed the street. He stepped inside his house, slammed the door shut and than leaned against it as he gasped for air. He had not been running and yet his heart beat too quickly inside his chest and he struggled to catch his breath for a moment. A boy with her eyes and her name. It had finally happened...Severus had lost his mind. He was convinced of it.

--

Meanwhile, Harry wondered if his name was offended to that strange man. He had always found it annoying when people called him Cody instead of Harry, but never had he really thought upon the real differences between the two names.

Harry shrugged and didn't really care because his name was the least of his confusions. He was once again at a new household, a place where he was invisible and otherwise ignored accordingly. Emile had said he was living with her now and then she'd basically dropped him off and left. And Simon, that man sent shivers down Harry's spine.

Harry wished he could go back to Erin. He'd been with her for two years and had been very young when he had, but Harry could never forget her. She was everything he had pictured a real mother to be; she cared about him, she loved him and she never ignored him, no matter how small his troubles or fears may be. A home was only as warm as the people who lived in it. Harry hadn't felt at home since he'd lived with Erin.

And so he spent the next few hours thinking of the new mother he'd lost many years ago and it wasn't until Emile was dropped off by one of her friends that he noticed the darkness that surrounded him. Harry gulped and shivered with mild cold as the shadows lingered over him and the distance became a mystery.

'Still out here, eh?' Emile glanced at him as she approached the door. 'Get off the step.' She frowned and he stood to let her pass him.

'I'm hungry.' Harry realized as he followed her inside the house. Simon had departed the couch and was seated at the table eating a sandwich while he glanced occasionally over at the TV where a news report was on.

'Then get something to eat.' Emile told him. 'You've got arms and legs.'

Harry frowned at her but did as he was told and walked into the kitchen to pull open cupboards and drawers for something to eat. He found a box of biscuits and some cereal but nothing that he classified as “dinner”. He tried the fridge next and just settled for making a sandwich with ham and tomato.

'Did you win?' Simon asked Emile about her poker game.

'A few hundred.' Emile smirked and flashed the money from her pocket.

'Good, it's your turn to pay rent.' Simon grunted and returned his gaze to the TV.

Harry picked up his sandwich and started to eat it as he wandered to stand directly in front of the door and examined the house. To his direct right was a desk without a chair, littered with mail and long letters. Near that was the TV resting on a small coffee table and the couch was directly across from that, sitting in the middle of the small area that was the entire room. In the far right corner was a pile of boxes and otherwise stuff Harry classed as junk. Directly in front of Harry at the furtherest wall was the bottom of the staircase which led directly upstairs and yet was partially concealed by a curtain of beaded strings that almost reached the floor.

To his direct left was the rounded table with three chairs where Simon was sitting and which had a few novels shoved to one side. Behind that was the kitchen. The fridge was on the right and had counters a cupboards placed against each of the three walls of the kitchen. The counters were all empty apart from a toaster, microwave and small pile of empty pizza boxes. The rubbish bin resided outside, something Harry had noticed when he'd sat on the step for hours, therefore a plastic bag had been hung on a hook on the side of the fridge and was already half-full of wrappers, cigarette packets and crumpled beer cans.

'Where are the windows?' Harry noticed that there were none.

'What do we need them for?' Simon asked but nudged his thumb towards the kitchen and Harry saw a small window above the sink at the end of the counter directly across from the fridge door.

'Oh.' He said in disappointment since it had a dull, ugly curtain covering it; he had assumed it was a part of the wall since the entire room had a very brown and dull theme to it.

'You've eaten.' Simon pointed as Harry finished his sandwich. 'Get upstairs and go to bed.'

'Yes sir.' Harry sighed and crossed the room to push the beads aside and climbed the stairs which were covered in some sort of material. He assumed it had once been carpet but had been worn off so much had been reduced to just threads glued to the wooden steps.

--

Once upstairs, Harry wondered if he should have asked about his room. There were four doors surrounding him and they were all open. He saw the main bedroom and steered clear of it as it reeked of cigarettes and perfume. Across from that and a little to the left was the small bathroom which had a shower, a bath, a counter with a mirror hanging over it and a storage cupboard for towels etc. Beside the bathroom was the toilet and that left only one other door on the furtherest left.

Harry pushed the door further open to examine his room and was pleased to find that it had a window, however dusty and high it was. It stood directly across from the door while the single bed had the headboard pressed to the wall on his right and on the left was a wardrobe with no doors. In the corners there were piles of old newspapers and a worn rug sat in the center of the room. That was it.

'I hate this place.' Harry grumbled as he approached the bed and sat on it heavily, pleased that at least it didn't fall apart under him as he had suspected it would based on its unstable appearance.

He spotted his bag on the side beside the bed, as though it had been through on the bed but had rolled off. Harry dove through it and pulled out a stuffed dragon he'd been given by Erin and gave it a tight squeeze. It had once been colourful and smelled of honey but now it was a faded, poorly patched toy that barely had any scent at all. Either way, it was the most precious thing Harry owned.

Harry threw his bag into the bottom of the wardrobe to join the few novels littered there and changed into his pajamas which he was beginning to outgrow around the ankles and wrists.

'Boy!' Simon's loud and demanding tone jerked Harry from his sleep the following morning. He gasped with surprise and looked around as he tried to remember where he was. Harry yawned and sat up in his bed, untangled himself from his blankets and than made his way out of the room to stand at the top of the stairs.

'What?' He called down.

'Get down here, you've got chores to do!' Simon shouted and Harry was unsettled by the amount of anger he heard in the man's tone.

Harry rushed back to his room and quickly changed into a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of patched jeans. He didn't bother with his hair and just made his way back down the stairs to face the man who now scared him because of his shifting moods.

'What are my chores?' Harry wondered as he stood near the stairs and stared at the couch where Simon was sitting across from the TV and watching a game.

'The dishes, the floors and the rubbish.' Simon answered.

Harry shrugged as that seemed fair enough and set to work. He washed the three plates in the sink along with the glasses and a lunch container. It only took him a couple of minutes, so did sweeping the floor. He dragged a chair over to the fridge to reach the rubbish and pulled the bag down, which was now full and had more beer cans than before inside it. He tied a unstable knot and carried it outside.

Harry pushed open the front door and stumbled down the steps under the weight of the bag and carried it to the bin, but it was large and the lid stretched out of his reach. Harry frowned as he put the bag down and tried to open the bin.

'Stupid bin.' He scowled at it as he stood as high as he could only to barely brush the brim with his fingers. Harry kicked the side of it once and glared at the rubbish bag on the ground at his feet. He didn't know how he was going to achieve this task and pondered on going back inside to ask Simon for some help. Feeling defeated, Harry grabbed the bag and retreated indoors.

'I can't reach the lid of the bin.' He told Simon but the man didn't even look at him.

'Then grow a few inches.' Simone replied.

'Can't you do it?' Harry complained and that seemed to get Simon's attention.

'Listen here, boy. You're lucky to even be staying here and you need help with the simplest of things?' Simon growled and stood to his feet. Harry recoiled back, but exhaled in relief when the rubbish bag was yanked from his hands and the man headed outside.

'Hey!' Harry cried out when the bag was tipped all over the ground. 'What are you doing?'

'Teaching you a lesson.' Simon snatched Harry by the back of his shirt and shoved him outside as well, as though he was a discardable item like the rubbish bag.

'Now clean it up and put it in the bin.' He scowled.

Harry whimpered as he had landed on his elbow, cheek, and knees. He turned in time to see the front door slam shut and the volume of the TV increased. Sniffing, he slowly sat upright and stared at the rubbish littered around him. A woman passed by and didn't even glance at him or offer to help. He tried asking her to open the bin for him, but he may as well been as vocal as the bin itself because she showed no signs of having heard him.

Harry rubbed his nose on the back of his shirt sleeve and crawled on his slightly sore knees to begin collecting the rubbish and re-filling the bag. He eyed the bin as though it was all its fault that he couldn't reach it.

A tear slid down his face and he furiously wiped it away as he collected the bear cans from the ground, not daring to count them although he wondered if they too were somehow responsible for this.

--

Severus paced in his study as he read over an article from the Daily Prophet. He descended the stairs and placed the paper on a table when he heard a noise from outside. Many years ago he had placed a spell on his house so that any sound of disruption would be amplified. If cars drove past or people conversed on phones outside he heard them as anyone would, but a struggle or offending assault and he would instantly be alerted to it.

He peered out his window to see the boy from the previous day aiming a kick toward the bin that towered over him. Severus rolled his eyes as this kid was obviously as much trouble as the rest of them. He hardly saw why a brat taking his frustrations out on a bin was enough to catch the attention of his spell so he stood there and observed for a moment. The boy retreated to the house, but what happened next certainly caught Severus' attention.

He frowned with concentration as he watched the man tip the rubbish outside his own house and then grabbed the boy to shove him outside with it. The child had fallen rather hard and been left outside to clean up. Severus rarely bothered himself with the problems of others, but he would be lying to himself if he said he was wasn't bothered by the sight of the boy being thrown out with the same force as the trash in which had also consisted largely of beer cans.

Sighing, Severus rolled his eyes and moved to leave his house. He glanced around the street and considered hexing the woman who simple walked by the boy and ignored him. Severus crossed the street and stood a short distance from the child who was yet to notice him.

'Not my fault I can't reach the stupid thing.' Harry mumbled and rubbed at his eyes again. 'Tell me to grow, as if that's bloody possible.' He continued and used his anger to constrain his tears. He winced as his elbow contacted with the side of the bin as he reached for another beer can.

'Ow.' He sniffed again and stopped collecting rubbish to just sit there and let himself demonstrate how miserable he felt by crying. He gasped when a shadow cast over him and thinking it was Simon, Harry jumped to his feet and raised his arm to defend himself.

'Calm yourself.' Severus said, surprised by the outburst he had been greeted with and hated to realize it was not a good sign.

'Oh, it's you.' Harry exhaled in relief. Even though he didn't really know this foreboding stranger, he was convinced that he was still better than Simon.

'Could you please open the bin for me?' He asked as nicely as he could even if he expected to be turned down.

Severus glanced at the bin and nodded as he moved to open it.

'Thank you!' Harry gasped in relief and went to return to his task of cleaning the rubbish only to find the bag was full and tied. 'Huh?' He frowned, but picked it up anyway and tried to put it into the bin.

'This is a ridiculous task to give to someone of your height.' Severus frowned as he took the bag off the boy and threw it into the bin before he shut the lid and glanced at the child.

Harry just shrugged and stared at his feet while he rubbed his sore elbow. The stranger stepped towards him so he reacted by stepped away with caution.

'I will never hurt you, Cody.' Severus surprised him by remembering the name he had been given. It was that surprise in which enabled Severus to get close enough to the boy to grasp his chin and lift his head to examine the small scrape on his cheek from the rude fall.

'Who are you living with?' Severus wondered as he cast a simple healing spell on the scrape and the boy's elbow with the use of his wand which was concealed up his sleeve.

'Um, Simon and Emile.' Harry answered without thinking.

'I assume they are not your relatives if you refer to them by their first names.' Severus frowned as Harry merely shrugged again.

'I have to go.' Harry pulled away from the dark man because he was the last person he had expected to act as though he wasn't invisible and he didn't trust the man.

'Of course.' Severus nodded and turned away but paused when the child spoke again.

'Thanks for helping me, sir.' Harry said softly although Severus had heard him clearly.

'You're welcome.' He glanced at the boy and than crossed the street and returned to his house where he planned to do some brewing.

Harry watched him leave and than hurried inside the house. He kept his distance from Simon and just rushed right upstairs to his room, slamming the door closed as he did so. He jumped onto his bed and buried his face into his pillow as he sobbed his heart out for the cruelty the world had bestowed upon him since birth.

There was a knock at the bedroom door a few hours later and Harry rolled over to glare at Emile.

'What's your problem?' She asked him when she noticed the look. 'I only came to ask if you wanted to go shopping with me?'

'Yes please.' Harry said without answering her question. He got up and followed her downstairs where he noticed that Simon wasn't home.

'Where were you today?' Harry wondered as they stepped outside and started walking down the street on the right.

'I was with some friends.' Emile answered. 'I heard you had a problem with the bin?'

'I couldn't reach it!' Harry scowled. 'And stupid Simon threw me outside and tipped the bag everywhere!'

'Well you can reach it now, can't you?' She asked and ignored the comment about Simon.

'No, I had to ask a stranger for help.' Harry admitted.

'Talking to strangers is dangerous, Harry.' Emile sighed. 'They could kidnap you and we don't have the money for a ransom. I'll put some boxes out for you to stand on next time, okay?'

'Yeah, okay.' Harry grunted and remained silent for the rest of the walk home.

'Don't stare at the ground, you need to remember this path.' Emile warned.

'Why?' Harry inquired.

'Because it will be your job to get the shopping.' Emile told him.

'I thought it would help build your confidence and sense of responsibility. We'll give you some money and you buy everything on the list. Any leftover money is yours to keep but try not to spend it all at once.' She explained.

'Oh okay.' Harry shrugged as he sounded good enough except it was a bit odd that they would let someone his age walk to the shops and handle large sums of money on his own.

Emile said nothing else until they reached the shopping center and she taught him how to tell which vegetables are the best, how to weight the meat and which brands were cheaper to get. After they paid for the food and left with four bags each, Harry realized that this wasn't something he looked forward to as the two bags he had were quite heavy although Emile said he'd likely only get two a week instead of the four they had.

--

As they arrived home it was almost dark and Simon had returned home and the TV was off, which Emile seemed to find a bit strange.

'Did you help the brat reach the bin?' Simon asked Emile as they stepped inside and Harry was instructed to put the shopping away.

'No.' Emile sighed. 'Some stranger did. Honestly Simon, it's too high for him. I'll put something out for him to stand on.'

'You better.' Simon scowled as he opened the fridge and extracted a can of beer. 'I'm not having him around if he can't put the rubbish in the damn bin!' He snapped and Harry flinched at the violent sound but Emile appeared uninterested and used to it.

'Well if you weren't so lazy, he wouldn't have to! At least I have a job.' Emile scowled back at him when he rolled his eyes at her lack of response.

'Oh shut up, woman.' Simon retreated to the couch. 'Putting up with you is a job.'

Harry left the last bag partially unpacked as Emile started shouting at Simon, something he hadn't expected from her before. He gasped fearfully and retreated to the back of the kitchen when they argued loudly until he could no longer stand the frightening noise and made a run for the stairs. He shoved the beads aside and climbed the steps as fast as he could before he shut his bedroom door and crawled under the bed.

He lay there for over an hour as they fought and covered his ears as he tried to shut out the sounds. Tears slid down his face as his mind fought to think of something else, such as the man who lived across the street and how his house was probably very quiet and peaceful.

After another hour Harry had fallen asleep under his bed, his mind filled with dreams of a dark man that saved him from a bin with teeth that tried to eat him because it thought he too was rubbish.

It was the beginning of a tradition; whenever nightmares plagued him, the dark man would appear to save him from the beast of the moment. If only it happened in his waking life as well, but little did Harry know...it was about to.