Seemingly on automatic pilot, Severus headed directly to the living room upon returning to his quarters and sat down on the sofa, staring at the flickering orange-red flames of the fire burning in the fireplace. He summoned a hot cup of tea and took a few sips. A minute later he picked up his latest copy of Potions Monthly and began thumbing through the articles. His thoughts, however, were a big jumbled mess and he couldn't concentrate on anything he was reading. Giving up, he tossed the journal on to the side table and decided to focus on the problem at hand. Harry.

Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere with the way things were going, he knew he had to put his plan into motion. The plan he had been thinking about since meeting with Remus and Albus a few days ago about where the boy would be spending the last week of the holiday. He wanted Harry to spend the week with him. He knew the boy would put up a fight and argue. But figured this solution, to Harry, had to be better than staying in that mutt's house.

Severus' first task, of course, would be to let the headmaster know he was going to stay the remainder of the week at Hogwarts. Knowing now would be as good a time as any, Severus took one last sip of tea and headed for Professor Dumbledore's office. After stating the newest password to the gargoyle while rolling his eyes, he was seated in front of the headmaster not more than ten minutes later.

"Severus. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this fine evening?" Dumbledore glanced at the clock sitting at the right corner of his desk. "Shouldn't you be packing and on your way to Spinner's End?"

"That is what I have come to discuss, Albus. I have some items of great importance that must be completed before my departure." He hoped Dumbledore wouldn't press him for any particulars and was relieved when the headmaster just nodded. "I plan to return to my home no later than early Saturday afternoon."

Dumbledore gazed at him questioningly but didn't push to get anymore information out of the man. He watched Severus relax back into the chair. "Very well Severus. But I do expect you to be off the grounds by 11 am."

"That will not be a problem." Severus stood and the headmaster’s office.

As he walked back down to his quarters, Severus knew the next item of business was to notify Remus of the change in plans regarding Harry. Though he couldn't stand the werewolf, he would be accommodating to the man and let him know of the change. He immediately went to his study and sat down at the desk. He then summoned the tea from the other room. After taking a sip, he grimaced at the now cold liquid and cast a warming spell on the cup. He pulled out a few pieces of parchment from a side drawer, picked up his quill and began composing his note to Remus.

Once the letter was complete, Severus re-read it and was satisfied that Remus could not come up with any arguments in regard to the arrangement. After all, the man did want Severus and Harry to get to know each other better. This was the perfect way. He folded the letter and sealed it within an envelope. Then he called for a house elf to see that the letter was sent immediately.

After sitting back at the desk, Severus' eyes spotted the bottle with his real memories. He almost uncorked the bottle and switched out his memories, but as he held the wand to his temple, he quickly stopped. He had to keep the real memories bottled up in the event Harry wanted to see them. He placed the memories back in the bottle, re-corked it and put his wand away.

He really wished he was able to copy the memories. He now didn't like living with his altered ones. However, it was a known fact that if memories were ever duplicated, the original memories would deteriorate immediately and would be gone within a day. And the copies were never complete; not to mention they deteriorated within a month.

He would just have to live with viewing his real memories often until Harry decided to see them. The risk of not having them available immediately for the boy to view, not to mention having to remove them from himself and having no memories at all, was not even an option.

Running a hand over his face, Severus finished drinking the little bit of tea that remained in the cup. Deciding that he had done enough for the night, he placed the cup in the kitchen, and then retired to bed.

~SH~

Harry walked in to the Great Hall for lunch Tuesday afternoon and noticed the table had shrunk to half its original size. As lunch got started, he realized why. There were only two other occupants seated at the circular table; Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Not wanting to be in the same room as Snape let alone having to sit next to him, Harry slowly made his way to the table and sat down between the two professors.

Staring at the pot full of steaming tomato soup and a platter piled high with sandwiches, Harry decided to start with the soup. Something warm would be good since he spent the last few hours flying around the Quidditch pitch. As he began ladling some of the soup into the bowl in front of him, he could feel that he was being watched. He knew it was Snape so he didn't look up.

After eating about half his soup, Harry's curiosity got the better of him. He put his spoon down and looked to the headmaster. "Excuse me Professor, but why are we the only ones at lunch? Where are all the other professors?"

"All the professors were to leave the castle as well, Harry," Dumbledore answered over his steaming cup of tea.

Harry risked a glance at Professor Snape and was relieved to see the man's eyes were not on him. Then with confusion written on his face, he turned his attention back to the headmaster. "But if all the teachers are supposed to be gone as well, why is Professor Snape still here sir?"

"Ah, good question, my boy."

Before Dumbledore could formulate any more of his response, Severus decided to answer. He had been disappointed that every time he ran in to Harry since last night, the boy immediately turned around and left without a word to him. Now he could at least have some type of conversation with him.

"I have asked the headmaster to allow me to stay, Mr. Potter." Severus felt relieved when Harry turned his attention to him.

"Oh. Erm…when will you be leaving sir?" Harry asked, hoping it would be soon.

"I will remain here at the castle until the week is over." He watched Harry's face fall in disappointment and disgust. He was extremely hurt over Harry's response and tried his best to not show what he was feeling. But obviously he wasn't successful.

After his initial reaction, Harry looked back up to the professor to ask another question. But seeing the expression on the man's face, he changed his mind. He just stared at the professor with his mouth slightly open and a curious look on his face. Not wanting to know what that was all about, Harry quickly turned attention away from the Severus and continued with his lunch.

As Harry got up to leave the table after finishing his lunch, Severus spoke. "Mr. Potter."

Harry stopped walking and turned around to face the professor. "Yes sir?"

"To confirm what I said last night, it is ill-advised to proceed with Occlumency lessons when you are not healthy. Today's lesson will be canceled…"

"But I feel fine sir," Harry interrupted.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the boy. "…and Thursday's as well."

"But sir, I don't understand…"

"Is it not the holiday break Mr. Potter?" He watched Harry nod. "If you have a break from attending your normal classes, then you should also have a break in Occlumency."

Harry stood there staring at the professor for a few seconds. "Th…thank you sir." He watched Severus give a slight nod then left the Great Hall.

~SH~

As much as Harry wanted to be away from the Dursleys for the holiday week, he did not want to spend that week at Grimmauld Place. That was why on Thursday afternoon Harry found himself waiting for the door to the headmaster's office to finish opening.

Before Harry had even stepped one foot into the office, Dumbledore began speaking. "Harry. What brings you here?" After grabbing a tome, Dumbledore turned around and sat down at his desk, his eyes landing on his tin on lemon drops. "Lemon drop?" he asked as he held the tin out to Harry.

"No thank you sir," Harry said while he sat down across from the headmaster. "Sir, I was wondering if it is absolutely necessary for me to go to Grimmauld Place all next week. Isn't there any other place I can go?" Harry knew he had this conversation with Remus a few days ago, but felt he had to try with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sat there for a bit observing Harry with his elbows perched on the desk and his chin resting on the backs of his hands.

Harry began to feel slightly nervous under the headmaster's gaze.

"Harry, I'm afraid…" Dumbledore began before Harry cut him off.

"I don't see why there is no other place for me to go. Surely my friends wouldn't mind me staying with them."

"I'm afraid, Harry, that it's not possible for you to stay anywhere else. Your safety is all that matters right now. The safest place for you to be is Grimmauld Place."

"I see, Headmaster," Harry began, getting angry. "My safety is more important than anything. To you maybe, but at this moment, not to me. I mean, I know I have to be kept safe, but can't that for once be where I want to be? The Weasley's…I know the Weasley's would protect me. They're a very powerful family. Please Professor," Harry begged. "Please for once let me stay with my friends."

Dumbledore looked at Harry sadly. "I'm sorry Harry. But you will be staying at Grimmauld Place." He then stood up from his chair. "Thank you for the visit my boy. But I'm afraid I must be off at this moment."

Harry nodded feeling miserable. He had hoped that Dumbledore would be more lenient than Remus. Dejectedly, he exited the headmaster's office without a word and wandered back to the Gryffindor tower. He headed straight to his bed after entering through the portrait hole. He lay down and stared at the ceiling. Sadly, Harry wondered why he bothered trying for anything. He never got what he wanted before. Why bother trying now. He just hoped he could live through the next week.

~SH~

As the dinner hour approached Friday night, Severus was getting worried and was pacing back and forth in his study. He had yet to hear from Remus regarding the change in where Harry was going to stay next week. If the man didn't respond to his letter by 11am tomorrow morning, Harry would be going to Grimmauld Place. It was something Severus definitely didn't want to consent to.

Severus couldn't remember even leaving his quarters, but a half hour later, he found himself seated at the table in the Great Hall. Before he could even help himself to the food in front of him, an owl flew into the room and deposited an envelope on his plate. He opened the letter, read its contents and gave a small smile. Remus had agreed to the new arrangements. Then remembering where he was, he quickly removed the smile from his face and placed the letter in his robes.

"I hope that letter brought good news, Severus," Dumbledore asked as he watched Severus finally serve himself some of the food on the table.

"The news was what I expected."

"Good to hear."

The meal was then finished in silence, Harry leaving the room as soon as possible, which was normal for him, and Severus returning to his quarters a few minutes after that.

Severus headed straight to the sofa in front of the fireplace the minute he entered the room. He let out a deep sigh as he sat down. He was glad Remus consented to the change in arrangements. As he sat there, he immediately realized he wasn't prepared at all for Harry to spend the week with him.

First, he had to spend a week at his home on Spinner's End; a home he wasn't all that comfortable staying in. He hadn't spent very much time at the home since teaching at Hogwarts and he wasn't even sure what condition the house was even in.

Then there was the fact that he had to have the boy live with him for a week. He knew he wanted to spend the time with Harry and hoped to change the boy's mind about him, but he wasn't all that comfortable with knowing he'd have to spend the time with another person. He felt himself a loner and enjoyed solitude. He couldn't know what to expect this coming week. He could only hope for the best.

There was one thing, however, he knew he had control over. Spinner's End. He stood up and went over to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. As he threw the powder in the fireplace he walked into it and stated "Spinner's End." He had to be sure the house was livable.

A while later, Severus returned to his quarters at Hogwarts. He was about to speak with the Headmaster and Harry about the change in arrangements, but one glance at the clock told him it wouldn't happened until tomorrow. It was too late at night to disturb either of them so the news would have to be broken the day they were to leave.

~SH~

While finishing up his cinnamon swirl French toast, Harry heard the headmaster call his name. He put his fork down and looked up.

"Harry, I need you to come by my office at 11am this morning."

"Yes sir," Harry replied with a gulp, and watched the headmaster nod at him. As he returned his gaze to the last of the meal in front of him, he lost his appetite. Instead of eating, he swirled a small piece of the French toast through a glob of syrup a few times then let his fork drop on to the plate. First he had to spend one whole week in Sirius' house and now the headmaster wanted to see him. What he did now to be called to the headmaster's office, he didn't know.

At the sound of Harry's fork dropping, Severus looked up. One look at the boy's face told him all he needed to know. Harry looked like he was going to face his death in a few hours, not leave for the holiday for a week. And he probably thought he was in trouble. That was the only time the boy was probably ever called to the Headmaster's office. Severus watched Harry take one last sip of juice, and get up from the table. He more than likely was going to wander around the castle until 11am. That would be when he would tell Professor Dumbledore and Harry about the new arrangements. No use letting the boy dwell for long at that news.

Not knowing why he was being called to the Headmaster's office, at 10:50am, Harry made the trek from the Gryffindor common room up to the man's office, with much trepidation. The way things had been going for him this past week, being summoned couldn't be good. When he arrived on the floor that held Dumbledore's office, he slowed down his pace. And in his nervousness, he began clenching and unclenching his fists.

Halfway to the stone gargoyle, Harry heard footsteps behind him. Wanting to stall, he stopped walking and turned around to see who was walking through the corridor behind him. Who he saw made him wish he just kept on walking and ignored the sound.

"Potter," Severus acknowledged, making eye contact with the boy.

Harry had hoped he wouldn't see the man until classes resumed. "Professor," he forced himself to say. He would rather have ignored the man, but decided it would be best if he didn't. He wasn't sure what kind of trouble he was already in and didn't want to add any more to the list.

Severus walked up to Harry and past him to the gargoyle. He muttered Dumbledore's latest password. As the gargoyle sprung aside, Severus turned to motion for Harry to go first.

Harry reluctantly made his way up the staircase, painfully aware that Severus was right behind him; too close in Harry's opinion. When the two arrived at the top of the stairs, they found the door to the headmaster's office open. Harry stopped walking, wanting the professor to go in first and do whatever it was he was there to see the headmaster about.

"Go on Potter," Severus stated to the now stopped boy in front of him.

Harry turned around and looked at the professor. He then walked slowly into the room.

"Have a seat Harry." Dumbledore pointed to a chair in front of his desk. Then he looked up and saw Severus at the doorway. "Severus, I thought you would be gone by now." He quickly looked at Harry. "As you can see, I've got something to attend to with young Mr. Potter. If you would be so kind, I would appreciate if you would come back in about a half an hour."

"I'm sorry Headmaster, but this cannot wait." Severus entered the room and stood off to the side of the desk.

"Very well." Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Could you please wait outside the door until I call you back in Mr. Potter?"

Harry went to stand up and leave the room.

"I would like Mr. Potter to stay," Severus began. "This concerns him and he should be present."

At those words, Harry stopped. It was quite unusual for anyone to let him stay in the room when they were discussing him. He was usually told to leave, which on more than one occasion upset him greatly. He was silently grateful for the man, even though he couldn't stand him.

Looking up at the professor and seeing the man's eyes on him, he gave him a small acknowledgement of thanks.

As Harry sat back down, Dumbledore spoke. "Very well, Severus. Please continue."

Severus looked one more time at Harry, took a deep breath and began what he knew would be a one of his most trying conversations. "Mr. Potter will not be spending next week at Grimmauld Place."

At those words, Harry smiled slightly.

"But Severus, there is no other place he can go. Grimmauld Place is currently the only safe place he can be, outside of Hogwarts and his relatives."

"That is not true Albus. I think you know of one other place?"

Dumbledore looked at Severus for a few seconds, trying to understand what the man was getting at. "I see. Do you think it wise Severus?"

"I believe that anywhere Mr. Potter stays has to be better than his godfather's house." He looked to Harry. "Isn't that true?"

Harry looked between the two men, trying to comprehend what was going on. "Yes," he answered hesitantly, not liking where this conversation was possibly heading.

"I believe my solution will solve the problem of Mr. Potter's reluctance."

"What are you saying?" Harry interrupted, not fully understanding what was going on.

"I believe Harry," Dumbledore began, "that Professor Snape is offering to take you for the week."

"No!" Harry shouted. There was no way in hell he would spend the week with Snape. "You can't be serious. He hates me….can't even stand to be in the same room with me for class. How can I spend an entire week with him? Besides, he's trying to get me to believe…to think that…" Harry stopped speaking, not wanting to discuss whatever game Severus was playing with him.

"Harry, you know that the Professor doesn't hate you," Dumbledore responded softly.

"Mr. Potter." When Harry wouldn't look up, Severus tried again. "Mr. Potter….Harry."

Harry quickly shifted his gaze from the headmaster to Severus at the use of his first name.

Severus ignored the smiling headmaster in the room. "Harry, you know no harm will come of you while you are in my care."

"How do I know that? You haven't shown me otherwise."

"I do believe we were able to spend two days together before the start of term without anything traumatic happening. And as I recall, upon your entrance to Grimmauld Place, you did say you would rather spend the time with me in the dungeons that in that house. Isn't that correct?" Severus asked, smirking.

"I didn't say…how did you….never mind." Harry slumped in his chair, knowing that was indeed what he had said. But of course he didn't really mean it. "Headmaster, do I need to spend the week with Professor Snape? If my choice is to either stay with him or at Grimmauld Place, I'd rather spend it at Grimmauld Place."

"That is fine Harry. Whatever you decide." Dumbledore looked to Severus and saw disappointment on the man's face, but decided to ignore it. He would find out what that was about at a later time. Right now, he had to concentrate on Harry. "Severus, if that is what you stopped by for, then you may leave."

"I'm sorry, Albus, but I cannot leave. At least not without Potter."

"What?" Harry yelled, standing up. "I thought I already decided. I want to go to Grimmauld Place."

Severus looked over at Harry. "Sit back down please," he stated calmly.

Harry slowly sank back down into the chair.

"I'm afraid Mr. Potter's only option is to come with me. Earlier this week I had contacted Remus and informed him of the change in the boy's arrangements. Remus is continuing with his vacation and will not be returning until classes resume."

"Why would you go ahead and make arrangements without my knowledge?" Dumbledore asked. "And what, may I ask, was Remus' exact response to the news? I'm sure he wasn't at all happy."

"Quite the contrary, Albus. He was pleased with the change."

"You're lying," Harry interrupted. "There is no way Professor Lupin would be happy about me staying with you."

"Mr. Potter, please sit down and let me finish." He watched Harry sit back down. "So you see, Potter will be staying with me."

"Very well, Severus," Dumbledore stated, giving in. "Harry, please be sure all your belongings are packed. I'm quiet sure Professor Snape would like to leave as soon as possible.

"But I," Harry began and then quickly closed his mouth. He knew he'd get nowhere. Then he remembered what he thought a few days ago. 'Why bother trying for anything. I'll never get what I want. I never do.' This conversation reaffirmed that belief. "Fine," he stated sharply. "I'll go get ready."

Severus watched Harry get up and slowly leave the office. "Be at my office in half an hour."

"Yes sir," Harry called back. Then he made his way to his dorm room to pack. This was going to be the worst week in his life.