An hour after meeting Severus in his office, Harry found himself boarding a Muggle train in Hogsmeade; something he didn't think entered that village. Severus led him to an empty compartment and closed the door behind them once they entered. Harry sat down near the window on one side and stared at the few other passengers who were boarding. Severus removed his cloak, and laid it on the far side of the empty bench seat and sat down, more towards the compartment door.

After the train gave a lurch, Severus removed a book from the pocket of his cloak and looked to Harry. "Mr. Potter, we will be on the train for many hours. Go ahead and pull something out of your trunk to keep yourself occupied." He did not want to entertain the boy for the next four hours. Actually he didn't know how to if it would have been needed.

Harry tore his eyes away from the slowly moving scenery and looked to the professor. "Yes sir." He opened his trunk that he left at his feet and pulled out one of the Quidditch books Ron had lent him. Not currently in the mood to read, he set the book down next to him and returned to looking out the window.

Raising his eyes from his book, Severus noticed that Harry left his trunk sitting on the floor. Giving a huff, he set his book down, stood up, and stowed away the trunk above their seats.

Seeing movement to his left, Harry moved his eyes away from the window. Eying his professor, he began to feel slightly guilty. So far, being in the company of his professor wasn't that bad, but then again, it had only been an hour. He had seven more days to get through. He knew he'd better not get on the man's bad side. "Thank you, sir. I'm sorry I didn't think of putting my trunk away. I wouldn't have been able to lift it. Figured I'd just leave it there."

"You could have asked for help Potter," Severus stated, wanting to ignore the acknowledgment from Harry, surprising as it was. "Is it not uncommon for those who need it to ask for help; though you've never shown comprehension of that as of yet."

The last statement from Severus made Harry upset and he quickly turned his attention back out to the window. How was he supposed to get along with this man when almost everything out of his mouth was an insult? "Yeah, like you would have helped if I asked," Harry responded softly, almost as a whisper.

Not expecting the man to hear him, Harry was surprised when Severus responded. "Well, we'll never know the answer to that now, will we?"

Harry ignored him and continued looking out the window.

Severus smirked and returned his attention to his book. He knew his comments would be taken the wrong way by Harry, but he didn't feel he needed to explain.

An hour and a half later, Severus abruptly stood up. "I will go get us some lunch." After a brief pause, he amended his statement. "Is there anything in particular you would like to eat?"

Harry set down his book and looked at the professor in confusion. He wasn't used to being asked what he wanted for meals. He would have loved to tell the man what he wanted, but he honestly didn't know what he wanted or what was available. The only train he'd ever been on was the Hogwarts Express and the trolley there only had sweets. But he would never tell his professor that. "I….erm….I'll have….whatever you're having is fine with me," he finally answered, turning a little pink in embarrassment from not being able to tell the man what he would like to eat.

Severus nodded and walked out of the compartment. Before shutting the door behind him, he turned around and faced Harry. "Do not leave this compartment while I am gone."

"Yes sir," Harry replied.

He shut the door behind him leaving Harry alone with his confusing thoughts.

Harry didn't know what was going on, but this was definitely not the potions master he knew. The man would never ask him what he wanted nor help him out. But then, he had also insulted him. At least he thought that's what the man had done. The more he thought about the statement, though, he wasn't so sure anymore. He pondered that over for a while and was broken out of his thoughts when the compartment door opened. He jumped and turned towards the door. After seeing Severus standing there, he tried to get his breathing under control and put a hand over his wildly beating heart. "Bloody hell…you scared me."

Severus smirked. "I apologize. There is no need to be so jumpy. But next time, you should be better prepared." Severus' eyes landed on the wand handle sticking out of Harry's jacket.

Harry followed Severus' gaze to his wand. "Oh, right."

"No matter. You will be better prepared next time, I hope." Severus walked over to the window and pulled up the small table that was lying against the wall. He set the bag he was carrying on the table and started to empty it. He pulled out a large pitcher of lemonade, two plastic cups full of ice, and two plates that held turkey and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread, pasta salad, and pickle spears.

He set one of the plates in front of Harry, removed the plastic wrap surrounding it and pulled out a napkin and fork and set them beside the plate. He placed the other plate in front of where he would sit and took out another napkin and fork. He then set the presumably empty bag on the seat next to him. Next he took the pitcher of lemonade and poured Harry and himself a glass. When the boy just sat there staring, he spoke. "What are you waiting for? Go ahead and eat."

"Yes sir," Harry replied, however he didn't start to eat until Severus sat down a minute later.

Severus noted that Harry didn't start eating until he was sitting down in front of the table, and he was pleasantly surprised. It seemed the boy's relatives taught him some manners after all.

Half way through the meal, Harry spoke up. "Thank you for lunch, professor. Please let me know how much I owe you. I'll pay you when we get to your house.”

"You will do no such thing. Now finish eating your lunch."

"But sir…"

"What did I say, Potter?" Severus asked, his voice becoming threatening. Why couldn't the boy take a simple act of kindness without question?

Harry was taken aback. The professor hadn't spoken to him in that tone in quite a while. "Sorry," he responded quietly, and turned back to his lunch. After a few bites he gave up, beginning to feel nauseous, not sure if it was because of the professor or not. "I don't think I can eat anymore, sir. I can put the plastic wrap back over it in case I get hungry later."

Severus pulled out the plastic wrap and handed it to Harry. He continued eating his lunch while watching the boy, expertly he noted, wrap the plate with the remaining sandwich, salad, and pickle. He, himself, had a hard time wrapping the plates up after asking the attendant in the food car for a way to bring the lunches back to their compartment.

Harry sat back against the seat and stared out the window, arms wrapped around his stomach.

After finishing his lunch a few minutes later, Severus dug back in the bag and pulled out a Muggle puzzle book. "I thought you might finish your book before we arrive and get bored so I bought you this." He held the book out to Harry.

"Th…thank you sir," Harry said in awe. This was the second thing that the professor had bought him and it was still only the first day of their week holiday. He took the book and placed it on the table next to his lunch. "Right now I don't think I could concentrate on it." He still felt a little nauseous. "But if you'd like, you can go ahead and work on it."

"I may take you up on your offer." Severus reached into the bag again and pulled out a large chocolate brownie with fudge frosting slathered on top. "I also went ahead and got you dessert. Since you haven't been able to finish your lunch, I'll leave it next to your sandwich."

"Thanks." Harry yawned and returned his gaze to the window. He started breathing deeply trying to fight off the feeling he was going to be sick. When the feeling went away, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

Over the next few hours, Severus read more of his book and after Harry finished working through some of the puzzles in the Muggle puzzle book, he decided to see what the puzzle book actually was. Finding it was extremely interesting, he pulled an everlasting ink quill out of his cloak and set to work on some of the puzzles. Harry spent that time reading more from the Quidditch book.

Looking up from the puzzle book a while later, Severus noticed that Harry was lying down on his side with his arms wrapped around his stomach and was asleep. He saw the boy shiver, but thought nothing of it. He turned his attention back to the puzzle book.

After completing the puzzle on the current page, Severus looked back up to Harry. The boy was shivering almost constantly. His first instinct was to ignore Harry. But now he couldn't. His son needed him; even it was just to keep him warm. He got up, picked up his cloak and draped it over Harry; blaming this action on the viewing of his memories before he packed them up a few minutes before Harry arrived earlier that morning. But he had a small smile on his lips the entire time and he couldn't help but run his hand through the boy's messy hair once either. He reminded himself that this was how he was supposed to act. This was what a father was supposed to do.

~SH~

Two hours later, with all of Harry's belongings shrunken and residing in a jacket pocket, Severus and Harry were walking through a Muggle neighborhood. After rounding a corner, Harry slowed his walking down while taking a look at the neighborhood that surrounded them.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was almost like they were walking through a dump loaded with mounds and mounds of trash. Because the nauseous feeling Harry had while on the train wasn't completely gone and the smell wasn't helping matters, he started breathing through his mouth. He didn't need to get sick in front of the professor. Feeling his stomach settle a little bit, he concentrated on his surroundings again. The neighborhood looked abandoned though he knew that it wasn't. He could hear kids screaming and yelling in the distance. There were dilapidated brick row homes lining both sides of the cobblestone street. It almost reminded Harry of the neighborhood Grimmauld Place was located. He looked down the street to see if the entire area looked the same; it did. At the end of the street, he spotted an ominous chimney bearing down on the row of homes below. He did not like the feeling he got from this neighborhood.

At the end of the block, Harry saw a run down playground on his left. He looked up to Severus and saw him slow down and glance at the area then pick up his pace. That seemed a bit odd to Harry, but he wasn't about to analyze the professor. Once Harry was opposite the playground he stopped. The swings and slides looked to be in poor shape, but he could tell the grass would be lush in the spring and there would be a lot of shade trees covering the grounds. In the back, Harry could see and hear a river. This looked like a place he would want to visit while staying here, if the professor's house was nearby and he was allowed to go outside. It would be a great place to escape to.

As Severus passed the playground, he slowed down and looked over to it. The place held so many memories and he couldn't believe how much it hurt to see it now. He actually hadn't seen the place since he was a teenager. The ache he felt at the memories made him want to get to his house as soon as possible and he picked up his pace. Not hearing Harry next to him a few houses later, Severus looked over his shoulder. Harry was stopped at the playground. "We are almost there, Potter," he yelled towards the boy. "Quit dawdling."

Harry quickly met up with the professor. "Sorry sir. Erm…where are we exactly?" he asked, not liking the looks of the area, especially considering the man said they were almost to his house.

"The neighborhood is called Spinner's End. Our house is the very last one up ahead." Severus looked toward the house and shivered, memories of his childhood came rushing to the front of his mind. He pushed them away and hoped that he would soon build new memories, better memories, of being in the house.

Harry looked towards the house and gulped in disgust.

A large two story house was set back from the sidewalk. The brown paint on its siding was chipped off along most of it. The shutters on all of the windows were dangling from the wall; looking like they were being held on by one screw and that if a strong wind came by, they'd fall off. The screens in the windows were torn and half of the windows were either missing or were broken. Some of the windows were even boarded up with plywood.

The grounds surrounding the house looked as bad. Weeds rose up at least three feet high all around the house. T here was a picket fence surrounding the property which at one time was probably white, but was now grey. Some of its slats were just lying on the ground leaving huge holes in the fence. And the cracked concrete walkway from the gate at the sidewalk to the front door was also covered in weeds. The property looked like a pretty good rendition of a haunted house. One could only image that the inside of the house looked just like the outside.

"Figures the old bat would live in a place that looked like this," Harry whispered to himself, though Severus did hear him.

"Mind your tongue Potter," Severus hissed. "Being my son, you will live here too."

"Are you kidding me sir?" Harry asked disgusted and pretended not to hear the man's last statement. "I am not staying in there. Just send me to Grimmauld Place."

Severus smirked at Harry's comment but didn't say a word. He just continued walking towards the house. When he got to the front of the gate he stopped and looked next to him thinking Harry would be there. Not seeing the boy, he looked down the sidewalk and spotted Harry three houses away. "We do not have all day, Potter," Severus snapped impatiently. The boy was beginning to get on his last nerves. It had been a long day and he was extremely tired and irritable. "Get over here. Now!"

At his professor's tone, Harry quickly walked to the house and stood beside the professor. He could tell Severus was nearing the end of his rope.

"This is where we'll be living when we're not at Hogwarts during the school year."

"Besides this week, I am not living here. Ever!" Harry responded, thoroughly disgusted with the house and the fact that Severus assumed he was falling for the game of him being the man's son.

"We'll see," was all Severus said in response. He then opened the gate and began walking towards the front door.

As Harry followed he could feel the various wards which were placed upon the property, something he didn't think he was supposed to feel. He guessed Dumbledore made Snape make sure he was really safe. The second he was inside the gate, his mouth dropped open in shock and he stopped walking. The grounds, house, and even the air, drastically changed.

The house was spectacular. It was actually a three story brick house, and didn't have any wood siding like he saw only minutes before. Every window he could see was spotless and there wasn't a crack or scratch on them. The grounds were beautiful. There was a shade tree off to the left side of the house and two beds full of every flower imaginable. He even spotted a small water fountain and pond at the edge of the property line on the right. The walkway to the front door was made out of large stones that matched the brick of the house, not the cracked concrete he saw earlier. Looking at the property, you couldn't even tell it was winter.

"I love magic," Harry whispered in awe. After looking around for another few seconds, he spotted the scowl on the potion master's face and ran to the front of the house. "Sorry sir," he apologized.

Severus ignored Harry's apology and opened the front door, expecting Harry to enter. When the boy just stood outside still admiring everything, Severus turned toward Harry clearly annoyed. "Are you expecting a personal invitation Potter?" Severus spat. "Because if you think so, you are sorely mistaken." He grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into the house.

"Ouch!" Harry exclaimed, then withdrew his arm from the professor's grip. He rubbed at his arm as glared at the man wondering what was with his changing moods.

Severus looked at Harry in concern at his exclamation. He hadn't grabbed the boy all that hard. At least not hard enough for it to hurt.

Harry stopped just inside the house and looked around, still in awe. As he turned towards his left, he met the somewhat angry glare of Severus. Seeing the scowl still on his face, he reluctantly turned his attention to the man.

"Go get settled in and unpack, Mr. Potter. Your bedroom is on the second floor. It's the third bedroom on the right. I'll be up in a few minutes to show you the house." Severus spun around and left towards one of the rooms off to the side of the entry way. He needed to get his temper under control. He was becoming too short with the boy and it wasn't deserved. Old habits die hard he realized. He entered the kitchen and put some water to boil for tea. He could have used his wand and had his tea already, but doing things the Muggle way always calmed him down.

Severus' mood affecting his own, Harry stalked up to the second floor and to the third door on the right. He opened the door and glanced around the room in distaste. He guessed he shouldn't have expected more. He could definitely see where he stood here, though it shouldn't have come as a surprise.

The room was extremely small, dark, dingy, and very dusty. He hoped that once he cleaned it, the room would be a little better. On the far wall of the room was a twin bed with a rusty silver headboard and footboard. The blanket on top, which might have been a dark green, was full of holes and burn marks and covered in a layer of dust. He hoped the bed was at least more comfortable than the old mattress the Dursley’s had given him when he acquired Dudley's second bedroom. He walked over to it and sat down, the springs squeaking in response. As he sat down, a cloud of dust enveloped him.

Coughing a few times from the dust, he placed his hands on the bed next to him and took a look at the rest of the room. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a mahogany desk near the window. He could see gouge marks all over the desk. On the wall with the door to the hallway was a small closet. There didn't look to be a washroom attached.

Harry shivered after looking around the room. It was, of course, bigger than the cupboard under the stairs where he lived for eleven years at the Dursley’s, but still it was very small. The room looked more like a closet than a bedroom. There was only about two feet of walkway around the bed.

He glanced at the walls next. Three out of the four looked like they were painted in an ugly light brown, but he couldn't be sure since it was so dark in the room. The other wall was covered with wallpaper which was torn and peeling. The pattern looked to be green and silver stripes, but like the rest of the room, it was too dark and dirty to tell. He did spot crayon drawings on the bottom three feet of two of the walls. This was a child's bedroom, he realized.

Harry's eyes were next drawn to the hardwood floor which was in very bad condition. He could imagine getting splinters in the bottom of his feet if he walked barefoot in the room. Wanting to see what type of view his room overlooked, if any, and hoping it was better than the room itself, he got up and walked over to the window.

~SH~

After determining himself calm enough, Severus decided he gave Harry enough time to unpack his trunk. As he set his near empty cup of tea in the sink and walked out of the kitchen, he almost gave a smile at the reaction Harry gave to the house after they walked through the wards. That was one thing he had been looking forward to witnessing since leaving Hogwarts that morning, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even to Harry.

As he walked up the stairs to the second floor, he now couldn't wait for the reaction the boy would have to his bedroom. Severus made the room everything he had dreamed of when he was Harry's age. Once he determined that the two of them would be living at Spinners End, Severus decided he would give Harry the bedroom he had always wanted while living there, but was denied by his father, claiming people like him didn't deserve rooms like that. That they only deserved the smallest room in the house, the room that had the smallest window and closet, the room that…the room that's door was currently open, Severus noticed as he reached the second floor landing. The room he thought he had locked.

Severus walked into the room and stopped in the doorway as he spotted Harry at the window. He tried to push down his anger at seeing the boy in the room. There had to be a logical explanation. At least he hoped there was. But knowing how the boy had been over the last five years, he wasn't expecting one. He watched as Harry grabbed the draperies and pulled them open. The movement caused a huge cloud of dust to come from the old worn fabric. Before Harry was able to look out the window to see his view, he was overcome by a handful of sneezes.

"It seems we have something in common," Severus stated from the doorway. "You seemed to have inherited my dreadful dust allergy." He pulled out a handkerchief from inside his cloak, walked over to the boy and tried to hand it to him.

Harry turned around and looked at the offered cloth in disgust. "We have nothing in common." He sneezed again.

"I disagree, but now is not the time to get into that." He put the handkerchief back in his cloak. "What are you doing in here?"

"You told me to go up and unpack," he huffed, "Or did you forget?"

"Do not mock me, Mr. Potter. I know well what I said. I said for you to go to the third bedroom on the right."

"I did," Harry said exasperated. "This is the third room."

"This is the third room, but not the third bedroom."

"Then why didn't you just say the fourth room?" he asked, getting angry.

Severus didn't answer. He turned away from Harry and walked out of the room. "Your room is the next one. Go," he growled. He was sorry he had spoken that way to Harry, but he couldn't stand being in this room or having the boy in here. No doubt he'd ask questions about it later, but he didn't want to think about that now.

"Yes sir," Harry replied and walked quickly out of the room. He walked down the hall and opened the door to the bedroom that would be his for the next week, took five steps in and stopped. He looked around the room with his mouth open in shock.

Severus quickly closed the door to the small bedroom and joined Harry. He stood slightly behind the boy but was able to clearly see the expression on his face. The expression melted all the anger he had towards the boy only seconds before.

Feeling Severus' presence behind him, Harry turned around. "Sir, are you sure this is where you want me to stay this week? I'd be happy in the other room." Harry's stomach clenched as he said that. He really didn't want the other room, but he knew that he deserved that room and it was probably where Severus preferred him to stay.

"This is your room; for this week and always. That other room is not fit to be anyone's bedroom," he spat.

Harry flinched, but he had the feeling the professor's anger was not directed at him. "Erm…okay. Thank you for letting me stay in here this week." He would not accept that Severus said it was his room forever. "Do you…do want me to unpack or did you want to show me the house first?"

"Go ahead and unpack. I'll be back in fifteen minutes." Severus left Harry to explore his room and he headed back down to the kitchen.

After Severus left, Harry stayed where he was for a few more minutes just taking everything in. He couldn't believe this would be where was staying for the next seven days. "This room is absolutely brilliant," he stated a few seconds later. "I wish I had a room like this instead of Dudley's second bedroom."

The space directly in front of Harry was more like a sitting room. On the left wall was a fireplace with a desk and bookcase to the right side of it. In front of the fireplace was a large midnight blue rug with a small loveseat, a comfortable oversized chair and an oak coffee table situated on top facing the fireplace. Along the back wall of the sitting area was a bay window with white draperies complete with midnight blue and red plaid cushions on the window seat.

Up a step towards the right of the sitting area was the actual bedroom. Along the wall with the bay window was a queen size bed with an ornate oak headboard. It was topped with a comforter and four fluffy pillows, all with the same pattern as the cushions on the window seat. At the foot of the bed was an oak hope chest. On either side of the bed were night tables, in the same oak as the bed. Each held a small silver and white lamp. A six-drawer dresser was located on the wall shared with the hallway. It too was made of oak and had etchings on all the drawers, the same design as the headboard. Another bay window with a window seat was on the right side of the bed. It too had matching cushions.

Down from the right of the dresser was a door. Wanting to see what lay inside, Harry walked over and went inside. The door led to the bathroom. Upon entering, he spotted a walk-in closet on his right. Directly in front of him was a small cabinet, more than likely holding towels and other items needed for the bathroom. There was a sink with a countertop stretching to the left where it stopped at the toilet. Next to the toilet was a large tub and shower. The color scheme of the bathroom was silver and white with the towels and shower curtain the same as the comforter and cushions in the bedroom.

Completely in awe with the bathroom and bedroom, Harry went back out and sat down on the bed. His eyes roamed the room again. "This room is brilliant. Too bad it has to be in Snape's house. Maybe I can just forget where I am." Harry shook his head. "Not likely." He then spent five more minutes just sitting there looking around the room before he decided he'd better unpack.

Fifteen minutes after leaving Harry in his room, Severus walked back up to get the boy. When he entered the room, he found him sitting in the sitting area's window seat. "Come along Mr. Potter. I'd like to show you the rest of the house."

Harry turned from the window to face Severus. "Okay." He stood up and followed the professor out of the room.
"We will begin downstairs." Severus led the boy down to the entry way and began the tour.

When they finished ten minutes later, Harry had seen the kitchen, dining room, library, living room, the door to the basement which held a potion's lab, three empty bedrooms, four various closets, Snape's bedroom, or at least the closed door to it, three bathrooms, and the backyard.

Severus dropped the boy back off into his room after the tour. "Dinner will be in an hour in the dining room. Do not be late."

"Yes sir." Harry watched Severus walk away and closed the bedroom door. Severus' house wasn't at all what he expected it to be. True, most of the rooms were quite filthy, but the house was more than what he thought it would be. During the tour he had also learned that this was the house that the professor had grown up in.

~SH~

Severus and Harry sat at the dining room table eating dinner in an uncomfortable silence. Halfway through the meal, Severus stopped eating and looked toward Harry. "Mr. Potter, now would be a good time to discuss the rules of the house."

"Yes sir." Harry wondered when this conversation would be coming.

"There are no house elves in this house Mr. Potter. As such, any cooking and cleaning will be done by us." Severus watched as Harry nodded his head. "Breakfast will be at eight every morning. I expect you to be up and dressed properly at the table at that time. After breakfast, you will clean up your bedroom and bathroom then attend to your studies. Lunch will be on your own, you may eat whenever you feel hungry, though I'd prefer you to eat between noon and one thirty. I have already stocked up the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. After lunch, if you haven't already finished your studying, you may do whatever you like around the house; mind you stay out of the basement, the bedroom you wandered in earlier today, and my bedroom. Or if you prefer, you can go exploring outside."

Harry interrupted. "Sir, how far can I go? Can I go to the playground we walked past?"

"You should stay on the property." Severus watched Harry's face fall at that statement. "However, you do have permission to go to the playground, though I would prefer if you stayed around the house. Tomorrow morning I'll add to the wards. If you decide to go outside, either on the property or to the playground, I would like to know."

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Harry decided now he'd ask the professor about the room he was in earlier this afternoon. "Sir, who's room was I in earlier today? It looked like it belonged to a child. Was it yours?"

"That is of no concern to you. You will stay out of that room." Severus hoped that response would placate the boy. And it seemed to work, for the time being at least.

Harry nodded in agreement, but knew he'd find out the truth before they left at the end of the week; with or without Severus telling him.

Severus continued on with the rules of the house. "Dinner will be at six and will be made by both you and me, though I'll probably be doing most of the cooking since your relatives no doubt waited on you hand and foot."

Harry was going to respond to this comment, but figured it wasn't worth it. The professor would find out soon enough that he could cook, pretty well if he did say so himself.

"You will meet me in the kitchen at five thirty every night to prepare dinner. After dinner, you again can do whatever you would like, but I would like it to be something quiet." Severus wasn't quite so sure why he was about to say what he was going to next, but he thought it would be something the boy would enjoy. "If you care to join me, I usually have tea and biscuits in the evening right before bed. Which reminds me. You will have a bed time Mr. Potter. I know you're on holiday, but you still need to have some type of sleep schedule. You will be in bed by ten every night."

Harry grimace at the term 'bed time.' It made it sound like he was a toddler, not a sixteen year old. "Our curfew at Hogwarts during the holiday is midnight."

"And are you at Hogwarts Mr. Potter?" Severus questioned.

"No," Harry replied.

"Then you should have no problem with adhering to my rules."

"But sir, I am not a little kid." Harry wasn't sure why he was arguing about this, something so petty, but now that he started, he couldn't stop.

"You are a child," Severus stated simply.

"I am sixteen."

"Yes, a child of sixteen. When you become of age and graduate Hogwarts, you can then make your own rules. Until then, you will adhere by mine."

"Fine," Harry shouted, then quickly left the dining room, leaving his half-eaten dinner behind. He entered his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

Harry paced the bedroom for quite a while, unsure why he was so upset about the professor giving him a bed time. The more he thought about it though, the more he realized that this was probably where Severus' control over every little thing he did started. Well, he decided, he wouldn't take it.

Still angry, he walked over to the bay window and sat down with his back against the wall. He pulled his knees up, rested his head on them and stared out at the grounds. They looked so beautiful and peaceful. Something he wished he felt. He probably would have felt that if things had ended different just a few months ago. Not wanting his thoughts to go down that road yet, Harry quickly tried to think of something else. He hadn't yet grieved for his godfather and he certainly didn't want to do that now, in this house. He spotted a cat wandering around in the grass below him, and just started watching it, wondering what it was like to be a cat.

Harry stayed in the window seat for another hour until he felt sleepy, then he went to his bed. He knew it was early, but with everything that happened today, he was desperate for sleep so he could forget everything. Unfortunately sleep didn't come easy and it was after eleven when Harry finally fell asleep.

~SH~

Severus watched the boy leave the kitchen and then shook his head, wondering if he made a mistake in taking the boy in for the week. "And so it begins." A few minutes later, he finished his dinner and took to cleaning up the dining room and kitchen. He was not going to let the boy's attitude and temper get to him. After completing those tasks, Severus went up to his room to unpack and settle in. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how he looked at it, his bedroom was right across the hall from Harry's. He didn't hear a sound coming from the boy's room as he entered his own.

Closing the door behind him, Severus unpacked his trunk and put his belongings away. It was an odd feeling at first, especially with the room having been his parent's room when he was a child. At least he changed the room's appearance and furniture when he got the house ready yesterday so he didn't feel as disgusted as he could have felt.

The remaining item in Severus's trunk, after he finished unpacking, was the cardboard box with the bottle of memories and the letter from Lily. He placed the box on the far night table, knowing he'd be wanting, or needing, the items soon. Feeling satisfied, Severus headed down to the library. He shuttered as he walked into the room, the memories of his past in this room assaulting him.

The library was one room in the house his father never allowed him in when he was growing up in the house. Not after he did accidental magic at the age of six. He was extremely angry with his father for yelling at his mother and while the three were in the room, all the books flew off their shelves, broke the windows in the room, completely destroyed one of his father's family heirlooms, and then littered the floor. It became one of the events in Severus' life he would never forget. His father became so enraged he stormed at Severus, caught the skinny boy by the back of the neck, dragged him to his bedroom, and beat him with the metal buckle end of his belt until he was almost unconscious. A while later Severus found out that his father had also locked him in his room as well. He sat on his bed crying. And a few minutes later, his father came back into the room and beat him some more, without the belt, all the while saying 'if you do not stop crying this instant, I'll give you something to cry about you big baby. I never want to hear any sniveling out of you again unless you want a repeat of tonight.' That was the last night he was allowed in the library and the last night he cried.

Ridding his mind of those thoughts, Severus strode over to one of the bookshelves, grabbed a Muggle novel and sat down in one of the wing-backed chairs. When nine thirty rolled around, Severus headed to the kitchen and made some tea. He brought a steaming mug of tea along with a small plate of biscuits to the library and returned to the chair to enjoy his nightly ritual. He had hoped that Harry would join him, but when ten o'clock rolled around, he gave up that hope and continued on with the book he was reading. It was after midnight when Severus decided to retire for the evening, dreading what the next day might bring.