Harry Potter packed all the clothes he had, and his family tree, in a backpack he found in Dudley's room. One of the straps was broken, but Harry could still hold it over one shoulder. He was more than excited, he was ecstatic. And so he couldn't sleep most of the night and woke before the sun came up to pack and repack. He thought of taking one of Dudley's untouched books, but he wasn't really good at reading and probably wouldn't like it anyway.

It seemed like hours before the Dursleys began moving and though they were still mostly ignoring Harry, he could tell they were in a good mood too. He guessed they liked the plan of him not staying the week with them, although Aunt Petunia looked awfully suspicious when Mrs. Figg casually came by and indirectly offered to take Harry for the week.

Harry had hidden on the staircase for the entire conversation and he could tell Aunt Petunia knew something was up. But he guessed the idea of not having to deal with him for a week was too good to pass up. Harry felt a little hurt by that, but he would rather not see Aunt Marge, or her dogs, until Christmas.

The small drive over to Mrs. Figg's house seemed to take forever. When Harry hopped out of the car, Uncle Vernon immediately drove away, leaving Harry standing on the curb. He was glad that he had been to Mrs. Figg's a couple times before, so he didn't feel too awkward going up to her door alone.

Her house smelled the same as always as she let him in and Harry had the sudden fear that he would be spending the week with her instead. He didn't think he could last more than a day going through her cat album. One of her cats rubbed his leg and he flinched. Most of them were pretty friendly, but he was always afraid that one of them was going to bite or scratch him.

"Well, dear, just sit down for a moment. Seems he's running a bit late." She smiled at him and Harry couldn't remember if she smiled at him before. She looked better smiling, because she was always scowling when around the Dursleys.

Harry sat on the couch, wondering how they were going to get to Hogwarts. He had no idea where it even was. If it was nearby, he probably would have heard of it, right? Maybe it was hidden underground. He hoped it wasn't underground; he didn't like the dark.

Mrs. Figg's fireplace suddenly exploded and Harry screamed, falling off the couch. Instead of the room catching fire, a man emerged from the fireplace. "Snape!" Harry gasped, standing to his feet. The man didn't look burned, however, and he was glaring at Harry.

"Professor." He walked past Harry to the kitchen where he talked to Mrs. Figg.

Harry looked back towards the fireplace warily. Was Snape really alright? Maybe his robes protected him. Snape reappeared in front of Harry, giving him a dubious look. "Do you have everything?"

Harry nodded, holding tightly to his backpack.

Snape's eyes narrowed. "We will not be coming back if you have forgotten anything. Are you sure?"

Harry nodded again. Snape's voice was kind of mean sounding.

"Okay, we are going to floo to Hogwarts."

"What's floo?" Harry immediately asked and it earned him a stern glare from Snape.

"It is traveling by fire. Now no more questions, we are running late." He approached the fire again and put some powder into it. The flames turned green. "Now step into the flames and say 'Hogwarts'. Loud and clear, understand?"

Harry looked at Snape. "Won't I get burnt?"

The man rolled his eyes and pushed Harry towards the fireplace. "No, now go. I have important matters to attend to."

Harry stood stiff, eyes locked with the strange green flames. "I really won't get burnt?"

"Did you not see me come through? Do I look injured? Now go."

Snape gave Harry another push, and he tentatively walked to the fire. He stuck one hand in and it was warm, but not hot. He quickly took his hand away, it gave him goosebumps. He looked at Snape, who was glaring at him. He didn't know why the man was being so mean right now. "Can you come with me?" He asked softly.

"Oh for Merlin's sake." He took Harry's hand and walked into the flames. It smelled like ash and Harry wanted to cough. He held onto Snape's hand very tightly. "Hogwarts!" And they were suddenly on a rollercoaster, except they had no seatbelts. Harry buried his face into Snape's sleeve, feeling very sick.

When they finally stopped, Harry didn't want to look up, he still felt sick. Snape was moving though and Harry was still attached to his arm. "Ah, good to see you again, Harry."

He looked up to Dumbledore's smiling face. They seemed to be in a very strange room. There were a desk and shelves and portraits, but also a whole lot of crazy looking objects that Harry had no idea what they were. "Hullo," he whispered, suddenly very unsure of himself.

Dumbledore nodded, still smiling to Snape, but the other man was glaring at him. Snape was also trying to get Harry to let go of his arm, but Harry wasn't ready for that yet. He thought he saw one of the pictures move and he hoped that he was just dizzy from the fireplace. He only gripped tighter on Snape's elbow.

"Well, best to get you settled first. Severus, to your quarters, yes?" Dumbledore was still grinning, but Snape seemed to be only glaring harder.

"I thought you had decided on somewhere…less inconvenient," he sneered, he was shaking his arm now, trying to loosen Harry's grip. But one of the pictures was winking at Harry and he was terrified.

Dumbledore, ignoring Snape, followed Harry's eyes. He turned back. "Ah, don't be alarmed, my boy, all the portraits here move. They cannot hurt you and most of them are quite friendly." A man in one the portraits snorted, but tried to cover it up with his hand. Harry decided he should let go of Snape's arm. Dumbledore smiled. "Shall we?" He motioned to the door.

Once in the corridor Harry felt intimidated again. He reached for Snape's hand, but the man avoided him. Dumbledore kindly offered his. "What is this place?" Harry was staring at the many pictures that moved and seemed to look right at him. He thought he also saw the suits of armor move.

"This is Hogwarts. Children come here from all over Britain to learn how to use magic," Dumbledore told him. Harry held on very tightly to the railing of a staircase as it started to move. "This school seems to have a mind of its own, wouldn't you say?"

Harry only nodded, looking at the ground moving around them. He could see some older kids dressed in robes hopping on and off staircases like it was normal. "I didn't know magic was real," he whispered.

Dumbledore laughed. "Indeed it is, but only for those special people. Like you and I, for instance."

Harry quickly looked at him. "I can do magic? Really?"

"Yes, and someday you will come here and learn."

"Like how to make tea pots come out of the air?"

Dumbledore squeezed his hand. "Yes, and much more."

Harry was much more excited to walk through Hogwarts after that. Everything looked so interesting, but Dumbledore and Snape made him go directly to Snape's rooms. It was in the dungeons, but Harry figured it must not be that bad; there were plenty of torches around. Snape wasn't looking too happy when he unlocked the door for them and Harry wondered if he didn't like him staying with him.

Snape didn't seem to have much space, but he did have a sitting room and a bedroom with toilet. He even had a smaller room for Harry, but the man seemed surprised at that. Dumbledore was also surprised, but he kept hiding a smile behind his hand, so Harry wondered if he was acting.

Eventually Dumbledore turned to Harry, still grinning. "Would you like a tour, now that we put your things down." Snape snorted, but Harry nodded earnestly. He took Dumbledore's hand again, but not because he was scared anymore. He just liked it.

-

Severus was glad Dumbledore didn't invite him on their little tour of Hogwarts. He didn't think he could stand much more of Harry's gawking and clinging. He was glad Dumbledore had let the boy latch on to him, but Severus could feel the disappointed looks the headmaster was sending him.

But what could Dumbledore expect of Severus? He agreed to Harry coming to Hogwarts, but he never intended for the boy to stay in his quarters or to let him hang off his arm like a leech. He merely intoned that if Dumbledore wanted to bring the blubbering child, there was nothing Severus could do to stop him.

Deciding that he had enough drama for the morning, he went to his lab to attend to his Enlightening Potion that he left simmering for far too long. He would have to start over and probably work through lunch to make sure it didn't go wrong again.

But he had only begun to chop his ginger root when there was a soft knock on the door. Severus very much doubted that a student would want to come to him during their break, so he assumed it was Harry. Luckily, the keep prying eyes and grubby fingers away, the door was sealed, so the boy couldn't barge in.

Striding to the door, he opened it to the small child. "What?" he snapped.

Harry was trying to see past him into the lab. "What are you doing?"

Snape blocked his view. "Nothing of your concern. Are you done with your little tour?" He sneered, but Harry didn't seem to notice.

"Oh yes! It was really cool and Dumbledore told me all about houses and classes and is there really a giant squid in the lake? And what is Qu-qu-…Qutitch? And why do the paintings move? And are there really ghosts here? Cause I don't know if I like that." The boy's eyes were bright, despite the worried statement. He looked ready to spout more questions so Severus intervened.

"Where is the headmaster now?"

Harry halted, thinking carefully. "Umm, he had stuff to do, I guess. So what are we going to do now?"

Severus rolled his eyes. The boy didn't even seem to be concerned that he just rapidly asked four questions and received no answer to them. "I have important tasks to take care of. You can amuse yourself until lunch."

Harry was downcast. "Oh, are you sure you don't need help?"

"No, now leave me be and do not touch anything." Severus closed the door, locking it again and moving back to his potion. He rubbed his head and decided that he needed to make more of his Headache cure as well.

It was several hours by the time he was done and well past lunch time. He walked out into his sitting room to find Harry sprawled out on the couch, sound asleep. The house elves left a covered platter of food on his table, as was usual whenever Severus skipped a meal. He looked at the food, still hot and noticed that they had also given him pumpkin juice and other food he never ate. Of course they also gave him an extra set of utensils, so they obviously noticed the boy.

The smell of the food seemed to rouse Harry, who looked up and smiled groggily. "Can we play now?"

Severus gave him an odd look. "No, bring a plate and utensils to the table. You need to eat lunch."

Harry looked at the food, surprised. "Where'd it come from?"

"The house elves. Now I'm guessing the fish and chips are yours?" He held up the greasy food and Harry stared at it in wonder.

"Elves? They make food?" He was still staring wide-eyed at Severus and the man wondered if the boy was still half-asleep.

He sighed and put the food at the table. "Come over here, I will not have you slobber all over my rug."

Harry was looking more awake as he examined the food. "Can I really have all this?" He was giving the pumpkin juice tentative sniffs before drinking a little. He suddenly frowned. "Do I have to pay or anything?"

Severus rubbed his head, feeling his frown lines. "No, you do not have to pay for your food. Just… eat it."

The boy suddenly smiled at him and shoveled a pile of peas into his mouth. "You know, Dumbledore told me-"

"Please swallow your food and it is Professor Dumbledore."

"Sorry. Anyway, he was talking about the Hogwarts houses and how my parents were in Giffen…giffen…"

"Gryffindor," Snape corrected, watching as Harry tried to simultaneous shovel food into his mouth and swallow before getting out more words. He wondered if the boy was breathing.

"Yeah, that. So Professor Dumbledore said I would probably go there. And he said that you were in Slythern-,"

"Slytherin."

"Yeah, Slytherin. And he said you were also the head of house now too. So I said that I wanted to be in Slytherin, but I wasn't sure cause I wanted to be in Gryffindor."

Severus snorted into his goblet.

Harry frowned. "Professor Dumbledore laughed too."

"I'm sure you'll be in Gryffindor like your parents. Slytherin wouldn't… suit you." He suddenly noticed that the boy had cleaned his plate. "Do you need more?"

Harry flushed. "Ah, no. I just…eat fast." He paused slightly. "What were my parents like?"

Severus had a feeling that he had wanted to ask this for a long time. "Did you ask the Headmaster?"

He nodded. "He talked about my dad a bit, which was cool. But he told me to ask you about my mum."

Severus sighed. "I really don't think I am suitable source for your mother. We were only friends as children."

Harry bit his lip. "That's alright. Was she… pretty?"

"I believe we have already gone over this. Now I have exams to prepare for. If you are done eating then-"

"Wait!" Severus was already halfway out of his seat as Harry suddenly looked panicked. "I didn't mean that. I mean that if you ever saw me as a baby?"

The man closed his eyes. "No, I never saw you as an infant. Now, I must go to my office. A house elf will be here momentarily-"

Harry was on his feet. "But!" He seemed completely at loss for words. "Can I come?" He settled on.

Severus rolled his eyes. "I really don't want a child in my office. You stay here and amuse yourself."

"But it's so boring here," Harry gasped. "Can I go around the castle some more?"

"No, you are not allowed to go anywhere alone. You are not to leave my quarters."

"Please, I promise not to touch anything. I just want to walk around." The boy was so whiny it was grating on Severus.

"No. Now stop being a bother. Surely you brought something to do in your little pack." He was rubbing his forehead, wondering if it was too early to call Dumbledore to take the child away from him.

Harry sighed. "No," he mimicked.

Severus glared and was glad to see the boy losing his petulant look. "You didn't even bring a book?"

"I don't like to read." His voice was soft.

"Well you can stare at the wall then. Perhaps you should have considered this before inviting yourself to Hogwarts. You aren't going to be pampered here, Potter. Now, I can't spend every waking moment amusing you. I have important things to do. You will stay here and be quiet or else I will force you." With a flourish, Severus strode into his office and locked the door.

-

Harry Potter was bored. And though he had spent many hours in his cupboard from punishment, he hadn't been bored. Not like this. When he was in his cupboard, he was usually worried or thinking about things. Wondering when he would be let out, wondering what was going on in school, worried that he wouldn't get dinner. It wasn't fun, but it wasn't boring.

And Harry Potter didn't like being bored and he thought Snape was just being mean. He wished he could talk to Dumbledore again. He was nice. Harry wanted to look around Hogwarts some more. He wanted to see the lake and the forest and he wanted to go to the highest tower. Dumbledore said he should ask Snape to show him, but Harry had been too afraid to. Snape had been glaring at him a lot and it reminded him of Aunt Petunia. But at least Snape hadn't locked him in his room, though he had basically locked him in the rooms.

Harry suddenly looked to the door that he knew led to the hallway. Had Snape locked him in? He walked carefully over to the door, keeping a wary eye on Snape's office. He put his hand on the knob, seeing if there was any movement. He turned the knob and the door swung open slightly. Harry looked out into the dungeon hallway, suddenly feeling a little scared. He could leave.

"Potter." Harry whirled around to Snape, who had appeared right behind him and was looking very angry. "What are you doing?" He wasn't yelling but his voice sounded dangerous and Harry took a step back. He only realized later that he was stepping into the hallway and that is what probably made Snape shout. "I told you to stay here! What do you think you are doing, you insolent brat!"

Harry barely heard the last words because he was running. He immediately regretted it, but he wasn't going to turn back now. He didn't know where he was going, so it felt like he circled the dungeons ten times before he found some stairs. He looked behind and saw that Snape wasn't there.

Suddenly feeling giddy, Harry raced up the steps and through the hallways of Hogwarts. He wanted to go to the highest tower, so he found more stairs and more after that. He never felt so free in his life. Even when he ran away from the Dursleys hadn't felt this good. He was in a magic school and no one could stop him.

By his tenth staircase, Harry was running out of wind and he had to navigate the hallways to find more stairs. He wasn't running as much, except when he saw kids in robes. He was afraid that the students would tell Snape where he was, so he tried to avoid them. Finally, he found a spiral staircase and quickly climbed it. It wasn't the highest tower, but it was better.

It was a tower full of owls. It smelled like mildew and droppings but Harry didn't care. He walked through quietly, as many of the owls were sleeping. From a large window, he could see all around the grounds, including the lake and some sort of pitch. Probably that wizard sport that Dumbledore mentioned. He could see the sun beginning to set and he wondered how long it had taken him to get here. It felt like a couple minutes, but he guessed it could have been an hour.

Harry wondered where Hogwarts was exactly. He couldn't see any towns, just the large forest and some mountains. The wind was colder here and he wondered if it was a different world. They did travel by fireplace after all. He only had on one of Dudley's old shirts and he felt a bit chilled. He knew he should go back down the stairs, but he liked the view, so he sat down on the window ledge.

It felt like hours passed as Harry watched a few owls come in and out. A couple even came over to him, pecking at his hands. He wondered if they thought he had a letter or something. He was very cold by the time the sun went down and he knew he should go back to the dungeons.

"Potter!" Harry nearly fell out the window, he was so surprised.

But instead he was grabbed by the elbows and pulled to his feet by a very angry looking Snape. He suddenly remembered how scary the man had looked earlier. "I'm sorry!" he blurted.

But Snape wasn't even listening, but pulling Harry from the tower. "I am not going to deal with this kind of behavior." He seemed to be mumbling to himself and Harry gave the owls one last look before Snape was towing him through the school.

Harry was glad to be where it was warm again, even if Snape was hurting his elbow. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to go to the highest tower." He tried to put in, but the man only glared at him and Harry knew he should be silent.

Snape seemed to be muttering under his breath. "Should have never… complete inconvenience… unbelievable…"

Harry suddenly wondered if Snape was going to make him go back to the Dursleys. They hadn't gone downstairs in a long time; they couldn't be heading back to the dungeons. What if the man was taking him back to Dumbledore so he could be sent away?

Harry was very frightened and grabbed onto Snape's sleeve with his free hand. "Wait! I'm sorry! I just-"

"What? Just what?" Snape had whirled around, his dark eyes blazing with anger. Harry felt his hand shaking on the sleeve.

"I just want to stay! Don't send me away, I'll be good. I promise!" Harry didn't want to cry, but his face felt very hot and his chest was starting to hurt.

"Good? I highly doubt that, Mr. Potter." Snape started dragging him again. "Just like your father," he muttered.

"I promise, really! I'll be good and you won't even notice me and I'll be quiet. I'll do what you tell me too and I won't run off again and I'll stay in my cupboard, I promise!" Harry was barely keeping up with the man, but Snape suddenly stopped and he ran into him. "Sorry," he said instantly.

But Snape was quiet and looked like he was chewing on something very sour. Harry didn't know if he should say something or not, but Snape was staring at something very intently, but all Harry could see was the empty hallway.

He abruptly turned around and Harry stumbled behind him. "Where are we going?" he finally asked, wondering if Snape was lost.

The man's voice was low, but very hard. "To my quarters, you idi-… you child."

Harry noticed that the grip on his elbow was looser and he sighed in relief. He knew he wasn't going back to the Dursleys. It didn't seem to take very long to get to Snape's room. "I'm sorry," he said again as Snape pushed him ahead.

The man didn't answer but went straight for Harry's small room. He followed, wondering what Snape was doing. The man picked up Harry's backpack and upended it. Harry suddenly wondered if he was in trouble for not unpacking. There was a dresser in there, but he had never used a dresser before, so he didn't think to unpack.

Snape was sorting through his clothes though, and he seemed to be growling under his breath. He eventually took out a shirt and pulled out his wand. Harry's eyes widened, he hadn't seen Snape do magic yet. He made the shirt shrink and the stains vanished. A rip at the collar disappeared and the shirt turned a crisp white instead of its original faded grey. Harry didn't even know the words Snape was saying. But when the man threw the shirt at him, he caught it, examining it. It looked like new.

"Take off that filthy thing and put it on." Harry was slightly confused, but he took off his old shirt. It had a bit of grim on it from the window sill, but it wasn't that bad. The new shirt did look nice and Harry touched the fabric, wondering when he could learn to do it to all his clothes.

Snape was already handing him some slacks that were also made new. Harry gratefully put them on to and ran into the bathroom to look at himself. He looked amazing, even though he had a few feathers in his hair. Kids at school wouldn't stare at him if he was wearing this. He tugged at his shirt, liking how it wasn't baggy.

Harry ran back into the room where Snape was going through the rest of his clothes. He was frowning, muttering strange words under his breath. Harry watched as faded shirts became bright and ripped trousers mended themselves. When he was done, Snape place the last shirt on the bed. "Now put them away." And he stalked from the room.

Harry followed him. "Thank you, sir!" he said and he wanted to ask why Snape did that, but the man shut his office door behind him.