The early hours of the night passed by with very little to take note of until Severus woke to a soft thud. Potter had kicked the wall by his bed in the midst of a fitful sleep and Severus took that as a sign to move. Raising to his feet slowly, the Potions Master stepped over to Potter and cast a spell as silently as possible to keep the boy asleep before he turned to the door. Potter's owl fluttered her wings and hooted a soft inquiry to the soft sounds of rustling cloth made when Severus moved, but she seemed wise enough to not make too great a fuss over it. With a tight lipped determination, Severus cast a slightly modulated Alohamora on the door, careful not to affect any of the locks in a way Vernon may note in the morning.

Once free of Potter's room, he stole down toward the Dursley's master bedroom. Here he was careful as he cast a silencing charm on the door before listening closely for any signs of wakefulness on the other side. When nothing but snores were forthcoming, he slid into the room and once again cast a deep sleep spell. Once assured the Dursley's would not stir from their slumber, Severus stood over Vernon with an expression of pure contempt and a gaze that was almost cruel in its calculation, though it could hardly be seen. What he was about to do was risky, not so much because it was illegal but more so because Vernon was unconscious. The layers of the mind were often difficult to access when reaching through the veil of sleep, but Severus could not condone another two days of this and he needed sufficient proof beyond what he had seen today in order to convince Albus of that fact. What was more, Severus had a deep desire to know just what these Muggles had been doing to Potter all this time, and therefore, just what the boy had managed to hide during their Occlumency lessons.

He recalled, briefly, a scene of Potter in a tree and a rather ruddy looking dog barking up at him while his relatives looked on and laughed, but at the time Severus had not thought to analyze it at all. As with the healing salve, Severus couldn't help but wonder just how many signs he had deliberately overlooked. What interested him, however, was that he had not seen more in Potter's mind, considering the fact Albus had not granted the boy use of a pensieve. There was a suspicion in his mind now, one that would not leave him alone even in his sleeping hours, and he knew he would have to pursue it eventually. For now, however, it was time to discover the truth of Potter's life amidst the Dursley's.

After wading his way through the knit cloth of Vernon's unconsciousness, Severus swiftly found himself in the unprotected and unorganized mind of a Muggle. It took him a brief moment to remember the right way to Legilimise one, before he envisioned Potter. In the outer world, Vernon grunted in his sleep as memories of Potter boiled readily to the surface for Severus to peruse at leisure. Amid the flashes of a young boy pushed repeatedly into a cupboard were images that shocked Severus. A young boy screamed at after coming to his aunt with a nightmare; the self-satisfaction found in burning Hogwarts letters as the boy looked on; Petunia swinging a hot fry pan at a miniscule Potter's head, the boy saved from a braining only by a quick ducking reflex; and memory after memory of the words There is no such thing as magic!

A memory of a woman who could only be related to Vernon surfaced at one point, and Severus understood with a searing fury just why Potter had blown the horrid woman up with accidental magic. As Severus' thoughts turned to Lily, Vernon's mind responded with the frustration felt when the boy learned his freak parents had not, in fact, died in a car crash and the contempt felt for the boy's layabout drunk of a father - a lie told so much Vernon had driven himself to believe it wholeheartedly. More recently, Severus found a fear of Sirius Black, a fury at Alastor Moody who dared to threaten him in public, and a vindictive desire to punish him and Potter both by never letting him see another witch or wizard as long as he lived.

By the time Severus felt he had enough evidence, he also had an overwhelmingly stark picture of Potter's life at home. It was somewhat disconcerting to be pleased with Weasley's for taunting muggles and flouting the decree of wizardry, but in the face of all he had seen those moments had been the only true good ones. That and an odd memory about Dudley and an escaped snake at the zoo. He was almost tempted to consider asking Potter about that sometime when he shook himself and slid from the room with an unholy glower on his face. Where he had before been so certain Potter's family could never see him as anything but a little saint, he was now convinced Albus had been far more aware of things than he had let on. What infuriated Severus was that the infernal man had not done something sooner. He had sworn to protect the boy, sworn to keep him from harm, and every summer he was sent back to the place Lily's blood sacrifice was spit upon by these Muggles. It took an intense willpower to walk out of Number Four, Privet Drive without casting a series of unforgivables on Petunia Dursley.

Not even caring for discretion or politeness in the midst of his seething anger, Severus Disapparated in front of Arabella Figg's house and directly to the Burrow. He could not even return home, considering he was meant to be on his way to bloody Bermuda. There was a sharp call from upstairs as Severus strode sharply toward the fireplace, removing Albus' Disillusionment Charm as he went, even as the sound of footsteps alerted him to an absolutely alarmed Arthur Weasley, whose wand was raised as if expecting a fullblown invasion from a solitary apparition crack. "Severus, what - "

"Forgive my intrusion," Severus sneered, unable to keep his anger from directing itself at the man whom he had likely awoken with his abrupt and admittedly rude arrival, "But as Albus has seen fit to have me convince the Dark Lord I'm off to Bermuda, this is the only fireplace from which it is safe to contact him." Arthur did not lower his wand, so Severus snapped out one of the Order's private security questions and tossed in the comment he had placed at the bottom of Ginny's end of term exam to calm him. It seemed to do the trick, as the Weasley patriarch decided to descend and lower his wand as well as his voice. "Its urgent then?" He asked, before answering his own question, "Yes, of course it is - wouldn't have come at this time if it weren't, I imagine. Go on then - powder's on the mantle. Anything else you need?" He added rather graciously for a man shocked from his bed in the middle of the night, inadvertently reminding Severus of his own awakening just yesterday.

Battling down his irritation in the face of a man who could be as courteous as he himself could be rude, Severus gave a tight lipped smile. "That won't be necessary, Arthur, but thank you. Give my best to Molly in the morning," he suggested mildly as he turned to the fireplace, all but sending the other man back to bed. He didn't wait to see the reaction to his words before he had stepped through the Floo and onto the threshold of Albus Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster rarely left the castle even in the summer, and had private quarters both in his office, and in some undisclosed location Severus prayed he would not be in, simply because the only way to reach him then would be through a portrait, and Severus detested speaking to them.

It appeared that evening his prayers were being granted top priority, for Albus was not only in his office quarters, but sitting at his desk despite the incredibly late hour. At Severus' arrival, he lowered his quill slowly and looked the younger man over. It was easy to recognize the signs of an infuriated Severus Snape - despite his iron control, the man had never let go of habits he had held as a child. His hands were tightly furled, an indication that he was fighting both with himself and with his control over his anger - a rarer sign in his adult days, and so it draw Albus to a higher state of alertness.

The corners of the younger man's eyes were lined tightly, giving Severus an almost malicious look, which was the most common sign of anger in him. While partially hoping this anger was stemming from Harry being perfectly fine and therefore frustrating Severus beyond the ability to stay put for his mission, Albus was far too old to be quite so optimistic. "A rather short three days, Severus," he opened, causing Severus to pull out of whatever inner battle he had been locked in and stride purposefully toward the elder wizard. Before Albus could say anything more, Severus pointed sharply toward the cabinet which held the Headmaster's pensieve and growled, "I think, Headmaster, that everything which needs to be said will be better done through witnessing it."

Albus gave no indication of being disturbed by this, although he was highly so. Severus only resorted to reporting via pensieve when the memories were too terrible for him to speak of, for they woke within him other memories he would rather not face. That something in Harry's home could push Severus to a pensieve report, two days earlier than intended, worried Albus considerably. Standing, he waved Severus toward the cabinet graciously and watched as the younger man set to placing the memories within. It was a longer process than Albus had anticipated, which increased his concern.

When Severus was done, the anger had faded to a tired resolve as often happened when such memories were drawn away, and he nodded to the Headmaster. Wordlessly, Albus bent over the pensieve, and abruptly found himself facing what could only be the memory of a frightened looking four year old Harry. Before he could think to wonder at this, he heard a voice bellowing at the tiny child that motorbikes do not fly, and magic does not exist. It did not take long after this for Albus to realize a member of the Dursley house had been forcibly Legilimized, but rather than step out to admonish Severus for his ambiguous slip of the law, the Headmaster waited to see what all had been discovered. The ending scene, with Harry's cousin as witnessed by Severus himself, was perhaps the most jarring of them all for the sharp clarity of it.

With a weary sigh, Albus pulled himself from the memories and gazed at Severus sadly. He allowed the silence to linger a moment before he confessed what he imagined Severus would doubt most of all. "This is far worse than I ever anticipated." When he was leveled with a dark glower and a raised brow that screamed doubt, Albus continued softly, "I did know they didn't treat him as a son - and I did intend to have words with them on it, when I went to renew Harry's stay with them for next year - but I never anticipated they were quite this cruel. Neglectful, yes - badly so, perhaps - but verbally and physically abusive? Never. I suspect, however, that the level of abuse has increased recently." At Severus disbelieving look he explained, "I don't believe Petunia has ever raised a hand against Harry until now - "

"Oh no, certainly not," Severus interrupted with an insidious drawl that was very much a part of his nastier sense of humor, "Just frying pans. Never a hand." Albus couldn't deny that particular memory, but he could justify it. "Heaven knows Molly has threatened a swing now and again - they aren't meant to hit, Severus, only warn. I'm certain this is merely Petunia at her wits end. She may be a shrewd woman, Severus, but I don't think she is a wicked one." Sighing heavily, Albus took a seat at the base of the pensieve, surprising Severus somewhat. "I don't suppose the same can truly be said of Mr. Dursley, however."

That the man was not granted the use of his given name showed Severus he was insignificant to the Headmaster, or at the least that he was highly disappointing. The Potions Master merely looked down at the Headmaster and waited for the verdict. He expected perhaps that the man would insist on an order member inside the house, or even that he would have Potter dragged to the Burrow, but what he said instead was so outrageous Severus was certain he had heard wrong. "There's nothing for it. I'll simply have to send Harry with you to Roan House."

There was, for a time, complete and utter silence in Albus Dumbledore's office, with only the snuffles and snores of sleeping portraits to break through it. Then, in a voice so soft and dangerous it was almost a hiss, Severus ground out, "I beg your pardon, Headmaster?"

With a sigh, Albus rose back to his feet and leveled Severus with a very somber stare. "I cannot leave Harry in a home where he will be mistreated, and where an Order member may be forced to use magic on Muggles to keep the peace. The Burrow is not a secure enough location, regardless of the safety measures in place on it now. Roan House is, by far, the safest place for Harry this summer. And as Voldemort expects you to be in Bermuda - "

"You planned this!" Severus accused, somehow managing to shriek and whisper at the same time. Albus had always admired the dramatic skill, though he himself doubted he could ever pull it off quite so well. "From the beginning, this was what you had in mind - Potter and I, in that house! What are you expecting will happen, Albus? That after a summer alone with him I will be able to tolerate the boy? We'll be lucky if I don't strangle him - he's bad enough to deal with here, I flatly refuse to spend my summer babysitting a wretched little - "

"Would you rather he be locked away all summer, left to brood on his fate and all that he has lost, as his cousin taunts him and his Aunt and Uncle revile him? Or that I place him and the Weasley family at risk? We have enough power at our disposal to protect him at the Burrow for two weeks, at best. Any longer and we risk exposing the Weasley's and Harry to exceptional danger - "

"I would rather," Severus interrupted sharply, "You find someone else to babysit him! Why not Lupin - "

"There are two full moons before the summer ends and you know he needs considerable recuperation - "

"Kingsley  - "

"Is protecting the Muggle Prime Minister. Alastor and Nymphadora are presently overrun at the Ministry - "

"Minerva, dammit - he's in her house - "

"Minerva is still recovering from the wounds she sustained defending Hagrid, Severus. She is still confined to her chair most days; it would be both illogical and impractical to have her watch over Harry." Whatever Severus may have been about to object with next was put to rest by Albus' following statement. "You made an oath to protect him, Severus. Are you choosing to go back on it when he clearly has most need of you?"

For a moment, Severus honestly could not speak through his outrage at the corner Albus was pushing him into, all thoughts of concern for Potter, all considerations that perhaps there was more to the boy than he assumed were harshly chased away by the imminent thought of spending an entire summer with him. The only argument he had left had trouble forcing its way through his lips, but he managed it all the same. "He will be miserable, Albus. The boy detests me - "

There was a smile on Albus' face now, and Severus suddenly felt like a schoolboy who had just inadvertently told on himself. "Then perhaps, Severus, now will be a good time for the two of you to resolve your differences. You'll have plenty of time to come to terms, I do believe."

Disgusted and somewhat wishing he had never bothered to peer into Vernon Dursley's sleeping mind, Severus stared at Albus with bitter resignation in his eyes. "What, then, is Roan House?" He asked in the tones of a man asking what time he was to be hanged. As though not catching the tone and only hearing the question itself, Albus brightened considerably.

 "Ah yes, Roan House," he stated, making his way back to his desk with Severus following reluctantly behind and taking a seat when waved toward one, sensing a bit of lengthy explanation about to come his way. "It is Unplottable, naturally, and of course under the Fidelius Charm for which I am the Secret Keeper. It is small, though large enough for yourself and Harry I am certain. It is a place I have kept to myself for many years," Albus stated mildly, though there was something off about his tone that caused Severus to frown slightly.

"I believe, Severus, that it would be best for us to take a portkey in the morning. I'll arrange to have Hagrid pick up Harry and bring him here first thing. In the meantime, I suggest you get some sleep. It will be a rather long day tomorrow, I imagine."

Severus gazed at the Headmaster as though expecting something else, but when the Headmaster simply tilted his head at him, the Potion Master ground out, "Are you, or are you not, going to explain to me where you intend to hold Potter and I captive this summer?" That the place was under the Fidelius Charm and Unplottable told him nothing whatsoever about what he was to expect in means of living space, territory, or even wards. Basic Unplottability and even a Fidelis Charm did not feel like enough to protect the Boy Who Lived from the threat of the Dark Lord.

Albus had the outright audacity to chuckle in reply. "Now now Severus, all in good time. I cannot introduce you to the wards until morning, as they're rather testy and more than a bit impenetrable at night. I'd rather not disturb them. I will come and fetch you from your quarters in just a few short hours, and then you may see for yourself just where you will be, what was it?" He murmured, looking over his half-moon glasses at the surly young man glowering at him from across the desk, "Held captive over the summer, I believe it was?"

When the Potions Master merely continued to glare, Albus sighed softly and relented a tad on the boy. "I will have Hagrid Floo to Arabella's around six. By the time he returns with Harry, I would like you to have been introduced to the wards and somewhat familiar with them. I will fetch you an hour and a half sooner, Severus, so I really do suggest you try and get some rest."

This appeared to be as much information as the Headmaster was going to divulge, so with a final glare Severus rose to his feet and made his way to the door. Once there, he couldn't help but sneer, "I am not a child who will simply feel better in the morning, Albus. Do not insult me and deceive yourself. I am not pleased with this, nor do I intend to be." Feeling a little less annoyed now that he'd made himself clear, Severus left the Headmaster's office and made his way toward his dungeon quarters.

There was perhaps two or three hours before Albus would awaken him at four thirty, and he intended to actually sleep through them. Doing anything else would likely result in him being homicidal before the sun even rose. As such, when he arrived in his rooms the first thing Severus did was make some tea, which he promptly laced with a rather strong sedative. Fifteen minutes more, and he was asleep in his bed, too well dosed to dream.