Harry felt isolated in his corner of the near deserted castle. Literally he sat in a darkened corner of a long forgotten corridor, floor covered in dust aside from where he sat hugging his knees. Light filtered weakly in through a dirty stained glass window high above him, but he sat in darkness for all the feelings engulfing him.

He had woken that morning, once again under his bed, feeling particularly depressed and confused, as well as a bit guilty. He'd dreamt of the night at the Ministry when Sirius had come to rescue him. There had never been another time when he could imagine feeling so loved as to know someone had come for him. To know Sirius had come for him. Harry had never admitted it to anyone, but he had looked on Sirius as his father. The only real one he'd ever known. Guilt swirled around him to realize that he still did think of him as such and to know he'd disappointed the man so bad that he'd taken to injuring and humiliating him.

There was something else to his guilt though. Harry's dream hadn't been a memory. In reality Sirius had survived the Ministry debacle. In his dream, Sirius had fallen through a veil into nothingness. Had died, not to be seen again. And when Harry had woken, he feared that he wished Sirius had died... had not had a chance to betray him and hurt Draco.

He buried his head in his arms and used his feet to rock himself gently a few times. He really would have been a disappointment to his parents to be having thoughts like that... to wish death upon someone. Harry wasn't even comfortable with the idea that someday he'd need to kill Voldemort, a man that by all rights deserved to die.

Feeling like he could crawl right out of his own skin and be happier, Harry lifted his head and let it fall back against the wall. It had been two weeks now since he'd been with Sirius at Grimmuald Place. A week on the move and in the cabin, and a week in near solitude at Hogwarts. The fact that Sirius had not come looking for him yet had been eating at him slowly but surely. The first possibility that struck him was that Sirius really didn't care about him in any sense of the word. Harry felt like he should have known that from the injuries, but it still hurt to think about. The next, more terrifying possibility was that Sirius knew exactly where he was, and was planning on what exactly to do to Harry to punish him. Maybe if Harry had just stayed there his punishment would have ended with the one incident. Now he was sure he faced something much more gruesome, and possibly more deadly. His imagination had been running rampant for days now, thinking that one day he might just disappear... not turn up for a meal, and nobody would notice. He hadn't even seen Draco for a couple of days now because he'd been intent on isolating himself so completely.

Harry was unaware that the few times he had moved into a more open part of the castle, Snape had been there watching him, trying to determine to himself whether or not Harry was skulking or genuinely trying to deal with something in his life he well and truly could not handle alone. If Severus only knew how dark Harry's thoughts had turned, he would have made an effort to get Harry to talk about the events at Grimmuald Place in more detail. Would have tried to bring Harry back to a reality where he could feel safe. Severus would not realize these things until this day though, when he would watch Harry slip right through his fingers, and not even know it until he was gone.

Hunger had finally motivated Harry to move from his dark corner of the castle. He hadn't eaten breakfast, and he hadn't eaten dinner the night before. Feeling faint he stood and began to make his way slowly down to the Great Hall, head down and hands in his pockets.

In the corridor near the Transfiguration classroom, Harry froze, heart hammering at a calm voice somewhere behind him that said, "Hello Harry."

Clenching his eyes shut, hoping that it was just another nightmare, Harry took several deep breaths before he opened his eyes again and turned around to find Sirius teen feet down the corridor, hands in his pockets.

Harry's bottom lip trembled, though he paid it no attention. Here was the man finally come to punish him for running away with the enemy.

"Please," Harry said, shaky word barely coming out as more than a whisper.

"I just want to talk Harry." Sirius took a step forward and Harry took a step back.

"Please," he said again, voice raising in pitch a little like Ron's sometimes did when he was scared, especially of large man eating spiders.

"I'm sorry Harry," he said with a smile. Sirius continued walking forward, and Harry took a few more steps back before his heel caught on the stone and he fell over backwards, cowering. The smile on Sirius' face faltered then, but Harry barely had time to notice as next second a black haired Potion's Master was epically tackling Sirius from the side, taking them both to the stone floor. There was a flurry of fists as the two men struggled there on the floor, wands forgotten, but Harry watched only briefly before he turned tail and ran, stumbling as he went. He would never be safe there at Hogwarts. In reality, he knew he'd never be safe anywhere, and as he ran headlong out of the castle and off school grounds, Harry seeked to be lost anyplace but here, so he could be found nowhere.

Not knowing that Harry was gone, the two men continued to struggle for long, tense moments. Severus had come down a side corridor in time to see Sirius advancing on Harry, and the boy pleading with him before falling over backwards. It had erased the doubt in his mind that the man really had been a danger to the boy as much as he had been to Draco. The fact that he'd come to the school and into the castle unannounced was enough to send Severus into a rare fit of rage... enough to tackle him as if they were both still sixth years themselves.

"You always had to be the bully didn't you Black?" Severus spat when they'd finally separated and picked themselves up off the floor, panting.

Sirius seemed to be a little more composed, as odd as it was to know that Severus had lost his composure at all. That was until Sirius bit out, "It figures he'd be just like you, the little bastard."

"What are you on about Black?" Severus narrowed his eyes.

"Like father like son... Snivellus." Sirius smiled as he said the last bit, and then hurried off, content that he'd thrown his enemy for a loop, which he had.

In the silence that engulfed him now, Severus continued to breathe heavily. Whatever the man had come there to do that day, he didn't believe it included coming to torment an old enemy. Severus looked down the empty hall to where Black had disappeared, and what the man had finally said began to sink in. 'Like father like son...' Eyes wide with the realization that it was indeed a possibility, although slim, Severus looked around for Potter. He had to find the child and be sure he was all right, and then check on Draco before he made sure that Black had indeed left the castle. He would have time to dwell on Harry Potter and his genes later, when he was sure his two wards were safe.

But before the day was out, Severus Snape would realize he'd have a lot of time to think on Harry's parentage, as he left Draco in the care of the house elves, before warding the castle and then setting off into the darkness to find Harry James Potter, the boy that was possibly his own overlooked... son.

Severus Snape was thankful that Potter did not have a broom to carry him far and fast, although he was sure this was the boy's intent upon leaving the castle while his godfather was distracted. A lone child on foot was much easier to track than one on a broom or with the skills to apparate. This didn't mean it would be easy to find him with a four hour head start, but it was doable.

It was possible, Severus realized after hours of searching in the dark, that the boy had not yet stopped to rest, and was intent on traveling through the night, which was dangerous in and of itself.

The chill morning air and sunrise found Severus still searching on foot for the child that had wandered North of the castle and right up into the foothills that would fast turn into the mountains surrounding the school. He could no longer see the castle in the distance, and despite his weariness, picked up his pace, hoping to catch up to the distraught Gryffindor before he could do himself any damage or be caught by spies or wild animals.

The sound of running water soon met his ears as he came out into a clearing, and he knew they were nearing one of the rivers that fed into the black lake. As he crested a small hill, a shallow, gushing river finally came into view, the silhouette of a boy standing on its banks in the early morning light.

When he'd come within fifteen feet, he felt he should announce himself so he didn't startle the teen, especially knowing now what the boy had been through.

"Potter."

Harry turned, looking tired and cold from being out all night in a t-shirt. He shook his head, signaling his teacher not to come any closer.

"Don't do it," Snape warned him, motioning with his hand to the river. It was probably shallow enough to cross just where Harry was standing in front of it, but the other bank was a long ways off and the water was fast. Harry shook his head again, but Snape took another step forward and Harry turned and ran straight into the water, trying to get away from him. Hiking his knees up high to move more quickly, Harry didn't account for the river bed not being flat, and his foot caught a large rock, sending him careening straight into the icy water. He swallowed a mouthful as he went under and flailed trying to right himself to regain his footing, but the current was already carrying him downstream despite that his feet and occasionally his hands scraped the bottom.

It seemed like forever that he was struggling to get above the surface before a hand suddenly shot down into the water before dragging him back out by the back collar of his shirt. Gasping Harry tried to walk, but stumbled in the now deeper water and was grateful that a strong pair of arms dragged him up onto the bank, where he sat coughing and spitting out water.

Gasping for the cold air that filled his lungs, Harry shook with the cold and looked up to find his Potion's Master just as soaked as he was, though only his lower half and arms.

"I don't want to go back," Harry cried.

Severus looked at the shivering teen critically as he stood before him, clothes clinging to him.

"Black has gone."

Shaking his head and sounding bitterly defeated Harry said, "Nowhere is safe. Nowhere," and he knew it was true because there was no one that cared to keep him safe. If there were then he would never have ended up living in the places he had in the first place. Distressed, Harry reached his hand up to tangle in his hair on the right side again, only to be startled a moment later to find his Professor kneeling before him, gripping his wrist gently to pull his hand away from his face.

"I will make a safe place for you. Do not worry yourself over it any longer."

Harry tried to turn away, to wrap himself in his arms, but Severus continued to hold his wrist gently. "I will be there to pull you from the depths."

Harry looked up into his eyes now, only to find a certainty there that he wished he could have. He wanted to believe it so badly, to believe that just one person would stick by him, but he couldn't be sure. The only thing he could be sure of was that Snape was there now, just as soaking and cold as he was, and that he was so very tired.

Harry gave a tiny nod, and Severus apparated them back to the school bounds, where he would take Harry inside and make him dry and warm, before feeding him and putting him to bed in the guest bed in his quarters. Severus was surprised at the certainty he felt, watching the boy sleep, that he would do his best to make a safe place a reality for this child... this child that was probably not even his except for in the rambling insistence of a mad man.