Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Author's Chapter Notes:
Re-reading this I see that someone (an admin maybe?) has gone into my story and deleted all the *** that I put in as normal to denote a change in scene or time. WHY? I don't know, but I've gone back now and put them all back in. Why did someone mess with the text in the first place???
Fielding Folly

Harry held tight to his back pack strap as they stepped out of the Magi-Cab and Sam started pulling the two bikes out. He'd been surprised about the Knight Bus, but he never thought to ask if there were magical cabs.

"That's 5 Sickles each you two," the driver said. He reminded Harry of Mr. Weasley because of his red hair, and because he chatted amiably with them on their ten minute ride cross country. Harry, suddenly remembering that he had no money in his pocket, looked up at Sam wide eyed. Sam however was digging ten Sickles out of his bag and handing it to the cab driver.

"Thanks," Harry said. "I'll pay you back. I just have to get to my vault at Gringotts."

"Won't be able to go there unless you want to get caught, remember? That's ok though, if Jason hires us on then he'll pay us good money."

Before their hurried climb out of Sam's bedroom window and then into the garage to grab the bikes, Sam had revealed his plan to Harry: They would go to Falmouth and get his cousin Jason, the Falmouth Falcon's team manager to hire them on for the summer as an equipment handler or something of the sort. Sam had assured Harry that Jason would keep quiet about where they'd gone.

"Which way is it then?" Harry asked, the cab driver having driven off.

"It's across town. That's why we brought the bikes. But Jason lives down the street. C'mon."

It was almost two in the morning when they walked the bikes up to Jason's front door and knocked.

"Will he be angry to get woken up?"

"He probably didn't go to sleep yet."

"Hm."

Inside a light flipped on and they heard footsteps, before Jason opened the door. Sam had been right, he didn't look like he'd been to sleep yet.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Helping a friend," Sam said. He motioned to Harry who extended his hand.

"Your friend is Harry Potter? It looks like you two beat each other up." He stood aside so they could come in, and they made their way into the apartment. Harry noted that it looked like there was only one bedroom door down the hall from the living room.

"No, we stood back to back as Avery Hightower and his friends tried to kill us."

"Oh man, again? You just wait until I get back there," Jason said, shaking his head. Harry thought Jason was probably about 25 years old, maybe a little younger.

"Nice to meet you by the way Harry," Jason said, holding out his hand. "I heard you play a decent game of Quidditch. Maybe when you graduate we can talk about a spot with the Falcons."

"Well," Sam said, plopping down onto the couch. Harry took a seat in a small recliner, bag still over his shoulder. He was not yet sure if Jason was going to let them stay or not. "That's what we're here about," Sam said. "We wondered if you'd hire us on for the summer. We'll clean up the stadium, haul equipment, sell tickets, whatever you want."

"A summer job huh? Well, the janitor just quit. He didn't like the wages."

"We'll take it," Sam and Harry said together.

"It's only ten sickles a week each. It's hard work."

"That's ok," Harry said. "I'm used to hard work."

Jason nodded. "I'm guessing aunt Jo doesn't know you're here?"

"We'd kind of like to keep it that way," Harry said.

"I did leave a note. I told her we were fine and staying someplace safe." Sam put his hands behind his head and leaned back on the couch.

"I'll make you a deal," Jason said. "I understand that you want to get away from your mum's new fiancé, but it's not nice to keep her worried like that. You can stay a week Sam, but then you've got to call and tell her where you are, or go home."

"What about Harry? He's got no place to go. His family moved without telling him where."

Jason looked at Harry but Harry was turning red and looking away. "He can stay," Jason said finally. "You guys can sleep on the couch and the floor out here. I'll get my sleeping bags out of the closet. But there's a couple rules."

Harry and Sam looked up at Jason, and Harry could tell that Sam thought his little vacation was going to be ruined by whatever rules his cousin would have for him.

"Rule number 1: You both shower every night. Some of those Quidditch players don't shower and I hate smelling them. You're going to be doing manual labor all day, so showers are mandatory."

Harry laughed then, feeling a little relieved for some reason.

"Rule number 2: You eat free, but you guys are cooking while you're here."

"I can cook," Harry said. "I did all the cooking at home."

"Rule number 3: You two are underage, and I can't legally have you sign the wavier saying that if you die in the stadium it's not our fault. That means you stay on the ground. If I see either of you in the air, you're both fired and going straight back to aunt Joanna."

"Got it," Sam said. "Don't stink, cook all your meals, stay on the ground."

"Good," Jason said. "Ok, well, I was about to head to bed when you two showed up. I'll grab the sleeping bags for you though." He went down the hall to his room, and Sam and Harry looked at each other.

"This might actually work," Sam said.

"Never run away before?"

"No. You?"

"No. Let's just hope it works out the first time."

"Definitely."

***

"I don't understand. Where could they have gone? Why did they leave?"

Severus ran a hand through his hair, something he was unaccustomed to doing. He had a serious problem here. It was his fault the brat had been brought into the house, and he was positive that Potter had lead Sam off into some hair-brained and dangerous scheme; therefore it was his fault that Sam was gone. There was no denying it. Potter had to have caused this.

"I am sure Potter convinced him of some imminent task they must complete. I do not know where Potter would take him or why."

Jo looked back down at the note still in her hand. "Sam said it was his idea and that they were fine. I just don't understand why they left."

Very clever Potter, Severus silently congratulated the insolent child. Get your unsuspecting friend to take the blame off of you.

"I only know of a few places Sam would go. He might have gone to see Thomas or Luke. Thomas lives in Greenrock and Luke lives in Sheffield. He might also have gone to see Jason. He should be in Falmouth, but his girlfriend plays for Puddlemere United, so Jason might be there. I'll check with Sam's friends and you check around to see if they're with Jason. I'll send an owl if I find anything." She left the room without kissing him goodbye. That hadn't happened in a long time. It wasn't often that Jo was upset enough, or angry enough to walk out on him like that. Her son was in danger though... and Severus was sure Potter was in the center of it. No, it didn't matter what Jo had said. The when they found him, he'd be going to stay somewhere else. An orphanage, another Order member, Hogwarts... anywhere but there, putting Sam and Jo in danger and endangering his relationship.

***

"Ok, put it there."

Harry dropped the heavy bag of equipment he'd been carrying over his shoulder into the pile in the hot sun where Jason had told him to.

"All right. That's your job for the next few days then Harry. You bring out all the old equipment, salvage what you can, clean it, repair it, and put it back in the equipment room by size and purpose. Whatever is left, I want you to repair the best you can and put back in the bags and we'll donate it to Hogwarts."

Harry nodded.

"I've got Sam cleaning the bleachers. It should take him the whole week. Our next game is Friday, so maybe if you get done a little early you can help him. It needs to be nice for the fans.

"Ok," Harry said. He shielded his eyes then and looked up into the bleachers, spotting Sam picking up trash and putting it into a bag.

This job didn't seem so bad, he thought. In an hour or two the Falcons would be coming out to practice and he'd get to watch while he worked. Granted he still had about fifty bags of equipment to bring out, but he had a few days to finish. He didn't have to carry it all out today.

At lunch time Jason signaled to Harry to take a break, and he met Sam in the stands.

"Jason said we can eat from the crew cart they bring in for the team since we're staff now," Sam told him.

"Sounds good," Harry said. "I'm hot and starving."

"Me too. After work we should go swimming."

"Jason won't care if we go out?"

"Wasn't in the rules, remember?"

Harry laughed. This was much better than an orphanage.

The Falcons it turned out were a pretty decent group of guys. There were no girls on the team at the moment. The last one they'd had quit to work for the Ministry after a few years. A lot of them seemed interested in Sam and Harry, and a few tried to get them up into the air for a match, but Jason told them off.

"Oh come on, we'll sign for them," Andrew, the Keeper told him.

"I don't think so. Not unless you plan on adopting them."

"Well I can adopt Potter can't I?" He ruffled Harry's hair, but Harry tried to flatten it out again. All those years thinking about being adopted, he didn't plan on being adopted by someone just a few years older than him... or one that didn't shower after working out.

After work, Sam and Harry went back to Jason's apartment and grabbed their bikes.

"Hey," Harry said. "Won't your mum know to look for you here?"

"Probably," Sam said. "But didn't you see the note on the door?"

"No."

"Jason's girlfriend is in Puddlemere. She plays Chaser for the team there. I put that he was going to be gone for a week to see Jenny."

"In your own handwriting?"

"The two are eerily similar," Sam told him. "Both are just scribbles. Should work out."

Harry shook his head. Maybe they would get away with it after all. Besides, Harry was sure Snape was glad to be rid of the two of them.

"Hey Sam?" Harry asked as they rode their bikes to the stream Sam wanted to swim in.

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you come with me?"

Sam shrugged as they glided down the street. "Dunno. I'm ok with 'ol' Snape dating my mum I guess. He's ok. But I don't want to be his buddy, you know? It's not like he's trying to get to know me because he wants to. It's only because he has to because he's dating my mum. Good to get away." What Sam wasn't saying was that it made him even more uncomfortable for Snape to get to know him when he was so blatantly ignoring Harry.

Harry thought that was Sam's motivation too, but didn't comment. He was just thankful that Sam had come with him. He missed Ron dearly, but Sam was a good friend too. One he was glad to have.

***

Severus Snape was irritated. He hadn't seen or heard from Jo in three days and wasn't sure if she was still traveling the country talking to Sam's friends or not. He dared not go back to the house for sleep without Sam in tow, and so had spent the night on Spinners End, a place he had hoped never to return to after moving in with Joanna. To add one sour mood onto another, he'd been to Jason's house but had found a note saying that he was in Puddlemere. Severus scoffed now as he traveled back to Falmouth. He'd spent a day and a half in Puddlemere just trying to locate Jason's girlfriend, and once he'd found her she said she hadn't seen Jason in a few weeks. Oh, it made him want to growl. If ever there was a time, it would be now. It was obvious that the boys had written the note to throw him off the trail. Yes, Potter would be paying dearly for this.

Sure enough, the note was still on the door, and Severus squinted at it more closely this time, sure now that he recognized Sam's r's and his m's. He rapped on the door for several minutes, and when no one came out he was tempted to break in, but decided to try the Falcon's Pitch first.

It wasn't hard to find. It was like Diagonalley, right there in the middle of the city behind some shops in a magical space, but completely hidden from Muggle view.

There were no guards seeing as there wasn't a game today, so he strode right in.

Some of the Falcon team members were up in the air throwing a Quaffle around in the sunshine, and others were on the ground inspecting equipment or talking with their trainers. Keen eyes swept the Pitch and stands for Sam and Potter, but the first boy they fell on was Potter, carrying a heavy sack over his shoulder and throwing it into a pile of similar bags. He was surprised the brat was willing to do manual labor.

Severus suppressed the urge to stride over to Potter and grab his ear in favor of looking for Sam instead. His eyes found him talking to someone, possibly Jason, across the pitch. Joanna's priority was Sam, so his had to be too. He headed for Sam, unaware that he was being watched.

Harry's heart plummeted. Snape had found them and was currently striding over to Sam. He watched closely as Sam turned and gave the man a smile. Had Sam told him they were there? No... no he wouldn't have.

Dropping the Quaffle he'd been polishing, Harry stood and started to move sideways along the pitch wall. He didn't want to go to an orphanage. He wouldn't. Wasn't it bad enough he had no parents? He didn't think he'd survive in an orphanage... the ultimate display that nobody on earth wanted you.

Once he was out of Snape's line of sight, Harry ran as hard and fast as he could. He ignored Sam's bike leaning there on the wall outside the Pitch and ran until his lungs hurt and legs felt weak. He didn't know where he was going, only that he didn't want to be found.

***

Sam was at home with Jo, getting a stern talking to that Severus did not want to undertake. It didn't matter that Sam would soon be his adopted son, he knew better than to try to discipline a woman's child when said child was not his own. No, he'd simply taken the boy back after owling Joanna. His attention was now solely on Potter, who had run off again. Damn. He should have gone for Potter first because he was the real flight risk.

Severus had already checked with the Weasley's, the Granger's, the Lovegood's, and Hogwarts to no avail. He'd even looked on Diagonalley and enquired at Gringotts to see if the boy had tried to withdraw any of his money.

Stop for just a minute and think Severus, he told himself, standing in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron. Where would Potter really go? He obviously doesn't want to be found, so the Weasleys should have been out from the start. There was one place he hadn't thought to look yet... the one place he was sure Harry wouldn't go. It was worth a try anyway. He would rather let Potter be anywhere than in his care, but he had to be sure he was safe. Voldemort was back in power and on the move, and Potter's life was in danger wherever he went, if not from Voldemort then from himself. Idiot child.

On the steps of Four Privet Drive, Severus narrowed his eyes at the front door. It was ajar, but only just. Potter must be in there, but why? Why would he go back when they had left him there?

Cautiously Severus pushed the door open and peered inside as the sun was setting behind him. Immediately his eyes fell on a slumped form there in the hallway, back against the wall.

"Potter."

Harry's breath hitched. No, he wasn't sleeping, he was sitting there in despair.

The boy looked up, tears in his eyes. He'd run off from the Falmouth Pitch two days ago and here he was crying on the Dursley's floor.

"Please," Harry said, voice choked.

"Please what Potter?" Severus asked a little more gentle then he thought it was going to come out. He was tired, that's what it was. Tired and feeling very old.

"Please don't send me to the orphanage." It came out as barely more than a whisper, and Severus faltered. He'd run away because he'd overheard them talking about the orphanage? This was his fault?

Severus swallowed. Harry had already been dumped by one family. He didn't want to be dumped by another. Is that why he came back to this place? Or was it because, he came back to the only thing he knew?

"Come on Potter. Let's get you back to the house."

Harry swallowed. "I don't want to go to the Orphanage."

"We're not. I was... frustrated. I will not let you be put in an orphanage." He held his hand down to Harry, who warily took it and let himself be pulled up. He was hungry and tired and felt emotionally drained. If he could just go to sleep for a few days...

Severus apparated them back to the house. He'd never seen Harry like this before, and it unsettled him. It wasn't that Potter was crying or looked like he was about to fall over. It was that for the first time in his life, he felt like he was really seeing Harry Potter. It was unsettling, and that was all he could say about it, although he never did say anything at all.

Chapter End Notes:
Thoughts? They've still got a long way to go. Don't expect Snape to be nice just because he is starting to see Harry.

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