Severus tucked the sweets he had bought for them both in the pockets of his robes, so that none of his colleagues would be able to see  and comment on them when they got back to the school. Harry was oddly silent, although Severus attributed that to fatigue. Apparation was rather disconcerting the first time, after all, and Harry had gone through it twice in the space of a few hours. He was actually impressed that the boy hadn't lost his lunch, but it seemed like Harry Potter would surprise him in more ways than one in the years to come.

Harry was thinking about everything they had learned that day. The medicine Doctor Berger had prescribed for him was in his pocket, and he wondered how he was going to hide it from the others. Maybe Professor Snape would hold onto it for him, and he could go down each morning to get it? It would also be an excuse to spend more time with the professor, which was a bonus. He'd enjoyed talking to him, and the professor's offer to adopt him was almost unbelievable to Harry. He'd dreamed about someone taking him away from the Dursleys, someone who loved him and actually wanted him, not someone who had been forced to take him, and it looked like Professor Snape would do that.

"Sir? Can I leave my medicine with you, and come down and get it each morning?" Harry asked, breaking Severus out of his thoughts.

It made sense that Harry wouldn't want the other students to know, Severus mused. After all, the poor boy was in the spotlight enough, as the ‘Boy Who Lived'. Adding a muggle disorder to that would just make people talk more, and this wasn't necessarily something that should be known. Dark wizards didn't mysteriously vanish when Voldemort died, and any information that they had about Harry could be used against him in a duel. He didn't think there was much the information could do, especially as most wizards had no idea what ADHD is, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

Severus realized that he had gotten lost in his thoughts and likely had taken too long to answer, but Harry was still waiting for a reply. "Yes, I think that would be a good idea. Come to my quarters at the same time each morning. It is more effective if you take them at roughly the same time, rather than at widely varying times. The same will hold true for the sleeping potion that I will give you to take in the evenings."

Harry nodded, looking up at the professor curiously. "Do you think the medicine will help? And the Occlumency?"

"I don't know Harry," Severus said honestly. He wouldn't lie to the boy unnecessarily. "For some, the medicine truly does help them, for others it does nothing. In my case, the medicine didn't help, which is why I created the sleeping potion. Everything else, I simply needed to learn to deal with. When my studies were too easy, I spent my free time researching things that were interesting to me. Occlumency helps me to focus as well. I kept a notebook with me, to keep track of my schoolwork, when it was due and when the tests were. I do the same now, with my lesson plans and the notebook keeping track of what I need to grade and hand back."

Harry nodded, biting his bottom lip as he thought about what Professor Snape had told him. He was glad that the professor hadn't lied to him and told him that the medicine would work even if he wasn't sure that it would. He hoped the medicine would help him, if only so he would stop getting in trouble with his teachers and so they would stop thinking that he was an idiot, but he was also glad that the professor would help him if the medicine didn't. If the medicine didn't work, or he didn't like how it made him feel, Professor Snape would help him. It was nice having someone helping him, instead of trying to figure out everything on his own. The professor had answered all of his questions about the wizarding world thus far, and all of his questions about ADHD and his parents. The professor didn't like talking about his dad, but Harry learned a lot about his mum in the past two days. He couldn't wait to learn more, if the professor didn't mind talking about her.

"What will we tell everyone?" Harry asked as they reached the gates to the school. "About what Doctor Berger said and about you wanting to adopt me and everything."

Severus considered Harry's question as he cast the spells necessary to open the gates. He waited until they had passed through the gates and he had relocked them before answering. "I think both your diagnosis and the pending adoption should be kept quiet. You may tell your friends, of course, although I have no doubt that you will need to do quite a bit of explaining about both topics. It would be best if it didn't become common knowledge until after the adoption is finalized."

Harry nodded. That was reasonable. It would take a long time to convince Ron, he knew that. Ron hated Professor Snape already, and since Ron was a pureblood, Harry didn't think he would know much about muggle disorders. He thought about Hermione next. She wasn't really his friend, not yet, but he did like her, a bit. She was just something of a know it all. She would probably know about ADHD, since she is a muggleborn. He was still debating on whether or not he would tell her too, and if they were friends or not, when they reached the front doors of the castle.

Severus gave Harry one of the chocolate frogs he had bought at Honeydukes, as well as the Bertie Bot's beans that he had bought for the boy, taking the medicine from him and tucking the bottle in his pocket. "I will see you at dinner, Mr. Potter," he said, opening the doors. "Unless the Headmaster requests our presence in his office before then."

Harry nodded, murmuring his goodbyes to the professor before heading off to find his friends. They had a lot to talk about.