H.P.

"Do not tell me you got yourself mixed up in this," Snape growled the minute he pulled Harry through the floo into the living room. Harry shrugged away quickly and played for time, brushing ash off his clothes.

"In what?"

"This," he said, thrusting the Daily Prophet into his hands. Underneath the headline was an eerie picture of the Dark Mark hovering over a violent riot. "Who hurt you?"

It took Harry a moment to realise what Snape was on about, until the man looked quite pointedly at his cheek. "Oh," Harry said, reaching up a hand to see how bad it was. There was a bit of dried blood but it was probably okay. "That wasn't the riot or the Death Eaters. It was… Malfoy."

To say Snape was less than impressed would have been an understatement. His eyebrows shot together to form an angry scowl so fast Harry wouldn't have been surprised if they'd collided. "I take it you mean Draco. Why, Potter, did you see fit to communicate with him when I expressly told you not to?"

"I didn't speak to him."

"Draco would not attack unprovoked." Oh, he wouldn't, would he? Draco wouldn't up and start a fight out of nowhere?

"I might have shoved him a bit," Harry admitted, a little uncomfortably.

Snape's eyes flashed at Harry's response. "Are you incapable of following simple instructions or were you temporarily deaf when I gave them?"

"I didn't actually say anything to him," Harry said, but his attempt to defend himself was in vain as Snape sneered.

"You've never heard the expression `actions speak louder than words`?"

"I lost my temper. I didn't plan to do it." He didn't regret it though; that slimy little piece of work deserved more than a shove.

"It's not good enough, Potter. You blatantly disregarded my instructions. I told you not to engage with Draco!"

"You're just mad I shoved Draco," Harry snapped, stung that Snape would think he would break his word on purpose.

Snape stilled slightly at his words and Harry thought he'd gone too far, but instead of relaunching his verbal attack, Snape drew his wand. "Come here," he ordered. "Now," he growled impatiently when Harry didn't do so instantly.

Harry reluctantly obeyed, eyeing Snape's wand suspiciously, but the Potions Master merely turned his chin to the side to heal the cut on his face.

"Oh yeah, thanks," Harry said, feeling a tingle of magic across the cut.

"Imbecile," Snape muttered. "Explain exactly what Draco said to you."

"Why?" 

"You know damn well why, Potter. I need to know what you made so painfully obvious to him." Healing aside, it was still Draco and Potter. No matter that Draco was the one goading Harry and attacking him too.

Harry felt his face flame as he mumbled with more than a little resentment. "He, er, said stuff about the Dursleys not wanting me, and you not wanting me, and then my, uh, mother not wanting me…"

"You stupid boy. I have no choice now; I will be telling the Malfoys about your relatives." Harry could tell from his tone of voice that it was no empty threat or joke, not that Snape would ever joke.

"What? Why?"

"Why? Because you all but told Draco yourself," Snape yelled in frustration.

S.S.

"Did anything else happen on this trip that I should be aware of?" Severus asked, running a weary hand through his hair before Harry could interrupt. He needed this finished before he could deal with the situation with the Malfoys. The boy was one problem after another.

Harry cleared his throat but didn't meet Severus's eyes. "Out with it," Of course there'd be more. Since when did Harry do anything by halves?

"Well, you know about the whole Dark Mark in the sky situation. I haven't even told you what happened yet," Harry said, backing away slightly. Severus attempted to tone his glower down a notch. How, how does he manage to get himself into these situations?

Harry took a breath. "My wand might have briefly been stolen and used to put the Dark Mark in the sky and one of the ministry people might have thought you taught me how to do it butit'sallbeensortedoutnow."

"Your wand was stolen by a Death Eater?" He was lucky to be alive!

Harry had backed away still further. "Well, I don't know if it was stolen by a–"

"You went to that World Cup and disobeyed every single instruction I gave you." Severus didn't care that he was shouting himself hoarse. The child cared nothing for his own safety and refused to follow instructions and he would not have it.

"I said it was stolen. I didn't give it away," Harry yelled back.

"Detention! I've warned you time and time again to watch your tone when you speak to me."

"We're not even in school."

"Call it what you will, you'll be scrubbing cauldrons all the same," he snarled back. "How was your wand stolen?"

"I don't know. I just realised when I was in the woods and I was going to hex Malfoy back. I went for it and it wasn't in my pocket."

"Your pocket."

"My back pocket."

"Is where you keep your wand," Severus stated in absolute disbelief. "Are you telling me that the one day I let you out of my sight, and in the full knowledge that the Dark Lord wants to kill you, you left your wand where anyone can steal it and did not notice amidst a riot of the Dark Lord's supporters until you wanted to attack the one person I told you not to let provoke you? Not only that, but you let your wand be stolen by a Death Eater, who used it to cast the Dark Mark and had been close enough to attack while you were defenceless. Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?" Severus started at a deadly hiss but in the end was roaring in anger.

The boy opened his mouth to deliver the most inane and infuriating comment Severus was certain he'd ever heard from him. "Well, it didn't, did it?"

The child had so little value for his own life. He cared nothing for his own wellbeing and safety. It would stop, fighting basilisks, dementors and Merlin knows what else, it all stops now. Severus struggled not to snap at the child, he needed his anger in check.

This situation wasn't a surprise. He knew the time would come when he would have to deal with Harry's rule breaking and he'd been well aware that he'd need to convince him that risking his own safety should not be a common occurrence. Yelling and intimidation weren't going to reach him. He couldn't scare him into behaving; the boy was pure defiance when he chose to be.

Severus stared at the boy for a moment considering his options. This certainly needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency, but it was not lost on him that he had declared that he would be betraying Harry's trust to Lucius Malfoy. Perhaps in not giving him time to argue the point he could deal with the whole issue later. What is crucial is that the boy learns.

"You, Potter, are in the unfortunate position of being in my care. Do you know what that means?"

"That you're going to punish me?" Harry hazarded a guess.

"Indeed. It means that I'm going to demonstrate that I will not tolerate this behaviour, disobeying my instructions, brawling, showing blatant disregard for your own safety… Have I missed anything?"

"Do you actually want me to say?" Harry asked uncertainly. There was more? What more could he have possibly done? The boy gulped and took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Right. We spoke for a bit with Ron's dad about Death Eaters and, uh, you– because of my wand and everything– and then Ron and Hermione thought you were a Death Eater and I sort of stuck up for you a bit."

"Get out," Severus ordered abruptly, gesturing up the stairs.

"Sir? I–"

"I said out, Potter! Try for once not to disobey me."

He didn't miss the look on Harry's face but he did not soften his glare until the boy left the room. He sat down at the table in the kitchen. He needed some time to think and to calm down.

H.P.

Harry was experiencing something he'd only ever felt once before and this time it was worse… He'd thought it was bad enough when he and Ron had gotten caught with the flying Ford Anglia but this time there was no Ron alongside him and Snape was more than just livid – he was disappointed. Somehow it was worse disappointing Snape now than it was with Dumbledore. His anger he knew how to take, but this was a horrible feeling.

But it's not as if Snape was being fair... He hadn't even realised that Snape was going to get that angry until he completely flew off the handle. It's not like he meant to lose his temper with Malfoy and he didn't choose to disobey Snape. And how was it fair that when he gets his wand stolen he gets yelled at for it? He comes home with a cut on his face that was Malfoy's handiwork and he gets yelled at for going near him, just because it's Draco.

Admittedly, sticking up for Snape had been a mistake and he didn't really have an excuse but it was confusing going between defending Snape to the ministry then badmouthing him to his friends. It's not like he's had years of spying practice.

As time wore on Harry's defiant inner rant wore off and he couldn't help but be anxious. Snape was really mad. 'I can't believe you dared disobey me, Potter' kind of mad and now he had to just sit around in his room and wait for Snape to decide how to punish him? He wasn't going to do that. He was going tell him he was sorry that he'd made him mad and that he wasn't actually trying to disobey him. It should count for something.

He felt a bit foolish being so nervous about leaving his room and hung about in the kitchen doorway for a moment. Snape didn't seem to notice his arrival and he looked deep in thought. He'd probably get mad at him just for opening his mouth but he wasn't about to give up now. "Professor?"

"Yes?" Snape replied, raising an eyebrow as if he was surprised at Harry's daring but knew he was there all along.

"I know you said I had to stay in my room but I wanted to say something," Harry stated boldly.

"You are not confined to your room," Snape said, but gestured for Harry to go ahead.

"Right. I wanted to say that I didn't disobey you on purpose and I'm, um, sorry."

"Are you?" Snape asked, regarding him with interest.

"Yeah, I broke my word so…"

"Do you want to know what concerns me, Mr. Potter?" Snape interrupted, gesturing for Harry to come into the kitchen and sit across the table from him.

"Okay."

"You are not sorry that your actions or lack thereof led you into a dangerous situation. It seems to me that you are sorry that you've made me angry and now there will be consequences."

"I'm not being funny, sir, but you were really angry."

"Yes, I believe it's the first time you've ever seen me angry. It must have come as a great shock to you," Snape drawled sarcastically before continuing in a firmer tone. "There are consequences for your complete idiocy as I said earlier." Harry nodded recalling him saying that he would be telling the Malfoys and he felt his breath catch. He didn't want Snape to go there to talk to them at all, especially not about him. "However, that is not your punishment."

"Not punishment enough?" Harry muttered.

"Obviously not. I warned you, you stupid boy."

"Don't call me that," Harry insisted, for what felt like the millionth time. It was bad enough he'd not called him Harry since he'd practically exploded in anger.

Snape seemed to misunderstand his frustration. "It will not be the horror you seem to expect it to be. I was serious when I discussed trust, and I would still like you to feel comfortable confiding in me. We will discuss what I tell Lucius."

Harry was unsettled by Snape's tone. He was supposed to be yelling at him and telling him everything he did wrong then giving him some massively outrageous punishment or at least trying to get him expelled. Instead he was sitting across from him watching him carefully and for Snape he was being more than civil.

"I will give him a vague idea at best. It would not even be feasible at this stage for me to give details. I want to make this clear, it is not a punishment, it is a separate issue entirely." Harry blinked and tried to swallow past the unexplainable lump that seemed to have formed in his throat at Snape's words.

"Harry?" Snape said impatiently as if he expected some sort of response. Harry found himself taken aback by the sudden use of his first name. Did that mean that Snape didn't hate him again?

S.S.

"For the love of–" Severus cut himself off abruptly. For some reason instead of putting Harry at ease about the matter he'd made it worse. The boy looked far more confused and unhappy than he had earlier. He'd wanted to make it very clear that he wasn't going to reveal information to Lucius as a form of punishment. 

"Tell me what's the matter," Snape ordered, but Harry's only response was a shrug. "I'm not going to let this go."

"I don't know, all right."

"If you would rather speak to Lupin or Black–"

"No."

"We're going to have to discuss your punishment. I assure you it will not be anything like what your relatives–"

"Oh God, I know! I know, all right? I don't think you're going to lock me in my room for the rest of the summer or starve me. I'm not dense."

Severus decided to take the boy's word for it, filing his words away for a later conversation.

"There is something I believe I need to drill into your skull. You are not invincible and you are no longer alone. You may not have answered to anyone when you fought basilisks or when you went after that damned stone but now you answer to me. I asked you to follow two specific instructions. What were they?"

Harry sighed before answering and Severus had to grit his teeth not to snap at his attitude. "Not to talk to Malfoy and not to draw attention to myself."

"Why?"

"Because if I spoke to Malfoy I might make you have to tell them about the Dursleys. I get it all right, but I didn't talk to him. I just lost my temper."

"And you told him all he needs to know. You did exactly what I asked you not to."

"I didn't draw attention to myself though. It's not my fault my wand got stolen."

"It is if you are so stupid as to leave it in your back pocket when you know full well that there is a Dark Lord out there who wants you dead."

"I'm sorry I shoved Malfoy but–"

"You are sorry because now there are repercussions." 

"Obviously, he deserved it."

"I will not be signing your Hogsmeade form."

"What?" Harry's face showed a disproportionate amount of horror at that statement, as if he'd just announced that he was giving away his broomstick.

"You will not be going out to Hogsmeade until you show me that you will take this threat seriously. Your wand does not belong in the back pocket of your jeans!"

"You're joking. Sirius signed it."

"It is the headmaster who sees the form. I am your guardian, not the mutt, and I say no."

"What am I supposed to tell Ron and Hermione? They know Sirius signed the form."

"You can tell them that the headmaster wouldn't accept his signature as he is not your guardian."

"This isn't fair!"

"Fair, Potter? No one here is talking about fair. You'll be reporting to me on Hogsmeade Saturdays. I don't want another incident where your head appears to be in Hogsmeade but the rest of you is not."

"So you don't trust me, then?" Harry demanded.

"You have gotten off lightly. I have a mind to take that damned cloak of yours as well. A Death Eater had your wand, you were defenceless, you could have been killed."

"Fine, I could have done things differently but I didn't know I was doing anything wrong."

"Take it as given, Mr. Potter, that under no circumstances do I want you to physically attack another student, so in a situation where I specifically ask you not to react to or even to speak to a particular student then in that circumstance it is especially important that you don't shove them. And if there is a Dark Lord that wants to kill you then getting your only means of defence stolen would in fact be wrong. Clear?"

"Crystal. Are we done?"

"We are not finished. Your mistakes are not limited to leaving your wand in your jeans and shoving Mr. Malfoy. I believe you also put my reputation in doubt with your friends."

"I'm sorry about that okay? I'd just had to tell those ministry people that you didn't teach me how to cast a Dark Mark and I was tired and I wanted to go home and then they were saying that you were a Death Eater and I don't want my friends thinking that you're evil 'cause you're not."

"You will write me an essay giving a detailed account of your actions last night, why every single one of them was a mistake and what you should have done instead."

"Fine, how long?"

"However many feet it takes for you to learn and you will rewrite the essay until I am satisfied with it."

"Can I go then?"

"No, I do not want you to hide in your room."

"But I want–"

"I said no, Harry."

"Fine," Harry said, probably going for defiant but it came out a lot more hurt than anything else.

"Harry, being locked away and starved for your entire summers?" Severus asked, sensing that it was a gross exaggeration but just wanting to check to be sure.

"I just said that because you seem to think I was…mistreated or whatever." Severus nodded, relieved, until Harry continued. "It was only one summer and the Weasleys rescued me after a while anyway."

H.P.

It turned out that Snape didn't actually have any cauldrons to scrub and apparently he thought lines would be more 'effective' so Harry had been sitting for the past hour writing line after line of 'I will address Professor Snape with the respect he is due as both my teacher and my guardian.' which he resented considering Snape rarely addressed him with respect.

But for Snape the punishments were relatively tame, apart from banning him from Hogsmeade. That was low. He was hardly in danger in Hogsmeade with all the other students there and Sirius had said he could go. He'd briefly contemplated telling Sirius that Snape was overruling his permission but he didn't want them to argue and he didn't need Snape any angrier at him. To be honest he didn't want Snape angry at him at all. Snape had been all right with him when he was talking about Lucius Malfoy but that was probably just because of his whole 'Harry's been mistreated' theory. It wasn't because he liked him or anything.

"Sixty five lines? You've not done nearly enough. You'll be continuing this when we get back."

"From where?"

"I need to take you to get dress robes."

"More shopping?" Harry said, looking at Snape in horror.

"It's not up for discussion and I would not push my luck if I were you," Snape snarled as Harry trudged up the stairs to get his shoes.

S.S.

Absolutely ridiculous Yule Ball, it'd be infinitely better if they didn't bring back the Triwizard Tournament at all. "Get down here now, Potter."

"What do I need dress robes for anyway?" Harry said moodily, pulling on his shoes as he came down the stairs.

"Be grateful I'm taking you anywhere this afternoon, insolent boy," Snape replied, irritated at Harry's attitude. If anyone had a right to be angry it was him. He should count himself lucky that Severus was being so damned patient.

"DON'T call me that," Harry yelled but before Severus could react he was stomping past him back to the table. "I suppose I have to write even more bloody lines now."

Severus yanked the quill out of Harry's hand. "I said we're going out."

"These lines are a bit hypocritical if you ask me. You said you'd call me Harry."

Severus forced himself to reply in a tone that at least appeared calm. He knew at least partially why it was important to him and he knew he ought not to be dismissive. "It is not easy breaking a habit just like that."

"You called me Potter loads today and you called me 'boy' three times."

"Well you've been exceptionally irritating today, haven't you?" he hissed.

Harry sent him a fierce glare before reaching over to grab the parchment he'd filled so far and crumple it into a ball. "Fine, I don't want you calling me Harry anyway, Snape." At that Harry stormed up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door shut.

He made no attempt to call him back down or go after him. He didn't actually want to be in his company, nor to waste his breath arguing with him. He incinerated Harry's old quidditch magazine to relieve some of his anger before following suit and slamming the door to his potions laboratory behind him.

He'd obviously made a mistake. He was not remotely in the right frame of mind to deal with Harry, not that he wasn't making a complete guess at the best way to reach him anyway. Severus took a ridiculous amount of pleasure that afternoon ordering Harry's dress robes without consulting him.

By dinner time Severus could not ignore the boy any longer. He'd see that he ate at least. He knocked on the bedroom door, but receiving no reply opened it and scanned the room, smirking at the boy sleeping amongst his parchment on the desk.

Severus rearranged Harry's mess of a bed and pulled back the covers before shoving the pile of parchments aside on Harry's desk. He could see the boy had been writing letters, no doubt complaining about the unfairness of his punishments to his godfather and the wolf.

"Have t'get up?" Harry mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"No," Severus replied shortly before hoisting the boy up by his armpits and then carrying him over to his bed.

"No shopping?"

"I've taken care of it myself." He untied the laces of Harry's trainers and pulled them off. "Plain dress robes, green with silver stitching."

He'd almost asked for some sort of snake patterning but thought that might be going too far. Harry, on the other hand, showed no signs of having heard the end of Snape's sentence but was quite happily crushing his glasses into his pillow in his sleep. Severus pulled them off his face before leaving a note regarding dinner.

It was as if he was getting nowhere with the child. He had not discussed his relatives, they argued constantly, not to mention that he had no idea how to deal with Harry's attitude towards danger and rule breaking.

He had taken the child away from his relatives for Lily; she would not have stood for his treatment there, but would she have wanted this? He did not have the patience to deal with Harry, not to mention that the boy had his mother's fiery temper. It was not exactly a winning combination. But there was no question of giving up on him. Harry did not deserve that, not even if he was and acted like a bloody irritating Gryffindor.