H.P.

It was late in the evening when Harry opened his letters from Ron and Hermione. It was the first time he'd been disappointed to receive a letter from his friends. He'd been hoping for a reply from his Godfather. It had been over a week since he'd sent his letter and he'd still not had a reply. Remus had told him not to worry about it, but in the kind of tone that said he didn't want Harry to worry because he'd be doing it instead.

Would Sirius get his letter before he came all the way back or had he already been caught and that's why he hadn't replied? 

He opened his letter from Ron first, smiling automatically at the sight of his messy handwriting.

Harry!

Tough luck, mate. How did that happen? I can't believe you have to live with the greasy dungeon bat. It sounds like the worst thing that could happen to anyone. I wish you could stay with us instead.

I wrote to Hermione to tell her the news. She's not round here yet – she's coming over later on in the summer. We might be getting tickets to the Quidditch World Cup final, so hopefully when you come and visit we'll all be able to go!

Ron

The Quidditch World Cup final, that would be amazing!

He turned his attention to the neater script of Hermione's letter.

Harry,

Ron wrote to tell me that you're at Hogwarts this summer. I know that you're with Snape and you two don't get on but it's really an excellent opportunity for you. You can go to the library whenever you want. Try not to lose your temper. I hope you can stay with Ron over the summer so I can get a chance to see you, though maybe Professor Dumbledore will let us stay at the castle this summer. I'd love to visit.

Write soon,

Hermione

She didn't seem that sympathetic and it wasn't always him who lost his temper. It would be nice if they could come up to the castle though, but Dumbledore wasn't going to be back for a while, so he wouldn't be able to ask for weeks. There's no way that Snape would agree to it, but Dumbledore might...

He briefly considered writing replies but decided it was too late in the evening and instead wandered into the kitchen to make himself a hot chocolate. He took his drink and flopped onto the sofa with his copy of Quidditch Through The Ages, ignoring Snape. The man had been busy working the last couple of days but hadn't seemed to mind when they shared a room as long he didn't bother him.

He'd tried harder to be more polite after the way Snape had looked after him. It seemed he was taking this guardianship thing quite seriously even though he hated him, and Harry knew that Snape hated him. The thing was so did the Dursleys. They hated him and treated him like dirt all the time, but Snape hated him and gave him food, took him to get new clothes, let him have his own room, looked after him when he hurt himself and always explained why he didn't want him to break the rules – after he'd screamed at him, sure, but it was more than the Dursleys did.

Things were going quite well here since their last argument. If things kept going like this and he didn't get Snape too mad maybe he really wouldn't have to go back, as long as Sirius didn't kick up a fuss. If only Dumbledore had explained why he'd been taken from the Dursleys. He'd only said that 'his home life left a lot to be desired' but Dumbledore'd always known the Dursleys didn't like him much, and it wasn't like anything different had happened. If he changed his mind on a whim he could just as easily change it back. 

"Mr. Potter, stop the sighing, now," Snape scolded wearily as he made a note on the parchment in front of him. Harry hadn't realised he'd been making any noise and fell silent. He was exhausted and snuggled further into the chair with his book and took a sip of his drink.

"Owww," he complained as he scalded his mouth.

Snape's head snapped up. "What did you do, Potter?"

"Buhnt my thongue," he answered, sticking it out trying to cool it down and blinking back the tears from his eyes.

"Blow on it," Snape ordered seriously before returning to his work.

"Yes, sir," he grinned. He really was taking the guardian thing seriously.

S.S.

By the time he had completed his work for the evening it was well past midnight and his eyelids were heavy. As he stood, casting a spell to gather up his parchment, his eyes fell on a sleeping figure curled up on the sofa. He hadn't realised that the boy had fallen asleep here and not gone to bed. He looked incredibly small asleep on the sofa, his book lying forgotten on the arm of the chair, snoring softly.

He could wake him up and make him go to bed, or he could leave him where he was. It couldn't be that comfortable on the sofa and he surely hadn't been sleeping that long. He may as well get him up.

"Potter," he called, but he just mumbled quietly in his sleep and curled up tighter, digging his glasses into his face.

Severus sighed. He carefully plucked the glasses off the child's face and put them on the table then summoned the boy's duvet and placed it on top of him. "Ridiculous child," he muttered, before going to bed himself.

H.P.

Harry awoke to bright sunshine and groaned, burying his head under his duvet and settling down to sleep once again.

"Get up, Potter." What was his uncle doing in his room? Wait, wasn't he at Hogwarts? Why was his uncle at Hogwarts?

"Wha'?" he mumbled, blinking blearily. Suddenly the covers were unceremoniously ripped off of him. "Hey," he yelled before he realised who the big black blob folding his duvet was. "Professor Snape?"

"Breakfast, now, Mr. Potter," the blurry professor ordered, stalking from the room.

Harry waved his hand around looking for his glasses on his bedside table. After about fifteen seconds he realised that there wasn't a bedside table next to him and he wasn't in his bed. It was another ten seconds before he realised that he was on the sofa and that he must have fallen asleep in the living room.

A few days later Harry tumbled into Remus' study only to find a widely grinning Sirius Black waiting for him.

"Sirius," Harry exclaimed as the man himself grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him over.

"How are you, Harry?"

"I'm good, but what are you doing here? I said I was fine."

"I came to make sure, kiddo." 

"Let him breathe, Padfoot. Come on through, Harry." Remus sent an exasperated look to Sirius and guided Harry out into the living room. When they were all seated, Harry turned his worried gaze onto his godfather.

"Isn't it dangerous for you to be here? The ministry's still looking for you, aren't they?"

"Don't worry about it. I've got it covered," Sirius answered with an unconcerned grin, which did nothing to placate Harry. It was clear that Remus agreed with Harry, but he looked happy to have his old friend around.

"How are you then?" Sirius asked, sobering quickly.

"I'm fine," Harry repeated. "Didn't you get my letter?"

"How is he treating you?" Sirius asked, ignoring Harry's question. Why did he keep asking him how he was? He's already said he was fine. Harry felt his temper rise. It was bad enough that people kept making decisions without him, but if people weren't even going to listen that was almost worse.

"What's this about? I've said I'm fine a million times already." He shot a look at Remus. "You said it was okay that I'm staying with Snape."

"It is all right," Remus replied calmly before turning to Sirius. "Harry's said he's fine, so stop now."

"Remus, I'm just making sure, he was a Death–"

"Don't," Remus cut him off with a warning look.

"What? What's going on?" Harry asked quickly.

"There's nothing going on. Your godfather is just concerned." Remus glared at Sirius, an edge creeping into his voice. This wasn't going well at all. He'd been so excited to see Sirius but he was doing just what he was afraid of. Why wouldn't he believe that he was okay? 

"I'd rather stay with Snape at Hogwarts then go back to the Dursleys. Can we just leave it?" Harry asked seriously. Sirius frowned, opening his mouth to speak before he was quickly cut off by Remus.

"Padfoot, can I have a word quickly?" Remus stood up and nodded towards the kitchen. "Sorry, Harry, bear with us for a couple of minutes."

Sirius stood reluctantly and followed Remus out of the room. Harry couldn't contain his curiosity and after a few seconds crept towards the kitchen door to see if he could hear anything. He grinned – Remus hadn't thought to cast a silencing charm.

"–to stop with the third degree, Padfoot."

"I don't trust him, Moony. I don't want him near Harry."

"Dumbledore trusts him, and I trust him. Things have changed these last twelve years."

Sirius snorted. "Snivellus hasn't changed. I saw him, Moony, the evil, slimy little…"

"Forget about Severus. I'm worried about Harry," Remus cut him off.

"So am I!" Sirius threw back at him, his voice rising.

"This isn't about Severus. Why do you think he's with him in the first place? Children aren't taken away from their guardians for no reason." There was a long silence.

"You think those muggles–" Sirius' voice lowered and Harry couldn't hear him through the door, although it was painfully obvious what he was saying. "Have you asked Dumbledore?"

"No, he's been away from the castle. He won't be back for a couple of weeks. I suspect that–"

Harry stepped away from the door. Remus was implying that he'd been... mistreated or something. Merlin, it was nothing like that! Sirius would never let this go now. He was bad enough when he heard about Snape, and they were so far off the mark. Sure, he didn't get on with the Dursleys, and he had a bit of a rough time of it there, but it wasn't like what they thought.

Suddenly, he didn't want to be there any more. He didn't want to see his godfather or Remus, not with them saying those things, thinking that he couldn't look after himself, jumping to conclusions... He couldn't bear the thought of them looking at him differently, talking to him in that awful tone of voice.

He dashed back to the study, throwing the floo powder into the fire and calling out 'Professor Snape's quarters!'

He fell out of the fire onto Snape's rug, only to find the man himself sitting in the chair opposite the fire. Snape usually spent his Saturdays in his potions lab or gathering ingredients and, judging by the expression on his face, the Potions Master hadn't been expecting to see him either. Harry's stomach dropped.

"Potter, what exactly is the meaning of this?" Snape asked coldly when it became clear that Remus wasn't going to appear.

"Uhhm I just, I forgot my Firebolt," he lied quickly. Snape's eyes darkened and he stood, looming over Harry.

"Lupin allowed you to return here unaccompanied?" 

"Uh…He's waiting for me…"

"Don't lie to me, Potter. Does he know you're here?" Snape snapped.

Harry was saved answering as a panicked Remus Lupin stepped out of the fireplace. Relief washed across his features. "Harry! Thank Merlin," he breathed. "Sorry about this Severus," he said, throwing a glance to the Potions Master. He hadn't intended to scare Remus; he'd just wanted to get away and he definitely didn't want to tell Remus that he'd been eavesdropping.

"I don't know."

"That's not good enough. You can't just disappear like that; I had no idea where you'd gone." Remus sighed. "Severus, would you give us a minute."

"No," Snape snapped. "He's not returning with you. You obviously can't keep him under control."

Remus frowned but replied calmly, "I'd like to speak to him. Give us a minute, please."

As he spoke, the fireplace flared green yet again and Sirius strode out. "Moony, is he here?" His gaze fell upon Harry. "You're here." He pulled him into his grasp but he let him go as his eyes landed on Snape. "Snivellus," he sneered. Snape whipped his wand out in response and Sirius did the same.

"Black," Snape hissed with loathing.

Harry's eyes widened in panic. Sirius was going to ruin everything.

"Padfoot, go back. I said not to come," Remus said, grabbing his arm and trying to get between the two men.

Sirius completely ignored his friend. "Since I'm here," he growled, shrugging Remus off.

"Sirius–" Harry started.

"I've got my eye on you, Snivellus–"

"Stop it. STOP IT," he yelled, abruptly cutting off his godfather's words. All eyes fell on Harry and everyone was silent. How had everything gotten so messed up? "Don't fight, just go." He shook his head, at a complete loss for what to do, still hearing the awful way Remus was speaking about him.

Ignoring Sirius' reproachful call, he slammed his bedroom door shut behind him. What had he done? Snape was going to be livid. He was already mad that he'd flooed here, then lied about it and now his godfather, the one person he may well hate more than Harry himself, had turned up and yelled at him. Remus was angry that he'd left and he'd just screamed at his godfather, who he'd rarely ever seen. It was a complete disaster!

S.S.

"Get out of my quarters," Snape hissed, wand raised and pointed at Black's chest. Oh, how he'd love to curse the mutt. He had him in his grasp; he could just let his whereabouts slip to the ministry.

"You can't stop me talking to my godson," Black barked.

"I think that you'll find that whilst he is in my care, I can."

"This isn't helping Harry. Just go Sirius." Severus and Black exchanged a glare of deepest loathing before Black disappeared through the floo.

Instead of following, Lupin remained where he stood. "Severus, I'm not going to wait for Albus to return to the castle, I want to know about Harry's relatives." He looked determined; he wasn't going to give this idea up in a hurry. If Severus agreed to speak to him he might be able to put off their discussion with the headmaster and he wouldn't need to hide that he was the one who set up this whole situation.

"If it will prevent these ridiculous displays, then fine." 

"Can I come back through this evening?"

Severus gave a terse nod, not looking forward to Lupin's presence in his quarters for a second time that day.

H.P.

He'd really gone and done it now.

Snape strode into his room and regarded Harry coolly. "Do you have anything to say?" 

"I didn't think it would be a big deal. I just wanted to come back."

"You did not think it would be a big deal?" Snape repeated slowly.

"I didn't go anywhere else. I just came here," Harry said defensively.

"You struggle with floo travel at the best of times. You could have fallen out of the wrong grate and no one would have known where you were."

Harry was reminded of his first time travelling by floo when he had ended up in Knockturn Alley and, though it happened years ago and was an extremely unlikely eventuality, he had to concede that Snape did have a point, a teeny tiny point.

"I– You're right, sorry."

Snape looked taken aback for a moment as if he'd just jumped in and foiled his argument.

"Be that as it may, you are grounded for the rest of the day for your transgression. You will not be returning to Lupin today."

Harry nodded, relieved. That was one less thing to deal with… "Yes, sir."

"You are aware, Mr. Potter, that I will not tolerate lies. You have lied to me more than once today so I suggest that you do not do so again. What was the cause of your misbehaviour today?"

"I don't want to talk about it." He had no intention of telling Snape why he left. It was none of his business. It was bad enough Remus thought those things; he didn't need to put the idea in Snape's head too.

"I'm not interested in what you want, Potter."

"You don't want me to lie," Harry answered stubbornly.

"You need to learn the importance of honesty. I'm confiscating your broomstick until you see fit to tell the truth."

"What? No! It's mine." He couldn't take his Firebolt. That wasn't fair.

"Accio Potter's broom."

Snape stalked out with his Fire bolt, slamming the door shut behind him. Harry swore loudly and kicked his desk chair. It did absolutely nothing to help and neither did the following three kicks.

S.S.

It wasn't long before Lupin returned to discuss Potter. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation at all but he had thought of another advantage of involving the wolf. The minute he found out about the boy's treatment he would be in complete agreement with Severus about keeping him from his relatives. Albus had conceded that he may have been wrong, but he would feel safer having his corner fought with others. He focused on the wolf as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"Thanks for seeing me so soon. Where's Harry?"

"His room," Severus answered shortly. He placed a silencing charm on the kitchen door, seating himself opposite the wolf. He knew very well that the boy could take easily to eavesdropping.

"What do you know?" Lupin asked seriously.

"I do not know the extent of what Potter suffered at the hands of his relatives. I have only a vague idea."

"Just tell me." Lupin said quickly, looking as if he was bracing himself for the worst.

Severus took a breath and a moment to organise his thoughts. "It is clear that his basic needs were not properly met. You brought it to our attention that he may not have been fed properly." He inclined his head. "He was never bought his own clothing nor did he have anything appropriate when he came to live in my quarters. You may have noticed that the school has rectified that," Severus lied smoothly. "He was not given a room to sleep in. It seems that he lived for ten years in a cupboard. The bedroom he lived in after he started Hogwarts had bars on the window, a catflap on the door and there were multiple locks on the outside. His possessions were locked away every summer. We have reason to believe his relatives were at least heavy handed with him, but we don't know to what extent he suffered physical abuse."

Snape heard his own words in his head, and hearing it all said like that just made it real. As he watched Lupin's horrified reaction he realised for the first time that this was Potter he was talking about. The boy who was in his room, just a few feet away, was the boy he was discussing and yet he never treated him as such. He had every intention of protecting Lily Evans' son when he took the child from his relatives but somewhere along the way he ended up living with James Potter's and he had lost sight of what he was supposed to be doing.

"Oh, Merlin." Lupin put his head in his hands. "How did we not notice?" 

"He does not know why he was taken away or how much we know," Severus finished automatically.

"Why didn't Albus tell me or Sirius? Why weren't we told?" 

"I suggest you take that up with the headmaster. I cannot fathom his decisions," he answered vaguely.

Lupin left quickly. He mentioned something about telling or not telling Black and having another discussion soon but Severus was too deep in his own thoughts to take much notice.

After Lupin's departure he sat by the fire replaying his time with Potter so far. He had spent so much time noticing the boy's similarities to his father that he had not been taking into account the boy's past when dealing with him. Was there more he should be doing?

He didn't have anything to give a child, especially not a neglected and abused child, and even less so a child that he hated. Well, he couldn't exactly say that he hated the boy. He certainly hated that he reminded him of James Potter and the child did try his patience, but perhaps hatred was stretching it a little.

"Sir, I want my broom back." Potter interrupted his thoughts, standing boldly in front of him in the middle of the living room.

"You are aware of the conditions, Mr. Potter," Severus replied.

"I'm sorry that I lied."

"Noted. However, an apology is not enough to get you your broom back."

The boy balled his fists up and looked as if he was trying to decide whether his broom was worth it. He evidently decided it was as he blurted out, "I didn't want to stay there any more."

"That much is evident. You'll have to try a little harder," Severus struggled to keep his tone impassive. He didn't want to sound angry and stop the boy from telling him the truth.

"Why does it matter why I left?" the boy replied angrily.

"It matters because it caused the display of idiocy I witnessed this morning," Severus yelled back, failing to keep his own anger in check.

"Why should I tell you anything?"

"It is my unfortunate job to be your guardian and your welfare is my business."

"You don't want to be my guardian. You don't want to know why I left."

"No, Mr. Potter, I don't want to know, I need to know. I'm in charge of your wellbeing and protection and you're making my job exceedingly difficult."

He must have gotten through to the boy because he was silent once again, furiously glaring at him. "I heard– I thought– Sirius wouldn't listen to me. I'm fine here and he won't believe me." Severus could tell that that was not the complete truth but was interested enough to let it go.

"Why is his disbelief particularly upsetting for you?"

"I don't want to have to go back," he admitted, staring intently at a point on the wall three feet to the left of Severus' head. What the boy needed was reassurance.

"I assure you that you will not be returning to your relatives. Black's opinion is of no consequence."

"Professor Dumbledore might change his mind if Sirius complains about me living here."

"The headmaster will not change his mind, Potter. The decision was final."

"But–"

"No, go to bed. You can have your broom back in the morning. You will remain in my care for the entirety of these holidays, so I would suggest that you do as you're told."