Looking out of his window, Harry found himself surprised at how well the past week had gone while living in Severus' quarters.

Merlin, when did I start thinking of him as Severus? Probably around the time that I blubbered all over him like a baby. 

He winced inwardly in remembrance and began to bite his fingernails distractedly. It was hard to believe that just last night, he was telling Severus Snape his deepest, darkest secrets. Has the world gone mad? Watching the peaceful meadow before him, he let his thoughts drift back to the previous night.

"Harry?" Severus called from where he was brewing his potion. Bottling the potion, he took his gloves off and left the lab.

"In my room!"

Severus smiled. The boy had finally come around to calling the room "his." For the past several days he would quickly correct himself or go on and on about how thankful he was for three solid meals and a place to rest his head. Bloody Gryffindors.

"I have good news," Severus relayed with a half grin. He was perched in the doorway, leaning against its frame.

"You finally learned how to smile?" Harry asked cheekily.

Severus rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the young teen. He was getting comfortable indeed.

Harry's expression went from amused to unsure and he began to apologize until it was waved away by Severus. "Stop with all of the apologies already," Snape said moodily. Harry grinned and nodded nervously.

"What is the good news, sir?" He asked hesitatly. 

"Well, Mr. Potter, tonight is the final night that we will be applying your salve. After this, your back shall be fully healed."

Harry nodded and fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable by the mention of his scars. "Thank you sir," he replied quietly with his head bowed. 

Severus nodded and slowly rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Shirt off."

Nodding shakily, Harry stood up from the bed and faced his window, slowly sliding his shirt over his head. He shivered when he felt Severus' long fingers rub the salve into his sensitive skin. The hand left, and Harry relaxed, only to jump when it unexpectantly returned. He suddenly did not want to be touched anymore.

It's just Severus. He's behind you, and we are in the dungeons. It's just you and Severus. And he's behind you. It's okay that he is behind you because he is safe. He is safe. It's just Severus. It's Severus' hands. Hands. Hands. He's behind you and his hands are on you and they won't get off. Get off! Not there, here. Not at the Durselys.

Severus paused as he felt the boy before him shift somehow. He didn't know what had changed, but he suddenly felt as if the boy had left and was now nothing more than a passive prescence. 

"Harry?" Snape asked, confusion evident in his voice. When no reply came, he quickly set the salve down, wiping his hands on his robes. Walking around to face the boy, he realized that the young teen was not only unresponsive, but also shaking slightly with wide, unfocused eyes. "Harry?" Severus repeated, worried. 

Harry? What? Harry? No, I can't, I' can't get out.

Severus sighed. The boy is trapped in his mind. Merlin knows what horrors he is witnessing again. I have to talk to him about his back. He cannot afford for me to coddle him further on the matter. Severus sat on the bed beside Harry and pulled the boy to sit beside him. Who am I kidding? I've already grown soft. Pulling the boy so that he was nearly sitting in his own lap, severus held the boy tightly, hoping that the pressure would allow his heartbeat and breathing to slow. Almost immediately, he felt moisture hit his hand and realized that the boy was crying quietly. 

"Harry, you have to snap out of it. You are here, with me, and I will not let anything happen to you. This is Prof...this is Severus. That's right, it's me." He continued speaking, in hopes that the young teen would hold onto his voice as a ship would hold fast to an anchor amidst a stormy sea.

 He...Harry, it's me. It's...Get off of me...It's Severus and I'm here and...

"Severus?" A small, shaky voice responded, finally.

After realizing that the boy had spoken, Severus stopped his litany of nonsense and became quiet. Here he was, the Boy Who Lived sitting in his lap, with his own arms wrapped tightly around him. There was no turning back now.

"Harry..." Severus replied, unsurely. "You were unresponsive...I..." he stopped. 

"Thanks." Harry whispered, his tears still slowly falling. Shifting his arms, which before now lay stiffly on his lap,he adjusted himself so that he was holding onto Severus' robes, as if for dear life. "He..." Harry began, before the words became a sob. Severus' arms tightened instinctively, and he moved his arm to press the boys head into the crook of his neck firmly, stroking his hair in the process. He did not want to hear this. But he knew that it had to be done. 

"He what Harry?" Severus replied, gently. He waited for the words, knowing that they would break him. 

"He made me pay." Harry sobbed harder, and Severus began rocking slowly.

"Pay?" Severus responded, evenly, swallowing thickly. 

Harry let out a shaky breath and coughed, nodding into Severus' robes. "He made me pay for room and board. Since I was little..." Harry sniffed in loudly, and Severus shifted them both so that he could summon a hankerchief. "Thanks," Harry replied congestedly, blowing more. He held the hankerchief in his hand, bawling it into his fist. 

"Go on," Severus urged gently. He shifted them back, holding the boys head once again and rocking slightly. 

"It started when I got my Hogwarts letter," Harry continued, burrying his face in his proffessor's black robe. Severus strained to hear the boy and almost asked him to move so that he could be heard before thinking better of it. Instead, he resigned himself to settle his own head on top of Harry's, his chin resting lightly on the mop of unruly, dark hair. The young teen still smelled like a little boy, all sweat and sweet shampoo. 

"What began Harry?" Severus prompted, patiently. 

 Harry continued on. "At first it was only pictures. He said that everbody wanted to see freaks, especially when they were little boys." Severus' heart dropped. "Later, they would come themselves. I couldn't tell anybody. That the great Harry Potter was being...being..." Harry began sobbing again and Severus squeezed him tightly, rocking him back and forth and murmering softly, "Shhh, it's okay now, you're okay." Minutes passed in silence before the boy continued.

 "Sirius was going to get me away from it all. Away from the pain and the humiliation. You saw what my uncle spelled on my back. He was supposed to save me from all of that. He loved me. He loved me and now he's dead." Harry sobbed loudly, and by the last word, his sobs quieted down into hicups.

Severus stopped rocking and the two sat quietly, both clinging to one another. After a good amount of time had passed and his limbs had grown unvomfortably numb, Severus cleared his throat and stood up, shifting Harry back onto the bed. When the boy moved as if he would get up Severus held up a hand signalling him to sit down. He obeyed.

Bending down, Severus picked up the boy's pajama top from the ground and stood. "Arms up," he instructed plainly. Harry found himself obeying without question. He didn't care that the man was treating him as if he were four years old. Being cared for felt good. Sliding the shirt over the boys head, Severus tugged it down through his arms and then knelt before him so that they were eye to eye. 

 "Harry, I..." Severus stopped, suddenly unsure of himself. He shook his head and continued on, bravely swallowing his pride. "I will always be there to save you. I have been whether you believe me or not. I promised your mother, and now I am promising you. I cannot replace what you have lost, but I will take you away from those filthy...those..." He paused, quelling the rage that stirreed within his chest as he thought of the boy's relatives. "...those muggles. You will stay with me. You will never have to 'pay' for a single thing because...because I will care for you. I will provide for you. And I will...love you."

When silence followed, Severus cleared his throat again and stood up, feeling stupid. He refused to take his words back. He may be bad when it came to expressing emotion, but he refused to be a coward. Turning around, he capped his salve and moved to leave the room. When he reached the door, however, he had to grab the frame as a small form collided into his back. Catching his breath, he felt the boy's glasses digging into his back. All that he could hear was a long littany of,

"Thank you, thank you, thank you...."

Harry.

Harry smiled as the memory evaporated, and with it his embarassment. At breakfast, Severus had announced that they would both be taking the next Several weeks before Christmas holidays off, beginning their vacation early to go to Severus' cottage which stood in the forest of Devon. Harry could hardly wait. The headmaster had agreed, of course, saying that he only wished he could do more.

 That wish and desire to right passed wrongs drove the headmaster to somehow get the approval of the ministry for Severus Tobias Snape to formally adopt, the one and only, Harry James Potter.

Harry went to bed that night knowing that the world was imperfect. That voldemort still remained undefeated and that evil still thrived. That Sirius was dead and would never return. That he himself was still broken and that the momories would always come.

 However, he also now knew that he had a home. In his wandering, he had found a person willing to share in his pain and even wander with him on occasion. He had found love and a family. 

 He had discoved that not all who wander are lost.