The four Dursleys departed Number 4 Privet Drive at 7:30 p.m. precisely, with Dudley regaling Marge about his latest favorite computer game.

Harry sagged in relief as the expensive car drove away. Marge had wanted to leave Ripper in the house, but for once, Vernon had seen reason – reinforced by Petunia’s careful coaxing – and requested that his sister confine the dog to the shed until their return.

“After all, the boy will be here, and you know how much he always upsets Ripper,” Vernon had wheedled, taking Marge’s arm in his meaty hand and urging her toward the back door, an unhappy Ripper tugging backwards against the leash’s pull on his collar.

“All the more reason to confine the boy to the shed instead of Ripper,” Marge declared forcefully, balking at the threshold, glancing down at her cringing pet, who obviously was not looking forward to another long sojourn in the dark shed. “Ripper is a house dog, not a kennel dog, Vernon. And that shed of yours is completely unsuitable – there’s no air circulating in there! My poor wittle Ripper could suffocate while we’re gone!” She bent down to scratch the dog behind his small ears, making Ripper whine in anticipation of being banished once more.

“Nonsense!” said Vernon. “If you don’t hurry up, we’ll be late for your date with your Mr. Lawson. Put the dog in the shed. We won’t be gone all that long, just for dinner.”

Sighing, Marge exited the house, practically dragging Ripper across the garden. Petunia stared anxiously at the neighbors’ houses, hoping nobody was watching Ripper. All day long, she’d had to fend off various comments from grinning neighbors following the previous night’s fracas. Why, oh why, did Marge insist on bringing that horrid little beast with her when she visited?

“BOY!”

“Yes, Uncle Vernon?”

Vernon planted himself squarely in front of his nephew. “You are to spend your evening in the cupboard. You will not come out for anything, do you understand?”

“Yes, Uncle Vernon.” Harry stifled a sigh. Even knowing that Snape was supposed to arrive didn’t make him feel any better about the situation. If anything, it would be even more humiliating, especially if the Dursleys locked him in before they left. Harry wouldn’t be able to open the house’s exterior door to Snape, and if Snape himself had to rescue Harry from the locked cupboard… “May I please use the bathroom before you leave, then?” he asked quietly. “That way, I won’t have any reason to leave the cupboard while you are gone.”

Jerking his chin toward the stairs, Vernon gave silent permission, and Harry took the steps two at a time. Just as long as they didn’t lock him in, didn’t lock him in, didn’t lock him in… Less than two minutes later, Harry trotted back down the stairs, just as Marge reappeared in the foyer. Without being told, he ducked into the cupboard and pulled the door shut behind him.

“Petunia, stop fussing with your hair!” Marge ordered. “You’re going to make us late.”

Her sister-in-law turned from the foyer mirror and swept up her designer purse. “I’m perfectly ready to go. Dudley? Turn off the telly, dear. We’re leaving.”

Harry held his breath in the cupboard, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t hear the sound of the sliding bolt shooting across the side of the door. He could follow Dudley’s lumbering progress from the lounge to the front door, followed by Marge, whose voice sounded only slightly fainter after she’d exited the house. Then Petunia’s light steps clicked across the porch. Only Vernon remained in the foyer, and Harry closed his eyes, imagining his uncle debating whether to lock him in or not. After a long moment, heavy steps approached the cupboard. Inwardly, Harry groaned.

“Petunia says you did a good job with the luncheon, today, boy,” Vernon muttered through the air grate in the door. “For that reason only, I’m going to trust you tonight to STAY IN THAT CUPBOARD. If you come out for ANY reason, I will lock you in there until Marge goes home. Do you understand me, boy?”

“Yes, Uncle Vernon,” replied Harry, heaving a quiet sigh of relief. “I’ll be good, sir. I don’t need anything. I’ll stay in my cupboard while you are out this evening, I promise.”

Vernon snorted loudly. “See that you do, boy. You won’t like your punishment if I find out you’ve disobeyed me.”

“Have a nice dinner, Uncle Vernon,” said Harry, just wishing the Dursleys would leave. The cupboard itself really wasn’t so bad, as long as nobody was in the house to taunt and torment him through the door.

“Hmphh,” grunted Vernon, pushing himself into a vertical position.

A few seconds later, the front door shut loudly, and before long, Harry heard the car pulling out into the street.

At last! He allowed himself to relax, leaning fully back against the cupboard door itself, since the rear wall was blocked by his school trunk. After a while, the light filtering through the ventilation grate showed 7:35 p.m. on Harry’s cheap wristwatch. Ten minutes till Snape. He chuckled in the gloom. It kind of reminded him of a film he’d listened to part of, long ago, where some character kept saying, “Five minutes till Wapner.” He’d drifted off to sleep in his cupboard, while his aunt and uncle watched the video on the lounge telly.

Eight minutes till Snape. Would the man know how to ring a Muggle doorbell? Or would he just knock?

Six and a half minutes till Snape. Surely, the Potions Master would be prompt. This was his plan, after all. Besides, Harry couldn’t imagine Snape being late for anything. He always turned up, even when you didn’t want him to!

Four minutes till Snape. Harry cracked his knuckles nervously. Just what was the man hoping to prove or disprove about the wards guarding the Dursleys’ house? And how would he go about it? Harry would have to leave the cupboard to let Snape into the house, but Harry hoped none of the neighbors would see Harry himself out and about while the Dursleys were gone, much less mention it to Vernon or Petunia… He’d promised to stay in the –

WHUMP!

Without warning, Harry flopped flat on his back on the foyer carpet, staring up in complete befuddlement at an inverted Severus Snape in the guise of Mr. Lawson, who was standing directly over him, holding the cupboard doorknob in one hand while his blond moustache drooped down toward Harry.

“Mr. Potter, I presume?”

Harry scrambled awkwardly to his feet. “Er … yes, sir?” Then he added, “How did you get in? I thought I’d hear you ring the – knock on the door.”

Snape regarded him speculatively. “And you were just waiting in that cupboard for the fun of it?”

“Well, no, not really.” Harry frowned. “Uncle Vernon said he wouldn’t lock me in, if I promised not to come out while they were gone tonight. I figured I’d stay in there until I heard you at the door.” He glanced nervously at the sheers covering the foyer window onto the street. “You never know when the neighbors might be watching. And if one of them told Uncle Vernon they’d seen me through the windows while the Dursleys were away… “ He sighed. “So now you’re here, I’m out of the cupboard, and someone might still see.”

Snape was staring at him, he realized. He shrugged. “No helping that, I guess. Just get on with the wards or whatever you need to do, sir.”

“The neighbors purposely try to get you in trouble with your relatives?” asked Snape.

“Er – not deliberately, I guess.” Harry bit his lip unconsciously, but the taller wizard took note of the boy’s unease. “They don’t realize that they’re getting me in trouble, I don’t think. But they believe all the lies that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia have told them over the years, about me being a criminal type. That makes the neighbors nervous, and they’ve always kept a close eye on my whereabouts, especially if I’m wandering the neighborhood, or anywhere near their own kids that I went to primary school with, or when they know the Dursleys are gone.” He gave a brittle laugh. “I think they think they’re doing their duty by the Dursleys, keeping an eye on me.” He shrugged. “They certainly believe that they’re protecting themselves from me.”

When he dared to peek up at Snape, the saw that the man was not sneering, but regarding him rather thoughtfully.

“I see.” Snape glanced at the window sheers himself. “You needn’t panic, Potter. Albus Dumbledore has already notified the Ministry of Magic that an adult wizard will be performing magic at this house tonight, in the interests of maintaining the protective wards which guard the Boy-Who-Lived. Before I unlocked the back door and let myself in, I had already cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm on the property.” He waved his wand over Harry. “Now we are both protected by a Notice-Me-Not Charm for the duration of my stay here. Nobody should be the wiser, whether you are visible through the windows of this house, or if you accompany me outdoors, so long as you remain within the boundaries of the property. Do you understand?”

Harry nodded vigorously, the relief evident on his features. “Yes, sir. So, what do we do to test the wards, then?”

“An excellent question,” Snape said, leading the way, inexplicably, into the kitchen. “I shall need to ask you some questions about the household and your experiences here, but first – have you had supper?”

“Sir?” Harry gaped at the blond professor. He suddenly realized that Snape was wearing his trailing black robes over Mr. Lawson’s Muggle suit. The image seemed so off kilter that Harry could barely assimilate it.

Snape sighed impatiently. “Your relatives have gone out to dine at a fine restaurant. Did they bother to give you supper before they left, or are they planning to bring you a doggie bag?”

Harry bristled a bit. “They’ve never brought me a doggie bag. Sir. And Uncle Vernon made me get in the cupboard before I’d thought about a meal. Usually, I try to take a pitcher of water in there with me, but – “

“Then your answer is ‘no’, is it?”

“Yes. No. Well, yes, my answer is no,” Harry ground out, aggravated that he couldn’t even seem to speak coherently when Snape was around, even if he did look like Mr. Lawson.

“I daresay there are plenty of leftovers from that magnificent luncheon,” Snape said with a sneer.

“Aunt Petunia will notice if anything is missing,” Harry said before he could stop himself.

Snape glowered. “She doesn’t actually count the sandwiches, does she?”

Harry ducked his head. “Yeah,” he muttered. “She’ll count anything, to make sure I don’t ‘abuse’ their hospitality. That’s how she puts it,” he defended, when the older man’s blue eyes darkened.

“Go ahead and eat, Potter,” Snape instructed. “I shall replace anything you use up. Your aunt will be none the wiser.”

The teen needed no further urging. He quickly loaded a plate with leftover sandwich quarters, some veggies and spinach dip, and a few pieces of fruit. Bemused, he watched Snape wave his wand and the missing items were magically reproduced in their proper places on the various trays. “Wicked!” he said admiringly. “It would be so much simpler if I could do magic like that while I’m here in the summer.”

“Your relatives will not be gone indefinitely,” Snape warned. “Eat up, while I do a preliminary scan of the interior of the house.”

Harry nodded, his mouth too full of a spicy chicken sandwich to speak. He quickly made his way through the rest of the food on his plate while Snape wandered the rooms, murmuring softly while wielding his wand toward the walls, floors, ceilings, windows, and doors. By the time the professor returned to the kitchen, Harry had already washed and put away his plate and fork.

“Tell me, Potter,” said Snape, brushing absently at the dangling blond moustache, “What exactly happened here near the end of summer just before your Third Year at Hogwarts?”

Harry gaped at the man. “That summer… “

“Yes, Potter, that summer. Quickly, if your please. The wards wavered noticeably shortly before you ended up at the Leaky Cauldron, and Professor Dumbledore needs to know what happened to cause that.”

“Er – I guess it was after I blew up Aunt Marge… “

“Blew her up … how? Be specific.”

Harry sighed. “She’d been insulting my mum. Like she did last night, you know? And I just – lost it. And the next thing I knew, Aunt Marge began to inflate like a large balloon, getting bigger and bigger… And then she drifted outside and floated away up into the sky.”

Snape stared at the boy intently. “What happened then?” He did not believe that the act of simply inflating a relative, regardless of how obnoxious the person might be, could cause the wards to waver as strongly as Dumbledore had said they had.

“I left.”

“You left?”

Harry nodded emphatically. “Yep. Up and left. Took my school trunk and my wand and walked out of the house. I told Uncle Vernon any place was better than living here, and I left, ended up on the Knight Bus, and spent the rest of the summer at the Leaky Cauldron.”

“Hmm.” Snape nodded slightly, his blue eyes narrowing. “That would possibly explain it.”

“How?” Harry wondered.

“Tell me, Potter, when you left the house that day, did you ever intend to return here to live?”

Harry stared at Aunt Petunia’s clean kitchen floor, finding the design of the tiles rather fascinating. “Mm… I really don’t know. At the time, I wished I never had to come back, but realistically, I knew I didn’t have any other home. And though I’d already asked Dumbledore if I could stay at Hogwarts during the summer, he’d said no. And the Weasleys already have so many kids… So, I really don’t know what to say. I didn’t want to live here, but aside from that one time I escaped to the Leaky Cauldron, I’ve never been able to live on my own. I guess I knew I’d have to come back here sometime. I just wished I didn’t.” He looked at Snape. “I know that’s not much of an answer, professor, but it’s honest.”

“Fair enough, Potter. The fact that you did not want to live here probably caused the abrupt wavering in the blood wards, but your inner knowledge that you would have to return kept them from collapsing completely at that time.”

The blond man looked out the kitchen window at the innocuous back garden. Such a pleasant setting, if not for the Dursley family. A bit too pruned for most magical folk, but still, one could dwell happily here, if only the company were pleasant. Unfortunately for Potter, the company was anything but.

“You mean… “ Harry bit his lip before continuing, “The wards almost fell because I stormed out of the house that day?”

Snape nodded. “I believe that would be the most logical explanation.” He sighed. “After observing the interaction between your relatives and yourself yesterday, it’s little wonder that you lost control. The lot of them would try Merlin’s patience.”

Harry chuckled darkly. “I don’t doubt they would.” He paused before asking, “So, are the wards okay now? Or are they still weak?”

Snape turned, causing his robes to billow over Mr. Lawson’s suit. “The Headmaster attempted to strengthen the wards that summer after you left, but he had no real concept of what had happened. I can say, the wards are not at full strength in the present moment, and it is unlikely that they will return to full strength, unless you can embrace Number 4 Privet Drive as your heartfelt home.”

Harry scoffed. “Not much chance of that, then.”

Frowning, Snape looked at the boy seriously. “You must do your best, Potter, whatever you feel personally toward your relatives. Another blow-up of that sort could cause them to fall precipitately, and Death Eaters could be slamming open your front door before you could blink.”

“They – do they really know where I live?” he asked, feeling a bit stupid for asking.

But Snape nodded once. “Yes. They’ve known for years. They simply cannot breach the wards. Well, they haven’t been able to, thus far. But if the wards fall, you and your relatives would become easy victims.”

Swallowing hard, Harry asked, “But what about the Order of the Phoenix? Couldn’t they – “

“Believe me, Potter. The Dark Lord monitors everything concerning you. Once he detects the absence of the wards at this residence, it will be overrun within seconds – just the time it takes to Apparate. Almost certainly, the Order would be too late to save you.” Snape shook his head, causing his blond moustache to drift back and forth. “There is only so much that Dumbledore himself can do magically to sustain the wards. Your best chance to stay safe is to develop a personal attachment to this house, if not to your relatives. Make this YOUR home, no matter what. You may hate the people who live here, but as long as this house is home to you personally, the wards should continue to hold. Focus on the house itself, Potter. You must do this, for your own safety, and your relatives be hanged.”

Harry gave a short, hard laugh. “It’s a lot to ask, Professor.”

Snape grimaced. “Then I’ll make it a short version. Do you really WANT to die, Potter? Do you want to die horribly?”

Harry shook his head, hugging himself unconsciously. Too easily, he flashed back to that night in the graveyard, the circle of Death Eaters, the Cruciatus Curse, Cedric…

“Then make this your home. For unless this IS your home, you WILL die. And you will die quite horribly. Understand?”

“Yes,” Harry whispered. He cleared his throat. “Don’t you have to, you know, check the outside, too? The property lines, I mean?”

The man quirked an eyebrow. “I already did, before I entered the house. As far as I can tell, your explanation is sufficient to account for the weakening of the wards, and their sudden wavering that summer. I have no further need to prolong my visit to Surrey.”

Harry looked at Mr. Lawson’s blond hair and moustache, and he laughed. “What about Aunt Marge?”

Snape snorted. “I suppose I shall have to break her heart. Any ideas about the most effective way to do so?

The Gryffindor burst out laughing. “You could always pee on her leg!”

To his utter shock, Severus Snape guffawed, although it wasn’t quite as shocking as it might have been had he looked like himself. “Poetic justice, indeed, Potter! But I don’t need to get involved with Muggle law enforcement.”

Harry was still chuckling. “Well, you could advise her as a food critic that she needs to go on a highly-restrictive diet.”

Just as Snape smirked appreciatively, the sound of a car turning into the drive distracted both wizards.

“It’s them!” hissed Harry. “I thought they’d be gone a lot longer. I don’t think they’d even have had time to eat a five course meal!”

“I’ll leave now,” said Snape. “I shall contact Marge tomorrow, and that should be the end of that. Hopefully, I can avoid doing anything to her leg.”

Harry bent double and scuttled off toward the cupboard under the stairs, hoping the Dursleys wouldn’t be able to see him through the front windows, despite the charms Snape had cast. “Bye, professor,” he called softly, before he dove into the cupboard and pulled the low door shut.

In the kitchen, Snape Disillusioned himself before slipping out through the sliding door.