Harry stretched and groaned at the fresh morning light that stung his eyes. He glanced at his watch, praying it wasn’t 8:00 yet. 7:30. Okay, he was cool. He slowly hauled himself out of his bed and shrugged on one of Dudley’s old T-shirts and a pair of jeans. Then the only-half-awake sixteen-year-old stumbled down the stairs and into the dining room. This time, he was early; Snape had not yet arrived. He sat down at the seat he had been in the night before and glanced around the room, bored. The room wasn’t richly decorated, but that doesn’t seem like Snape’s type, Harry thought. The walls were a nice cream color, pleasantly contrasting with the almost black mahogany table and the chairs with forest green cushions. There were a few portraits hanging on the wall. One man who looked as if he could be Professor Snape’s father, a little girl who looked a lot like Severus, and a man holding a snake. Quite suddenly, Harry heard faint footsteps.

He turned to see Professor Snape, standing in the doorway watching him. “My father,” he said, pointing at the first portrait Harry had looked at. “My little sister,” he pointed at the second portrait. “The Dark Lord killed her when I was seventeen. She was nine. The last one is Salazar Slytherin.” Harry nodded and Snape said, “Then let’s eat,” and snapped his fingers, sitting down at the head of the table. A minute later, Binky appeared, set the food on the table, and disappeared again. Harry served himself some kippers, toast, and porridge, then began to devour his breakfast. Severus nibbled at a piece of toast, had a few spoonfuls of porridge, and sipped at his coffee, still looking grumpy about the night before.

Harry, not daring to ask what Dumbledore had said, quietly finished eating, then waited in his chair for Professor Snape to speak.

After a few minutes, Severus said, “We’ll be going to buy your school things today. I see no reason to wait, and we need potion supplies anyway. I’ll need your help getting all the supplies for my classes this year, and you need an adult to take you to get your things. Once we get everything, we’ll be flooing into Hogwarts so we can put it all away. I hope this will leave some time in the evening to practice Occlumency. We will be flooing to Diagon alley; if you wish, you may go put on robes.” He glanced at Harry questioningly.

“No, thank you,” the teenager muttered.

Snape nodded. About ten minutes later, Harry was brushing ash off his shirt in the Leaky Cauldron, and Snape was looking disgruntled by everyone staring eagerly at the “Boy-Who-Lived.” He curtly nodded to Tom, the bartender, and led Harry through the back door to the familiar brick wall. Severus tapped the wall with his wand, and it quickly opened so they could pass through. The pair was silent as they walked to Gringotts, Snape looking as though he was expecting something to happen. When they got to the counter, Professor Snape handed a goblin the tiny golden key and said, “Harry Potter’s vault please.”

A second later, he was grimacing as the headgoblin appeared, bowed, and began to lead them to his office. “I thought so,” Severus muttered darkly.

“What?” Harry asked, confused.

“They’ll have to transfer Black’s money into your vault, plus you’re sixteen now, so you’ll be getting your full inheritance. And don’t say “What.” It’s rude.”

“What? I’ve already got my full inheritance- Hagrid brought me here in first year- he never mentioned anymore.”

“You have not gotten everything, Mr. Potter,” the goblin interrupted. “Please, if you’ll have a seat, I will explain your new sum and then take you down to your new vault.”

Harry sat down in the cushy burgundy armchair that the goblin gestured to. Severus stood behind him, leaning slightly on the back of his chair.

“With the death of Sirius Black,” the goblin began, “you received half of the entire Black inheritance, being one of the two heirs named. It is quite a considerable sum, totaling up to 113,000 Galleons. James Potter’s will requested that you receive your inheritance at the age of sixteen if he died. That added to the amount Lily Potter saved for you adds up to 200, 000 Galleons. And there are still 18,000 Galleons in your first vault.”

Harry stared at the goblin in awe. “That’s all mine?”

“There’s more,” the goblin said with something Harry thought was a smile smeared on his face. “There was a third inheritance activated on your birthday. It is for 450,000 Galleons.”

“But who? I haven’t got any other family or anything.”

The goblin glanced at Severus, and then said, ‘The source was anonymous. Would you like to go to your vault now, Mr. Potter?”

Harry nodded dumbly and stood to follow the goblin. Insane, he thought. Completely insane. Who would give him 450,000 Galleons? Not the Dursleys, that was for sure. He was abruptly pulled out of thought by Snape pushing him into one of Gringott’s crazy carts. The goblin hopped in after them and the cart started with a shudder. Soon they were rattling through tunnels at breakneck speed. Harry recognized his own vault, but they sped right past it and went even deeper into Gringotts. After about ten more minutes, Harry felt a growing heat and the cart swept past a huge dragon.

“So Hagrid was right,” Harry muttered in slight awe.

“Yes, he was,” Severus replied. “Now would you mind stepping out of the cart?” Harry flushed when he realized they had reached his vault.

“Sorry, sir,” he murmured, slipping out to stand before a silver door with runes etched along the edges.

“Here is your new key, Mr. Potter,” the goblin said, handing him a small silver key with the same runes as the door on it. “Only you can use it, or someone with your permission, or, of course, a Gringotts goblin. And also a bag for your gold. It can hold as much as you wish and still feel weightless.”

The goblin pulled a small black velvet bag out of his pocket and handed it to Harry.

Harry took a hesitant step forward and pushed the key into its hole. There was a faint click, and his hand felt warm, then the door swung open. Harry had thought his old vault was huge, but this one was many times its size. He knelt and scooped several handfuls of gold into his bag, which he then pulled closed and shoved into his pocket. The cart ride back seemed much shorter, and it seemed that he was blinking in the dazzling sunlight in no time.

“Come along, Mr. Potter,” Severus said, appearing behind him. “I have your booklist; we need to go to Flourish and Blotts before it gets crowded.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry replied, obediently following his tutor back down the cobbled path towards Flourish and Blotts. They pushed through the crowd and entered the bookstore with a tinkle of the bell on the door. Professor Snape made his way up to the counter, where a young woman with blonde hair in two braids sat.

“How may I help you, sir?” she asked him in a cheery, eager voice.

Professor Snape scowled slightly and handed her Harry’s booklist. “Please find all these books for me. I shall return to get them in fifteen minutes.”

The woman nervously nodded, her smile quavering, and scuttled off among the shelves. Severus wandered off into the Potions section, and Harry slipped into the Dueling Section. He scanned the titles, looking for something interesting. Curses Dark But Not Black caught his eye. He flipped open the blood red leather cover and began to read. Completely immersed in it, he did not notice Severus’ presence until he heard a slight cough behind him. He immediately whirled around, clutching his wand in his pocket.

Snape raised an eyebrow. “Nice reflexes, Mr. Potter.” He glanced at the book in Harry’s hands. “Interesting choice. The saleswoman is waiting for you to pay.”

Harry nodded and walked over to the counter, where the young lady was putting his books into a bag.

“This one too,” he said lightly, placing the book he had chosen on the counter.

The woman glanced at the book then at Harry’s scar and said, “That adds up to sixty-one Galleons.”

Harry handed her the money and took his books, murmuring, “Thank you.” Then he stepped aside so Snape could pay for the books he had selected.

Once they were outside in the Alley, Professor Snape checked Harry’s list again. “You need potions ingredients, but I wanted to do those last. You also need dress robes if you don’t have them already. Is there anything else you need to purchase, Mr. Potter?”

“I need more robes, and a cloak, sir. My old ones are too short. Same for my dress robes.”

Severus nodded and silently paced away towards Madam Malkin’s. Harry quickly followed, his footfalls seeming thunderous compared to Snape’s. “He has to teach me to walk like that,” Harry hissed, not noticing Severus’ smirk at this statement. They glided into the store, and Harry glanced around to see if there were any Hogwarts students. He noticed a few tiny kids being fitted that looked as though they might be first years and smiled at them. They smiled shyly back, and one or two of the braver ones waved. Severus scowled slightly and directed Harry to the very back of the shop, where they found a few assistants standing by the back room, gossiping. Professor Snape cleared his throat and one of the teenage girls said good-bye to her friends and came over to help.

“What are we looking for today, sir?” she asked Harry politely.

“New Hogwarts robes, please. And new dress robes. And also a cloak.”

The girl nodded and led Harry down a row of cloth bolts. “Any ideas for color in the cloak and dress robes?”

“Black and green.”

“This one could do nicely,” she said, selecting a deep green fabric that exactly matched Harry’s eyes. She glanced at him questioningly, and when Harry nodded, pulled it off the shelf. “And for the cloak, a heavier fabric,” she murmured. Soon she pointed to another bolt, this time a pure black one that looked silky but thick. “Will this one do for you, sir?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Severus nodded with a small smirk at Harry’s appropriate response. Then the girl pulled off another bolt of black for the regular Hogwarts robes. “We’ll do these first,” she said, unrolling the fabric and pinning it up around him. Soon she had fashioned him robes of the proper length, and quickly sewed the seams with a wave of her wand. “You want your house crest?”

“Please. Gryffindor.”

The women made it appear on the robe with a little jerk of her wand, then quickly duplicated the robe twice more for Harry. Then she folded them up and set them aside, picking up the green cloth. She made the dress robes as fast as the Hogwarts ones and then unrolled the heavy fabric for Harry’s cloak. “Ah, shit,” she hissed as she pricked herself. “I mean shoot,” she quickly corrected at Professor Snape’s glare.

Soon after that little incident, Harry’s robes were in a bag and he had paid the girl a hundred Galleons for his robes. Severus led him back down the alley towards a small corner shop with a sign that said “Potion Making Supplies” in spidery letters.

Once inside, Harry looked around curiously. “What do we need here, sir? I thought all we had left was potions ingredients.” Severus examined a sharp scalpel and then turned to reply.

“I forgot to mention- you also need your own mortar and pestle and a small silver cauldron. Marble for the mortar and pestle, Mr. Potter,” he added when he noticed Harry fingering a gold set. Harry scowled slightly but nodded.

A thin man with stone gray eyes and blonde hair appeared, saying, “I believe these would work satisfactorily, Severus,” and producing a black marble mortar and pestle and a 7 inch silver cauldron.

Snape looked at the man, and then smiled faintly. “Why thank you Jerome. I didn’t know you were back in town.”

“Have been for about a week. The French kicked me out of their country. Said I was despicable after I used my wand to make one of those French soldiers smile.”

“Glad to see someone’s discovered your true character,” Severus answered. “We should discuss- business- later,” he said softly. Then he got even quieter. “The old crowd’s back together. My old friends,” he hissed slightly, “are still on the other way.”

The man, Jerome, nodded slightly, murmuring, “I see. Thought so. I’ll floo you tomorrow, if that’s alright for you. Where are you staying nowadays?”

“The manor. Thanks, Jerome.” He took the supplies from Jerome’s hands and pulled Harry out of the shop.

“Why didn’t we pay, sir?” Harry asked, unable to stifle his burning curiosity.

“An old friend. It was his way of saying he’s on our side. Jerome was very valuable in the first war, even though he wasn’t in the Order,” Snape explained in low tones. “He watched the ministry, looked out for moles in the Order. He left after James and Lily died. Couldn’t forgive himself for not catching the mole. He was very close to them, Lily especially. That’s how I got to know- never mind. Come along, we’re going to Knockturn Alley. They’ve got the best potions ingredients- and the cheapest- around.”

Harry followed, but he felt cheated somehow, as if Snape had been about to tell him something very important, something that involved him. This thought was interrupted by Severus turning to him and hissing, “Keep up, Mr. Potter. If I turn around and you’re missing, you will not be very happy once I find you.”

Harry nodded, muttering an apology, and then kept close to Snape’s prowling figure. The crowd here wasn’t made up of polite witches and wizards, and Harry had to shove his way through to keep up. Finally they stepped inside a shop as gloomy as the street outside. Harry looked around as Snape talked to the man at the counter. The smell in here was pretty bad, and after looking around at the things, and spotting something that looked mysteriously like human skin in a jar, Harry thought he knew why. Harry scowled at a tray of fingernails; each one was labeled either “male” or “female.” After a few minutes, Professor Snape came over, looking satisfied. “Come on,” he said. “I managed to convince him to get everything for us while we ate lunch.”

Harry followed Severus back out of Knockturn Alley, feeling slightly annoyed. He had been following his tutor around all morning, and he still didn’t know what had happened last night. He squared his shoulders and began steeling himself to ask Professor Snape during lunch. Where were they going for lunch anyway? Leaky Cauldron, he quickly discovered as he was led into the dark pub. Severus found them a table in the corner and waved Tom over.

“What do you want to eat, Mr. Potter?” Severus asked politely.

“Chicken pasta, please,” Harry quickly decided, telling Tom his order.

Tom nodded and turned to Severus, who scowled at the friendly grin on the bartender’s face. “Bean soup. And a butterbeer for each of us.”

“Accio two butterbeers,” Tom said, pointing his wand at the shelves behind the bar. Two bottles zoomed over, and Tom said, “Here you go; the food’ll be here in a minute,” and left.

Harry and Severus were silent as they waited for the food to come. After a few awkward moments, there was a small pop and their food appeared with a pop on the table before them. Harry, who was starving, eagerly dug into his pasta, savoring the creamy sauce. Snape stirred his soup with a wrinkled nose and reluctantly tasted a spoonful. By the time Snape had had a few spoonfuls of soup and a sip of butterbeer, Harry was halfway through his dish. Harry swallowed another noodle and then looked speculatively at Professor Snape.

“Why aren’t you eating anything, sir?”

Snape stiffly said, “I fail to see how that is any of your concern, Mr. Potter.”

“Harry.”

“Excuse me?” Snape raised an eyebrow.

“Harry. Call me Harry, please, sir.”

“I cannot, Mr. Potter. That would suggest favoritism.”

“Term hasn’t started yet. Besides, we’re in private.” Harry found himself looking pleadingly at his tutor. He didn’t know why it was such a big deal; he just felt like it was the right thing to say somehow.

“Alright, Mr.- Harry. And you may call me Severus.”

Harry beamed. “So, Severus, are you not eating because you’re still angry about last night, or because the soup tastes bad?”

Snape had the grace to look confused. “I was not angry last night, and I am not angry now, Harry.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “You are too. C’mon, what did Dumbledore say.”

“Professor Dumbledore said nothing.”

Harry merely rose an eyebrow and leaned back in his seat. “Oh, really?” he said sarcastically, glancing at his wrist to mime checking what time it was.

“Fine,” Snape hissed. “He was doubting my ability to take care of you. Despite the fact that I care for hundreds of students your age and younger throughout the school year. And also despite the fact that you’re sixteen, and hardly need some coddling woman hovering over you. I at least realize that you’ve grown up some since last year, but I think I’m the only one.”

“Now then, I’ll go pay the bill and then we’ll be going, if you’re done.”

“I am.”

Severus took one last swallow of butterbeer and then glided over to the counter. He spoke with Tom for a moment, sneer firmly in place, and handed him some gold. Then he returned, saying, “Let’s go,” and then they started off back to Diagon Alley.

After a touch of walking, Severus and Harry reentered the Potions shop in Knockturn Alley. The man at the counter was looking very disgruntled. Snape eyed the seven boxes before him, and turned to the man. “How much?” he asked softly.

“162 Galleons and four Sickles.”

Snape handed over a small purse of gold and began shrinking boxes. “Here,” he said, handing three of the shrunk boxes to Harry. “Carry them in your pocket. I’ll shrink your other stuff too.” He quickly did, reducing the load in Harry’s arms to a small lump in his pocket.

They quickly left the shop and Knockturn Alley. Then, right on the edge of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, Harry spotted the Weasley twins’ shop, ‘Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.’ He turned to Snape pleadingly, but before he could even ask, Severus sighed and said, “Go on. But do be quick, please. I’ll wait outside.”

Harry shot inside like a bullet and quickly made his way to the counter where Fred and George stood, talking to a Hogwarts student Harry recognized as a third year Ravenclaw. Once she had walked off, Fred and George had saw Harry and exclaimed in delight.

“Harry!” -he thought it was Fred, but maybe George- called, vaulting right over the counter.

Fred- though it could be George- stuck out his hand and shook Harry’s hard. “How’re you doing, mate? Ron and Hermione are delightfully pissed at you, you know. Something Remus said about Snape being your tutor got them mad right quick.”

George- he thought it was George- shook his head sorrowfully and added, “They seem to think it’s an insult that you didn’t write them the second he stepped in the door.”

“And then Dumbledore wrote something about you being at Snape’s manor, and it all went downhill from there.”

George grinned as he concluded, “So, how’s our darling Professor Snape doing?”

Harry smiled slightly. The twins had never been very judgmental; they could take just about anything in a stride. “He’s actually not that bad, really,” Harry said, chuckling at their exaggerated looks of shock and amazement. “Really and truly, you two. If you respect him, he’ll respect you. And he’s gonna teach me Potions so I can take the advanced class this year for Auror training, you know.”

“Speaking of school,” one twin said.

“We took the N.E.W.T.’s,” the second finished.

“Really?” Harry said, surprised. “When? And why?”

“Just a few days ago,” George replied. “Thought we’d do it for Mum. Oh and we also got new premises at Hogsmeade. Booming business, you know. We reckon we’re topping Zonko’s in sales. Plus, that way we can keep an eye on you youngins.”

Harry laughed. “Youngins? What the hell?”

“American expression,” Fred muttered.

“Well, I was just stopping by,” Harry said reluctantly. “I don’t want to annoy Severus.”

“Severus?!?” both twins said, shocked.

“Yup,” Harry grinned. “And he even calls me Harry now. It started today at lunch. Improvement, eh?”

“I’ll say. Well, bye,” Fred said, “You better visit us at Hogsmeade!”

“And you can buy something then too,” George added. “See you!”

“Bye you two,” and Harry walked out of the shop. “Hello Severus.”

The man stood straight from where he was leaning against a pole and smiled slightly. “Hello Harry. Ready to go, then?”

“Yes, sir.”

The pair walked on down the Alley. They had just passed Gringotts when Harry saw Severus go tense.

“Shit,” the older man muttered, looking farther down the Alley.

Harry looked too, and saw Mundungus, hurrying towards them, looking worried.

“Severus,” he hissed as he reached the pair. “Something terrible’s happened.”