Harry flicked another bit of ash off his shoulder and watched Severus step out of the fireplace.

“Nice trip, Sev?” he asked, smirking.

“What did you call me?” Severus snarled.

“Nothing. Will you un-shrink my stuff, please?”

“Take it upstairs first,” Snape said gruffly. “It’ll make carrying it easier.”

Harry flushed slightly. “Oh. Thanks.”

They walked up to Harry’s room, the comfortable silence broken by the groaning of the ancient stairs. Outside Harry’s door, Severus waved his wand at the lump in the teenager’s hand. It rapidly grew and he rushed inside his room to dump it on his bed, calling, “Thanks Severus,” over his shoulder.

When he turned away from his bed, a tiny owl zoomed over to him, screeching loudly.

“Pig?” he said. “Calm down! Give me the letter, you stupid bird!”

He didn’t get a response from the obviously excited owl, so he ripped the roll of parchment from the owl’s claw when it swooped low enough.

Harry,

HOW COME YOU DIDN’T TELL US ABOUT SNAPE? We found out from FRED AND GEORGE, when we OVERHEARD them telling Lupin about meeting you in Diagon Alley. WE’RE your BEST FRIENDS! And you told my BROTHERS before you told us! How can you willingly be staying with that oily git?!? Can’t you come here? We expect to hear from you soon.

Ron and Hermione

Harry sighed. They’d never understand. Well, Hermione might, but Ron wouldn’t. He pulled a piece of parchment and a quill and ink from his bag of new things and began to scrawl out a letter.

Ron and Hermione,

I’ve been staying with Professor Snape for a few days now, and it’s actually not too awful. He makes me do a lot of work, like Occlumency and Potions and stuff, and he’s rather strict, but Dumbledore’s making me stay with him, and as the Dursley’s are dead now, I suppose I should listen to Dumbledore. I’ve finished my schoolwork, and I’m fixing some things for my Potions assignments with all the stuff I’ve learned. As you obviously know, I went to Diagon Alley, and I got my “inheritance” at Gringotts. I was surprised...I thought the money was done coming. I got another fortune from my parents, and some stuff from Sirius, and an anonymous crapload. I guess I’ll figure it out in time. I’m going to end this here; I have a lot of work to do. I’ll see you in a few days, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t write me so I can get some stuff done, and we’ll be able to talk face-to-face soon.

-Harry

Then he rolled his parchment up and handed it to Pig. The owl screeched one last time and then flew off through the door. Harry sighed. Ron would try to write him; he just knew it. “Severus?” he said, tapping on the man’s bedroom door. “Severus, I need to ask you something.”

A moment later, the dark man appeared. “You called?” he said sarcastically.

Harry rolled his eyes. “I need to know how to ward the owl entrance so someone can’t write me letters.”

Snape peered down on him and one eyebrow rose delicately. “And why would you need to know such a thing?” He asked, curiosity evident in his voice.

“Because they’re annoying me and I don’t want them to write me anymore?” Harry said hesitantly.

“Very well,” the teacher said after a moment’s pause. “Come downstairs, the owls enter through the kitchen window.”

A moment later, Severus was standing in front of the window, and instructing Harry on how to ward it. “Now, just say that three times, tapping the window with your wand at the end of each time, and then say whoever’s name once, very clearly.”

“Bindus piannez et vous je nom, bindus piannez et vous je nom, bindus piannez et vous je nom. Ron Weasley! Hermione Granger!”

Severus stared at him calculatingly. “Weasley and Granger? Thought they were your best friends?”

“They still are, I suppose. They’re just bugging me about living with you, and I know they won’t understand if I try to explain it in a letter, so now they can’t write to me, because that way I can just say it in person and not have all the trouble.”

“I see. Now, Harry, I know I said we were going to practice Occlumency once we got back, but seeing all the stressful events that took place today, perhaps we should wait until tomorrow.”

Harry nodded. “Right, sir. Just so you know, I have practiced. I don’t want anything to happen because of me again. I reckon I’m getting better at it.”

Severus nodded. “Good. Despite this, how about we wait and go brew some potions now? I need to brew some antidotes in case of crisis in the younger years’ potions classes. You can assist me. Once we have done a reasonable amount, I can set a potion that’s on your level for you to work on.”

“Alright, sounds good,” Harry said.

“It wasn’t a choice.” Severus said blandly.

Harry looked at him, eyebrows furrowed for a moment. “Oh.” Severus just smirked.

The tutor led the way to a door near the upwards staircase and swung it open with a slight squeak of the hinges. Harry followed, only to discover a dimly lit staircase going deeper into the house, probably underneath it. He followed Severus’ retreating form, somehow feeling that he wouldn’t want to be alone on the small landing looking down. Harry’s shirt sleeves slightly brushed the walls of the stairway, and he tried to draw himself in a bit tighter, small as he was already. Soon he smelled the familiar scent of an immaculate potions lab, a scent that he recognized from five years of potion-brewing under Snape’s instruction. Professor Snape was already busy in the lab, setting out cauldrons for them to use.

Severus glanced up at his entrance. “Harry, I’ve set out six cauldrons. Today we’re going to brew mainly simple potions, so you can watch two, and I’ll watch four. I wanted you to work on a Growing Potion and also one that removes boils. The instructions are here,” he handed the teenager two slips of parchment, “and you may ask if you have any questions. However, if you waste my time down here, you shall regret it.”

Harry nodded. “Yes sir, Severus.”

“Oh,” the tutor added over his shoulder as he made his way to his cauldrons, “the ingredients are over there. He waved a casual hand at a wall of shelves full of jars and tiny neat labels.

Harry stuck his hand into a jar and drew out a pinch of the thin grass roots. He carefully let them loose into the frothing potion, then quickly stirred them in before they could settle to the bottom of the cauldron.

“Perfect,” Snape said from right behind him.

Harry slowly pulled his stirring spoon out of the potion and then spun around. “Don’t do that, Severus!”

“And why ever not, Mr. Potter?” he returned, smirking. “And you need to take your growing potion off the heat before it explodes.”

Harry whirled back around and snatched his second potion off the magical fire, which immediately dispelled.

“Fuck,” he hissed as he jerked his hand away from the hot handle of the cauldron.

“Language, Harry,” Professor Snape reprimanded, looking up from where he had been adding leaves to one of his potions. “Use a cooling charm for that hand,” he added, immediately seeing what had happened. “Quick, before it blisters! Here, I’ll do it,” Severus hissed, gliding over to Harry and murmuring a rapid cooling charm.

“Thanks,” Harry murmured sheepishly, staring at his hand. It still felt slightly warm, and there was a faint red line where the hot handle had burned him.

“Next time put a cooling charm on the handle before you pick it up,” Snape advised. He looked at the potions critically down his hooked nose. “Passable,” he sneered slightly.

Harry gave a small smile in return. “Thanks. Coming from you, that’s a compliment.”

Severus scowled. “I don’t compliment Gryffindors.”

Harry nodded, now grinning. “Exactly.” Turning so Snape could smile without being seen, he eyed his potions. “Do you want me to bottle them, Professor?”

“Please. The bottles are underneath the bottom shelf. I need to add a few more things to my four and then they’ll be ready to go. Oh, and wear these just in case.” Severus put his hand into his deep pocket and pulled out a pair of dragon hide gloves.

Harry slipped them on, saying, “Thanks,” and strode over towards the shelves to get the jars. He carried a box of them back, not knowing how many he’d need. In a few minutes, he was carefully ladling equal portions of the liquid into each crystal jar and then screwing the top on. “Where do I put all these?” Harry asked Snape, gesturing at all the jars.

“Over there,” Severus pointed at a second wall of shelves, this one full of potions glinting in their jars. Harry levitated the jars with Growing Potion in them and walked over to the shelves, scanning the labels to find the “G” section. Once he found it, he used his wand to put the jars on the shelf. Then he did the same with the second set of jars. By this time, Professor Snape had finished his potions and was using a tricky little charm to make each one leave its cauldron and divide in midair to get into separate jars. Then he waved his wand at the jars and they each drifted over to their place on the shelves.

“Show-off,” Harry taunted.

Snape raised one eyebrow. “And?”

Harry just shook his head. “Okay, what do we do now?”

Professor Snape’s eyes glittered as he replied, “Experimental potions.”

Harry stared at Professor Snape like a deer in headlights. “We’re going to do what?”

“Experimental potions. Means we take familiar potions and change them slightly and see what the results are. What shall be the most difficult about it is that we’ll be doing a harder potion, the Dreamless Sleep Potion. You’ve never done this one, so it’ll be a bit of a double lesson, and a longer one than usual.” Harry nodded. “I’ll be helping you.”

“And who will we be testing it on?”

“I won’t tell you the answer to that question,” Severus replied, smiling nastily.

“That’s reassuring,” Harry said dryly.

Severus stared at Harry for a moment, seeming to examine his face. After a few seconds he blinked and answered, “Isn’t it though?” as if he had never paused. “Here, the recipe for the Dreamless Sleep Potion.”

Harry nodded and looked at Professor Snape. “Are you alright, sir?” he asked, as the man suddenly seemed paler than usual.

The potions master scowled and said, “I am fine, Mr. Potter; now gather the ingredients needed for the potion.”

Harry nodded and obediently seized the potions recipe from the table and rushed off to get the required jars. When he came back, Severus looked completely normal and was lighting a fire underneath the cauldron he had cleaned out from Harry’s last potion.

“Are you ready to begin?” he asked cordially.

“Why not? Do you want me to prepare all the ingredients first or not?”

“Go ahead and get them done; it makes for a more efficient brewing. I can help as well.”

Harry nodded, but could not hide his surprise. Snape carefully ignored it. “You wanna grind the scarab beetles and I’ll chop the witch’s hair roots?”

“I don’t wanna do anything. I would not mind grinding scarab beetles. Grammar is important in civilized societies, believe it or not, Harry.”

Harry nodded. “You could of just said yes,” he replied, and pulled the roots and a knife towards himself. “How small?”

“Quarter inch,” Professor Snape answered without thinking as he began grinding beetles.

“So how does Remus know you have this place if it’s so private?”

“Lupin knows because Dumbledore told him,” Severus snarled. “He seemed to think it was okay to blab the information everywhere, though fortunately I stopped him after telling only one person, which was, of course, the wolf.” He rose a hand when Harry was about to protest. “I know he’s your friend. But I don’t trust him. I wanted to Memory Charm him, but Dumbledore said no, plus werewolves have a resistance to a lot of magic like that.”

Harry nodded, deciding not to argue, and began to grind chamomile with the mortar and pestle that Severus had just finished with.

“Why is it so private anyway?” Harry asked.

“Because I don’t like to flaunt my money like the Malfoy’s. Also, if no one knows about this, it’s completely safe. The Dark Lord couldn’t find it, if I had to hide from him. The Ministry doesn’t know it exists; it doesn’t show up on the floo system, and you can’t track magic here. It’s unplottable, and cursed against Muggles. I’m the only one who can get to it. Of course people could floo to it if they knew it existed, like Jerome is tomorrow. But unless they had my permission, they couldn’t actually enter the manor, only their head. Ready to start brewing?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Do you know the spell to fill a cauldron halfway with water?”

“No, in class you always just told us to get it from the faucet.”

“I’ll teach it to you. Get out your wand. Wiggle it like a “W” and mutter “Watero,” then do a sort of jabbing motion towards the cauldron. You try it.”

Harry looked at Severus oddly, curious about why he was being so helpful, then tried the charm as he was told. Water jetted out of his wand and quickly filled the cauldron, where it came to a boil in seconds. “Okay, and then I put in the chamomile mixed with the scarab beetles first, right?”

Severus nodded and watched the teenager carefully pour the bowl into the bubbling water. “Now stir it slowly three times counter clockwise.”

Harry did, and then glanced at the instructions in the book. “Add the angelica,” he murmured, and did so, stirring it in rapidly as the book ordered. As Harry was stirring, Severus gently took his stirring hand and guided the spoon so it stirred more around the outside than the middle of the cauldron. When Harry chanced a glance at the man, Severus pulled his hands away and quickly explained, “That way it moves the entire mixture and it all comes together evenly. You should always stir around the outside unless the instructions say differently. You keep stirring, I’ll add the witch’s hair.” Harry nodded. Snape was acting odd, almost nice. It was a bit unnerving, really. “Move your spoon in a zigzag motion back and forth nine times for the witch’s hair. Quickly.” Harry jerked the spoon back and forth and giggled at the slight splashing there was on the sides of the cauldron. He had never thought the making of a Dreamless Sleep Potion would involve splashing. “Okay, stop. We have to wait ten minutes now for the witch’s hair to soak. You may sit on one of the tables.”

Harry eased himself on the smooth wooden table and looked around the room. It looked nicer than the potions classroom at Hogwarts, but that was only to be expected, as this was Severus’ personal lab. There were only four tables, all like the one he and Severus were sitting on. Harry picked at a loose thread on the edge of his shirt. He didn’t know what to say, or even if he should say anything.

“How long have you been brewing potions?” He asked eventually.

“Since I was nine. Why?”

“Just curious. And bored.”

“How very Gryffindoric,” Severus said dryly. “You always get bored in seconds, do you, Mr. Potter?”

“No. Sometimes it takes a full minute.” Harry smirked. Snape rubbed his mouth; Harry thought he might have been hiding a smile. “So do Slytherins never get bored then?”

“Not near so quickly. You should take times like these to observe unnoticed. Because boredom causes a wandering eye, and so does watchfulness. Get to know your surroundings, and the people you’re with.”

Harry grinned. “So would you like me to stare at you, Professor Snape?”

“No,” he answered firmly.

“Then don’t tell me to.”

“I’ll keep your stupidity in mind next time I suggest something.”

Harry couldn’t think of a suitable reply, so he merely resorted to immaturity and stuck out his tongue.

“That’s mature.”

“So I’ve been told. It’s been ten minutes.”

“Add the salamander blood.”

Harry pushed himself off the table and searched the jars for the salamander blood. When he found it, he used a small spoon to dribble a bit into the potion. When he rose his ladle to stir it in, Severus shook his head.

“Don’t stir it. It’s more potent if it spreads on its own.”

“But how will it spread through the whole potion that way?”

“Because of the magical properties of the salamander, even the blood will move around quickly if it’s in a hot substance.”

“Oh. What’s next?”

“You have your textbook, Harry. But I will till you. Nothing, you’re done. It has to simmer without the heat for quite a while. We can start on the experimental one now, if you like.”

“Okay. Can I ask a question?”

“If it’s not a stupid one, I don’t see why not.”

“Why are you teaching me experimental potions? That’s not O.W.L. level, and that’s what you’re covering with me, isn’t it?”

“It is going to be done in N.E.W.T. level potions, if, and only if, I decide the class can handle it. I think you can handle it.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“So what would you like to make the Dreamless Sleep Potion do?”

Harry thought for a moment. “Make a potion that gives you nightmares instead.”

Severus smirked. “How delightfully surprising. You’ll definitely have to manipulate some ingredients for that. Shall we begin?”