Harry sneaked away. It was the summer after his fourth year. School ended two weeks ago. There was so much on his mind; the return of Voldemort, the tournament, the death of Cedric, and his meetings with the Headmaster and Head of House. He felt that he was still in shock from what happened during the last challenge. Never in a million years did he think that his name would come out of the Goblet, let alone that he would even survive to make it to the end of the tournament. He didn't want to think about Cedric Diggory. Cedric should not have been dead. He should be enjoying his winnings with his family. Well, no, he's not. He was killed just for being in that graveyard.

Harry wandered down the street, not caring where he was going. He knew he was supposed to paint the fence and gate before his uncle got home, but with his thoughts going a mile a minute, he just didn't care about painting. Putting his hands in his pockets of his tattered, over-sized trousers, head bowed, he continued on his trek.

When he looked up, he saw he made it to the park at the end of the long street. Looking around he could remember coming out here the summer before his third year when he tried to run away. Looking around the small park now, he remembered seeing a black dog that night. Thinking of that dog, it made him miss his godfather all the more. He learned that it wasn't a dog after all, but his godfather just wanting to see him.

Harry walked over towards the swing and sat down, thinking what was Sirius doing? Was he safe? Did he even miss him? His mind went back to the last time he saw his godfather, Sirius.

He had just finished telling the Headmaster what happened at the graveyard. He remembered a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it. Harry remembered that he didn't realize that there were more people in that office until Professor Dumbledore pointed it out. Not only was Sirius there, but Professors McGonagall and Snape. Why Snape was there, Harry had no clue, and he didn't even give it a second thought.

Harry sat on the swing; his shoulders slumped in between the chains. He was slightly rocking it back and forth, not really to gain momentum but just to give himself something to do. Sighing, Harry wished that his fourth year never happened. Maybe if he didn't try and fight so much to go back to school, he wouldn't have been forced into that tournament. If he didn't go back, Cedric would still be alive. Thinking over the past school year, Harry wondered was there anything good that happened. Stretching his leg so that he could reach into his pocket without having to get up, he pulled out an old coin. A small smile curved at the corner of his mouth when he remembered his talk with Professor McGonagall just before he left for the train.

"How are you doing, Harry?" Minerva asked when Harry sat down in the chair across from her desk.

"I'm fine," Harry said, sounding detached.

"I'm sure," Minerva replied, shaking her head. She could tell that what happened at the end of the tournament was still weighing heavily on his mind.

"How are things at home?" Minerva asked after a moment.

The question caught Harry so off guard that his head that was lowered popped up and looked at his Head of House. He was so stunned by the question that he didn't have a reply.

"Harry," Minerva said. "I want to give you something." She rummaged through her desk until she found what she was looking for. She held out her hand.

Harry took it and looked at the small circular object. It was an old coin. It seemed very rare.

"This is really nice, Professor," Harry said, looking at the coin.

"Yes," Minerva nodded. "I want you to hold on to that. Keep it with you at all times."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now, off you go. The carriages will be leaving soon."

"Thank you, Professor."

Harry, putting the coin in his pocket, left out of the office.

Looking at the coin, Harry didn't notice that he was no longer alone in the park. Five boys were walking up towards him.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here."

Harry looked up at the sound of the voice, gripping the coin in his hand in an attempt to hide it from his cousin. Dudley was standing across from him while his friends stood even out on each side of Dudley. Harry really didn't want to deal with Dudley or his gang of friends right now. Actually, he didn't want to see them at all.

"Why are you here?" Dudley asked.

"Leave me alone," Harry said. "I don't want any trouble."

"Well, too bad," Piers said, who was standing next to Dudley on his left. "You found it, pretty boy."

"I fancy a chase," Donovan said who was standing closer towards Harry but on his right. "I'll even be sporting about it. I'll give you a two-minute start."

Usually, when they said that, Harry would automatically take off running. He learned early on that when they gave him a running start; it was wise to take it. But today, he didn't care. He didn't care what Dudley and his gang were going to do. Deep down, even if he didn't want to honestly admit it to himself, he felt that he deserved whatever Dudley and his friends did to him.

"You're letting your two minutes run out," Donovan said when he saw that Harry didn't move.

Harry slowly stood up, putting the coin in his pocket at the same time. He didn't care what they did to him, but he did not want to lose that coin. Piers walked over towards Harry until he was only inches away from his face.

"You want to buck, pretty boy?" Piers jeered.

Harry looked at the boy who was now invading his personal space. Out of all five of the boys that Dudley hung out with, he was the only one that Harry hated the most. He didn't like how close he would get to him. Piers made Harry feel very uncomfortable.

"You should have taken the head start." Harry could hear one of the other boys' behind them. He knew he was in for a world of hurt, but deep down, he honestly didn't care.

_0000_0000_000_000

Minerva was walking back to her chambers. She had just left the Head of House meeting with Pamona, Filius, and Severus. Surprisingly, it wasn't a long meeting. They just discussed small changes that were going to be implemented. They would all take an active roll in watching not only the students but also the teachers. Neither one wanted another incident in having several students placed in danger.

Walking into her chambers, she was met by Severus.

"I would have thought that you would hold yourself up in your laboratory," Minerva said, smirking.

Severus didn't respond. He knew she was teasing, and he didn't want to deal with it at the moment.

"Did you know?" Severus asked. His voice low and smooth not giving any hint to how he was genuinely feeling.

"Did I know what?"

"I was denied again," Severus said, sitting down in one of Minerva's straight back chairs.

Minerva sighed as she took off her outer robes, hanging them up on the back of her other chair. She knew. She was with Albus when he got the floo call about the new Defense Professor.

"Yes," Minerva sighed, sitting down in her chair. "I knew."

"And telling me didn't cross your mind."

"It wasn't my place to tell you."

"Rubbish," Severus exclaimed, as he stood up and began to pace. "You're the Deputy Headmistress. If it's not your place, then who's, is it? I don't even get the decency of being told face to face. I get a letter."

"Severus," Minerva started but was cut off.

"A stuttering fool, a ponce, a werewolf, an impersonator, and now who?"

"Severus."

"Who?"

Minerva sighed. "Her name is Dolores Umbridge. She's the undersecretary to Minister Fudge."

Severus looked at Minerva and said nothing. He stood up and walked to the door.

"Severus, please, don't leave," she stopped him at the door. "Stay. Have some tea with me, like we used to."

"I'll be in my laboratory, mother," Severus said and walked out of the room.

"Don't stay cooped up in there all night," Minerva said, softly when the door closed. She knew how much Severus wanted the position of Defense Professor. She couldn't deny that he was an excellent duelist. He was second to Filius, but his potion skills just could not be matched. No one in London could excel Severus Snape in Potions. Thinking about that only made her more proud of her son, her adopted son.

Since she wasn't going to have tea with her son, as she hoped, she decided to do a little paperwork. She needed to get the grades out for her students and then get the first year's letters started so that they could be sent out.

Severus walked into his laboratory, and he instantly felt calm. All the hatred he was feeling for again not being the Defense Professor just seem to vanish. There was a sense of peace that no one seemed to understand when it came to crushing, chopping, scraping, boiling, temping, stirring, looking into a cauldron and watching your work become a work of art. Pulling his wand from its holster, Severus levitated three kettles over to their respective burners. Since he'd already finished working on replenishing the Infirmary, he decided to work on his own potion that would improve the side effects to the Wolfsbane.

He was in the middle of grounding down monkshood root when he heard it. It was a ringing that was so intense he could feel the ringing. Dropping the pedestal, Severus walked out of his laboratory and into his office, where the ringing only intensified. When he made it over to his desk, and after a short time of searching, he found what was causing the noise. Looking down at the object in his hand, he could feel his blood run cold. He knew how these coins worked, and he knew who had the sister coin. Rushing back into his laboratory, Severus waved his wand over the area, forming a status charm so that he wouldn't lose what he'd already started on, ran out of his laboratory and to where he knew where the sister was.

Minerva was so enthralled in what she was doing when her chamber door burst open it startled her so severely that she knocked over her inkwell, smashing it onto the floor. A shriek escaped passed her lips when she heard the door slam against the adjacent wall.

Severus was never one to show his emotions on his face, but hearing that coin go off, he had no idea what he would find when he got to her. He was shocked to see that Minerva was sitting behind her desk.

"Severus, what is the meaning of this?"

Not being able to find his voice at the moment, he just walked into the room, holding out his hand. Minerva was about to ask again but stopped when she saw the glowing green coin in her son's hand. Quickly getting out of her chair, she walked over to Severus.

"Harry," Minerva whispered.

"Potter," Severus growled, finally finding his voice. "Why does Potter have your coin?"

"I gave it to him," Minerva said, taking the coin out of Severus' hand, walking back to her desk.

"Why?"

Minerva didn't answer him, she just turned and faced him. "You've got to go check on him?"

"What? I will not."

"Severus, please," Minerva pleaded. "You didn't see his face on the last day. I did. I fear he may hurt himself. That's why I gave him my coin. Please, Severus, go and check on him."

The Potions Master didn't want to have to see the Potter brat during his time of peace. Summer was the only time he didn't have to see that boy. Looking into his mother's eyes, he knew there was no way around it; he was going to Little Whining. He took a deep breath, holding it, and letting the air release from his lungs slowly. He knew he was going to have to gather up all his strength to see first hand how spoiled Harry Potter was. He dipped his head in a single nod, letting his mother know that he agreed to check on the boy.

"Thank you, Severus," Minerva said, smiling. "When you come back, we'll have tea together."

Severus turned and walked out of his mother's chamber and towards the front gate.

_0000_0000_000_000

Harry was running as fast as his feet would take him. He was hurting, bad. He told himself that he didn't care if Dudley and his friends beat him, but it was getting to be too much. When he didn't run, the biggest one, Donovan, grabbed hold of Harry and would not let him go. The rest of the boys took turns hitting and punching and kicking Harry. When he finally was able to get out of Donovan's grasp, he collapsed on to the ground. The beating didn't stop because he was on the ground. It only intensified. One of them, Harry didn't know which one, stomped on his fingers, and then kicking him in the mouth. Another one kicked him in the ribs. That one took his breath away. He was resigned to accept his fate of hoping that they would end it right there, but for some reason, they stopped hitting him. When Harry looked up, he saw that they were gone. He looked around a saw no trace of them. Slowly, he stood up and started the long walk back towards the house. He didn't get out of the park good when he heard one of Dudley's friends yell, "He's getting away."

Harry started running. He didn't care where he was going; he just knew that he needed to get away. When he saw that he saw the tunnel, he ran for it. Harry could no longer hear those boys that were chasing him. He leaned against the wall of the tunnel and slid down until he was sitting down. He figured he should see how much damage they did. His glasses were barely on his face; when he pulled them off, he could see that the frame was on the verge of breaking. It was being held together by just a thin part of the wire from the rim. His hand that got stomped pressed against his chest. He figured that at least one of his fingers were broken. Harry sighed. When his breath left past his lips, he felt it. It was subtle at first, but it got more and more intense. Harry knew what was coming, having dealt with them in his third year. The first thing that came to his mind was why was he feeling like this. There shouldn't be Dementors in Surrey.

Before Harry could react to the fact that those vile creatures were in Surrey, a cold, claw-like hand gripped his neck and lifted him off the ground. Harry knew the spell that would repel a Dementor. His wand was in his back pocket. He could feel the cloaked creature sucking his happiness out of him, not that there was much anyway. His vision started to darken around the edges. It was becoming a welcome feeling. Harry almost smiled at the thought of it finally ending, and he would see his parents.

The last thing Harry heard before everything became dark, "Expecto Patronum!"

TBC