Undiscovered by Alexis18

Harry had been to Diagon Alley a few times before but that didn’t didn’t stop his amazement at the wizarding town. Evidence of magic was pretty much everywhere, small birds made of paper flapped through the air and a girl was blew bubbles that changed colour and smelled like lollies. Even the most dullest shops still had signs with animations explaining what they sold, like Potage's Cauldron Shop that had a picture of a cauldron exploding then reverting back to normal over and over again.

Snape didn’t seem impressed at all and instead carried on walking as if they had simply been in any other random street in London. He stopped when they reached the outside of the Apothecary and pulled out a small leather bag containing what Harry guessed to be galleons, sickles and knuts. He was surprised when Snape went to pass the bag to him.

“I will be attending to matters regarding our trip for a few hours. Go and get some clothes, I suggest you pick things that are warm, practicable and durable. I will join you later.”

Harry just nodded in agreement and took the bag. Snape moved inside the Apothecary and Harry was left alone on the cobblestone street.

He walked forwards taking his time to look in the windows of most the shops now that Snape had gone. He couldn’t help being tempted by Quality Quidditch Supplies and decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look.

The shop was filled with other kids his age as well as quite a few adults. One person in particular looked familiar and when Harry glimpsed their face he recognised him as none other than Seamus Finnigan. He was about to go over and say hi when he remembered the glamour. Seamus would certainly not recognise him and he didn’t think Snape would approve of him blowing his cover just to talk to a friend.

Instead he just inspected the products, amazed at what people had come up with to change Quidditch. He particularly liked the gloves with a strong sticking charm on them and the goggles that enhanced vision, he was sure both of them would come in handy as a seeker.

Regretfully he left and made his way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, a large clothing shop that had quite the variety of garments. As he walked in he was immediately accosted by a large women who had measuring tapes moving around her.

“Hello there! what’s your name young lad.”

“Ha…..Henry.” he cursed himself for the slip-up but apparently the women simply took it as him being shy. She smiled even more and shook his hand.

“I’m Georgie. Nice to meet you Henry. Now what will you be needing today?”

“Pretty much everything… except school and dress robes. Also I need clothes that are you know, practical and good for the cold.” She nodded vigorously and looked enthused at having such a large customer.

“Well Henry you’ve come to the perfect place, come along and we’ll get started.”

They walked into a small room and the measuring tapes that buzzed around Georgie jumped into action measuring his arms, legs, torso and head.

About two hours later he had a small stack of neatly folded clothes next to him. There were also two other larger stacks of rejected clothes. Although Snape had given him more than enough money to buy whatever he wanted, he didn’t like the idea of using too much of it. He stuck to clothes that were a reasonable price and passed on all the expensive fabrics Georgie had tried to sell him. He was satisfied that he had enough and joined Georgie at the counter to pay,

“It was very nice to meet you Henry, I’m sure you’ll be even more of a dashing youth in your new clothes. I hope to see you again sometime soon!” again there was the wide tooth grin as she smiled at him and he had to stop himself laughing at the prospect of her ‘seeing him again.’

He spent a few more minutes in the front display section looking through the expensive fabrics. The jingle of the bell alerted him to someones entering and he spun around to see who it was. He once again thought he was cursed with bad luck when it was clear that Draco Malfoy and his father had just entered. He was just about to try an make an escape before Draco noticed him.

“Hello, I don’t think I’ve see you around before. I’m Draco, Draco Malfoy.” Malfoy oozed confidence and superiority and Harry was tempted to not reply. Instead he spoke back with as much fake friendliness as he could muster.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Henry.” he hoped the short reply would deter Malfoy from further conversation but it seemed Malfoy was in the mood for a chat.

“What school do you attend?” He didn’t really know enough about other schools to bluff the answer so he decided to play it safe.

“Well this year I’ll be moving to Hogwarts.” Malfoy’s eyes lit up and he knew he’d made a mistake.

“Really? That’s were I go now. Stick we me and I’ll show you exactly how to get through school, if you have even an ounce of respectability you’ll be placed in Slytherin.” He was sorely tempted to argue against that but couldn’t without it looking suspicious. At that moment Lucius Malfoy made his way up to Draco and Harry.

“I see your making friends Draco, and who might you be young man.” He said it with enough intimidation that it felt like a test.

“I’m Henry,” He struggled for a second to come up with a last name and said the first thing that popped into his head. “Henry Woodboard.”

Lucius was about to say something else when the bell jingled once again and a figure clad in black entered. Harry wasn’t sure if he was worried or relieved that Snape had arrived. Snape of course took in the scene without a hint of surprise, only glancing very briefly at Harry. He inclined his head to Lucius politely who was now making his way to the door abandoning Harry for the moment.

“Ah Severus, it is good to see you. Shopping for anything in particular?”

Draco too had turned his attention to Snape and Harry took it as his opportunity to escape. He didn’t bother to pay attention to the rest of the conversation and slid outside holding a bag with his new clothes.

A few minutes later and Snape exited, shooting him a glare.

“You know talking to people who may blow your cover is a very poor way of staying unrecognised. It would not be good if Lucius were to find out who you are.”

Harry shot back his own glare, “Well I didn’t exactly have a choice, they approached me. It would’ve looked even more suspicious if I had ignored them.”

Snape seemed to let it go and turned his attention back to the street glancing briefly at the bag Harry carried,

“I take it you got everything you needed?”

“Yes,”

he took out the small leather bag that was now slightly lighter and passed it to Snape. Snape took it without comment and they made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

After once again being tossed out of the fireplace he bit his lip to keep from saying anything when the pain from his injuries being jostled him shot through him. He got up fast in an effort to make it look like nothing was wrong and was awarded when Snape simply glanced at him and walked towards the kitchen.

“You may do as you please, I will be in my potions lab. Send Polly if you have need of me.” he waved one hand demonstrating his dismissal of Harry.

However Harry had one question he’d been hanging onto for a while.

“Uh Sir, is there any way I could send a message to my friends?”

“What happened to your owl Potter.”

“She’s with Ron at the moment sir.” A quizzical expression came over Snape’s face, like he was trying to work something out, it vanished almost immediately.

“Alright then Potter, you will give your letters to me and I shall pass them onto Professor Dumbledore.”

What? why would Dumbledore give Ron and Hermione the letters? and did he really want to give them to Snape?

Apparently Snape sensed his reluctance because he rolled his eyes and said “Potter I would hardly like to spend my time going through the boring whiny correspondence between teenagers. Have no fear, your letters will not be read by me.”

That did make sense, he really couldn’t see Snape trying to eavesdrop on teenagers.

“Ok then Sir, thank you.”

Snape didn’t reply and Harry took his leave.

***

Then next few hours went quietly, something almost unusual for Harry. He felt as if he should be doing chores and trying to sneak food into his rooms. Instead Polly, Snape’s house elf took care of cleaning and cooking and there was no need to steal food.

When he walked into the kitchen an hour before dinner the small movements of pots and pans alerted him that someone else was there, he nearly drew his wand but stopped himself when he saw the distinctive large ears of a house elf.

“Hi uh, I’m Harry.”

The house elf saw him and squeaked loudly before retreating a few steps.

“Young master! I was not knowing you was there young master.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. It’s Polly right?”

“Yes sir, and you needn’t be apologising sir. Is young master be needing anything?”

“Uh no I’m good thanks.” he looked over at the large ordered mess across the kitchen.

“Would you like any help?” Sometimes he found he enjoyed cooking at the Dursleys, even with the terrible pressure of not burning anything and knowing that he would only be eating the left overs, if that.

Polly looked very uncomfortable by the mere suggestion of it

“No Master, Polly is quite good at cooking, young master need not interfere. Polly promises it will be to young masters liking.”

He realised it must’ve of come across as an insult and tried to rectify to the situation.

“I’m sure your cooking is amazing Polly, it’s uh, sometimes I enjoy cooking and maybe you’d like a little bit of a break?”

He was relieved when the house elf smiled widely and her ears perked up.

“I do not need a break young master, but if you is enjoying cooking then you shall cook! Shall Polly stay and help?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ve cooked roast pork quite alot.” not that he’d eaten it, he was given Dudley’s leftover carrots and broccoli if he was lucky and a slice of bread if he was not.

Polly simply beamed, “Young master be calling Polly if he needs anything.”

“Thanks Polly, will do.” He turned to start cutting the onions when Polly apparated away with a loud crack.

He spent the rest of the time cooking, cutting and crushing. He was nearly finished when Snape walked into the room. Snape raised one eyebrow at him in a questioning manor and Harry was glad the heat could account for the red in his cheeks.

“I see you’ve taken over food preparation, I do hope it’s not in an attempt to poison me.” He wasn’t completely sure if it was a joke or Snape actually meant it.

“Uh no Sir, I just normally cook for the Dursley’s.” If Snape was surprised he didn’t show it, instead he waved his hands and two plates along with knives and forks appeared.

“Judging by how incompetent you are at potions I can’t say I’m looking forward to this meal.”

angered by the words he was determined to prove Snape wrong and spent the last few minutes adding different seasonings and sauces to make it flavourful. It smelled great and he hoped it tasted just as good as he dished it out onto the plates Snape had conjured.

When he was done he remained in the kitchen out of habit, it was only when Snape glanced over at him that he remembered that he was allowed to eat as well.

“Am I to enjoy this meal by myself?”

“Uh no sir,” he made his was over to what was quickly becoming his seat and hid a grimace when his back hit the seat a bit too hard.

He waited anxiously for Snape’s reaction but Snape’s face of stoicism revealed nothing and he couldn’t help but feel a stab of disappointment.

“One would think you were are incapable of following instructions and knowing the intricacies of timing based on your performance in potions. However, that apparently is not completely true. How long have you been cooking for your relatives Potter?”

Harry was pleased at the compliment, even if it was mostly layered in insults. Due to that he let slip a little more then he meant to,

“Since I was about six sir,” he instantly realised his mistake when Snape showed a hint of shock.

“Most kids would not be allowed near a flame at that age, let alone cook.”

“I uh, didn’t really cook much though….” He trailed off uselessly, he didn’t really have anything to say that would help.

Snape looked like he wanted to ask more questions when the fireplace in the living room flared up and something small appeared. Snape got up an collected it, to Harry’s surprise it was a newspaper; the Daily prophet to be exact.

“Isn’t that supposed to arrive in the mornings?” Harry voiced his thoughts accidentally

“Yes but there is sometimes an evening edition. Recently they’ve been printing a lot more. I suspect due to Fudge’s involvement.”

Snape placed the newspaper on the table and Harry stared at it in astonishment as he own face gazed back at him. The picture was taken at the end of the Triwizard tournament when Harry had been distraught at Cedric’s death. The title alternated between 'The Boy-Who-Lives’ and ‘The Boy-Who-Lies’ a few paragraphs down there was another photo of Dumbledore, it was captioned ‘Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts and surprising supporter of Harry Potter’s story of the Dark Lords return.’

Snape too looked at the article, lip curling in disgust.

“I wouldn’t put too much weight on their words Potter, unfortunately they have a habit of denying reality when it concerns bad news.”

He was still in shock at seeing the newspaper and barely bothered to notice that Snape had actually defended him.

“Then why do you read it Sir.” it came out slightly more accusatory than he meant it too.

“It is important to know what the wider wizarding world believes, even if it is false.”

He was a bit put off by the headline and was glad when Snape placed it on the chair next to him, out of Harry’s view.

He returned to his meal and found that it was delicious, he was slightly proud of that fact and tried to focus on it instead of the aggravating news story.

“Potter we are to leave in 3 days, I suggest you prepare yourself in this time.”

He wasn't quite sure how he was meant to prepare himself but he nodded anyway.

“Will you finally tell me where we’re going professor?”

Snape shot him a glare that dashed his hopes at an answer. He was about to try a different question when Snape spoke,

“It’s known in lore, as the Serpents Den.”

“How original.” Harry muttered.

he thought he might have noticed the briefest bit of amusement in Snape, but the potions master continued speaking as if he hadn’t heard Harry’s remark.

“It is a set of caves underneath an island off the south coast of Iceland.”

So very damn remote then,

“It is only accessible at certain times because of the oceans tides, most of the time the water covers the entrance, hence why we will be leaving in three days.”

Harry hoped to hear more and stayed silent but it seemed Snape was done talking. He nearly began to gather their plates and wash them when he remembered that they be cleaned by magic. Instead he excused himself from the table and made his way up to his room.

He wrote another two letters to Ron and Hermione; both quite large in length. He figured Snape would only deliver them once, meaning he had one shot at saying everything he wanted. Once they were finished he dressed himself in the pyjamas he’d bought in Diagon alley. He had been pretty boring and picked a black set with trimmings of silver. Honestly he was just happy to have something that fit him so well, his last set of pyjamas had simply been one of Dudleys more stained and hole-y hand me downs. He climbed into bed hoping for a peaceful sleep but was greeted with anything but.

Images flashed by of that night in the graveyard including Cedrics limp body. Then it was his Uncle’s sneering face and a strong backhands followed by Voldemort’s snake features and red eye’s as he cast crucio and laughed at Harry’s screams.

He was sweaty and in pain as he woke up. His lip stung and he realised he’d been biting it to keep from screaming, a habit he’d picked up at the Dursley’s. His back stung a bit as well, he must of been thrashing in his sleep. He glanced over at the small clock to see it was 4:13 am. He sighed and shuddered at the thought of going back to sleep and decided to try and find something to settle his mind.

He wanted something boring and repetitive, anything far from the intensity of his dreams. He found himself reaching for his potions books and nearly laughed at the irony of it. He opened to a random page and found instructions for the Biswald potion; a potion which would keep its user dry for 3 hours, no matter how much water they were submerged in . He scanned his eyes through the ingredients and begun to read them out loud,

“Essence of sealeaf, Moonseed, Asphodel, Powdered frog brains…..”

***

The next day went by without anything of note happening. Harry spent time in the library and outdoors, at one point he brought a book and sat underneath a large old oak tree soaking in the afternoon sunshine. He hoped Snape wouldn’t mind the fact he’d taken a book outside, Hermione often scolded him for it.

Snape was relatively quiet; he saw the professor at meal times and sometimes in the sitting room. The only time they’d properly interacted was when Harry had asked him about the letters. Snape had questioned if he was finished writing them and Harry gave him the small bundle. The professor had just nodded and pocketed them.

It was the next day that was bizarrely eventful.

Harry had woken up at the usual time and made his way downstairs to find Snape reading the Daily Prophet, thankfully with a different headline this time. When Snape noticed Harry, his attention instantly changed and Snape vanished the paper.

Harry just gave a small ‘Morning, sir.’ and nodded in the professors direction.

However after a few minutes he began to feel the tension in the air and squirmed a little uncomfortably. A few more minutes and he couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Is there something on your mind sir?” it came out with a twinge of annoyance,

“Potter are you not aware of what day it is?” Snape had a strange expression on his face and Harry felt himself get even more frustrated, what was this? Some kind of test?

“No sir? we aren’t supposed to leave until tomorrow and I’m pretty sure the summer solstice already happened.” the last comment was a bit random but he simply shrugged, it’d been something he’d read in his potions textbook the other night.

“Yes that is true I suppose, but you do not know the date?”

Harry shook his head becoming more exasperated by the minute, would Snape just tell him already?

“It’s July 31st”

Oh,

“My Birthday” he said quietly.

“Indeed, you turn 15 correct?”

Harry just nodded. He’d never really put too much importance on his birthday, he didn’t even know when it was for most his childhood. It did however mark the date Hagrid had come and taken him to Hogwarts and away from the Dursleys, something he would always remember with fondness.

“Unfortunately no one can know you are here, meaning that any presents Weasley and Granger might send you will travel to Privet Drive.”

Well at least that wouldn’t be an issue he thought bitterly. “Uh Sir, that won’t matter. I haven’t really heard from Hermione or Ron for a while.”

Again that weird expression came over Snape as if he was studying him. He finished off his breakfast quickly and went to leave when Snape stopped him.

“Actually Potter, there was something else.”

***
Snape hated this feeling, he was not nervous, not even close. He tremendously regretted doing this though, he wasn’t even sure why he’d even decided it was a good idea in the first place. He certainly owed no allegiance to the little brat, let alone an obligation to get him a birthday present. This wasn’t what this was though, this was simply a necessity if he was going to have to lug Potter around on an Order mission.

Still it was he struggled to get the words out, contrary to his usual self.

“There was something that I thought might come in useful on the trip.”

He summoned a medium sized dark green box to the table in front of them and pushed it towards Potter.

The boy glanced up at him, disbelief clear in his expression,

“This is ….for me sir?” He bit back a scathing comment about the fact that it could hardly be for anybody else and just nodded sternly.

The boy seemed to open it delicately, taking his time to lift the lid. He pulled out a large thick mass of charcoal grey material and held it up, it instantly became obvious that it was a cloak. It was simple but elegant, neatly cut at the bottom and finished with a touch that Snape had been hesitant on, a small silver clasp in the symbol of a roaring lion.

“It has a an everlasting heating charm placed on it and a hidden pocket to store a wand while keeping it within reach. The fabric won’t ever fray or wear and won’t rip unless put under a under a great amount of force.”

He wasn’t quite sure why he was explaining it all so fast but thought it had to do with the need to fill the silence. The boy was staring wide eyed at the cloak and Snape found it disconcerting that he was yet to speak. Then as if the boy had been brought back to reality, a great many emotions flitted across his face. Snape had no idea what the boy was thinking and it made his head spin to figure out what each brief expression meant. Finally the blasted boy spoke,

“I….Thank you sir.”

The honest gratitude that was in his tone surprised Severus, he hadn’t known what to expect but this certainly wasn’t it. Foolish boy, he was acting as if Snape had just bought him VIP tickets to the Quidditch World Cup. He waved his hand in a dismissive manor,

“Simply a safe guard from you contracting hypothermia while we are travelling, I would hardly think that would be beneficial to our goal. ”

Potter just gave him a knowing smirk that nearly caused Snape to toss out a biting comment that would wipe the expression off Potter’s face.

“All the same sir, thank you.”

Fine, if the boy was going to be an over-sentimental sappy teenager he could have it his way. It made very little difference to him.

“You’re welcome Potter.”

It was a little awkward afterwards and Snape quickly looked for an escape

“I have a few potions that need tending too.” He didn’t elaborate further and made an abrupt exit in a swish of dark robes leaving Potter and the box sitting there.

***

Snape had gotten him a present? The man was becoming more and more baffling by the minute, all his acerbic comments were still there but he just seemed… less Snape-like. This had been the weirdest by far though, he had to be deluding himself, surely it just meant something he hadn’t thought of. Regardless he still didn’t want to break this fragile truce they’d established.

After Snape left he went up to his room and tried the cloak on, it was the perfect size and he could already feel the warmth radiating from it. Like Snape had mentioned, there was a small pocket right where his hand hung; narrow and long enough for a wand. He was fast seeing how useful it would become. He neatly folded it away and placed it in the cupboard, hand resting on top of it a few more seconds then necessary.

Due to it being their last day, Snape seemed to be moving around in quite the flurry of action. Harry had no idea what he was doing but felt obligated to help, perhaps it was a way he could thank Snape for the cloak.

That night at dinner he took his chance.

“Sir, can I help with the preparations for tomorrow?”

Snape snorted and glared pointedly at him.

“Potter, currently I’m in the stages of brewing a large range of delicate potions that a fifth year with bad grades would certainly find more than a little out of his depth. So unless you know at which exact temperature Bicorn horn must be added to Polyjuice potion, then no, you may not help.”

“118 degree’s celsius.” he said quietly

“What?”

“118 degrees, that’s when you add the powdered Bicorn horn.” He said a little more confidently

Snape looked at him sceptically, “And what would one do after adding the Knotgrass?”

“Stir 4 times clockwise.”

“And when exactly have you been brewing Polyjuice Mr. Potter? As I understand it there is no mention of that potion in any of your past textbooks.”

Once again he’d let slip much more information than he had meant to, he tried to distract Snape from the question.

“Why are you brewing it for the trip, sir?”

It seemed he’d failed because Snape shot him a deathly glare,

“I am preparing for all circumstances, now answer my question Potter.”

he didn’t really see a way out, so he grudgingly complied.

“In my second year, with the whole Chamber of Secretes fiasco Ron Hermione and I tried to find out a bit more information, suffice to say it failed.”

He waited for Snape to lecture him about breaking school rules or enquire further about his vague answer but the man did neither.

“Very well, you may prepare basic potion ingredients at my direction.”

Happily he followed Snape to his potions lab after dinner, normally this would’ve seemed more like a detention, handling flubber worm mucus was not something he enjoyed after all, but he really did want to thank Snape in some small way for the cloak and helping for the trip seemed like the least he could do.

He entered Snape’s private lab curiously, it did bear some resemblance to his his lab at Hogwarts, especially the jars filled with unnerving substances on the wall. It was not very large like Harry had expected and there was only 3 cauldrons in the room, two were currently filled with mysterious substances. A small table with a cutting board and a variety of utensils sat to the side of the room and Harry positioned himself there.

“You may start by shredding the Boomslang skin and finely slicing the Fluxweed.” Harry found the two ingredients narby and quickly set to work.

***

Severus tried to focus on completing the potion and paid little attention to the boy. It was a rather complicated to brew and he was quite surprised that the golden trio had actually managed to brew it in their second year, Granger did tend to do well where she applied herself he thought bitterly.

As the day of departure was nearing , the reality of having to take Potter on this mission and protect the boy-who-constantly-found-trouble was setting in. He was angry at Dumbledore for making him do this and angry at himself for ever agreeing, it seemed he had truly trapped himself in this mess. More worrying was the idea of being summoned while he was with Potter. The Dark Lord had only summoned him twice since his return; a fact for which Severus was thankful as neither time had been pleasant. His frustrations were getting to him and he threw the lacewing flies in a little harder than he meant to.

“Professor, who exactly is in the Order?”

The boys question was an extra thing to focus on and he gritted his teeth before replying,

“None of your concern.” He felt a bit smug when Potter’s face showed frustration but it vanished when the boy continued with his irritating questions.

“Is Sirius in the Order?”

“Yes unfortunately, the brainless mutt is.” Potter’s face began to heat with anger,

“Don’t talk about him like that. He’s a brave man”

The fact that Potter was interrupting his brewing with defending Sirius Black began to invoke his temper.

“If you call his irresponsible half-thought out actions brave. The man has less intelligence a sea snail.”

Potter was shredding the Boomslang skin vigorously.

“Why do you hate him and my father so much? were you jealous over them as a kid or something?”

Snapes eye’s glinted with rage and fought to focus on keeping track of the potion.

“I would never be jealous of such sorry excuses for human beings, James Potter was an arrogant, spoiled brat that passed those very same qualities to you.”

Potter had stopped chopping and was now staring at Snape with raging defiance.

“Well at least they didn’t go off to become Death Eaters! How can you call them and me such terrible things when you ran off and joined Voldemort first minute you got!”

Snape stopped stirring altogether, frozen for a few seconds before fully focusing on the boy. He didn’t bother to hide his absolute rage and took an intimidating step towards him.

“Listen here potter” he practically spat the word. “Your father was a conceited swine and you have shown yourself to be exactly the same!” His voice slowly increased until he was yelling.

“Proud, presumptuous Potter! couldn’t even ask for help when it meant the death of others! the rise of the Dark Lord! So certain that he must play the hero!”

He barely noticed when the boy tentatively took a step back, accidentally pushing a large glass jar off the table when his hand reached out.

“How many more people will be killed in your name, Potter! You’re impulsive behaviour puts more than just yourself at risk!”

Fear shone in the boy’s eyes now but Severus was still to wrapped up in his own wrath to care

“Why others believe you are anything but a worthless brat baffles me boy!” he pushed Potter harder than he intended and the boy evidently wasn’t stable enough to stop himself falling. Potter hit his head on the edge of the table then landed on the hard stone floor with a sickening smack, he was knocked unconsciously instantly. Severus stared horrifiedly at the blood that was also now beginning to leek out of the boy and realised he’d landed on the glass of the broken jar as well.

He felt true horror and was frozen to the spot, all he could think was what have I done?