"The headmaster retrieved your trunk Potter," Severus said, dragging the trunk into the room and setting it by the door. Harry didn't respond or look at him or give any indication that he'd heard however. He just continued to stare into space. If Severus were honest with himself, which he sometimes was, it was disturbing to see the boy sit and stare like that, as if he'd been given the dementor's kiss. Severus even thought back over the prior day in order to determine that that was not a possibility.

"Do you plan on eating breakfast here or in the Great Hall?" he asked, and got no response. Trying a different tact, Severus said sternly, "Breakfast is on the table Potter. Go eat."

Harry didn't look at him or say anything but he did get up and walked slowly into the dining room and sat at the table. A bowl of porridge and fruit appeared with a glass of orange juice, but Harry didn't touch any of it.

"It's time to cease this foolishness Potter," Severus said. "You will not be allowed to sit around all day and stare at the wall. The dramatics will end here and now." Harry didn't respond though and it perturbed Severus. Maybe he should have Poppy look at the boy just in case he'd been confunded somehow on their way out of the Ministry.

Poppy came and looked at him after breakfast, and she didn't find anything wrong.

"He's in good health," she said. "He should eat something though, he's looking a little peaky."

"I tried to get him to eat breakfast," Severus said. "He just sat there and stared."

"He'll eat when he gets hungry enough. If he doesn't eat by tomorrow morning let me know and I'll run another scan."

Poppy left and Severus was left with the abnormally silent boy who had yet to give any indication at all that he was aware of what was going on around him. It was a stark contrast to the boy who had sobbed into his robes the afternoon before. As soon as he'd gotten him back to Hogwarts and into the guest bedroom of his quarters, Harry had gone silent and hadn't made a sound since.

Deciding to work on the assumption that the boy could hear just fine, Severus stood in front of him at the dining table and laid down the rules.

"This is my home Potter. I would appreciate if it were kept clean and tidy. You may go into any room except for mine which is at the end of the hall. I expect you to go out during the day and return by third year curfew which is eight thirty pm. All areas that are normally out of bounds during term are still out of bounds. Do not attempt to leave the grounds without my knowledge as I will know if you have."

Severus waited for a response but there was none. "Do not sit here all day," he told the boy and then moved off, uncomfortable staying in the same room with the seemingly unconscious boy.

Harry had heard him it seemed as the boy left the quarters half an hour later and didn't return until 8:30 on the nose. Severus had no idea if the boy had eaten or not and when he questioned him about it Harry didn't answer. Things went on in this vein for several days. Severus would wake early to find Harry sitting at the dining room table fully dressed and not eating. Harry would disappear after breakfast and return at curfew and go to bed. Severus wasn't the only one uncomfortable with Harry's behavior as it turned out. Other staff who were still at the castle had noticed too.

"I haven't seen him eat yet," Minerva told Severus. "He turns up for lunch and dinner in the Great Hall and just sits there. I asked him why he doesn't eat and he said he's not hungry."

"He answered you?" Severus asked.

"Yes. He talks when I ask him things but otherwise he's silent. It's eerie."

"He has yet to answer me when I speak to him," Severus said, feeling irritated.

"When I asked he said he was staying with you temporarily until wards were placed on his relatives home."

"He is staying with me permanently," Severus said. "He will not be returning to his relatives."

"You might want to tell him that," she said. "If you ask me, he seems depressed. Has he been eating in your quarters?"

"He has not."

Dumbledore expressed his concern about Harry several times as well, though Severus didn't know what to tell him aside from that he was silent and didn't appear to be eating. Dumbledore told him Poppy had harassed Harry enough the day before that he had eaten something in the Hospital Wing, but that it was a minimal amount of food.

Feeling both helpless and fed up with Harry's behavior, Severus cornered Harry before bed on his fourth night at Hogwarts and said, "I know you've been speaking to others and are more than capable of responding to me Potter. This behavior has gone on long enough. You got what you wanted, there is no reason to mope around the castle for days on end about it."

Harry finally looked up at at Severus and met his eyes for the first time in days. "I never get what I want," he said.

"You are here instead of at your relatives house."

"When do I go back?" Harry asked. After so many days of silence and of not being acknowledged, it seemed awkward now to have Harry speaking to him.

"You are not going back Potter. You are here permanently."

"I'm only here until the Justice can verify the wards are in place."

"There will be no new wards Potter. After the fit you threw in the corridor at the Ministry the Headmaster has decided you will be staying with me."

Harry looked away, face tinging red and Severus suddenly felt bad for bringing up Harry's breakdown in the corridor. When Harry didn't say anything else, Severus left and went to his own room, feeling awkward.

Harry lay on his side on the borrowed guest bed in Snape's quarters and stared at the wall. He would never get what he wanted and that was really only one thing: someone who cared about him not because they had to but because they wanted to. Snape didn't care even though he'd taken Harry in. Harry was just there in his way. Some sort of promise... isn't that what he'd heard the Professor and Headmaster talking about in the Ministry corridor? Harry had no idea what this promise was or why it was more important than the protection Lily had somehow placed on him, though he wasn't sure he cared. It just meant he had to go to another place where he was despised and unwanted. Harry wished to be back in his room at the Leaky Cauldron then, with Sirius Black of all people. They said Sirius had murdered his friend and betrayed Harry's parents and wanted to kill him as well. But Sirius had found him that night he'd been thrown out and because of him Harry had tripped and summoned the Knight Bus and found his way to safety. Had Sirius tripped him on purpose? Then Sirius had followed him to Diagon Alley and stayed with him for a month without doing him any harm. He'd been there to listen to Harry without judgement (or at least none that Harry knew of), and to comfort him when he'd had nightmares. Why hadn't Sirius just killed him that first night he'd left Privet Drive? Harry didn't know, but as he turned it over in his mind, he wished Sirius was there to comfort him and answer his questions. If everyone was wrong about Sirius wanting to kill him, were they wrong about the other things Sirius had done as well?

* * *

Harry was having nightmares. That's what the case supervisor had reported to the court wasn't it? It certainly seemed true given that Severus had heard Harry wake three times in the last hour screaming or thrashing about. He'd had nightmares the night before as well and the night before that. What was he dreaming about that was so frightening? He doubted Harry would tell him. Harry wasn't staring at walls so intently anymore but he still stared off into space an awful lot and was still very withdrawn and quiet. Severus had seen him eat a few meals now but was convinced he was still only eating once or twice a day.

Severus heard the tap turn on in the bathroom down the hall and went to check on the boy. He certainly wasn't dramatic about his nightmares. He had them but never spoke of them, and as soon as he woke up the shouting and thrashing stopped.

Severus stood in the doorway to the bathroom and stared at Harry, who was gripping both sides of the sink tight, head hanging over the center and hair dripping. Clearly he'd splashed water on his face.

"Potter," he said warily.

Harry stiffened but didn't look up.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Harry shook his head, wiped a dry hand across his face to get excess water off, and stood up, not looking at himself in the mirror. He looked tired and Severus could see why if he wasn't able to get more than twenty minutes of sleep at a time.

"Have you slept at all?" Severus asked, and Harry looked over at him, eyes seeming lifeless. He shook his head.

"Do you want something to help you sleep?"

Harry frowned. "Is there something that makes you not dream?"

"Draught of Dreamless Sleep."

"I think Mrs. Ginger must have given some of that to me."

"It is an expensive potion, one they do not keep in stock."

Harry looked at his bare feet and then made to move past his Potion's Professor who let him by. It was a few minutes before the head of Slytherin appeared in his doorway with half a swallow of some sort of clear liquid.

"Dreamless Sleep," Snape supplied, and Harry took the small cup and drank its contents.

"It will not make you drowsy, but it will keep the dreams at bay while you sleep."

"Thanks," Harry said so quietly Severus almost didn't hear it. He laid down with his back to the man and pulled the covers up over his head. The boy seemed desperate for rest and Severus wondered for the hundredth time that week just what the boy was dreaming about.

As the boy fell asleep moments later and Severus stared at the steady rise and fall of his back, he also wondered what Harry didn't tell the court about living with the Dursleys. Severus was forced to admit that he should reassess his earlier thoughts about Harry not being abused because he wasn't emotionally damaged. It was clear now from his reaction to all of this that something had gone on. Maybe even all of what Harry had told the court was true. Severus wondered if there was anything else though and wondered if the boy would ever tell, or if he'd forever keep his nightmares to himself.

Over the next couple nights, Harry didn't ask for dreamless sleep, but Severus brought it to his room and left it on his nightstand anyway. It was always gone in the morning so he assumed Harry had taken it.

Before the week was out, Albus came down to Severus' quarters to take Harry out. "Harry," he said. Harry looked up at Dumbledore but didn't respond.

"I'm here for our day together."

"Sir?" Harry asked quietly.

Albus looked to Severus who raised his brows but otherwise offered no help. "From now on while you're staying with Professor Snape during holidays I'll be coming to take you out for one day every week."

"Why?" Harry asked, voice void of emotion.

"It's what was decided during the hearing." Harry looked up, a confused look on his face. "Don't you remember?" Albus asked, and Harry shook his head.

Severus told Harry to get up and go with him, so Harry followed the Headmaster out of the quarters. He and the Headmaster walked down to Hogsmeade together to get breakfast at Madam Pudifoots. It was a quiet affair despite the Headmaster's attempts to get Harry to engage in conversation about a variety of things such as the upcoming term, Gryffindor's chances to take the Quidditch cup this year, and upcoming Hogsmeade weekends.

"I have signed your permission slip, however I'm afraid I must insist myself or Professor Snape attend with you until Sirius Black is apprehended."

"Tell me about Sirius," Harry said, and since it was the first thing he'd responded to all morning, the Headmaster seemed willing to answer his questions.

"Sirius was James' best friend. They were also friends with two other boys, one of which was Peter Pettigrew. When your parents went into hiding they made Sirius their secret keeper. Only he knew where they were hiding and how to get ahold of them. Voldemort found out where they were staying and was able to attack them, and you that night. The only way for him to have found out was for Sirius to have told him. After that night Sirius attacked and killed Peter Pettigrew and they took Sirius to Azkaban, where he stayed until he escaped at the the start of this summer."

"Are you sure he was their secret keeper?"

"Quit sure. Why do you ask?"

Harry stirred his tea but didn't take a drink. He'd barely eaten anything during their breakfast that morning and had only had a few sips of his tea. "Sirius was with me all summer. He tripped me and made me call the Knight Bus when I got kicked out. He went with me to Diagon and stayed with me. He never tried to hurt me. He was the only one who was there for me all summer."

Instead of protesting as Harry expected and telling Harry he was being foolish, Dumbledore seemed to consider what he'd said seriously.

"No one understood why Sirius did what he did 12 years ago. He was adamantly against Voldemort and a fierce friend to your father. It was believed he had gone insane or had perhaps been tortured into insanity to give up your parents' location. Some insist that even then he would not have given it up."

"Maybe he wasn't their secret keeper," Harry said, finally taking a long drink of his tea.

"I want you to be careful Harry. Just because he did you no harm while he was hiding from the law doesn't mean he won't do you harm in the future."

Harry mumbled something and Dumbledore asked him if he could repeat it because he hadn't heard.

"That seems to go around," Harry said.

"I must apologize to you Harry. I should have been checking in on you, and I should have listened to you and taken you seriously when you tried to talk to me about your difficulties at home before."

"Doesn't matter," Harry mumbled.

"Why do you say that?" Albus asked.

"Never has before," Harry told him.

Perturbed, Albus paid for the meal and led Harry back to the grounds. Instead of taking him up to the castle however they paid a visit to Hagrid, where Harry remained quiet, though he seemed to be listening to Hagrid as he spoke about his summer and about the new class on Care of Magical Creatures he was going to be teaching this year. After that the Headmaster called a house elf to bring them lunch and they ate sandwiches as they walked slowly around one end of the lake and back towards the castle.

"You don't have to spend time with me," Harry said. "I'll just tell the Justice whatever she wants to hear."

"I want to spend time with you Harry, and I should have been before."

Harry doubted very much that the Hogwarts Headmaster had much of an interest at all in him though. He was probably busy and had things to do to prepare for the upcoming term.

Later that afternoon when little more than a few sentences were exchanged, Albus returned Harry to the dungeons. "I want you to know Harry, that despite how I have handled things in the past, I am here if you need anything. I want you to come to me if you are having difficulties."

Harry stared at him. The Headmaster had helped him find a place for the orphans to stay, but Harry wasn't sure if that was cancelled out by all the times he'd forced him to go back to the Dursleys or not.

Harry told him goodbye and went back into Snape's quarters. Snape was absent but there was a swallow of dreamless sleep on Harry's nightstand. There was also a copy of The Lighthouse waiting for him on his bed. It must have been delivered while he was out. Harry sat to read and was surprised to find an article about him losing his case against Dumbledore, though it didn't specify what the case was about and said the records of the case had been sealed. It also noted that Harry had been mysteriously absent from the alley's since he had lost his case.

Another article talked about Sirius Black and the incident in front of Fortescue's. Harry had not checked his journal since he'd first warned Justin and wondered if Justin had been writing to him since then. The paper described a boy (unnamed) shouting at a dog named Sirius to ‘get lost, they're on to you!' and the dog suddenly turning into Sirius Black the convicted murderer, who then apparated away with haste.

Harry set the newsletter down and dug in his trunk for his journal and flipped to the last page he'd written on.

"Sirius is gone," was written in Justin's hand. "He didn't even try to kill me. He looked thankful that I'd warned him and he apparated away."

On a new line it asked how Harry's hearing was going. On another new line it asked where Harry was and if he was coming back. "Dumbledore came and got your trunk and bag from me," Justin said on yet another new line. "I guess you're not coming back. Write me when you can."

Harry pulled out his Muggle pen and wrote, "I'm at Hogwarts. I lost the case. Thanks for warning Sirius. I'm glad you're ok."

While Harry sat and waited for a response in his journal, Dumbledore stood in the corridor outside the Great Hall and told Severus about his day with Harry.

"I wish Harry had not had to go through the hearing. It has obviously caused him a great deal of distress."

"Or he is simply being dramatic and milking it for all the attention it's worth."

"Severus," Albus said quietly, and Severus appeared appropriately chastised. He was having difficulty reconciling what he was seeing of Harry now with what he'd always believed about him before. "You said you would take him," Albus said.

"I did."

"Do not make the same mistake I did in taking on the responsibility and not following through with it."

Severus huffed and crossed his arms. "I will not take the responsibility lightly."

"That is all I ask. Harry needs a great deal more than he was given before. I wish I knew how to bring him out of the depression he seems to have fallen into."

"I do not know. He will not talk to me beyond single word responses most of the time." It had irritated Severus to no end over the last week. He hated disrespect and in his opinion the way Harry had responded to him fell under that category, though he did recognize the boy was struggling and had let some of it slide.

"He appeared to thrive on the alleys. Perhaps a trip back would be helpful."

"You want me to babysit him for a day while he wanders the alleys?"

"You chose this Severus," Albus reminded him and Severus narrowed his eyes. "Aside from that, I hardly think he needs direct supervision after being under his own supervision for so long. I would imagine you could attend to your own business while he visits whom he wishes and arrange a time and place to check in now and again."

"I will consider it," Severus said, though both men knew Severus was going to take Harry back to the alley's. That night when the dreamless sleep stopped working at the low dose Harry had been taking, and Harry woke screaming and tangled in his covers, it further helped Severus decide to get the boy out of the castle and back to where he had seemed to be in his element.

Harry was surprised the next morning when Snape stood in his door frame and told him to get dressed because they were going out.

"Where?" Harry asked, moving sluggishly to put his shoes on.

"Knockturn Alley. I have business to attend to. You may go to either alley for the morning provided you check in with me at lunch in front of Fortescue's at noon."

"You don't care where I go?" Harry asked.

"You are not to venture out to Muggle London. I will know if you have."

Snape apparated them twenty minutes later from the edge of the Hogwarts grounds to the yard behind the Leaky Cauldron.

"Noon," Snape reminded him. "If I am forced to come looking for you there will be consequences."

"Yes sir," Harry said dully. Snape moved off toward the apothecary and Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and walked slowly towards Flourish and Blotts, unaware that Snape was watching his slow pace and hunched shoulders.

Harry had barely made it inside Flourish and Blotts when Basil came up to him and asked where he'd been. "You've missed a week of work," he said. "I know you had court last week but you were supposed to come back to work when that was done with."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, staring at his shoes. "I didn't have a choice. I don't live here anymore."

"Owl next time," Bennet said, coming up to talk to him. "Half the alley's been looking for you."

Harry frowned. "Why?"

"You came in like a bolt of lightning saying you were going to make all these changes and then disappeared without signing half the paperwork people needed to carry out those changes. Like the door and windows in back. How are we supposed to put those in when you haven't signed off on it yet?" Basil hurried up to him with the paperwork as if Harry would disappear again in a flash and Harry stared down at it.

"This is what you asked us to do, isn't it?" Bennet asked. "A second entrance on Knockturn with windows and everything? We've already moved the counter to the side so people can pass through."

Harry looked up and took in the new appearance of the shop. The back was no longer an office and workspace and instead had been cleared and new shelves had been built so a second entrance could be put in on the back wall.

Harry accepted a quill and signed off on the work for the new windows and door.

"You were right about the door," Bennet said. "If you can really get Knockturn up and running again it will be beneficial to have an entrance on both. We'll be the only shop with a two entrances. People will pass through all the time to get to the other alley and that will put more eyes on our books. Believe it or not Barrow is all for a second entrance in our shop because he thinks it will lead people straight into his when they see the prices of our books compared to his used ones. He's banking on a thirty percent increase in profit over the next year."

Harry couldn't help as a spark of excitement lit in him. He'd been so preoccupied with his case and Sirius that he'd practically forgotten about the exciting changes he was making to the alleys.

"Have you been to Knockturn yet?" Basil asked. "Magic Mart did a bunch of work on their building and re-opened. Not too many customers yet but they're banking on more as people start to come in to do back to school shopping. They're offering a bunch of Muggle school supplies like pencils and notebooks and erasers trying to lure people in."

"I haven't been over there yet," Harry said.

"Go," Bennet said, waving him away. "Come back when you're done and you can help us stock the new shelves with school books. We're putting all the Hogwarts texts in back so people will have to come back and see the new entrance."

Harry left and headed straight for Gringotts Plaza. The new Quidditch store looked to be coming along and had a big sign that declared it would be opening next week. There was a work crew painting the outside and washing the large windows that wrapped all the way around. Harry was pleased to see that the new door had already been installed across from Gringotts and the old one removed from the Diagon Alley side.

"Hey Harry!" one of the Quidditch store owners called as Harry passed. "How's it looking?"

Harry gave him a thumbs up and didn't notice the smile he was wearing for the first time in almost two weeks.

Over on Knockturn Ollivander's looked to be finished, and Harry stuck his head inside to see the shelves all newly stocked with wand boxes from floor to ceiling. There was a couch inside for people to sit on while they waited and Harry noted several targets that had been installed behind the new counter. Perhaps Ollivander was hoping to avoid more broken chairs from new wand owners by putting in targets to test wands on.

Harry continued on past Podmore's and purposely didn't look at the office front, instead heading into Tantalizing sweets, which was newly painted inside with bright yellows and pinks.

"Harry!" Tilly hurried around the counter and immediately began pointing out all the flourishes Justin had painted around her shop as well as the stripes on the walls. She told Harry that several new children had been in recently and that she had had Justin wandering both alleys for the last couple days giving out the new coupons as well as free samples of candy and fliers with her shop address. Munroe must have seen Harry through the window because he stuck his head inside and told Tilly he was going to borrow Harry and took him next door to the new Magic Mart. Inside it had a tall ceiling and tall shelves with rolling ladders on rails. Several clerks wearing white aprons tied about their waists were on the ladders stocking shelves and Munroe hurried to show Harry around before he took Harry out to the small plaza at the end of Knockturn and showed him the new tables, and then took him into the newly opened tea shop which was now serving sandwiches and pastries as well as tea and coffee. There were several customers sitting at the small tables outside though Harry noted they were business owners from Knockturn and Diagonalley rather than new customers.

"The tables were a great idea," Munroe said. "I really think this is going to make people want to come have lunch here and stay a while, especially with all the planters. Harry took note that more had been put up since he left and thought Munroe must have paid for them.

"The alley is really shaping up!" Munroe beamed. "I can't wait til the back to school rush Harry. People will be shocked to see what we've done."

"I hope it's enough," Harry said. "There's still two empty businesses over there."

"Yeah, but those might fill in. Have you even been into Magical Menagerie yet?" He pointed to the corner building beside Magic Mart and Harry noted there was now a new sign and an open sign.

Harry thanked Munroe for showing him around and went in. This building was enormous compared to the size of the one Magical Menagerie had been in before.

"How does it look sir?" a young woman came up and asked him.

Harry frowned at her. He wasn't used to being called sir, but supposed she must have called him that since he owned the entire business.

"It looks really good," Harry said, eying the placement of all the cages of animals as well as the shelves of pet food, treats and other accessories. "Are you the one who runs it?"

"I'm the manager," she said proudly, "I have been for four years running."

"How many people are working here right now?"

"Just myself and a young fella straight outta Hogwarts."

"Is that enough to run a big shop like this?"

"We need to hire a couple more but I needed your approval before we did that."

"Hire a temporary person from the orphanage for the rest of the summer," Harry said.

"Most of the kids over there aren't 17."

"Find one of the fifteen or sixteen year olds and give them some part time work. Just make sure they're from the orphanage. I want to make sure they're getting a chance to work. You could train them right?"

She nodded. "And the other person?" she asked, though she didn't seem pleased about Harry's choice to hire someone who hadn't reached majority yet.

"I'll place an ad and send some people to you for interviews," Harry said. "I want you to hire someone from the list of people I send you though."

"Who will you be sending?" she asked curiously.

"I'll let you know. It'll be someone over 17 though." She seemed relieved at that and Harry didn't want to tell her he had in mind to advertise in the Lighthouse for a fae employee. Most places wouldn't hire them because they were considered dangerous or untrustworthy, and Harry wanted to give them a chance. He wondered if Munroe would be willing to do the same since he'd been so on board with everything else Harry had planned and wondered where else he could potentially offer employment to the fae community.

At a few minutes to one Harry bought himself an ice cream and sat outside Fortescue's waiting for Snape. Snape came to his table and sat down a few minutes later.

"You refuse to eat regular meals but will indulge in ice cream?" Snape asked, brow raised. He was relieved to see the boy eating but perturbed to see him eating sweets instead of real food.

"I wanted to eat lunch at the new tea place on Knockturn but you said to meet you here," Harry said.

"Ice cream is hardly lunch."

Harry didn't answer him though as he continued eating his ice cream.

"I have completed my business for the day."

Harry fidgeted for a moment and Severus narrowed his eyes. "Spit it out Potter."

"I'm supposed to go to work at Flourish and Blotts."

"You wish to continue working now that you are living away from the alley?"

"I got told off for missing work for the last week and they told me to come back and stock the new shelves in the back where the new entrance is going in."

"What new entrance?"

"We're putting in a second entrance in the back on Knockturn. Hopefully people will want to cut through their shop as a shortcut and will pass by all their merchandise."

"This was their idea?" Snape asked.

"No, I thought of it," Harry said.

"That is- an interesting way to bring in customers."

Harry wasn't sure if that was praise but figured it was as close as he was going to get to it from Snape. He finished his ice cream and Snape told him he could go stock shelves but that he was to be back outside Fortescue's in an hour and a half. Harry went and stocked the new shelves and was done with time to spare so he swept and then worked with Basil on paperwork for an order of some crazy new textbook for third years that supposedly needed a cage and not a shelf. Harry looked up just as he finished to find Snape coming in the front door of Flourish and Blotts.

"I didn't mean to be late," Harry said, coming up to him.

"You are not. I am early."

"Oh. I just finished."

Basil waved Harry away and asked if he was coming back tomorrow as they had more books to fill out paperwork for. Harry bit his lip but was surprised to hear Snape say, "He will return in the morning."

Harry looked up at him as Snape led him out.

"We're coming back?"

"It is my understanding that non-parental guardians must provide transportation to and from work, or allow access to work and educational opportunities." He gave Harry a look as he recited the paper Harry had once handed to him, and Harry's cheeks tinged red, though Harry was glad he was going to get to come back. That night Harry ate dinner in the Great Hall and finished at least half of it. It wasn't a return to his normal appetite, but it was something, and Albus told Severus later that evening that he should make an effort to get Harry back to Diagon Alley as much as possible before the term started.