He tried not to feel uncomfortable as he turned his back to Snape and opened a cupboard for a bowl and then another for a box of Muggle cereal. He felt like Snape was watching him, but didn't want to turn around and look. He was worried the man would find fault with how much cereal he poured into his bowl, or how much milk, or would find something else to yell at him for, (aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon certainly would have). Snape remained silent however until Harry turned around and sat down at the table with his bowl of cereal. Snape was watching him.

"Have you made plans to work at Mrs. Allan's today?"

"No sir," Harry said.

"Then we will go into town."

"Yes sir." Harry wasn't sure what they'd be going into town for. His hair was still short and Millie bought all the groceries with money Snape gave her and brought them to the house. Harry had helped her carry them down the lane and put them away the other day.

"First I wish to see what you brought with you from the orphanage."

"Sir?"

"Finish your breakfast."

Harry looked down at his bowl and hurried to finish eating, wondering if Snape wanted to search his trunk for contraband. He'd certainly implied at school that Harry had things to hide enough times. Harry didn't have any contraband though. He didn't even have his father's cloak with him. He always sent all of his magical items, school books and robes home with Ron as he wasn't supposed to have them at the orphanage in case other kids got into his stuff. He brought his wand with him every summer, but he always kept it up his sleeve or in a pant pocket.

Harry finished and washed his spoon and bowl in the sink and then set them in the strainer on the counter to dry. Snape was waiting for him by the stairs and let Harry lead him up to his room. "Erm," Harry said, and opened the lid to his trunk and then the door to the wardrobe. He also pulled open the drawers to the desk and then stood there waiting. Snape only frowned however.

"I only wish to see your clothes Potter, not all of your belongings."

Harry closed the desk drawers and then watched as Snape's eyes raked over the few shirts and pants, and the one nice set of clothes he'd purchased, which Harry had made sure to keep in pristine condition.

"What about socks and underwear? What about a coat?" Snape asked.

Harry lifted several pairs of socks and underwear from his trunk and then said, "I don't have a coat."

"They did not provide you one at the orphanage?"

"Most of my stuff went back to the orphanage when I left for the other kids," Harry said. They hadn't made him give them back, but Harry had thought that being adopted his new family might buy him what he needed. Ron's parents always got him enough clothes to get through the year, even if they were used.

"Take my arm. We will apparate to town."

Harry closed the lid to his trunk and moved forward, uncertain. Snape looked irritated to have Harry touch him, and Harry reached forward carefully, afraid to be chastised for grabbing his arm in the wrong place or too tightly.

"Hold tight Potter. If we get separated in apparition you will be splinched."

"Ok," Harry said quietly. He gripped the arm tighter and the moment he did so, they had gone with a loud pop that made Harry's ears feel like they were under enormous pressure. Then the pressure was gone and they were out in the sunlight in a small grove of trees.

Harry let go and Snape led off. They were at the edge of Hawes again. Harry wondered if they were getting more nice clothes just for looking presentable, but they didn't go into the same store and instead Snape led Harry into a store that had clothes like the other boys his age wore at school on weekends.

From a pocket Snape withdrew a list that Harry wondered how he'd had time to write, and handed it to him. "Do not pick anything flashy or overly bright. You must still look presentable if company appears unannounced."

"Yes sir," Harry said, eyes wandering down to the list. It was a list of clothing with,

- 1 sweatshirt
- 4 pairs of shorts
- 4 pairs of long pants
- 2 pairs of slacks
- 3 pairs of sleeping pants or shorts
- 1 package of underwear
- 1 package of socks
- 4 short sleeve shirts
- 4 polo shirts

"You will come back with everything on that list, and if I find myself having to send you back repeatedly to make better choices, I will not be happy."

Harry refrained from wondering if the man was ever happy, and instead said, "Yes sir." He moved off to look at the clothes and tried not to notice Snape watching him again.

It was hard for Harry not to pick bright clothing, not because he really wanted a bright orange or blue shirt, but just because all the clothing was geared towards kids his age and there weren't that many things in muted colors to choose from. Harry was happy to have some new things though, and very happy to have the deep crimson hoodie that Snape let him pick out, even if he did sneer at his choice. Harry suspected he didn't scold Harry for it since Harry had purposefully only chosen one red thing.

When they walked out of the store Harry made sure to tell Snape thank you, though the man only grunted in response. So much for decorum, Harry thought. He wasn't surprised that he was the only one expected to uphold what he'd been told to read and live by however. Snape had always been rude to him and his friends and Harry hadn't expected things to be any different outside of school.

They apparated back to the house and Snape looked at Harry for a long moment and then said, "Do not make plans for this evening or tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir," Harry said, and then Snape disappeared into the living room and from there perhaps his private library.

Harry went upstairs to put his clothes away in the wardrobe and felt pleased for a few moments at how full the wardrobe was now. The nice outfit no longer looked so alone in there. He only allowed himself a moment of happiness though before he changed into a polo shirt and pair of slacks and closed the wardrobe door. These aren't for me, he reminded himself. I'm only here until he finds the right boy to adopt, then I'll be back at the orphanage. Harry felt like if he kept reminding himself of that it wouldn't hurt as much when it happened, because he knew it was coming.

Harry dug his money out of his desk drawer and counted it out again. He knew it was 51 pounds that he'd earned, but he liked counting it. He liked knowing he'd earned it all on his own and was capable of taking care of himself when given the chance.

Putting half of the money in his pocket, Harry wrote out a quick note to Snape and went downstairs and put it on the counter, and then left out the front door. He hoped a sage green polo shirt and dark gray slacks would make him ‘presentable' enough to go into town.

Mind set on getting some donuts, Harry walked lazily down the lane back towards Hawes. When he passed Mrs. Allan's and the Mayer's house he hoped to see them out in their yards, but Arran's truck was gone and the lights were all off at Mrs. Allan's house too.

It didn't take Harry that long to walk into Hawes, and he was happy to be there without Snape. He could go where he wanted now and explore the various shops and bakeries.

Harry was headed for the bakery on the opposite end of Hawes, but he spied people eating pastries outside a coffee shop and was drawn into it instead.

"What'll it be?" a young man behind the counter asked when Harry made it to the front of the line.

"Do you have donuts?"

"Sure," he said. "Which do you want?" He motioned to the clear display case and Harry pointed at a pink one and then at one with a clear glaze.

"That all?" the man asked, putting them into a paper sack. "You ordering a drink too?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't drink coffee."

"Not yet," the man said.

Harry knew some of the older students drank coffee in the mornings at Gryffindor table, but he'd never had the urge to try it. Ron had said it was bitter and disgusting.

"Is it bitter?" Harry asked.

"Only if you want it to be."

"I want something sweet."

"You like caramel?"

Harry nodded and the man began making up a cold drink that looked like it was made more of sugar and chocolate milk than coffee. Harry paid 8 pounds and thanked the man, but the man wouldn't let him walk away until he'd tried the coffee.

"Well, what about that?"

Harry took a drink and smiled. "It's good."

"Of course it is," the man told him, "I made it. Come back again and I'll make you something else just as good."

"I will," Harry said.

He left and walked up the street as he drank his coffee, unable to taste any bitterness at all.

There were a lot of people out shopping, and Harry had fun browsing at his leisure. He stopped to look at cut flowers from a flower stand and hand made vases and pots at another stand. He finally made it to the bakery and picked out two more donuts, figuring he could have two today and two tomorrow.

When Harry made his way home Mrs. Mayer was out in her yard tending her flowers, and Harry stopped in the lane and leaned on the stone fence to talk to her for a few minutes. He offered her one of his donuts, but she just thanked him and told him to take them home and enjoy them himself.

"The Master took you to get new clothes," she observed with a smile.

"Yes," Harry said. "I have a soft warm sweatshirt now too. I hope I get to use it."

"Why wouldn't you?" she asked, clipping several long flowers and putting them in a basket.

"Well, I'll have to leave eventually. The other boy will come and they'll be his."

"What other boy?"

"The one Professor Snape wanted."

She stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Harry. "Harry, you are the boy he wanted."

"It's ok," Harry told her, trying to sound cheerful, as though he didn't care. "The orphanage wasn't that bad. Besides, I'm sure the boy he adopts will get along with him much better than me."

Millie looked like she was going to say something else, but Arran opened the front door and called for her. He waved at Harry and Harry bade them both goodbye and continued on his way back to the house. He grabbed one of the books he wasn't finished with up in his room, and then took the book and the bags of donuts to the back yard and sat under the big tree next to the little river to spend the rest of the day reading.

He was still there when Snape came out the back door looking for him at five that evening. "Retrieve the two geology and gem books and bring them to the library."

"Yes sir."

Harry got the books from his room and put the last two donuts in the kitchen in a cupboard at the back where he hoped Snape wouldn't think they were from Millie and eat them before Harry had the chance to.

He found Snape in the library a minute later and Snape motioned impatiently for him to come in.

"I will answer any questions you have about what is found in these two books."

Harry sat down across from his desk and opened the larger of the two books to a chapter about extracting ores. "I don't understand about extracting ores with magic and potions. I don't know any of the spells or why it has to be done like they say it does."

"If certain ores are to be used for specific magical purposes, a potion for instance, it has to be removed in a way that will not alter the ore or interfere with the potions, wards, or magic it will be used with in the future."

"But why can you extract fire quarts with potions sometimes, but not others?"

"It depends on the use it will be going towards. If it's to be used in a potion, you cannot use a potion to dissolve the other minerals around it to reveal the ore. If it's to be used to help put up wards then using a potion would be fine, as long as the correct potion is used. If it's to be used in a talisman, the ore must be extracted manually with no magic or potions at all."

Harry asked several more questions from that book before moving on to the other book. Snape made Harry repeat several words until he was certain Harry was pronouncing them right, and also asked Harry questions about the things they'd just discussed to be certain he had a real understanding of them.

When they were done they ate a late dinner, and Snape told Harry to go to bed early and to be up at six thirty the next morning.

"Are we going into town again?" Harry asked, wondering what else he could possibly need, (although shoes crossed his mind).

"No," Snape said, and then left Harry at the dinner table and retreated upstairs.

Harry sighed and sat alone to finish his dinner. It had been strange interacting with Snape like this. He could tell the man was irritated with him and working hard not to yell, but Harry didn't understand why. Why didn't he just yell and get it over with? Why was he keeping Harry around at all?

* * *

Harry was up before six the next morning. Snape had said they weren't going into town, so he didn't think he needed to wear the nice set of clothes. He pulled on an earthy blue shirt and then his maroon hoodie, and a pair of shorts. Harry was tempted to put on his nice boots, but he didn't know what they were doing and didn't want to ruin them, so he pulled on his old gray trainers, which were worn unevenly on the left foot and always felt like they would give him a sprained ankle if he ran or walked too fast.

Snape was in his study when Harry went to the kitchen to fix himself breakfast. Instead of cereal Harry dug around in the back of the cupboard and pulled out his day old bag of donuts. He went to the table to sit and eat them as Snape came in with a half drank cup of coffee. He sat at the head of the table and seemed impatient. He looked at Harry without a word and Harry frowned down at the bag. What was he staring at? Again he wondered if his hair wasn't brushed, but he knew it was. It was so easy to take care of short. Was the man waiting for what was in the bag?

"Did you want a donut sir?"

"That would be nice, yes."

Harry held the bag out to Snape and the man pulled out the plain glazed donut, leaving the pink one for Harry. How odd, Harry thought, as he reached into the bag and took out the last donut and ate it. He glanced up at Snape, who didn't seem to have any complaints about the donut, but still looked irritated. Harry finished his donut as Snape finished his and Snape rose and motioned for Harry to follow him.

Just outside the kitchen in the entryway there was the staircase leading up to the second floor and to Harry's room at the top of the stairs. On the left of the stairs was a short hall with a bathroom at the end and a closet under the stairs much like the cupboard Harry had occupied for years at the Dursleys. There was another short hall on the right side of the stairs which led to a door Harry hadn't been in yet. This was where Snape led him. Harry expected another closet, but the door opened and led straight down to what must have been a basement. Harry followed Snape down the stairs, but was dismayed to find he was being led not into a basement, but a cool, moist passage with rough rock walls. Snape lit his wand and told Harry to do the same, and Harry didn't question being told to use magic outside of school when it was forbidden.

The stairs went down at least two flights, then spiraled left and went down another flight before opening into a passageway. Harry was reminded of Gringotts, but only for a moment. They were in a cave... or a mine. Harry wasn't sure. They were in a long straight corridor carved out of the stone, and every now and again there was an opening the size and shape of a doorway that led to other long straight corridors. It wasn't cramped like a mine though and there were no supports holding up the tunnel ceiling.

"This mine has been in my family for nine generations. We are the primary supplier of Fire Quartz, Heat Crystals, Luminous Rocks and Hearth Gems for the isles and several magical communities in Europe."

Harry expected Snape to stop and ask him what all of these ores were in a pop quiz, but he'd questioned Harry several times already about it the night before.

"Blaze Crystals are down every corridor to the left. There is a chamber with Blaze Crystals under the Mayer's and Mrs. Allan's home. As a result they enjoy homes that are heated and warm in the winter. If they have a fire in the grate it is not for need of heat."

Harry noted that each time they passed a corridor on the left the air coming from the dark hall was warmer than the cool air in the main corridor.

They stopped in front of a corridor on the right after another minute of walking and Harry peered down into it. There was faint yellowish green light spilling out of it, though Harry couldn't see the source.

"What is down this corridor?" Snape asked.

"Luminous Rocks?"

"Yes. This is the only corridor with them. There is no chamber at the end. The corridor follows a vein of the rocks. While everything in the mine is rare and valuable, the Lumionous Rocks are harder to come by than everything else, and sold for the highest price and in the scarcest quantities."

"What are they used for?" Harry was certain the books had told him, but he couldn't remember.

"There is a rare potion that when shaken produces light. The potion contains powder produced from the mining of the larger gems. Nothing from the Lumionous Rock corridor is to be wasted. Even the rocks surrounding the Lumionous Rocks is saved and put through a further mining process to produce every last speck of Luminous dust. There are also talismans and other objects that light up when touched in a certain way or spelled to do so. All contain these rocks."

At the very end of the main corridor there were two corridors leading to the right, and one straight ahead through an archway engraved with runes. "The two corridors to the right follow a vein of gold that has Hearth Gems embedded. These are used primarily in wards, especially secrecy and protective wards around homes."

"Gold?" Harry asked. If he owned a vein of gold he'd buy himself a house and pay someone to be his guardian on paper just so he could live on his own until he was 17. Then he wouldn't have to worry about living at the orphanage, or Snape kicking him out. Harry indulged in the fantasy for a few moments too long before he noticed Snape staring at him.

"The corridor through this archway leads to the chamber where Fire Quartz is grown and harvested," Snape told him with a frown when Harry's attention returned. Harry still had a lot of questions about just how a crystal could be grown, but it was something Snape had told him he'd teach him later once Harry finished reading the last two books.

"It is imperative that you learn about all aspects of the Prince family business, from how to run it, to how to mine the ores, and what all of the ores are used for."

"Why?" Harry asked.

The Potions Master stiffened for a moment, before giving Harry a serious look and saying, "Wizarding custom, which is as good as law, dictates that any long held family business that is directly magical in nature be looked after and cared for by a family relation if at all possible. If the end of a family line has come, the business is turned over to the nearest relation that petitions the government for it, including all family properties and assets needed to run the business. In my case, that includes this home and property."

"But-" Harry said, "you're still young. Your family line didn't end?"

"It is expected that if there is no heir by the time the last remaining family member is 42 that the business will be turned over. I am 41, and Lucius Malfoy has made it known that he intends to petition the court for the Prince family business, as he has an heir. We are fourth cousins, but he is the closest living relation."

"That's why you wanted to adopt someone."

"Yes."

Harry nodded. Given what he'd read in the etiquette books, it made sense now. If the Malfoys hadn't forced his hand, Snape wouldn't have tried to adopt Harry, or that other boy anyway. He hated kids.

Snape began to walk back down the corridor towards the stairs, which were so far away in the darkness that Harry couldn't see them. Harry followed and after a minute Snape said, "It is not enough to adopt an heir. It must be proven to the Ministry's satisfaction that the heir is being trained to run the family business. The Ministry will not check unless Lucius Malfoy makes a claim for the business or complains that my heir is not far enough along in the process of learning to be a suitable leader."

"How will he know?"

"You may be certain he will appear before the end of the summer and attempt to pit your knowledge against Draco's."

"I'll do my best sir."

"See that you do."

They came to the stairs and began their climb out of the mines and up to the house. When they were finally back in the entryway, Snape told him, "You may continue to work for the Mayers and Mrs. Allan, and go into town on your free time, but starting tomorrow you will be in the mines with me from eight am to noon each day. I will teach you how to extract the ores, answer questions, quiz you on what you have learned, and you will practice what you are taught. You will wear your old clothes from the orphanage. Do not go into the mines without me."

"Yes sir."

Snape looked Harry up and down once, and then left him in the entryway and went back to his library. Harry headed up to his room and took off his hoodie since it was starting to get warm, and sat down on the bed. A lot made sense now. Snape had seemed almost desperate for him to learn the material in the books, even though he'd only been there a couple of weeks. His family business was on the line, and he was having to trust Harry to help him. He was having to trust the one student he hated most.

Harry put some of his money in his pocket and went to the kitchen to leave a note, and then headed out the front door. He wanted to go back to Hawes and get more pastries. He made it into Hawes without incident, got his pastries and ate one on his way back down the lane. Mrs. Mayer was in her front yard gardening again as he passed by.

"Hello Harry. Did you bring back more pastries?"

"Yes Mrs. Mayer."

"Would you like to come in for a cup of iced tea?"

"If you have time. I don't want to bother you."

"Nonsense. I'm ready for a break anyway. I'll come back out this evening when it's not as warm."

She led him inside and declined to take one of Harry's pastries again. She gave Harry a cup of iced tea and then they went back to the front porch, where Harry asked if she knew what Snape's family business was.

"Yes of course. I've been down to the mines a time or two, but not for years."

"I have to study a lot or someone else will take the mines."

"The Malfoys," she said knowledgebly.

"He told you?"

"Remember, I was the master's nanny when he was young. In fact, one of the times I had to go down to the mines was to retrieve him. He was nine and snuck down because he wanted to work with his older cousins and grandfather. The Malfoy's have made a grab for the mines before. Several times in fact. It doesn't surprise me that they would try again. They have a young heir?"

"Draco," Harry said. "He's in my year at school and we don't get along. He's in Professor Snape's house."

"I see," she said as the breeze came across the small covered porch and cooled them both down.

"I have to know more than Draco. He gets better grades than me in most things at school."

"You'll do fine Harry."

As he thought about it, Harry wasn't certain he would do fine though. Draco was always able to one-up him at school. Whether it was during a duel or answering questions in classes, Draco was always one step ahead of him. The only class Harry usually did better in was defense, and it was a sense of pride for Harry that he'd made his house Quidditch team a year before Draco bought his way onto the Slytherin team. Draco had better grades and Harry barely scraped by in some of his classes, including Potions. Aside from the fact that Snape hated Harry with a passion, it was no wonder the man was unhappy to have him there: he was certain Harry wouldn't measure up to Draco when the time came.

"Thank you for the iced tea Mrs. Mayer," Harry said. "I have to go back and study now. I'm supposed to go to the mines again tomorrow."

"Would you like me to make you a sandwich before you go home?"

"No thank you."

She took his empty glass and waved goodbye and Harry hurried down the lane. That other boy wasn't here yet, and until he got here it was up to Harry to save Snape's family business. He didn't want to be responsible for him losing it. He also didn't want to face Snape's wrath for the next few years at school over it. Harry had to know more than Draco and he had to know it now. The Malfoy's could come at any time.