As Millie had pointed out, things had been going surprisingly well with the Gryffindor. He hadn't expected the child to work so hard, or to appreciate the predicament Severus was in with the mine, the Ministry and the Malfoys. But Harry had been working hard, as if the mine was just as important to him.

It was more than Harry's hard work that had made Severus laugh though. The boy seemed happy. It shouldn't be anything considered out of the ordinary, but it was. As Severus thought back to the boy's time at school so far, he realized that the child rarely ever smiled or laughed or seemed genuinely happy. But here he had laughed over a success in the mines, and since then Severus had seen him smiling other times too when he took a moment to pay attention. The child was... at ease. Was the boy ever at ease at school? Perhaps only when with Granger and Weasley in private, and if it were so Severus never saw it.

At first Severus wasn't certain if he cared or not if the boy felt at ease there. He was there for a purpose, and if he was fulfilling that purpose and not destroying his home or peace then Severus was satisfied. While Severus wasn't certain if he cared if the boy was happy and at ease, he was certain he was disturbed when he detected a new nervousness and anxiety in the child only days after that moment of laughter in the mines.

As it was when Potter first came to stay, he was making himself scarce again. He showed up on time to go into the mines, and made himself available when asked for further work on the minerals and gems, but other than that he was gone. On his days off he disappeared early and came back late. He knew the boy was eating, because he'd checked, but he rarely saw him at meals anymore. According to Millie he was doing yard work for various neighbors. There must have been something the boy wanted to buy. He'd asked Severus for new shoes a few days back, and Severus had intended to get him some, but hadn't put any further thought into it after that because they'd been busy. He couldn't be saving for shoes. In all likelihood he wanted new flying goggles or something else of the sort to take back to school in September.

If it was just that he was making himself scarce, Severus might not have noted an issue at all, but the boy was also flinching away from him like he was waiting to be struck. It startled Severus as much as the boy's laughter a week before had. If Severus raised his voice at all, grew irritated that the child had forgotten an important step in the mining process, or seemed remotely displeased, the boy pulled into himself and shut down. What had changed? Severus hadn't yelled or shouted at him since weeks ago when he'd chastised the boy unfairly for having Mrs. Mayer do his chores when she hadn't.

Severus was still pondering this change in Harry over the past week as he pulled on work clothes to go into the mine for the day. He had considered asking him, but didn't think the Gryffindor would tell him if he did. Perhaps he'd ask today what the boy was saving up to buy. He already had a racing broom but he wouldn't put it past the Gryffindor to save up for the new Firebolt that had recently come out.

Downstairs Severus had a bowl of porridge for breakfast and wondered why Mrs. Mayer had stopped buying the pastries she had been bringing over for the past few weeks. He'd have to ask her and ask which shop she got them from.

Harry came in a few minutes later and filled up a bottle of water.

"Are you eating?" Severus asked him.

"I had breakfast before you came down sir."

"I see."

Ten minutes later they were ready to go into the mine. They'd be bagging up luminous rock fragments today to grind to dust over the course of the next week. Severus led the way to the door that led down to the mines and was describing to Harry how many rocks they'd be collecting and the process of grinding them up. He opened the door and went down twenty steps into the darkness, still talking before he asked Harry something and realized he wasn't there to answer. Severus looked above him in the darkness and spotted the boy at the top of the stairs just inside the stairwell leading down.

"Is there someone at the front door Mr. Potter?" he asked, thinking someone must have knocked just as they'd begun their descent to the mines, but Harry didn't answer.

"Potter?"

The boy turned and bolted the few steps back up the stairs and out of sight. What in the world?

Severus climbed back up the stairs and expected to find Harry in the entryway, but instead found the front door open and walked out. It took him a moment to spot the boy because he was on the ground in the yard. He was on his knees, face buried in the grass.

Severus came out of the house and walked slowly over to him. "Potter what are you doing?"

There was no answer, though the child was muttering something under his breath and breathing heavily. Severus leaned in to hear what the child was saying and noted he was digging his fingers into the grass as if trying to make sure it was there. "Not the cupboard, not the cupboard, not the cupboard."

Severus didn't know what that meant, and didn't know what had brought this on, but the child was clearly in distress.

"Potter," he said carefully, but he received no response again.

"Perhaps we should take today off and you should spend the day in your room."

Harry tensed at that and then sat up, eyes red. "No sir, I didn't mean to do anything wrong. I don't want to be grounded."

"You have not. It is not a punishment. If you would prefer to spend the day out of doors then you are welcome to do so."

Harry nodded to himself and sat back on his rear and swiped a sleeve across his face and then took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Do you want to tell me what-"

"No!" Harry cut him off, but then looked sheepish. "No sir. Thank you."

"Very well. I will be in the house if you need me."

Severus retreated into the house and then into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. He could look out the kitchen window and watch Harry on the front lawn. How odd. What did, ‘Not the cupboard?' mean? He didn't know. He stood and drank his tea for twenty minutes watching Harry through the window before Harry got up and went around the side of the house, presumably to the creek, where Severus often saw him studying.

With the boy's change in demeanor and what had happened today, Severus wished suddenly to see the child laughing and at ease again. It was a disturbing change he didn't know the cause of and didn't know how to fix. That the boy didn't want to talk to him wasn't surprising given their relationship. Severus supposed he'd never given the child a reason to talk to him about any issues he might have before. It gave him a lot to think about.

* * *

Harry wasn't certain what he was going to do. He had fully intended to go into the mines and work with Snape, but the moment he opened that door and stepped into the darkness, his vision tunneled in and he was certain he was in his cupboard under the stairs at 4 Privet Drive. Snape might have called to him or yelled at him, he didn't know. He was in the cupboard, and the door to it was open behind him, so he'd bolted out while he had the chance, and then out into the yard. In the brightness of the early morning light, Harry realized he wasn't at Privet Drive, but his heart was still clenched with fear as though he was. He'd thrown himself onto the grass and pressed his face to the ground to block everything out except the feel of the grass on his face and the smell of the earth. That was how Snape had found him, tears and all, muttering like he was crazy. He wasn't crazy, Harry reassured himself later that evening as he lay in bed. He wasn't.

He wasn't crazy, but he also didn't know what he was going to do tomorrow when it was time to go into the mines again. He didn't know if he'd be able to go down into them like normal, or if he'd have another freak out unexpectedly. Since his purpose was to be here to mine and to learn to mine, he didn't fancy telling Snape that he could no longer go into the mines themselves. He'd be cuffed about the head like his uncle used to do when Harry upset him, or tossed out on his rear end. He supposed the latter had always been an inevitability, but he wasn't looking forward to speeding that process along before he had any money to get himself bus fare or a train ticket back to the orphanage.

Harry fell asleep fretting about the next morning, and going over scenarios in his mind. Perhaps he'd just pack his backpack in the morning in case he did get thrown out.

* * *

Harry took one step down the stairs towards the mines and his vision didn't tunnel in. A second step, and nothing. A third step, and then a fourth. He was on this step the day before when it had happened and he'd been whisked back to Privet Drive in his mind. Snape acted as though nothing had happened the day before at all, and led him all the way down the stairs and into the mines without incident. Huh. Harry was stumped. Perhaps the day before was just a fluke.

They spent the morning pouring Luminous Rock dust into bags and carrying them to the foot of the stairs to carry up at lunch time. The work went quickly, and they made several more trips up and down the long stairs to the house without incident. Later that evening as Harry climbed into bed, he thought it had been silly of him to pack his bags at all. Maybe he would make it through the summer after all.

* * *

Harry finally had enough money for a new pair of shoes. He'd asked Millie and she had told him the little shoe store that had just moved into Bainbridge had sneakers for boys at a reasonable price, so he dressed in the nice polo shirt and slacks Snape had given him just for going into town, and put on his nice boots as well and set out for Bainbridge. Technically he'd never been given permission to go into Bainbridge, only Hawes, but he'd been into Bainbridge four or five times now to do yard work without Snape's permission and figured one more time wouldn't hurt. It was only a 15 minute walk into the center of the small village and Harry didn't plan on being gone longer than 45 minutes or an hour. He had another book to get through which Snape had given him to read and he wanted to finish it by that evening.

Harry made his way into Bainbridge and found the shoe store without any issues. Within just a few minutes the shop owner had helped him find a nice pair of sneakers, and Harry paid him the 45 pounds he had saved. The sneakers were deep red, almost maroon, and he was looking forward to having something nice to wear when school started again in a couple months. Draco would have nothing to make fun of him for if he showed up with nice clothes and decent shoes. He'd have to work hard to save up for some nice new shirts and school supplies too. Maybe he could start picking up some work from people in Hawes.

After his purchase Harry thanked the shop owner and walked out with his new shoes tucked safely in the shoe box. He wanted to put them on right away, but didn't want Snape to be mad that he wasn't wearing his nice clothes in town.

At the edge of town a boy a few years older than Harry called out to him. "Whatchya got there?"

"Shoes," Harry said. The teen looked to his friends and nodded at Harry's feet. "Those nice boots you got not good enough for the little master?" The teen hopped off the low stone fence he and his friends had been sitting on and came over to Harry.

"Leave him be Jasper, he's ok. I seen him workin' Mrs. Green's yard the other day," another boy said. There were two of them still by the fence.

"Don' look like he's been workin," the boy named Jasper said. "Prince's an' Snape's don't work yeah? Look at his clothes. Master Snape probably bought ‘im a whole wardrobe an' now the spoilt little master wanted new shoes on top."

"I'm just Harry," he said.

"Yeah, we know you're not really his," one of the other boys said, still leaning against the fence. He looked like he couldn't care about Harry one way or the other.

Harry tried to continue down the lane but Jasper moved in front of him.

"Must be nice to move in with a rich bloke yeah?" Jasper pressed forward and Harry took a step back. "What's it like living with the creep anyway? They say he's richer than the queen... that his walls are encrusted with jewels."

"It's just a normal house," Harry lied, mind flitting to the mines under the house where the walls really were encrusted with jewels.

"But he is rich ain't he. Pays servants to come cook an' clean for him. To cook an' clean for you."

"It's not like that," Harry said. "If you'll excuse me," he tried to move past them again but Jasper held out a hand.

"You can go when you hand over the box."

"I bought these with the money I earned doing yardwork," Harry said. "They're mine."

"Then give me the boots yer wearin. Master Snape bought those didn' he?"

"I can't," Harry said.

"Come on Jasper, you really want the Master to come tearin down here lookin for you when you beat up his kid?" the nice boy still sitting on the fence said.

"Never see much of the bloke do we?" Jasper said. "Don't reckon he'll come out at all. Heard he's so rich he has a mansion somewhere he spends most of the year at. That true?" he asked Harry.

"He's a teacher at a school far away," Harry said.

Jasper held out his hand for the shoebox.

"No," Harry told him. Without warning Jasper reached out and punched Harry in the face. Harry fell backwards onto the dirt lane, head spinning and a bright light flashing in his eyes as he stared up at the sky.

"I'm tellin' ya it's not worth it," the nice boy said, though he never moved to stop Jasper or help Harry up. "Leave him be."

Jasper bent over Harry, blocking out the bright sunlight, and Harry blinked several times to clear away the bright flash of light still in his vision. He reached down and took the box lying on the lane next to Harry and pulled the lid off.

"Wait," Harry said, but Jasper pulled the shoes out and dropped the box on the lane.

"Not my size, but I'll sell em and get, what, forty pounds outta em?"

"I need those," Harry said.

Jasper lifted Harry by the front of his shirt, causing the polo shirt to rip slightly from Harry's weight, and set Harry on his feet, where Harry glared at him as he swayed. "Get him to buy ya another pair then. That's what having a rich da is good fer." Jasper turned and walked away, his two friends following him down a side lane, leaving Harry there feeling dumb and useless staring after them.

Harry looked down at his torn shirt and tried to brush the dirt from his clothes. His pants, shirt and shiny black boots were filthy. There was no way he could sew up the rip in the front of his shirt without Snape noticing. As Harry began to make the ten minute walk back to the house, he reached up to touch his eye where Jasper had hit him and flinched hard as his fingers brushed it. His best hope was to hurry into the house and up to his room before Snape saw him and change into different clothes. He couldn't hide his eye, but the clothes he could hide away until he could wash the shoes and pants and potentially save up money to replace the shirt.

Harry's plan was doomed to fail however as Snape was in the kitchen when he came home and called out to him as soon as Harry opened the door.

"How close are you to finishing the book I gave you to read? You will need the information for the work we are to do tomorrow in the mines."

Harry couldn't just ignore him and run up to his room, so he stepped carefully over to the kitchen entrance and stood there, dirty and tattered clothes hanging off of him, black eye plain to see.

Snape turned from the counter when Harry didn't answer and was silent for a few moments as his eyes raked over him, but Harry watched as the man's face morphed into anger.

"You have been fighting," he said through gritted teeth. It wasn't a question.

"No," Harry said.

"The black eye and ruined clothing suggest otherwise."

"They ambushed me."

"I find it hard to believe that you could have made enemies so quickly here. How you even found the time to find other children to pick fights with-" he paused and stared at Harry's bruised eye again and said, "Go to your room. You are to stay there until morning."

"But they weren't kids, they-"

Snape pointed towards the hall and stairs and said, "Now Potter."

Harry turned and hurried up the stairs, closing his door quietly so he didn't give the man a chance to shout at him for slamming the door. Harry had hoped for some bruise balm or something for his eye, or a painkiller for the headache caused by getting punched, but that wasn't to be. Harry wasn't surprised that he didn't want to know Harry's side of it, but he'd expected help with his face at least. Teachers at Hogwarts always made sure student injuries got treated, even minor ones for fighting. It was a harsh reminder once again that they weren't at Hogwarts, they were in Snape's home.

Harry thought back on what the boys had said... what they had implied. They thought Harry was a spoilt brat who was given whatever he wanted because he had a ‘rich dad'. He didn't have a dad at all however. He didn't even have a home. He was living in a home, but it wasn't his. His home was the orphanage.

Harry stared at the desk and windowsill where his fragments of broken ore sat, glistening in the light. Those were his, he earned them, but they didn't belong in this room, this room meant for the other boy. Suddenly Harry missed the orphanage in a way he never had before. He'd never been homesick for the place while he was away at Hogwarts, but he was now. The father's from the church who ran the place were nice, even if a few were strict, and the rules were easy to follow. That was Harry's home, and he wished he'd never left. It wasn't entirely true, because he'd had fun in the mines and he loved spending time with Millie and Arran, but- he paused and stopped thinking about it as his head gave a particularly painful twinge and began to throb.

Harry got on his knees and pulled his backpack out and began putting the few things that were his in the trunk. He put on his ratty old sneakers that no longer fit, and filled a side pocket on the backpack with his worthless gems. He left all of the new clothing Snape had bought in the wardrobe where they belonged along with the blue blanket that sat folded on a wardrobe shelf. They would be waiting for the other boy when he came, whenever that was.

Harry waited until it was after midnight and he was certain Snape wouldn't come up to check on him, and then he quietly opened the bedroom door and snuck down the stairs and out the front door. He didn't look back as he walked up the driveway and over the little hill to the lane. He was only sorry he wouldn't have a chance to tell the Mayer's and Mrs Allan goodbye before he went home.

* * *

Harry was not at the kitchen table eating the next morning when Severus came down for breakfast. The boy was probably wallowing upstairs and dragging his feet getting ready for the day, upset that he'd been sent to bed without dinner.

"Potter!" he called, but when the boy didn't come down Severus went up to his room and rapped smartly on the door. "Potter, we have work to do." He pushed the door open and found the room empty. The bed was made and the boy's shoes were gone. Thinking Harry had risen early and eaten and then gone out, Severus went back down to the kitchen and made himself coffee and eggs. Perhaps the child had gone out to tell Mrs. Mayer about his horrible potions master grounding him unjustly. Severus waited half an hour for the boy to return, but when he didn't he sighed and went out to find him.

Down the lane he found Mrs. Mayer in her garden on her hands and knees pulling weeds.

"Good day Mrs. Mayer," Severus greeted, standing in the lane and not opening the gate to enter her yard without permission.

"Oh Severus," she greeted brightly. "Are you on your way to Hawes for the day?"

"No, I have work to do with Harry this morning and came to fetch him."

"Harry? He's not here. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning when he came to ask me about a store in Bainbridge."

"Hm, I assumed he had come here. He knew we had work to do this morning but was not at breakfast."

"Maybe he's studying or went to do some work for one of the neighbors. The Greens have had him doing all sorts of work setting their garden to rights this last week. You know how overgrown it was."

"Perhaps."

"Would you like me to send Arran to check with the Greens?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Severus said. He'd deal with the child when he returned for lunch, or heaven help him if he came back as late as dinner expecting a meal when he'd skipped out on work for the day. It was possible he'd forgotten, but that didn't excuse the irresponsible behavior.

Before he turned to leave Severus said, "I've been meaning to ask you where you get the breakfast pastries."

She stood up from where she'd been kneeling next to the flowerbeds and asked, "What pastries? The ones Harry goes into town for every few days?"

Severus frowned. "The ones you have been buying and bringing to the house with the groceries. You stopped buying them and I wondered which shop they came from."

She smiled at him. "I haven't been buying them. Harry goes into town every few days and spends his money on them. He said you quite enjoyed some of them, so he kept going back for more."

"Harry bought them?" he asked for confirmation, in case he hadn't heard right.

"Yes. I think he goes to a few different shops to pick ones he likes."

"Hm." The child had bought himself some pastries and when Severus had demanded one, thinking they were part of the normal groceries Mrs. Mayer brought each week, the child hadn't batted an eye and had given him one. Harry had gone out of his way to keep going into town to buy them. He had stopped almost two weeks ago however. Perhaps that was why the child had been working for neighbors again, he'd run out of money.

"Thank you Mrs. Mayer."

"Tell Harry I said hello."

"I will do so."

Severus turned and went back down the lane to the house, though Harry still wasn't there when he returned. Lunch passed and Severus spent several hours preparing new grading ruberiks and looking through curriculum to prepare for upcoming classes. He liked to do as much of the work as he could at home so he didn't have to return to Hogwarts until a few weeks before school began. When dinner time came and Harry had still not returned, Severus took a walk around the property and then checked the door to the mines to be sure the wards were still up and that Harry hadn't gone down to the mines on his own. At seven he walked back down the lane to the Mayers to ask again if he had come by.

"I haven't seen him," Arran said. "Millie!" Millie came out the front door, apron on and looking like she was in the middle of cooking dinner. "Harry come by today? Last time I seen him was yesterday when he went into Bainbridge for shoes."

"He went to buy shoes?" Severus asked.

Arran leaned on the fence to talk to Severus since Severus was still standing in the lane. "His were too small and pretty worn," Arran said. "He worked for a couple weeks getting money together for a new pair."

"That's right," Millie said, coming to the gate to talk to Severus. "I told him the little shop in Bainbridge was best. What color did he pick?"

"I do not know," Severus said. "He had been fighting yesterday when he returned and I sent him to his room. This morning when I woke he was not at breakfast. He has not returned for lunch or dinner."

Arran and Millie gave each other a look. "He was fighting?"

"Yes, a common occurrence at Hogwarts as well. He came home with his shirt torn and a black eye."

"Who was he fighting with?" Arran asked.

"He did not specify."

"Not many kids to fight with in Bainbridge," Arran said, scratching his head. "A few young ones, five, six years old, and a few older boys from secondary school, and a girl around Harry's age. Don't think he'd pick a fight with any of them, especially not those older boys. They're pretty big."

"He has been known to pick fights while at school and frequently gets into trouble. He has several behavioral issues that are difficult to deal with. A few days ago he ran out into the yard and buried his face in the grass. The only words I could get out of him were something about a cupboard."

"A cupboard you say?" Arran asked.

"I wonder what that was about," Millie said.

Arran looked uncomfortable for a few moments and then said, "Few weeks back I came over looking for Mrs. Mayer. I didn't realize she'd gone to town for groceries and thought she'd gone to work at your place Master Snape. I walked past the cupboard under the stairs and pushed the door closed so I could check the bathroom at the end of the hall you see. After a few moments I heard loud noises coming from inside and when I opened the door Master Harry fairly fell out, all panicked and crying."

Millie put her hand up over her mouth. "That's why he filled the cupboard with all those things," she said.

"He acted like it wasn't anything," Arran said. "I would never do anything like that to him on purpose, but he had this haunted look in his eyes when he came out of there, like a trapped animal who was never going to get out."

Severus' mind went back to the day Harry had fled the dark stairwell leading to the mines and gone out into the yard. He'd been shaking and had looked haunted, like Arran had described. ‘Not the cupboard, not the cupboard, not the cupboard.'

As soon as he found Harry he intended to find out exactly what had gone on that day. Surely getting locked in the one time by Arran couldn't have caused such a reaction, could it?

"Thank you for telling me." Severus turned to leave, thinking he would search the house and property again before heading into Bainbridge and then Hawes to look for the boy, when Millie's hand reached out across the low fence and touched his wrist. Severus turned back.

"There's one more thing Severus," she said quietly. She watched his eyes to make sure he was listening. "I thought maybe it was just because he'd come from an orphanage, so I didn't tell you. I thought maybe once he settled in he'd realize he was staying."

"What do you mean?"

"He's convinced he's not staying, that you'll send him back to the orphanage because he wasn't the boy you wanted to adopt. He told me he knew none of the things you bought were for him, that they all belonged to the other boy, the one you wanted."

Severus didn't know what to say to that. He had intended to adopt some other boy, some boy that wasn't Harry Potter, but Harry was there and he had bought him clothes and tried to teach him everything he'd intended for the boy he adopted.

"You haven't been able to find him all day," Arran said when Severus remained silent. "You think he ran away?"

"Arran, you don't really think he did do you?" Millie asked. "Where would he even go? To school?"

"Back to the orphanage," Arran said.

They looked to Severus who couldn't deny either possibility. If Harry had money he could take a bus, or even a cab or train.

"There's that train station over in Clough," Arran said. "Only nine miles. Take him a few hours to walk there. Train only comes in the evening. Round about nine wouldn't you say?" he asked Millie.

"I will check there first," Severus said.

"I'll drive out the other way and check out Redmire Station," Arran said. "That one's about 11 miles."

"I'll check around the house again," Millie said, "in case you missed something there."

Severus nodded and looked up and down the lane to check for anyone watching, took note that Mrs. Allan's car was gone, and then apparated to an isolated field near Clough.

The sun was starting to set as Severus made his way from the emtpy field to the train station. He kept his eyes peeled for Harry as he walked down the road but didn't spot him. If he couldn't find him here he'd have to walk the entire nine miles back to the house and try to find Harry on the road.

Severus didn't see Harry on the short walk to the station from the field, but as he approached the train station he spotted a sorry looking character sitting on the stone platform with his legs hanging over the edge. He didn't look up as Severus approached him.

"Where are you headed?" Severus asked quietly.

"Home."

"The train doesn't go through Bainbridge."

"Leave me alone. I'm not going back there."

"Why is that?" Harry didn't answer him and Severus said in an irritated way, "You are angry about being punished for fighting."

"That's why I'm not going back!" Harry shouted, causing someone who was waiting inside the station for the train to look out the window. "Right there!" Harry pointed at him angrily, "You were never even willing to give me a chance! I never fought with anyone! I went to buy shoes and an older boy stopped me and beat me up when I wouldn't give my shoes to him!"

Severus gave Harry a doubtful look and Harry turned away from him again. "You cannot go."

"Screw you."

Severus raised his brows, surprised by the crass words from the usually reserved boy. It was then that Severus realized that Harry was a reserved boy, and in that moment he couldn't really imagine the child picking a fight with a stranger.

When Severus was silent Harry said, "You just want me to go back so you don't lose your business. I'm not even a person to you, just free labor."

"What do you want?" Severus asked. He'd never intended to adopt a child to use as labor. He'd intended to have an heir. He couldn't deny that he hadn't exactly lived up to his end of the deal however. You couldn't have an heir if you weren't willing to be a parent. He had no idea how to get Harry to come back with him when he had offered him nothing up to this point.

Harry jumped to his feet and shouted, "What do I want?! I want to quit being teased about not having any parents! I want Draco Malfoy to stop telling me I should tie hunks of meat around my neck so my relatives will take me back! I want teachers at school to stop looking at me like they feel sorry for me, and random people to stop giving me used holey clothes like I don't have anything better so I might as well just take what they give me! I like the orphanage! It's not so bad! But I want to be normal, just for once, like I actually mean something to somebody. Like I'm not just some disgusting thing someone found on the bottom of their shoe."

Harry's shouting caused a man and woman to come out of the train station. Harry was riled and looked ready to fight the man who towered over him.

"You all right son?" the man asked.

Severus turned and said, "I am the boy's father."

The man raised his hand in apology and stepped back inside the station. As soon as the door was closed Harry hissed, "You're just saying that to drag me back there! You're not my father!"

Harry picked up his bag and hopped off the raised train platform. He crossed the tracks and startled a moment later when he realized Severus had followed him to the road.

After a few moments Severus said quietly, "I haven't been your father, but you are my son."

What did that even mean? Harry didn't know. He'd tried to be his son, tried to do the best he could there. At first it had been pure survival, but for a moment he'd let his guard fall and had genuinely wanted to stay, to know what it was to be Snape's son. Harry didn't suppose he'd ever know what that was like though. What he did know was that was tired, his face hurt and that his head had been throbbing since he'd been hit the day before. There was no way Snape was going to let him go. Harry turned back to him and stared back at the train station, waiting for Snape to apparate them away. When he was certain no one was looking, he took hold of Harry's arm and they were gone.

They reappeared in the empty kitchen at Snape's house and Snape told Harry to sit on the kitchen counter. Harry did so as Snape left the kitchen, bag at his feet on the floor. A minute later Snape came back with a rag and got it wet and began cleaning dirt from Harry's face, and then he applied a purple potion to the rag and began dabbing at Harry's black eye. Harry felt a cooling sensation as if ice had been applied and some of the pain lessened.

If Snape wasn't going to let him run away, he'd have to convince the man to let him go back to the orphanage, or to send him back. Maybe he could apparate Harry directly there.

As Snape continued to dab the potion on Harry's eye, Harry said tersely in response to Snape's earlier statement, "I don't have a father."

Severus looked at him for a long moment, bruises and all, and said, "You do now."

Harry crossed his arms and looked away, grimacing at the throbbing pain in his head as he did so.

"Tell me what you're thinking," Severus said, pulling the cloth away.

"It's not nice to say things you don't mean."

"I mean it."

"You just want me to stay put and not run off again so you don't lose your estate."

"I may have adopted you to begin with to save the estate from the Malfoys, and I would rather not lose it, but if I have to give it up to prove a point to you, I will."

"What point?"

"When I first contacted the orphanage looking for a boy to adopt, I should have made a commitment to you then, to meet all of your needs. Not just clothing and food and shelter, but emotionally as well. I didn't commit to that then, but I am now. It was unfair to expect to bring you into this family without that commitment."

Harry stared at Severus as if he were crazy and Severus looked consternated in return. "You mean for that other boy... the one you expected to show up, not for me. You probably did plan on loving him. Then I turned up. It's not fair to make promises you can't keep. You can't do anything like that for a person you hate."

"I- was unsettled to see you here. I have found myself proven wrong time and again about you and your behavior however. I will admit- it hasn't been bad having you here."

"Stop it," Harry said, jumping down off the counter and making a grab for his backpack.

Severus looked confused. "Where are you going?"

"Away," Harry said. "Back to the orphanage where I'm meant to go. I'm sorry you have to lose your business. Maybe you can murder Draco's father or something and adopt him."

Harry could hear Severus calling after him as he went out the door, but didn't turn back. It wasn't until a few moments later when he felt a hand on his arm that Harry realized hot tears were trailing down his cheeks. It was cruel to get his hopes up that things would be any different than they always were. He might as well have been back at the Dursleys.

"Harry-"

"Get off!" Harry swung around and shoved the man hard in the chest with both hands, but Snape didn't let go of his arm. Bag falling to the ground in his struggle to get away, Harry made a wild swing that connected somewhere on Snape's body and then fell backwards and tripped over his bag.

"Harry?"

He buried his face in his arms as he sat on the ground and tried to stop the flow of tears. He felt Snape kneel next to him, but the man didn't say anything, probably fearing he would only continue to make things worse.

"It's going to be the same as every year," Harry said, finally lifting his wet face from his arms.

"What is?"

"I'm going to go back to Hogwarts without a family. I'll watch everyone say goodbye to their parents on the platform and as soon as I get on the train Draco will come along and scoff at me. He'll make a big deal about how another family didn't want me and how useless I am. He'll do it in front of everybody just like he does every year."

"I want you Harry."

"No you don't. As soon as I mess up you'll throw me out and be done with me."

"I brought you back when you ran away."

"Because you had to."

"And I haven't thrown you out despite that you just broke one of my ribs."

Harry looked up at him and noted that he seemed to be in some pain, but the concern on his face was overriding it. After searching his face for long moments, Harry finally said, "You should get rid of me. There's a reason I don't have a family."

Severus raised his brow but Harry motioned towards the Potion Master's injured rib.

"All I am is trouble. I don't deserve a family. The orphanage is where I'm supposed to be."

"Every child deserves a home and someone who cares enough to treat them right."

"I'm not a child. I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, remember? It wasn't in the deck for me." It hurt to admit, as he'd so often pushed the thought away that he didn't deserve a family. He spent so much time loathing Draco for pointing it out that he'd denied it until he believed Draco was wholly wrong. But Draco had been right. He was the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-All-Alone, and there wasn't much he could do to change that.

"You're wrong."

Harry frowned but didn't look up at him.

"It is I who do not deserve to adopt you. It is my fault that you do not have parents to care for you."

This did cause Harry to look up.

"What do you mean?"

"Come into the house and I will tell you."

Harry stared into Snape's black eyes for a moment, and then stood. He swayed, head throbbing, but stayed upright and followed Snape into the house. It was rare to hear anything about his parents, and it was possibly the only thing Snape could have said to get him back inside.