"Try it again Harry."

Harry planted his feet firmly against the ground and aimed the wand at Remus. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted at him, but nothing happened, not even a golden spark. The wand was resisting him. It liked to resist him, especially when it was aimed at its owner.

"I'm not very good at this," Harry said.

"You don't have your own wand. I have a feeling this exercise would go differently if you did."

"Will I still be able to get a wand when I'm eleven if I don't go to school?"

"I'll make sure you get one, I just haven't figured out how yet."

"I know they cost a lot," Harry said.

"That's not the problem. Your parents left you a vault full of gold at Gringotts. The issue is if you don't have your Hogwarts letter, Ollivander won't sell you one."

"And the owls can't find me to deliver it if I'm inside the wards."

"Even if you did have the letter, I'm sure Ollivander would alert the Ministry if you came strolling into his shop."

"Does anyone else sell wands?"

"Wands are complicated things, and Ollivander is one of the best wand makers. There are other sources but they aren't reputable and the quality of their products isn't something to be sought after. We might have to travel to another country to get your wand."

"Doesn't anybody ever sell those old family heirlooms?"

"Remember Harry, wands are complicated. When a wizard gets a wand, it's usually his or hers for life. They say that the wand chooses the wizard. Try again." Remus prepared himself to go flying as Harry incanted the spell again, but nothing happened. Harry let his arms fall to his sides.

"This isn't working."

"You'll get it eventually. You've learned almost every other spell you've tried."

"So, a wizard has a wand for life. What about when they die? People must keep those wands for a reason."

"I'm afraid not for much more than sentimentality. The way my wand resists you, other people's wands will resist any new owner it gets. Occasionally a wand does find a new owner that it likes, but no one is clear on when or why this happens, and it's rare. I don't actually know of anybody living that has someone elses old wand and gets along well with it. Come on Harry, give it another try. You can do it."

"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" Harry tried in rapid succession but nothing happened. He held up his hands and Remus nodded.

"Ok, enough of that for now. Let's work on your levitation. I know you're still having trouble with that."

"Can we try a shrinking charm after?" Harry asked, sounding eager.

"That's not in the first year text."

"I was reading that third year charms text in the trunk. I found it in the back. I want to shrink things down like you do when we move."

"We can try, but it's a little advanced for your stage."

"Isn't it all advanced for me? You said I'm not supposed to know any of the spells on the list yet."

"You're doing well Harry, and I said you could try, but I don't want you to be disappointed if you can't manage the spells in the other books yet. They teach spells in order for a reason. Sometimes a spell depends on you having prior knowledge and practice of other essential spells, theory, and wand work. The shrinking charm, for instance, depends on you having knowledge of a small bit of transfiguration, which I'm not very good at and I fear I won't be able to teach you."

"Is it very hard?"

"For me it has always been, yes. Some people find themselves better at certain subjects. Your father was always very good in defense and charms, and your mother was particularly good at transfiguration and brewing potions. Mr. Ollivander will tell you it depends on the wand you get, as some wand cores are better suited for certain things, and others will say that's nonsense."

"What are you good at?"

"Defense and spell detection. I was always very good at detecting and nullifying curses and hexes. At one point I considered being a curse breaker."

"So, if you're good at breaking curses, does that mean you're good at casting them?"

"As theory goes, yes. I don't tend to cast many curses, but a lot of the theory of curses is also good for wards, and as you've seen I think my wards and barriers are up to par."

Harry grinned. "Now you're just bragging."

Remus gave a broad smile too and it made Harry happy. He liked it when Remus smiled. His whole face lit up. Harry liked being around someone who smiled and praised him and wasn't always negative. It was a completely different world... a different life than the one he had lead at Privet Drive. He didn't have to worry about making Remus angry or walking on eggshells around him. Even when Harry did something wrong, Remus gave it a positive spin.

"Tell me about my parents again," Harry said suddenly. Remus held out his hand for his wand and after Harry had given it to him, they sat down in the chairs in front of the empty fire pit.

"What would you like to know?"

"Was my dad much like you?"

Remus raised his brows. "Like me? I don't know. I suppose all friends are alike in some way. He liked to break the rules, but I tried to stay away from rule breaking. I ended up being the boy Prefect for our year in Gryffindor for that reason. James had Prefect authority because he was the Gryffindor team Captain, but none of the Prefect responsibilities."

"Did he smile a lot? Was he nice?"

"He did. He was nice to those he liked, and he was especially nice to Gryffindors. He didn't have friends in other houses though. He had a lot of Gryffindor pride. He did have a few enemies in other houses."

"What about you? Did you have friends in other houses? And my mum, did she?"

"I had several friends in Hufflepuff. Lily had one very good friend in Slytherin and a few people she studied with in Ravenclaw. The majority of our friends were in Gryffindor however."

"Slytherin, you said Voldemort came from that house?"

"He did. Not all people from Slytherin are evil though, just as not all people from Gryffindor are good."

Harry knew he was talking about Sirius then, and didn't ask anything else for a few minutes.

"You want to know about Sirius and Peter?"

Harry looked up at Remus as he lit the fire, probably to start dinner since it was almost six thirty.

"Harry, I told you, I won't be offended by any question you ask."

"I guess I'm still not used to having my questions answered. I'm not allowed to ask things about my parents or anything else at home."

"Well, this is your home now, and you are allowed to ask."

"What about Sirius and Peter then?" Remus hadn't said much about Peter aside from that Sirius had killed him, and Harry was really more interested in Sirius. He knew Remus had said it wasn't really Sirius' fault that his parents were dead, but Harry thought it was just as much Sirius' fault as it was Voldemort's.

"Peter felt very fortunate to have the three of us as friends. He was shy and not very outgoing and didn't speak to people in other houses unless he had to. Sirius was more of a loner. He was friends with Peter, James and me and later on Lily, but that was it. He kept to himself most of the time."

"He didn't have friends because he was cruel to those around him," said a chilling and unfamiliar voice suddenly from behind Harry. Harry's arms and neck prickled with fear as he and Remus spun to find a tall dark eyed man with shoulder length black hair. He wore black slacks and a black button up shirt, and held a wand aimed at Remus.

Harry was frozen as he stared at the stranger, and would have remained frozen if Remus hadn't shouted, "RUN!" Harry leaped out of his camp chair as the man waved his wand at Remus. Remus threw his wand to Harry, who caught it, dropped it, picked it up, and dove into the tent for his bag. Remus shouted something and Harry caught a quick glance of him through the open tent flap. His insides chilled. Remus was lying on the ground bound with an impossible number of ropes as the dark eyed man stood over him. Entrance to the tent blocked, Harry lifted up the back of the tent and scrambled out. He didn't know of any spells to help Remus, and surely he couldn't fight against this older, scarier wizard if he couldn't even cast an Expelliarmus. Remus had taught him a jinx that made a person's legs dance uncontrollably but this hardly seemed like an appropriate defense. Run, Remus' last words to him spurred him on past the unplottable barrier and into the forest. This was the plan wasn't it? Run and hide, cast the spell to make it impossible for other people to find him. But Harry's heart was pounding, he was feeling frantic, and he couldn't remember the spell just now. "Run!" It wasn't in Harry's head this time. Remus had shouted in the distance behind him and Harry knew that the dark eyed stranger must be following him.

Harry headed for a denser part of the forest and leaped over logs and rocks, tree roots and bushes, falling several times but making sure to keep hold of Remus' wand. Maybe he could double back somehow and free Remus. No, that's not the plan, he scolded himself, feeling scared. Remus said he could take care of himself. He said he could do some magic without a wand. Maybe he can get himself free. He ran on and came to a wide creek that looked fairly deep in the middle. Should he cross? He looked wildly behind him and couldn't see the man, but that didn't mean he wasn't far off. Harry waded into the water with his bag on his back and was glad to find that he could still touch the bottom in the middle. On the other side he tried to climb up the bank in a steep place, but fell back in twice before he managed. Soaking wet he ran again, feet squishing in his wet hiking boots. Where was the man? Why hadn't he found him yet?

Thinking that he was leaving a trail of wet footprints that could be followed, Harry started walking in bushes, hoping the man wouldn't notice that they were broken, and after another few minutes, climbed under the largest bush he could find. He tried to calm his breathing so he wouldn't be so noisy, and waited, eyes watching in the direction he'd just come from for any sign of the man. Maybe he'd gone back to the camp to take Remus to jail. Was that the Dumbledore man? Harry thought he'd be older, but maybe not. Magic could do all sorts of things as he'd found out recently, so maybe it could make you look young when you weren't.

As the minutes ticked by on Harry's watch and turned into an hour, and then an hour and a half, Harry tried to remember how to do the spell Remus had taught him to keep himself from being found, but couldn't. It was going to start getting dark soon, and facing the prospect of spending a night alone in the woods, Harry began to think once again about going back for Remus, if he was still there that was.

At eight twenty, Harry was about to climb out from under the bush when a hand suddenly shot down through the leaves and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him up suddenly with a great force and free of his hiding place. Harry was nose to nose with the dark eyed man, and he didn't look happy.

"Foolish boy, did you think I wouldn't find you?" He wrenched Remus' wand from Harry's grasp and apparated away with him, all in the space of three seconds. They reappeared at the campsite where the fire had gone out and Remus was still lying on his side, tied up in the dirt.

"Harry, it's going to be all right," Remus tried to reassure him, but the dark eyed man snapped out, "Be silent!" Remus didn't look up at him. He kept his eyes locked with Harry's. There was no fear there, only sadness. Harry wished he could keep the fear from his own eyes.

"When I have dealt appropriately with the boy I will be back to turn you over to the authorities."

"You can take him, but don't give him to Dumbledore. Don't let Harry go back to his relatives."

The man laughed and Harry thought it was an eerie chuckle, like he wasn't meant to laugh and wouldn't unless it was at someone else's expense. "You are in no position to bargain," he said. He waved his wand down at Remus and the ropes apparently tightened, and then still gripping the back of Harry's shirt he apparated them away again, this time appearing on a street somewhere in a city. He finally let go of Harry's shirt and stared at him, his lips set in a thin line as Harry shook.

"You did not have your dinner." It wasn't a question.

Heart still thumping wildly in his chest and feeling unable to keep his arms from shaking from the all the adrenaline pumping through him, Harry didn't say anything. He only stared into the nearly black eyes trying to get any read on the man and what he was going to do next. Harry had gotten very good at reading people but this man was unreadable to him at this moment.

He sighed and suddenly seemed irritated. "I was sent to bring you to safety. I would be remiss in that duty if I did not at least feed you before taking you to the castle. I'm sure the Headmaster has many questions for you and little thought about dinner." He touched Harry's shoulder and then steered him down the street to a nearby cafe. He made sure Harry sat down in a chair at one of the outside tables on the sidewalk, and then sat down across from him. There was no one else out since it was getting late. A waiter came out and the man ordered two glasses of water and a fish and chips basket.

As they waited for the food to come out, Severus surveyed his scrawny charge. His hair was long and unruly, his face was a mess, his shirt was torn, and he was clearly terrified. The boy had kept his green eyes locked on his since they'd left the deficient camp and hadn't said a word. He wondered what nonsense and lies Lupin had filled his head with while they were on the run. He'd obviously told him 'heroic' stories of his parents and Sirius Black. Severus could only imagine the things spoken about him. On the other side of the table, Severus had no idea that Harry's mind had gone into overdrive.

"You're unnecessary skinny," Severus commented after they'd been waiting for their food for five minutes. "I can tell that he didn't feed you sufficiently."

"He was the only one who was ever good to me. He taught me magic!" Harry suddenly burst forth, surprising him.

"That is doubtful Potter. You are not even of age and it is rare for an underage wizard to be able to control their magic enough to produce even the simplest of spells."

Harry watched him carefully and wondered if he could trick the man into giving him his wand. It was going to be risky. He'd just remembered the spell to conceal his location. He'd messed up his escape the first time, but if he could just get another chance... "I can make a patronus," he said, trying to sound as if he were boasting, "It was the first thing he taught me." He said it boldly, knowing it was a lie, and the man scoffed across the table. Remus had told him about Patronuses and what they were used for, but Harry had never even attempted to make one and didn't know how. "He did," Harry insisted, trying to sound and look as certain as he could. The man's cold black eyes were locked onto his now.

"You're a liar, just like your father." There was bitterness in his voice.

Harry didn't know what the man was talking about, but he could tell he'd struck a nerve, and as nervous as he felt, he pressed forward, trying to find more buttons to push. He had always been able to rile uncle Vernon easily (though he always tried not to). Maybe he could do the same here and gain some sort of advantage. Despite not even knowing the dark eyed man's name, Harry spewed out, "Remus said you'd be like this. He said you wouldn't know common sense if it was staring you in the face. He said you were a coward and-" faster than Harry knew what was happening, the man had produced a wand from his sleeve and was thrusting it out for Harry to take hold of.

"Insolent child! Prove to me you can produce even the wisp of a patronus!" Clearly he thought Harry was too young to know how to cast anything.

Harry took the wand. It felt different than Remus' wand, not just to the touch, but he could feel the personality of it and how it was different. Remus' wand was powerful but often felt tired, if he could describe it like that. This wand was powerful and angry and lonely and Harry could tell it didn't like being out of it's owners grasp. He held it out in front of him, trying to act as though he wasn't aiming at the angry man's chest, and tried something he didn't believe would work and had never gotten to work before. He shouted "Expelliarmus!" trying to force his magic through the lonely wand. As the dark eyes across the table widened, Harry didn't know if the man was surprised to hear the shouted incantation come out of Harry's mouth, and so had tipped himself and his chair over backwards, or if the spell had actually worked, but he was on his back on the concrete and Harry was up and running down the empty street in the waning light with the wand. His heart beat hard in his ears and he was out of breath by the time he rounded a corner at the end of the street and then ran down an alley, hoping to find any place at all to hide and do the charm. He never looked behind him and didn't know if the black eyed wizard was right behind him or still incapacitated on the ground in front of the cafe. Get to Remus, get to Remus. It was all he could think, though he didn't know where Remus was or where he himself was, or how to get there if he did know. If only he could apparate.

Something hard collided with Harry from behind and Harry went down, scraping up his hands and knees and chin on the rough pavement. He still had the wand in his hand and as someone rolled him over roughly the wand was snatched from his grasp. He let go willingly and eyes closed, not sure who had him, threw his hands in front of his face and cried, begging not to be hit and locked away. He wasn't even sure what he was saying, just that words were coming out of his mouth. The more he cried, the more he was sure it was Uncle Vernon who had caught him. He'd probably been taken back to Little Whinging and Uncle Vernon had seen him on his way home from work, stopped the car and chased after him. Anything that hurt this much had to be caused by his uncle.

"Please don't lock me up, please please." Harry's eyes were too full of tears to see the world straight if he opened them. "I'll be good I promise, please, please I promise." He cried heartily. He never cried in front of Uncle Vernon. That only ever made things worse, but he was so upset to be taken from Remus that he couldn't stop the tears. If only Harry had worked harder, remembered the right spells, then he could have escaped this.

"That much is doubtful," came a cold voice after long moment's of Harry's pleading and crying. Harry tensed up when he realized it wasn't his uncle. It was the man who'd taken him from Remus. The man whose wand he'd stolen. The man he'd tried to hex. He seemed dangerous and Harry wasn't certain what his punishment would be before he took him to Dumbledore and then back to Privet Drive. Harry opened his eyes but didn't lower his arms.

"You act as though I plan on murdering you."

"Aren't you?"

"I am a teacher not a monster, despite what the wolf might have told you."

"He didn't tell me anything about you," Harry said, breath hitching several times.

"I wouldn't know common sense if it was staring me in the face-" he recited, and Harry blinked hard trying to get the tears to clear. They were still in the alley, which was almost completely void of light now. The man cast a lumos and Harry shook his head.

"I don't even know your name. I just wanted your wand so I could get away."

"To pretend to cast an Expelliarmus?"

"I did cast one."

The man sneered. "You did not," he said indignantly, "I tipped myself over in my own folly." Harry looked away, cheeks reddening.

"If the wolf did not fill your head full of nonsense about me then why were you pleading for me not to lock you up? Did he keep you restrained? What has he done to you?" he demanded.

Harry was quiet as he stared at the wall on the opposite side of the narrow alley. Remus had done nothing to him but take him away from his own personal hell at Privet Drive. "He gave me clothes," Harry said quietly. "And he fed me. He taught me magic. And you took me away from him."

"He kidnapped you Potter. Has he addled your mind with some sort of memory charm?"

"I went with him. I wanted to. He just wanted to keep me safe. The Dumbledore man made me stay with them." When the dark eyed man just stared at him, Harry clarified, "with my aunt and uncle. Remus tried to get him to let me leave there, he took him pictures of how they were and Dumbledore said I had to stay. So I left with Remus. He's good to me."

"You make it sound as if your family are not." Harry looked away, cheeks turning red again, and pulled his knees up to his chest so he could have something to hug.

After long silent moments in the darkness, the dark eyed man stood up from where he'd been crouching and said, "Come here."

Harry stood up, trying not to sniffle as he resigned himself to his fate. "Are you taking me to my family?"

"I am taking you to get answers." He grabbed Harry's wrist and apparated them away, and Harry was surprised to find himself back at the camp, where Remus was now free from the ropes and was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. At the loud pop, Remus jumped up and looked startled. Snape had taken Harry less than an hour ago, and now they were back. He'd been expecting Aurors to show up, or even Dumbledore, but not Severus and Harry.

"Harry!" Remus said, and Harry freed himself of Snape's grasp and ran to Remus, hugging him tightly around the center.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking up at Severus.

"I want answers. This is your one chance to provide them before I take the boy to Dumbledore."

Remus stared into Severus' eyes and didn't say anything for long moments, but finally looked down at the top of Harry's head as the child was still hugging him tightly around the middle. "Can I treat his injuries first?"

"I will be watching Lupin. Do not try to apparate away with him."

"Come inside Harry," Remus said gently, and walked awkwardly into the tent since Harry was refusing to let go. Severus followed them inside and watched as Remus convinced the nervous child to sit on his cot as he examined Harry's scrapes and bruises and applied a scrape and bruise balm to them.

"Lie down Harry." Remus covered him up and opened the trunk between the two cots, pulling out Tales of Beedle the Bard. He set it next to Harry on his cot and said, "I'll be back in a bit. Stay here." Harry locked eyes with him and didn't say anything, and refused to look at Severus as the two men walked back out. Remus sat down on one of the chairs and Severus sat in the other.

"Talk wolf," Severus said seriously, leaning forward.

"What did Dumbledore tell you when he asked you to track us?"

"He said you were unstable and that you had taken the child from his home without reason."

"And what did Harry tell you?"

"Aside from pulling a foolish stunt, he told me nothing other than that he went with you on his own and that you didn't hurt him."

"I wanted to see him so I went to visit, but his family turned me away. So I watched instead and saw that they were treating Harry like their own personal servant. They had him doing manual labor and as I watched for several days I realized that each day he came out of that house with another bruise or cut, or another reason to limp or be in pain. I went to Dumbledore and he didn't believe me. So I went back with a camera and got photos. When I took them to him he said it was best for Harry to stay where he was. I went back a third time with more photos, but he said Harry would be staying there until he was 17 and it was best if I forgot about it." Remus looked up from the fire he'd started by hand a few moments before Severus had brought Harry back. "I couldn't leave him there like that. Not James and Lily's son. It wasn't right. I doubted those people were even sending him to school. With my status there was no way I could go to court for him, so I did the only thing I could do."

"You kidnapped him."

"I emptied my vault and sold what I had and bought supplies. Then I approached Harry and told him I would take him away from his relatives if he wanted, and that I would never treat him like they had. That was all I needed to say. He asked me to take him away from there."

"It was a foolish thing to do."

"It was the only thing I could do. The only thing Severus. I know you didn't like James, but could you really have left Lily's child, or any child for that matter in that situation if you knew they were being mistreated like that? Do you know that he didn't even have a bedroom? They were keeping him locked up in the cupboard under the stairs. He didn't have clothes that fit him or glasses he could properly see through. He didn't have friends or any semblance of a childhood."

"You had to know you would be caught."

"I did know, which is why I taught Harry as much magic as I could in the month and a half that I had him. I wanted to keep him safe for as long as I possibly could before we were caught and he was sent back. I had only hoped that it would be longer than it was."

"He said you taught him to cast a Patronus and when I gave him my wand he tried to use an Expelliarmus on me instead."

Remus raised his brows. "Did he cast one?"

Severus looked cross and said, "No. I was foolishly surprised and tipped my own chair over backwards, at which point he took my wand and absconded down the street."

"How did he get scraped up?"

"I tackled him."

Remus gave him an unhappy frown and sighed. "He doesn't want to go back. The second you take him back to Dumbledore, he'll put him right back with his relatives. It all has something to do with his belief that Harry will have to face down Voldemort again in the future."

"He insisted that he did not know why you took him."

"So you don't believe me." It wasn't a question.

"I believe I was lied to and I do not appreciate being sent on a fool's errand and wasting my time."

"Severus, I know we haven't ever been friends, but if you would only grant me one thing in this existence, grant me this: leave Harry here and don't tell Albus that you found us."

"You are a werewolf and you put him in danger three times a month."

"Three days of the month I spell myself to a rock inside a circle that Harry can't cross. And if he's in danger with me only three days a month, it's better than the 31 days a month he's in danger with his family. Severus, the man might as well have put Harry with Lucius Malfoy or Voldemort himself. You don't know these people. You don't know the way they treated him. You didn't see it."

No, Severus sighed, but he had seen how Harry had cowered and begged not to be locked up and thrown his arms up over his face as though he had expected to be hit.

"You are a fool," he said to Lupin. "And I must be one too."

"Sorry?"

"I will not take him to Dumbledore."

A look of pure relief washed over Remus' face. "Thank you Severus-" he started, but the man was holding up a hand.

"Do not thank me. I do not do this for you, and if I thought there was a better person to hide him with, I would take him there. You shouldn't take him, but there is no one else."

"I'm not a bad person Severus."

"You're a Maruader and a wolf and either one of those alone is enough." He stood up and looked as though he was going to leave, but then turned back to Remus. "Do you have enough supplies? What are you teaching the boy?"

"Defensive spells mostly, and history and other things from the first and second year texts. He had enough clothes but he's just ripped up his shirt and pants."

"And food?"

"We go into town every few days."

"Yet another foolish thing to do."

"It took you this long to catch us. I'm surprised the Ministry hasn't found us yet."

"Albus did not alert the Ministry. He was afraid it would alert old Death Eaters who work there. He did however tell Kingsley Shacklebolt, Arthur and Molly Weasley, and Minerva McGonagall."

"I've been staying away from wizarding villages because I thought there would be wanted posters everywhere."

"There are not." Severus took out Remus' wand and dropped it on the ground, walked to the edge of the barrier and then turned and with a shake of his head muttered, "foolish," and disappeared, though Remus had a feeling the man was calling himself foolish for his decision to leave Harry there. Remus strode quickly into the tent, where Harry was still awake, now sitting on his cot with his bag at his feet.

"Are we moving?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Harry moved to leave the tent but Remus said, "Harry." Harry turned. "I'm glad you're back. You did good. I'm proud of you."

"I didn't cast the expelliarmus and I couldn't remember the charm to keep him away from me."

"No, but you kept your wits about you anyway and escaped two times. That's something to be proud of. And besides that, I've never known anyone to scare Severus Snape bad enough to make him tip his chair over backwards." Remus smiled and Harry gave an uncertain smile back.