Stranger Things Have Happened
Severus contorted himself so as not to appear enraged at the boy before him. It couldn't be that he was the only British guardian left for James Potter's son. Snape hated Dumbledore for doing this, he and the boy already hated one another, and why was he even named as Potter's guardian, surely James wouldn't have wanted him anywhere near his son.
"Albus I need to speak with you." Snape yelled up the flue of his chimney at which Albus Dumbledore, an impressive figure with a floor length white beard and pristine aubergine coloured robes came whizzing down the chimney into an emerald green flame. Harry looked up from his spot on the floor where he had been fidgeting with Hedwig's cage, and after a brief moment resumed his fixation onto the black marble floors.
"You hollered Severus." Dumbledore's tone was calm and understanding, yet this only angered Snape who gestured for Dumbledore to follow him into the ornate kitchen. Snape shut the door and started a tirade of comments how this arrangement was neither fair on himself and the boy.
"Petunia's wishes were quite clear Severus; Harry was to be placed with you to continue his education as none of the American wizarding schools had the same high standards as Hogwarts." Albus sighed, as Severus slightly inclined his right brow. "Other than that why did Petunia of all people want me, the woman hated me more than Sirius did."
"Severus I know it's not an ideal situation but you and Harry need to work together on this." With a click of his fingers Dumbledore was gone. Snape slid into one of the straight backed ebony wood chairs and let his face drop into his hands. Harry gingerly pushed open the door, "Sir..."
"What is it Potter!" Snape barked across the table, at which Harry promptly ran out of the room as Severus bolted after him. Snape suddenly realised that being the shortest and skinniest member of his year gave Harry an enormous speed advantage, so much so that Snape had to apparate a few miles in front just to catch up. He held out a hand which Harry (who wasn't looking where he was going) crashed into, Snape pulled Harry off the ground and dusted him down.
"Get away from me you bastard!"Harry spat venomously at Snape who promptly grabbed the boy and apparated back to Spinner's End. Snape held the boy in place when they arrived with a sticking hex. " Right Potter now that I know you are not going anywhere I can explain everything to you, Can I trust you to keep your mouth shut until I've finished or do I have to stick that as well?"
Harry stuck his middle finger up at Snape and glared, "right let's get this straight, if I see that gesture or those similar to it I will hex your fingers into oblivion, is that understood?" Harry crossed his arms and yelled "screw you, you prick." "It seems you are to get introduced to one of the consequences to my rules right now." Snape removed the charm and dragged Harry to the corner where he reapplied it and left the boy standing there gaping like a goldfish. Snape swept out of the room and once Harry was sure that he wasn't going to reappear any time soon he started to work both wordlessly and wandlessly to remove the sticking charm. At the moment that the charm lifted and Harry was able to once again move Snape re-entered the room.
" Potter, care to inform me as to how you were so easily able to extricate yourself from that high level sticking charm I attached to your form?"
"Work it out yourself and stop talking as though you've swallowed a fucking dictionary!" Harry ground out through his thoroughly clenched jaw." Harry exited with a flourish and thudded his way up the staircase not knowing where it was going to take him.
Severus rubbed his temples in a hope to calm his mind before following the brat who was steadily becoming the bane of his existence. Harry had stopped three quarters of the way up the stairs where there were another set of staircases (one to the left and the other straight ahead). Snape was inwardly glad that Harry hadn't got any further than where he was sat the invisibility cloak pooled at his feet. "Mr Potter if you do not cease and desist from running from my person I will place restrictions upon your person which includes surrendering your broom and that cloak." At this statement both Harry and Snape looked towards the cloak upon which Harry grabbed it and held it tightly to his chest as though it was a form of security.
Snape observed the boy as if he was an experimental potion that could either go brilliantly, or disastrously wrong. Harry chose this moment to break down into tears whilst still clinging to the cloak. Snape sat down opposite the boy (there was no need to get too close just yet) and waited for Harry to calm himself. When it became clear that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon Severus scooped up the boy and carried him to his room. At the sudden touch Harry clung to his teacher's robes with his right hand and held the invisibility cloak in his left.
Snape gently lay Harry down on the bed but could not relinquish the grasp the boy had his robes in, he decided it would be best if he just lay next to the boy with the cloak as their duvet Harry snuggled further into Snape and drifted into a relatively peaceful sleep. Unbeknownst to Harry, Snape had his arm draped in a devil may care fashion about the boy's waist; therefore, it was a shock to him as to how that had happened. Harry slowly lifted Snape's arm away from his torso and set out to find the bathroom.
The trouble with that however, is if you don't know the place well you land yourself with all sorts of problems, suddenly Harry remembered seeing an outhouse from the kitchen window though not many had survived the modernisation of the houses in the street. Snape's was a little more old fashioned and still relied on the outhouse for a downstairs bathroom. Harry crept slowly down the soft carpet on the stairs and very carefully opened the heavy door that went from the kitchen into the back yard.
Snape slowly drifted back into wakefulness only to realise that he seemed to have misplaced his legs only to realise that he had that infernal cloak over them. "Shit" Snape exclaimed when he got off the bed as it dawned on him that he had managed to mislay one Harry James Potter.
Suddenly Severus noticed that there was a faint light as if from a lantern swinging in the distance. He stretched and casting a non-verbal was dressed instantaneously and on his way to the 100 acre land that stretched from his property right down to the small outhouse that his mother had erected next to the little cottage that had been an escape for them from Tobias' abusive nature.
