Disclaimer: Never was mine / Never will be mine I am making no money from this story. Everything belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros.

Beta read by the gorgeous JediCandy.

Chapter Two – New Beginnings.

The last week of the summer holidays was closing in fast and soon the students would be back in Hogwarts, filling empty classrooms and keeping the kitchen house elves busy once again. Harry was both looking forward to their arrival and dreading it at the same time. He was looking forward to the noise level returning, the castle was far too quiet as it was now with no more than six occupants, that and the fact that Severus would be returning to the castle full time again. He had really missed the other wizard during the summer, yes he had seen him quite a few times, but for Harry it was never enough. At the same time he was not looking forward to seeing all those people expecting him to end the nightmare of Voldemort quickly for them. Even though he had gone through arduous training to ready himself for the coming final showdown with Voldemort, he still had serious doubts as to his ability to defeat the evil wizard, his arch nemesis, his very own Professor Moriarty.

He just didn't know if he had it in him to deliver the final blow, the killing shot. He knew he wanted the war to end, he knew he must be the one to do it but he was scared, something his Gryffindor side refused to admit to out loud. He had learned from Albus during his extra Defence lessons that using the killing curse did affect you and the more you used it the worse the effect was. Each time you cast it, a shadow would lay itself across your soul and it would be scarred. If you cast it too many times your soul would become dark and unforgiving, very much how Voldemort was now. This was part of his fear, the other part was the power using the curse gave you; Harry already knew this feeling and it appealed to his darker side, his friends would have called it his Slytherin side.

It was this part of him that Harry battled with constantly since his sixth year, and now he had started his extra training, he was being taught stronger and darker spells, hexes and curses. It was very tempting, at times, to use the knowledge he had gained to further himself. Not many understood this side of him, Hermione and Ron had seen it but they did not fully understand it. He reckoned only two people truly understood, one was Severus and the other was Voldemort. Now, that was a scary thought. They were both the flip sides of the same coin. Severus had turned his back on the power and returned to the side of the light, whereas Voldemort had delved deeper until it was impossible for him to return. Harry hoped he could walk the knife's edge that lay between the two sides. Albus did it; Harry hoped he could, too. He knew he had Severus' help should he feel the dark side calling a little too loudly to him; but, ultimately, it was something Harry would have to learn to live with and control.

***

Harry was told the night before that a secret trip had been planned for him and his friends for the following morning. It had been the best part of the last two months since he had not been allowed to leave the castle and he was going a little stir crazy and could not wait to go out and about. It would also be good to catch up with Ron and Mione. They visited the school once a week under the guise of hanging out with Harry when in reality the three of them were locked up in a classroom having extra lessons. Albus had promised him that today was not about learning but having a little fun, he had been full of fun and mirth himself when he had told Harry this, and it had only served to intrigue his curiosity even more. So much so that he had barely gotten any sleep the night before and was on his way to the staff room twenty minutes early.

As he approached the door he could hear Draco talking to someone. He really knew he shouldn't eavesdrop because it was rude and that act had gotten him in trouble plenty of times over the years, but it sounded as if Draco was a little angry. Harry paused outside of the door and listened carefully.

"I was a Slytherin, I'll have you know, and a Malfoy! It should be an honour for you to speak to me, you dumb portrait!" Harry stifled his laughter, he worked out that Draco was trying to get the portrait of Salazar Slytherin to talk to him. Everyone on the staff knew that the portrait spoke rarely and had very little to do with anyone. Harry had learnt last summer that Salazar only spoke to Albus or to who ever was currently in charge of Hogwarts, and he only spoke to them in the Headmasters office and not in either of his other portraits. Apparently he had never spoken a word to Minerva who was the Deputy Headmistress of the school; no, he would only speak to the Headmaster or Headmistress.

He also spoke to Severus. At first Harry had thought it was because he was the Head of Slytherin, but that was not the case. Severus had been the first Head of Slytherin that he had spoken to in over five hundred years. Severus complained that Salazar behaved like a mother hen towards him; Severus always complained that Salazar told him off as if he were a student if he forgot to eat regularly because of his work. If his work kept him up too late, Salazar would tell him to go to bed and rest. The second of his three portraits was in Severus' quarters, the third being the one in the staff room.

One of the other people it was known that Salazar had spoken to was a young student called Tom Riddle. Tom had met the portrait Salazar one day in the staff room, it was not known what was said between them because the conversation had been in parseltongue according to Albus. This was when Tom had discovered he was a parselmouth. They had spoken a few other times that were known of, but nobody could really be sure if it had not been more often. These three portraits were the only ones known to exist of Salazar Slytherin that had been painted while he was still at Hogwarts and had been charmed by Salazar himself to be capable of parseltongue.

A fourth person had been added to that short list last summer when Harry had accidentally interrupted a conversation between Salazar and his two snake companions, Silk and Satin, which had been going on in parseltongue. They were discussing Severus' bad eating habits and Harry had interrupted. Salazar was not too annoyed, he had heard a lot about Harry in the staff room and from Severus when he had asked him about Harry. Salazar had been intrigued to meet him because of his parselmouth ability. Since then, they had struck up a kind of friendship. They spoke in parseltongue in the staff room but in Severus' quarters they were free to speak openly. Salazar refused to keep any secrets from Severus in his own quarters and deemed it incredibly rude to speak a language he did not understand in his own private rooms. Therefore, Harry and Salazar never spoke parseltongue to each other in Severus' rooms.

Harry opened the door to the staff room, and boldly walked in, and helped himself to a cup of tea, and sat down on one of the chairs near the portrait. He acknowledged Draco with a nod and looked at Salazar and smiled. Salazar looked bored. Harry knew he got bored during the summer because it was so quiet, and with Severus away so he couldn't even keep himself occupied down in his rooms. A very Slytherin smirk was currently playing across Harry's lips. He knew it was childish to do what he was thinking, he was only going to be doing it to piss Draco off but the temptation was just too great.

"Good morning Salazar, how are you today?" Harry asked the portrait in parseltongue.

Salazar gave him a measuring look and then smirked back at Harry. "You should be careful Harry, your Slytherin side is starting to show through."

"I have no idea to what you are referring to, Salazar."

"So are you going to deny that you are only speaking to me because the young Malfoy failed to do what you are currently doing?"

"Alright, you are almost correct. I am getting a certain satisfaction in watching him fume in anger and jealousy but I always say hello to you when you are present in this portrait, do I not?" Harry smiled at the portrait.

"Do not get me wrong young Harry, I always enjoy watching a Malfoy have one put over them. Remember I have been watching this family for the last thousand years. With each generation they get even more arrogant, I am all for a little fun." Harry was sure this was where Severus had gotten his wicked grin from; he would have to ask Severus if he had Slytherin blood in him. He remembered his godfather once telling him that almost all of the purebloods were related in one way or another.

"I promise you, no disrespect was intended, Salazar. It was just to good an opportunity to let go by."

"Harry, no offence was taken. I knew what you were up to and I must admit I would have done the same thing. But, enough about that, tell me how are you this fine morning?"

"I am good, I am being taken out this morning, thank Merlin! I could use a change of scenery."

"Ah yes, so I have heard."

"You know something?" Harry asked jubilantly after he had witnessed Draco storm off in a huff.

"Yes, but that would spoil the surprise and I do not want to annoy Albus. He may be a Gryffindor but he is the Headmaster and I am sworn to keep his secrets."

"Why did I know that was coming?"

"Because that is the way it must be, young Harry, you will not have long to wait. Now, before you go out I must ask you something which I know you will be reluctant to talk about while you are so excited, so please forgive me. I have noticed you have become a little quiet over the last few weeks, is this because of my errant heir, Harry?"

Harry shifted a little in his seat, they had not spoken much about Voldemort mainly because Harry got enough of that topic from everyone else but also a little part of him did not want to be rude about Salazar's last remaining heir. "Errant is a very polite way of understating it Salazar."

"I know this is a hard subject for you, Harry."

"It's alright. I guess if anyone has the right to know, it is you. Things are not going so well at the moment, Vold... Tom is gaining power and a lot of ground at the moment. It feels as though we are always one step behind him."

"No, Harry, that is not what I wanted to know, I know all this from being in Albus' office. What I want to know is how are you dealing with it?"

"I'm coping, but I am also afraid. I don't want to take a life even if I know it is the right thing to do."

"You should never want to take a life. The moment you take pleasure in it is the time when you would become lost and I refuse to lose you because I have never seen Severus so happy before. I have watched that child since he was eleven and he was never truly happy. He has had his moments of joy but you bring a light to his life that very few have managed to do. That, and you make sure he eats and sleeps on a regular basis, it makes things a little easier for me having two of us to remind him."

Harry couldn't help but laugh at that, because he knew it was true. "He can get a little over involved in his work, can't he?"

"That is true, Harry, that is why I am going to tell you something I have thought long and hard about. At first I was not going to say anything and stay out of this war for some of my loyalties do lie with Tom. Not, I assure you, for his cause but because he is my blood, it is hard to know that your sole remaining heir has so tragically lost his way. You have no doubt been told that I placed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets so that it would grow into a monster and kill, that is not true. All I will tell you is that if you return to the chamber you will find out the true reason of why I placed it there and maybe something else that you might find useful in y..."

Salazar was interrupted halfway through the sentence by the staff room door opening with a bang. Harry snapped his head around and couldn't help but smile broadly when Ron and Hermione burst though and threw themselves at him in a hug. He returned the hug as fiercely as the one he was given. "Guys, just one moment, okay?" Harry told them and returned his attention to Salazar's portrait. "Sorry Salazar, what were you saying?"

"Harry, go and have a good day. We will talk again soon."

"Only if you are sure?"

"I am, go have fun with your friends, you deserve it and I believe you will have a good day today." Salazar gave Harry a smile and disappeared from the portrait, leaving Harry a little confused as to what he was going on about. He did as he was told and put it to the back of his mind and concentrated on his friends, who were at the moment trying to drag him out of the room.

"Where are we going?" He asked them.

"To the main entrance, we have to meet a few people." Hermione told him with a grin, he frowned a little at her but allowed his friends to drag him along with them. He spared a quick glance back to the now empty painting of Salazar Slytherin.

***

Severus was waiting for Harry's friends to bring him from the staff room to the main entrance. He and Albus had finally agreed on a time and date to take Harry to view the house Severus had made as a gift to him some months ago. Until the war was over the house had been signed over to Albus with secondary ownership going to Minerva should something happen to Albus. Once the war was over, the house was to be signed over to Harry on the condition he used it for his project of helping children and the war orphans. Severus knew Harry was toying with the idea of either opening an orphanage or some kind of halfway house for children who had not had it so easy, a place for them to turn to if they wanted someone to talk to. It had been no hardship for Severus to give the house away to Harry. It was one of eight Snape properties and it did need a little work on it, he had warned Harry of this but that had not dampened Harry's spirits.

He had promised Harry long ago that he would take him to see it sometime during the summer holidays but it was hard now especially with the Dark Lord having Severus act as his right hand man. It would not do to be seen with Harry Potter and not present the young man to him. That was why it was imperative that Albus and a few of his friends accompany them on the trip, so if he was spotted he would just tell the Dark Lord it was impossible to do anything with so many others around, especially Albus. Albus might be old but even the Dark Lord knew he was not an easy man to defeat at the best of times.

Severus heard a commotion off to his right and turned to see what was coming down the hallway. Harry was being dragged by his two friends towards the entrance. He saw Harry's face break into a huge smile when the younger man had spotted him waiting for him. That smile was infectious but Severus held himself in check, not wanting to give the youngest Weasley male a heart attack from seeing his former dower former potions professor actually smile. Instead, he gave Harry his customary smirk but he knew Harry would know that he wished they were alone so he could greet him in a far more personal way.

"Harry, excellent. Today we have a small trip planned for you, consider it a belated birthday outing if you will." Severus controlled himself not to roll his eyes at the youthful and playful way the Headmaster spoke, like he was bursting to tell the world's biggest secret but knew he shouldn't. Once everyone was ready to leave, they headed out of the school and out from under the protective wards.

"Albus, Severus, where are we going?" Severus could hear the excitement in Harry's voice; it often amazed him how easy it was to get Harry excited and playful. "Mione, Ron, you will tell me, won't you? You're my best friends, you'll tell me won't you?" Severus rolled his eyes at Harry's impatience.

"I am sure you can contain yourself for another ten minutes, Potter." Severus quipped over his shoulder towards Harry. They exited the main gates and Severus felt himself go onto full alert. He always remained on alert but while in the school he did not need to be at such a high level of awareness. The only thing he had to worry about in there was the occasional brave student daring to pull a prank on him, not that many were brave enough, not even the Gryffindors, and the occasional potions accident caused by a student. Where as now every defence went up and all his senses were on full alert. He had Harry and his friends to protect from everything from a mad fan to the Dark Lord and Bella Lestrange. She was on the prowl for Harry's blood; it was her new job to bring him before the Dark Lord and, failing that, kill him. It was good that Albus was with them, very few sane wizards and witches attacked him, he might be slightly dotty but he had a reputation of being the strongest and most powerful wizard alive for a reason. It was hard to defeat him especially on a one to one basis.

But Severus was also aware that Albus could be a wily, cunning bastard when it was needed and he wouldn't put it past the old coot to have maybe set something up. It wouldn't be the first time that he had set Harry up to battle the bad guys. So Severus was also anticipating something from Albus, however he was hoping that the old man was going to give it a rest today. Severus pulled out a silver chain and looked towards Harry with an apologetic look, he knew the young man did not like portkeys but it was the only way they would all be able to get there. Harry, Ron and Hermione did not know the address and the wards on the property were designed to be difficult, if you did not arrive with a Snape you were hit with a most painful curse and thrown outside of the wards boundaries. Harry seemed to understand his look and tentatively reached out and grabbed the silver chain. Once everyone had hold of it, Severus took out his wand and said the activation word and they all disappeared with a small pop.

***

As Harry's feet landed on the ground he instantly looked for the dark figure of Severus for reassurance that he was safe. Within only a few seconds he felt the familiar weight of a hand on his shoulder, telling him everything was in order. He leaned ever so slightly back into the touch and was very pleasantly shocked when he felt Severus snake his hand around his shoulders and pull him in towards his body. "Surprise." Harry heard Severus whisper in his ear and slightly pull him around so he was facing a building.

Harry instantly recognised that building from the photographs he had been given by Severus some months ago. He was starting to lose hope at actually getting to visit the building before the war was over, but he had refused to whinge about it because he did not want to be viewed as a complaining child anymore. He couldn't help himself he leaned into the tall strong frame of his partner and wrapped his arms around Severus' waist and placed a chaste kiss on his lips and grinned at the smirking face of Severus'. "Thank you for bringing me."

"You're welcome, Harry. Now go look around, explore but do not wander too far from the house, the wards will protect you while you are in them. But be warned this house will take a lot of hard work to make it a suitable place for children to live."

"I'm not afraid of a little hard work, Severus."

"I would not be so convinced of it being only a little. Now go, Albus and I have things to discuss."

Harry did just that and walked off towards the big building with Ron and Hermione following him closely. Harry didn't think the front of the house looked too bad, the plants were a little over grown and the ivy had decided to grow up the left hand side of the building but it was nothing a few days hard labour couldn't fix. He had been doing his Aunt Petunia's garden since he had been five, so he was not afraid of a little hard work.

"I think it is simply charming, Harry." Hermione spoke with real sincerity.

"A little wild if you ask me, but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed mind you." Ron agreed.

"Let's head inside." Harry briskly walked towards the double front doors and cautiously pushed one and was happy when it yielded to his touch. Once inside he couldn't help but smile, it was very like Sev's home but on a smaller scale. The main entrance hallway was bright and airy with a big central staircase. There were two large doors on either side of the hall with one on each side of the stairs at the back. It was true that the décor had seen better days, the pale blue paint was starting to fade and flake off the walls in patches, the floors were bereft of any carpet, and the floorboards were stained and marked and would take a lot of work to bring back to their original state. The original features of the house like the dado and picture rails, skirting boards, ceiling mouldings and centre roses all needed to be restored to a liveable state.

Harry knew with a lot of elbow grease and hard work this house could be beautiful again. Severus had explained to him that the house had been allowed to run into disrepair because his family had never used it, at least not for generations. Because the Snape family had had so many properties, this one had been forgotten. With a town house in London and Snape Manor also being within the UK, they had not needed a house in Scotland as well and because Severus was the last of the Snape's from the direct line he had inherited all eight properties and he sure as hell did not need three within the UK. He had told Harry he was happy for him to put the old building to some use, especially if he was going to use it for the war orphans.

"Let's check out this room first." Ron said walking towards the first door on the left, Harry and Hermione followed him.

The room was mostly empty except for a few old and dusty armchairs, a few small tables and a desk. "I wonder what this room was used for? Nice fireplace, by the way." Ron commented as he walked over to it to inspect the carvings in closer detail.

"I expect it was the drawing room." Hermione said.

"A drawing room? Did they draw in it?" Harry asked confused.

She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "No Harry, it was where the ladies would have taken afternoon tea, or the gentlemen would have conducted a little business over brandy. That is why it has such large windows because the mid-morning sun would have warmed the room nicely." Both of the lads gave her nods of appreciation. Harry was glad Hermione was here; she was by far the most sophisticated out of the three of them.

They headed to the next room and it looked like the remnants of what would have once been an impressive library. The walls were lined with old empty book shelves covered in a thick layer of dust. "Need any help with this one, boys?" Hermione joked with them, they just groaned at her in response. They entered the last door on that side of the hall by the stairs and it was an empty room, again with just a fireplace and a set of French windows, which they looked through and saw the garden. It looked over grown and they decided to take a better look later on after they had finished with the inside.

"What about this room, Mione?" Harry asked her.

"If I was to guess, I would say it is the study. It is close to what was the library and it leads onto the garden patio, which I guess would be nice in the summer if you were stuck in here working all day, you could open up the doors to let in a little fresh air." Again both of the boys nodded, they both guessed she was probably right.

They crossed over the hallway and went to the door closest the main entrance and entered. It was immediately obvious what this room had been used for; the huge old dining room table and chairs were a dead giveaway. Harry thought it was a lovely size and had no doubt once been a very beautiful and opulent room. The table alone would have sat fourteen people. They headed to the room next door and the huge old dusty sofas gave it away as what was once used as the living room or family room. There were a few old nick-knacks within the room but, like the other rooms, it was predominantly bare. This suited Harry perfectly. He did not want to worry about other people's furniture too much. They went through the final door to find themselves in a good size kitchen.

"Harry?"

"Yeah, Mione?"

"Have you given any thought as to how you are going to run this place, are you going to hire staff?" She asked him.

"Not really, but I have asked if Dobby wanted to come and work for me." He saw her slight frown at the mention of using house elves. "He is going to be paid and get time off along with paid holidays. He is also bringing Winky along with him. She, too, will get the same benefits as he does."

"At least you will be paying them." Harry controlled his smile at seeing Ron roll his eyes behind her back.

"Other than that I haven't given it much thought. It will depend on how many kids will be here as to how much staff I will need. I will no doubt need a few more house elves, though I am not to sure how to go about hiring more? Guess I should ask Severus."

Again Hermione was frowning, Ron decided to put a stop to his girlfriend's political speech before it started and suggested that they should go and check out upstairs and see what the bedrooms were like. It seemed to work as all discussion about house elf rights was forgotten as they headed upstairs.

There were four big rooms on each of the two upper levels. Every room needed a good lick of paint and furnishing, but none of them were in too bad of a state. Harry reckoned Severus was a little spoilt up in Snape Manor and had forgotten that just because something needed a spot of paint it did not mean that it was close to being condemned. Each room also had a nice fireplace, if a little old fashioned, in it and nice big windows letting in lots of sunlight, the house had definite potential. Each floor also has two bathrooms on it and one of the bedrooms on the top floor had an en-suite bathroom. That was the room the trio were currently in.

"Hermione, Ron, can I ask you guys something?" Harry was feeling a little embarrassed at the lack of his knowledge and didn't want to ask Severus because he didn't want Sev to think him stupid.

"Of course Harry, what is it?" Hermione instantly sounded worried.

"Yeah mate, you can ask us anything."

Harry smiled at his friend's worried faces. "There is no need to worry, it is nothing bad. I was just wondering, how do you decorate? A wizard's home, I mean. Is it the same as the muggle way?" He had directed the last part of his question to Hermione, he wasn't sure if Ron would understand it.

"Though I am not sure of the charms used, I know it is not the same way as muggles." Hermione looked thoughtful, as she always did when faced with a magical question.

"Mate, I have seen the way muggles decorate, barmy if you ask me. They do it with big brushes. It must take forever. There are spells and charms like Mione said. Mum knows some of them, she would no doubt be happy to teach you if you want?"

"I'd like that, Ron, if she wouldn't mind."

"I doubt it, she is always complaining that she is bored now that we have all left home, except for Ginny of course and I think she wants to go to University like Mione so she won't be home for much longer. I am seeing her tomorrow night. I'll ask her if you like."

"Thanks, Ron that would be great. I'll also owl her tonight so she doesn't think I am rude getting you to ask for me."

"Typical that you three would be hiding out in the furthest room away from us. No doubt getting up to mischief." Severus' sarcastic tones made Harry smile, he was far to used to them to make him squirm as they had once done years ago.

"We were not up to any mischief, we were talking about decorating." Harry answered him back.

"A little early for deciding on colour schemes isn't it?"

"Severus, from the way you had described this house, I thought it was a pile of barely standing rubble. It just needs a little TLC."

"TLC?"

"Tender loving care." Hermione answered for him.

"Only Gryffindors would get sentimental about a building." Severus quipped.

"You always do claim I am far too sentimental for my own good. I am just living up to your expectations of me."

Severus rolled his eyes at Harry and merely shook his head. "I did not come up all this way to discuss your sentimentality. I need your blood."

"Really? Because I am kind of using it right now."

"Not all of it, Potter, though I could be tempted to drain it all just for fun."

"What and prove Ron right in thinking you are a vampire?" Harry could see Ron blush a little at that.

Severus tutted, "I do not wish to drink it, you idiot, I merely need to reset the wards to accept you without me here for I can not always accompany you here and you may need to come here while I am busy."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Oh I am so glad, Potter, that you can grasp the simplest of logics. We will await you outside." Severus turned and walked out the door with a small smile playing on his lips.

Once the three of them were alone again Ron turned to Harry. "I know he isn't a vampire, you know," though Ron was smiling, which was a good sign.

"I know you don't, Ron, I was just kidding."

"Yeah, strange, though, seeing Snape actually cracking a bit of a joke, mind you. Never thought he had it in him."

"You would be surprised what he is capable of." Harry told him.

"I don't think I will ever need to know that much information about him, Harry." The three of them laughed and headed back down stairs towards the front of the house to meet Severus and Albus to reset the wards.

***

Harry exited the front door to find Severus and Albus waiting for him by the front porch. "You said you needed my blood?"

"Yes. Get over here and give me your hand."

Harry turned to Albus, "Now he wants to hold my hand!" Harry saw Severus frown and heard Albus chuckle.

"Don't push it, Potter, otherwise I will take your hand off, and carry it around with me. Is that romantic enough for you?" Severus was using his most sarcastic tone.

"Very, Severus." Harry grinned back and went over to him and held his hand out.

"Insolence! Tell me why have I saddled myself with it?"

"Because you love me." Harry spoke quietly. He knew Sev didn't mind a little flirting in front of a select few but an all out admission of feelings, that Sev was very against. He had once told Harry that he considered it to be crude and tasteless.

"Indeed. This will hurt a little."

"My a little or yours?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well, what I consider painful you consider merely an inconvenience. Your pain threshold is far higher than mine."

Severus sighed. "This will not really hurt it will just give you a little tingle. It will be nothing compared to what you have previously experienced."

"Okay, just checking."

Harry saw Sev roll his eyes and shake his head. He watched avidly as Severus took out his wand and made an incision in the palm of his hand about three inches across. He turned Harry's hand upside down and allowed the blood to drip onto the grass below him. He couldn't hear what Severus was saying as he was speaking in low tones and in Latin. Harry stared in disbelief as the ground before him rippled like a pond that had had a pebble thrown in it to disrupt its smooth surface. When the ripples reached his feet he felt a small tingle within himself. It felt as though something was searching out his magical signature. Harry had to hold down his panic as a purple light came from the ground and wrapped itself around his ankles and started to move its way up his body. That was when the small feeling of pain began. Severus was right, it hurt but only a little but it was unusual and slightly uncomfortable. Not before long it was all over and Harry felt a little light headed. "Are we done?" He asked.

"Yes, eat this." Severus handed Harry a bar of chocolate. "You are now able to get through the wards unassisted by me."

"Thanks." He mumbled through half a mouthful of chocolate.

"Harry, I have also added a few extra safeguards to the wards, to make sure you are safe while you are here."

"You mean I can come here before the war is over?" Harry asked Albus.

"Yes, while you were inside Severus and I reset the wards to allow you and your guests to enter. Like you, Ron and Hermione may come and go as you please, as may Severus and myself. Others will need to be accompanied by you."

"I can start work on the house?"

"Yes Harry. Minerva was worried that you may have too much free time on your hands and that is why we have done this for you, but there are a few rules you must follow until the war is over."

"Anything, sir."

"Albus, Harry, you are no longer my student." Harry grinned at him. "You must not come alone, always make sure one of the trusted Professors is able to come with you." Harry knew trusted meant one of the Order members, but it did make sense. "Filius has agreed to come with you on most occasions if he is available, restoring old houses is a hobby of his. And even if I do say so myself, having a Charms Master around will be very helpful to you. I hope that is acceptable to you?"

Harry was at a loss for words and couldn't think of any that would convey how happy and grateful he truly was. So he did a typical Gryffindor thing and hugged his former Headmaster tightly.

***

They returned to Hogwarts not long after the wards had been reset and Harry was glad that they were not asked to attend any extra classes for this was the last time the three of them would be together without another care in the world. Next week Ron was due to report to the Ministry for the first phase of his Auror training and a few weeks after that Hermione was to begin her advanced training course at Cambridge University in Political practices, Political history and Transfiguration.

Ron and Hermione had kept to their promise and had gotten a small two bedroom flat in Cambridge and told Harry that the second bedroom was his whenever he needed it. Albus, Minerva and Severus had all said they would help with setting up defensive wards around the flat. Hermione had also petitioned for a private floo connection and had been granted it. Their floo would only go to the Burrow and Harry's quarters in Hogwarts, for security reasons there would be no outside public connection.

Harry hugged both of them tightly on the steps of the castle before they left to return to their new flat. Harry had promised to visit them once the wards had been set. That was due to be done in a few days before Hogwarts opened its doors for another year and accepted back its students.

Next Chapter: Tidus returns to Hogwarts and Voldemort plans the downfall of the Ministry.