The boy hadn't shown much skill or interest in potions, but he was quiet and patient. In the mornings, he'd have a kettle and small breakfast prepared and would make himself scarce. The kitchen was cleaner than it had been in years, and the sitting room was well on its way to equal status. Gio's work in the lab was efficient, if not a bit sloppy, but Severus found little reason to complain. As long as he wasn't doing the work himself, it hardly mattered.

He entered the house at his usual time, right before evening tea, and noticed the files he had on Potter were still set out on the table. There was no obvious indication that they'd been moved, yet he could sense a difference. He slowly removed his wand from his robes and strained his ears, nothing. Dinner wasn't out as he'd expected and he heard no signs of Gio.

He reached out his long, skinny fingers and flipped the front of the file closed. The smallest creak came from above his head and he stalked off. As he silently climbed the stairs, he skipped the last two, knowing they would creak under his weight. Another small creak came from Gio's room, but it was the energy he felt from the loo that concerned him.

As he passed the loo and pushed open Gio's door he was careful to avoid the loose floorboards. He watched for a moment while Gio danced across the floor in his socks and shorts, the headphones on his ears connected to a small cassette player, before grabbing him and covering his mouth. Gio froze and gulped as Severus gently removed the headphones and whispered. "Is there somebody else here?"

"No," Gio hissed when Severus released him.

"Did you move my papers on the table down stairs? Did you look through them?"

"No!" Gio pouted as he turned. "I moved them a minute to clean off the table. I only saw the picture, didn't read anything."

Severus considered him for a long moment and then turned his head toward the loo. "Stay here." He didn't bother with silence or grace as he stormed into the loo and threw the door against the wall. There was nothing obvious, but the smell struck him as odd. "Gio!"

The boy ran in with his arms covering his chest. "Was there someone here?"

"I don't know," Severus muttered. "Have you touched anything in here? Added anything since moving in?" He was careful not to touch anything as he smelt the bottles and fixtures. He stopped at a bottle of aftershave he didn't remember buying that smelt slightly of powdered slug. "This," he pointed to it, "where did it come from?"

Gio shrugged and rocked back and forth. "Found it downstairs the day after I moved in. Figured you forgot to move it. Was I not supposed to?"

Severus banished the bottle with a flick of his wrist before placing his hands on Gio's shoulders and leaning over. "I suspect it was poisoned. If you find something out of place like that again, you need to tell me." He cupped the side of Gio's face in a soft smack and sighed. "Come."

He didn't check that they boy was following as he bounded toward the stairs. Not many people knew of his residence there, but it would only take one to plan a successful execution. He'd need to increase his wards and get Gio to keep a closer eye on the property. "This," he said as he tapped the top of the file, "is none of your business."

"I've seen him," Gio interrupted. "That boy." He pulled at his hair and shivered.

"Get dressed and I'll put on a kettle," Severus ordered. He watched the boy with careful consideration. No way the boy in his spare room was Harry Potter. But Gio could move unseen, he realized. There would be no reason for Potter to be wary of a boy in his age group, especially a Muggle-appearing one. Gio bounced back in wearing a sweatshirt Severus hadn't seen in many years –he hadn't even remembered keeping it, but it was his. He served out the tea with biscuits and tried to stay neutral.

Gio drummed his fingers on the table while they stared each other down. "Why are you looking for Harry Potter, anyways?"

"How long did you attend Hogwarts?" Severus countered. "Long enough to have met Potter?" He held the boy's gaze for a long moment and was surprised when he didn't back down. Not wanting to draw it out longer than necessary, he answered. "Potter is missing and despite being my least favorite student, it is important that he is found."

"Not sure I believe you," Gio whispered. "Just through 2nd year. My parents were in trouble with the Ministry. If you're a potions master teaching at Hogwarts, then I suppose you're Professor Snape, assuming the old bat hasn't been sacked."

"Indeed the old bat has not," Severus muttered. He should have kicked the boy out that first morning. Even if he'd gone to the authorities, the repercussions wouldn't have followed him to the Wizarding World. But the boy knew his identity. They'd met before. "I would have noticed if you were a snake."

Gio gulped and ran his fingers over the table top in a figure-eight pattern. "My first year was 1989 and I was sorted Gryffindor. Wasn't there long enough to meet Potter, but I've seen him in the papers."

Severus narrowed his eyes and tried to keep the irritation off his face. The age made sense, but he knew it didn't add up. If a student's family had gotten into official trouble, the Heads of house would have been notified, he would have been notified. "I don't believe you," he hissed. After a long moment, he leaned back and allowed the tension to fade. "But I don't have to. If you see Potter again, let me know. We need him safe."

-:-:-:-

Severus woke early the next morning so that he could go through old school records before Albus arrived and was surprised to find Gio up and cooking. The boy removed his headphones as Severus entered and leaned against the counter. "Are you off to find out who I am then?"

"Perhaps," Severus said with a smirk. "Though Potter is a far more pressing issue." He draped his robes over the back of a chair and allowed Gio to serve out breakfast. If it continued, he rather suspected he could grow accustomed to another person taking care of certain necessities.

"Would you mind if I ate with you, or should I wait until you've left?"

"That would be fine." He waited until they'd both gotten a good bit into their meals before speaking again. "Is Gio your given name or your proper one?"

Gio grimaced as he ate his eggs. "Giovanni is a street name given to me by a…friend. If I'm not mistaken, your mail here is addressed to a Mister Prince."

"Prince was my mother's name." He tried not to eat too quickly or slowly as to not give the boy the wrong impression, but the food was as always better than expected. Thanking him wouldn't be undue, but he doubted Gio thought anything of it. "You've too much self-preservation to be a Gryffindor."

"And you're far too generous to be a Slytherin," Gio quickly countered. "I was quiet. Don't remember having ever actually interacted with you."

"There's a very good possibility we never spoke." He patted his lips and finished off his tea while Gio pushed his food around the plate. "Do you remember much of your lessons?"

Gio narrowed his eyes and Severus could tell he was thinking through the answer. "I wasn't good at much, ended up the punch line of a few misplaced and untimely jokes. But I kept your potions texts. You were so strict that nobody ever bothered me in your classroom, so I remember quite a lot of potions." Gio smirked and leaned forward. "If you don't believe me, prove it."

Severus raised his eyebrows and felt his heart rate increase. The challenge was more than welcome. In fact, it was exactly what he needed. "It's only a matter of time, Gio, until I figure you out."

"You're on!" Gio stood and ran a hand through his hair as he leaned across the table. "Whoever figures out the other first…." He winked as he backed away and cleared the dishes.

-:-:-:-

Severus was sat cross-legged with the admittance folders from 1989 spread out in front of him. None of the files had caught his eye and he hadn't noticed any discrepancies. If Gio was telling him the truth about having started at Hogwarts 1989, they had no record of it. "Severus?" Albus called gently as he approached.

"Morning, Albus," Severus replied. "Are there any other files from 1989? I've a personal project."

Albus hummed as he moved so that he stood in front of Severus. "Have you heard anything on Harry? Charles is prepared, but I worry for his ability to keep up."

"I have actually," Severus said as he finished packing up. "I have it on good authority that Potter is wandering about London. I'll set some eyes out, see if we can't find him quickly." He stood and brushed the dust off his trousers. "Will you still switch out the twins?"

"That's a curious question," Albus replied as he stroked his beard. "I do not wish to risk Charles' health needlessly and I believe Harry will do better if he stays with his friends. I do not imagine you believe he would do well with private instruction."

Severus rolled his eyes in disgust. "You won't find anyone willing to give him private instruction. You really ought to curb this reckless behavior in him. Just imagine," Severus paused and clicked his tongue as he stared at the other man, "if he discovered his twin and felt the need to liberate him."

Albus grinned as he met Severus' gaze. "Perhaps a brother is all it will take to keep Harry and Charles engaged."

"Perhaps a brother is all it will take for Potter to lose control of the faculties he has."

-:-:-:-

He was sat on a sofa after yet another long day of work. At the rate he was going, the school stores wouldn't possibly be up to stock by the time term started and he'd probably still be a potion short on the Dark Lord's order. The finalized attendance roster and student data had come in though, and that had to take priority. Allowing students who were bound to have emotional scars to slip through the cracks would never be an acceptable answer.

He'd long ago taken to preemptively sorting the students. Based off just the introductory files, he could pin about half of them, but there were occasionally wild cards. He took a long sip of the whiskey he'd poured and tossed the file into the Hufflepuff pile. There wasn't any particular reason to sort the girl Hufflepuff, he just couldn't see any traits that might indicate another house.

Gio paused on his way to the kitchen and then quickly returned with his own drink. He sat on Severus' right and left a healthy space between them. "What are you doing?"

"Looking over files for the incoming first years," Severus muttered. He glanced over at Gio for just a moment. "If you've told me the truth you ought to be 17 soon, so I'll assume you're legally drinking that."

"You're an ass," Gio muttered. He took a long sip before glancing at Severus out of the corner of his eye. "And my birthday's in a week." After he finished off his drink he leaned toward Severus and stretched his arm across the back of the sofa. "Are you…I dunno, straight?"

"No," Severus responded curtly.

"Gay?"

"No." Severus tossed aside the file he'd been staring at and turned to face Gio after a few deep breaths. "I don't…." He paused and groaned. "I've never experienced romantic attraction. I do not desire or particularly appreciate the presence of other people. There have been periods where I've exclusively fucked men, but there haven't been any notable periods of exclusively fucking women. Sex is sex." He shook his head as he returned to the stack of files. Putting it in words hadn't made him feel any better. That desire for partnership and parenthood that drove other people had never been there. Not once had there been a moment where he'd wondered if he'd outgrown the fast life. "Are you?" he asked after a long moment.

"What, gay?" Gio asked. "Dunno. I had a friend once, thought what I felt was what the hets meant when they talked about love, you know? It wasn't in that way though. Don't have anything else to base it on. Women don't exactly jump at the chance to pay me for sex." He gently pulled at the ends of Severus' hair until the other man turned to face him. "You shouldn't be self-conscious about it."

Severus chuckled as he grabbed Gio's wrist and gently removed his hand. "I'm not self-conscious, Giovanni. It just isn't a conversation I've had before. Does it matter or were you asking to make conversation?"

Gio freed his wrist from Severus' grip and returned to playing with his hair. "I don't believe that you don't want me because I want you. I want to feel you pounding into me and smell the sweat dripping down your chest and then cook you dinner." He shrugged and gently brought his legs up onto the sofa so that they were draped over Severus' lap.

"What else would you like to do with your life, you little cum bucket?"

"Rude!" Gio yelled as he swatted at Severus' chest. "That's fucking rude." He rested his head against his arm and smirked. "I draw…and I passed enough of my exams to go to art school. Someday when I have the money." He shrugged and grabbed the bottle of whiskey off the table. "I drew your cock after you fucked me."

Severus rested his head against the sofa back and laughed. "I hope you did it justice." He gently rubbed Gio's calf with his free hand and tried to refocus. "Art school? You're really that good, then? I suppose I'll have to check that drawing for accuracy." Gio took a long drink from the bottle before resting back against the sofa arm. "You could go," Severus muttered as he looked at Gio. "Start school this term."

"Not sure I can turn enough tricks to pay for it," Gio said as he rested the bottle back on the table. "Even at reduced tuition, I can't pay it up front."

"Live here –I won't charge rent," Severus said as he continued to methodically trace patterns on the boy's legs. "Get a job and pay me back in installments. You get your education. I won't have to worry about keeping house or cooking." He shrugged and half expected Gio to tell him off. If anything went wrong, they'd both get screwed in the deal.

But Gio didn't say anything as he drifted off to sleep.