The next morning, after breakfast, Severus decided to take the boys for a walk and introduce Harry to the town that he would now also live in. Harry was excited. He loved being outside.

Leaving the house, Draco ran ahead to the street, turned and looked back. Severus closed the door, Harry stood by his side and watched. They came walking towards the blond boy.

"So where are you taking us? Can we go buy some toys? And ice cream! Can we?" Draco asked, or rather, demanded.

"Not today, we don't," Snape replied, "First, we will show Harry the neighborhood so he will never get lost here." he glanced around, then faced the boys.

"Which brings me to the first point." He stood in front of the boys and looked at Harry.

"You may not have noticed, but we just crossed the boundary of where this house's wards are set. I do not wish for you," he changed his focus from Harry to Draco, "or you," and back to Harry, "to ever cross this line without my expressed permission. Always tell me, where you are going. Is that understood?"

"Of course, sir." Harry said and nodded quickly.

Draco smirked. "Does that mean we do not have to go to school anymore then? Sweet!"

"Don't be ridiculous! School is of course excepted from this rule. You are to leave on time and get back right after. I will know if you wander off," Snape elaborated. "Now let's go." He jerked his head minimally to his side, ordering the boys to follow him. The street was framed by a row of almost identical houses, one after another side by side. They all had dark grey and reddish brown brick, black slate roofs and little chimneys, some of which ejected smoke. They were barely distinguishable but for their house numbers. Some neighbors planted bushes on their short lawn, others had a swing or a chair placed in front. Many windows were darkened by thick curtains, others exposed decorative plants or light drapes. Harry could imagine getting lost here. He grasped his guardian's hand.

Snape twitched but as he realised the boy's cold tight grip, he gave it a soft squeeze and looked down to his charge without giving any comment. Harry kept looking at the houses. In front of the second to last house in one of the rows leaned an elderly lady, picking up today's newspaper. When she noticed the three gentleman, as she liked to call them, walking by, she straightened up and greeted.

"Good morning, Mister Snape."

"Good morning, Mrs. Whittle. How do you do?"

"Oh, same old, same old, nothing ever happens in an old lady's life, believe me," she chatted, then looked at the blond boy to Snape's right, who snickered "Good morning, young Draco," she looked at the boy. "d'morning," he mumbled.

"And who is this handsome chap?" she asked while looking around for Harry. Harry startled, let go of Snape's hand and tried to hide behind Severus, peeking with only one eye from behind the man's back.

"This is Harry," he introduced, as he grabbed behind himself and gently pushed Harry from his hiding space back into view.

"He is my ward and living with us now." Draco scraped some sand on the sidewalk, idly looking around.

"Say hello to Mrs Whittle, Harry."

"Hello ma'am," Harry said as he blinked and looked at the old woman. She was a bit chubby, like many old ladies he had seen in his old neighborhood, had a round face with wrinkled skin and tousled grey hair. She wore a brown cardigan and a long grey skirt. The slippers on her feet confirmed she had only left her house to get the paper. Harry thought she seemed friendly, but his eyes quickly twitched for somewhere else to look. He noticed the house number. 25. He tried to memorize, in case he ever got lost, he would come here for help.

"No need to be shy, lad," she smiled.

"He is," Snape said while looking down to his charge, "We will work on that, but for now we have to get going. I am taking the boys to the town. Harry needs to get acquainted with his new surrounding and have a good look around here."

"I see, I see. Well, you have fun. Enjoy the town, boys," she returned, "and don't trouble Mr. Snape so much!" The boys blushed a little, Severus' mouth formed into a smirk.

"Good day, ma'am," he said with a small nod of his head and they went on. Mrs. Whittle watched them leave, turned and walked back inside.

Severus offered his hand to Harry, who gratefully accepted. They walked. Draco ran ahead down the street.

"Draco!" Snape called. The boy stopped and turned around. "Stay in sight!" He rolled his eyes and waited.

Harry took in the houses and read their numbers. 21... 19... 17... 15… . They reached the end of the road, where Draco waited for them. Snape stopped walking and looked at Harry.

"Down there," he pointed down the left road, "is the post office and a little bakery. A little down that road is a playground that I am sure Draco can show you one of the next days. The other way," he pointed into the opposite direction, "leads to the town center. That's where we are headed." With that said, Draco set off to run ahead again.

"Wait for us by the fountain, Draco!", Snape called after him.

Trees and bushes decorated the side of the road they followed. Some cars drove by. In a short distance, Harry spotted the top of a church and a bunch of smaller houses with more or less crooked roofs and signs attached, spelling out the different shops and stores of the town. Opposite the shops he saw the town hall. It was an old building with dark weathered sandstone bricks, much larger than all other buildings in that place. Four columns decorated its fassade. There was a fountain in the middle of the market square with a statue of a knight on a horse. He had no idea who that was supposed to be. People strolled around, their hands tightly clutched to shopping bags or children, or both. Draco stood, hands in his pockets and with one foot on top of the bench near the fountain. About time, he thought as he looked at Severus and then Harry.

"Why did you drag us here anyway?" Draco asked in an annoyed voice.

"Mind your tone, Draco," Snape voiced, "And I did not drag you here. I remember you clearly running with us. We have a few things to take care of as you well know. First on the list is a new attire for Harry."

Harry read the sign of the shop. Tailor Taylor. He giggled. Snape noticed, looked at the boy, then at the shop sign.

"It's a funny coincidence, don't you agree," said Severus.

"Yeah," Harry nodded and continued giggling. A bell rang, as they entered the shop. Draco dragged his feet after them and looked around. He was bored and leaned against the front window.

Mr. Taylor appeared from the back of the shop.

"Oh, hello there," he greeted.

"Hello Mr. Taylor," Snape started. "We have had a little situation here, and need an entire set of clothing for the boy. Shirts, trousers, you name it."

"Yes, yes sir," the tailor replied, nodded and changed his view from Snape to Harry. "Come along then, come along." He ordered Harry to step on a small stool and started taking his measurements.

"Do you have any color in mind, Mr. Snape?" Mr Taylor asked and turned his head in Severus' direction.

Snape glanced over to Harry who seemed a bit absent-minded. "What color do you like Harry?"

He needed a second to notice being called. "Sir?"

"Mr. Taylor needs to know the colors you'd prefer."

"Uhm.. I liked the grey shirt. The one I wore yesterday, with the red hem?" He looked down at his plain white shirt. One of Draco's. He definitely wanted to have something different to wear soon.

"And something black maybe? Would that be alright, sir?" He hopped off the stool.

"Absolutely." Snape addressed the tailor, who watched the scene. "You heard him. Make that two black, three grey and two red shirts then. Maybe a combination of colors, but nothing too absurd. And one white, for more formal occasions. As for the trousers, two black and a pair of jeans should suffice."

"All jotted down," Taylor said, still writing the last order. He looked up, "It shall be delivered at the beginning of next week. Is there anything more you need?"

Severus added a few more items to the list to finish the order, thanked the man and paid in advance. Draco stood by the door and looked outside.

"Can we go now?" he asked. Snape decided to ignore the annoyed tone in Draco's voice. Mr. Taylor had already left or the back of the store.

"Yes, we are done here. Come along, Harry, Draco." Snape advanced, held open the door and lead the boys outside.

"Can we go to Andalou's?" Draco asked in a suddenly excited tone, jumping a little.

"No, but maybe later." Draco's joyful face vanished and his shoulders fell a little. Andalou's was the toy store, that, much to every parents' displeasure, also had an ice cream machine near the checkout. He loved that place.

They walked down the street and passed a pub, a barber, a bakery, a butcher, two grocers and a small record store. Finally, they entered one of the smaller shops. The Book Nook, Harry read in a rush before following Severus into the store.

"Books?!" Draco barked, "Don't you have more than any person can read in a lifetime already?!" He did not enjoy reading much. Harry was startled by the way Draco talked to Severus and was anxious that the man's patience would draw to a close shortly. He could name many occasions in which such behaviour would have earned him more than a stern reprimand. His frightened eyes glided from Draco to Severus.

"That," Snape replied, as he turned on his heel to face his recalcitrant charge, "is none of your concern. You may look around while I search for some books," he addressed both boys now, "but keep your hands to yourselves!"

Snape walked to the back of the shop and checked for latest publications. Meanwhile, Draco grew ever angrier. Harry read the labels of the shelves and approached the one that read Children's.

"Don't tell me you read," Draco teased, "I can hardly imagine anything more boring than reading dusty old books." Harry loved books. They have always been his safe place. It was so easy to get lost in a good story and imagining being somebody else just by the means of reading was utterly fascinating. He could read for hours and hours without taking a break.

"Why not? What's wrong with reading?" he simply asked.

"Reading is what they make you do at school. Isn't that reason enough to hate it?" Draco stated like there was no alternative to his explanation of the matter. He walked away, gliding his fingers over the spines to make a little noise with every bump on a new book.

Harry frowned and turned to scan the bookshelf. He noticed one particularly pretty spine. It was black with golden letters and read Timothy and Linus. He tiptoed, stretched his right arm and pulled the book from the shelf. Rocking backwards, he caught himself with the book in hand. He sat down on the floor and observed the book. The cover showed a picture of two boys, both rather shaggy looking, in the woods. He opened the book and flipped through the first few pages.

"Did I not tell you to keep your hands to yourselves?" Snape chided. Harry had not noticed him appear and twitched, shutting the book with a bang. He quickly got up and tried to put the book back in the shelf, but instead dropped it.

"Wipe that smirk off your face," Severus scolded Draco, who stood nearby and found pleasure in the situation.

Snape bend and picked up the book. "Do you enjoy reading, Harry?" he asked.

"Y-yes, sir, I do."

"It seems that this book is not part of our home library. Yet." Snape said. He added it to the stack of books he carried. "Go ahead and wait outside. I have to pay these," he said and went for the checkout. Harry smiled and moved to the door.

Both boys shuffled outside. Harry felt uncomfortable whenever he was alone with Draco.

"How long are you going to keep up this act?" Draco asked snidely. Harry didn't understand the question.

"You heard me!" Draco shot, and looked down into Harry's eyes. Oh, why did he have to be so small? Harry thought to himself.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

"My Problem?" Draco said pompously, "You are my problem. You act like you're the little perfect angel boy. All Yes, sir and No, sir and Of course, sir, please and thank you! How can you possibly stand yourself?" He paused a paced a little.

"But face it, uncle Severus only took you in out of pity. I don't even want to know where he found you." He sneered and scanned Harry's face, then resumed, "But fact is, that you're just some random boy while I," he strutted and straightened his back,"am his godson. Real family, you know?"

Harry felt anger brew inside of him. His ears turned red and his eyebrows narrowed into a frown. A godson is just a word, it's not even real family. It just means, they know each other much longer. Nothing more, he thought.

"I am his ward as much…", he started to argue but stopped when Snape exited the store.

"Come here, boys," he called. "Now that we're done, I want to show you the town a bit more."

"Done? Already? You didn't get me anything yet! Everything you bought is for Harry and yourself!" Draco complained. Harry saw the inequality, but didn't make a supporting statement. Serves him right!

"The purpose of our excursion was not to get you anything, Draco, but to organize everything for Harry to settle in." Snape explained. "If I may remind you, the two of us went through exactly this procedure five weeks ago. Was that not to your satisfaction?"

Draco fell silent and looked down on himself, examining his attire. He had to admit the truth in his guardian's statement. The clothes he wore in that very moment came exactly from the store they had visited before. He blushed.

"That's what I thought." He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder and shoved him lightly to cross the street. With Harry in tow and Draco dragging his feet to his left, they turned into a small alley, away from main square. Throughout their walk, Snape gave a short lecture about the town's history before they reached the wide open space in front of the cathedral Harry had spotted earlier.

"This is the oldest standing building of the town and one of the oldest in all of England," he pointed out. "In many villages, chapels and churches were among the first buildings erected. They were often also the only remains after a town fire, as their elaborate stone walls do not burn as quickly; especially in comparison to the wooden houses of the old days."

Both boys were looking up the tall church tower, fascinated. The three of them walked inside. The thick walls kept out much of the warmth. Draco and Harry shivered upon their entry, and separated into different directions as they explored the building, heads tilted far back to take in the full height of the ceiling. Snape put a coin into a small can and took a candle. He lit it the muggle way and placed it in one of the empty holders. After a short while of silence, he called the boys. The church bells chimed twelve.

"Let us return home, boys." They complied without arguing, still in awe of the magnificent building.