AN: I had planned out and started to write something completely different for this chapter, but decided to change my mind and leave what I was previously writing until later on :) Enjoy a little bit more of the Harry and Snape you've always known, atleast at the beginning ;) Reviews are always appreciated, that is the best part of me writing this story, it lets me know that you guys out there are reading it, and I love to hear people's thoughts on it! Thanks for the support :D


Chapter 4: Getting To Know You

Harry was startled awake by a knock on the door. He groaned and looked a clock that was on the bedside table. 7 AM. He was about to say, "I'll be down, Aunt Petunia!" when he came to realize his surroundings. It was not his little bedroom at the Dursleys house. He remembered that he was at Professor Snape's house. He wiped his eyes, trying to get the sleepiness out of his eyes, as he sat up in his bed and was again caught by the amount of green in the room. He would have to get used to it if he was going to be sleeping in this room for the whole...summer...

"No doddling, Potter," Snape's silky voice slithered to his ear. He was standing at the door, hands crossed across his chest, a smirk on his face.

"Oh I'm so sorry, a little bit early for your liking?" Harry grimaced as Snape's voice made his sleepy head ache. "Well, we need to be getting out to get a few materials for you, as we have the joy of spending the rest of the summer together." His voice was laced with thick sarcasm.

Harry groaned and collapsed back onto his bed. "Later..." he moaned as he tried to get his head to stop aching. He was not one for early mornings.

Snape narrowed his eyes. "Now, Potter, just because we are not at school, do not think that I will go any easier on you." Snape spelled the blinds in, bright morning sunlight pouring in. Harry squeezed his eyes shut, and put his pillow on top of his head to block out the light. When he was at the Dursleys, he would never have tried to go back to sleep, as Petunia surely would've made sure he'd regret it.

"Out. Of. Bed. Don't make use my own means to get you up." When Harry didn't respond, and remained lying down, Snape shook his head, took out his wand, and muttered an incantation under his breath. A bucket of water had appeared in thin air, right above Harry's head, and poured ice-cold water all over Harry. He woke up with a start, gasping as he shivered, and glowered at Snape.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Snape smirked, turning around briskly and walking out of the room, leaving Harry scrambling to find his towel to wrap around him. What a wonderful start to the summer.


After running a hot shower to calm his shivering body, he came downstairs, the smell of french toast and eggs calling him. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Snape in a corner of the kitchen, preparing some coffee for himself. He was dressed not in the black morbid teaching robes Harry was used to seeing him in, but in a navy blue nightgown. Harry waited by the kitchen door, not knowing whether to enter it. When he was at the Dursleys, he was never allowed to enter the kitchen unless requested by Petunia, and it was usually just to cook their food. He was forced to eat in an corner of the house where he could not be seen, not as much because his aunt and uncle made him, but because he liked the solitude.

He was also still glowering at Snape behind his back for the un-orthodox way of making him get up this morning.

Snape turned around and saw Harry waiting at the door to the kitchen.

Snape raised his eyebrow. "What are you possibly waiting for, an invitation?" Harry's eyes widened, Snape not realizing how right he was. But he came to the table and sat down, as a plate of breakfast levitated over to him, along with a glass of milk. Harry took a bite out of the french toast, grateful for the sweet taste in his mouth, which helped subside the headache that he had for waking up early.

As Harry took a sip of milk, he watched Snape as he sat down with a cup of coffee and a plate of french toast and eggs. While Harry had taken to making a sandwich with the toast and the eggs, Snape took a fork and knife and cut the eggs into small pieces, eating them little by little, while he took small bites of the french toast every now and then. Snape turned towards Harry, and he averted his eyes away before Snape could notice that he was staring at him.

But Harry wished he had a cup of coffee in his hand, as he wanted something warm for his throat. He had tried coffee once, when none of the Dursleys were home, and he had figured out how to work their coffee maker. He had loved the taste at once, the caffeine giving him a kick as the hot liquid soothed his throat.

"Umm..." Snape turned to look at Harry as he tried to speak. "Can I have some coffee?"

Snape raised his eyebrow again. "You are far too young to have coffee, Potter."

"I'm not young! I'm practically 16!" Harry snapped, then pulled back hastily, realizing who he was speaking to, eyes nervously trying not to look into Snape's, but he could see in his peripheral vision that Snape had frozen, a glassy expression coming over his face.

"Potter...as I happen to be your teacher, and have been since your first year, I think I have the ability to say that you are young. You are still a boy." Harry detected something deeper in his tone, but didn't comment on it.

"Yes, sir." Harry grumbled and took another bite of his sandwich. "So, where are we going today?"

"We're going into muggle London. Figure you might need some of your own toiletries, and maybe some new clothes, too." Snape gave Harry a once-over, looking disdained at the over-sized, faded sweatshirt and the ripped jeans.

"My clothes are fine," Harry muttered, but really, he didn't believe it at all. He just felt uncomfortable from accepting anything from his hated potions professor.

"You might think so, Potter, but I for one will not have you dressed as if you were a street boy while living under my roof," Snape scoffed and got up, putting his plate in the sink and turning around, noticing that Harry's plate was empty as well, but he had only taken one sip of his milk.

"I will also not have you suffering from malnutrition. Drink your milk," Snape levitated the glass of milk into the air, and led it so close to Harry's face that Harry had no choice but to pluck it out of the air and take another sip, a dark look on his face. Snape was amused.

"When you are finished, go get yourself dressed. Wear something nice," Snape turned away for a second to wash the dishes, and then turned back to see that Harry had not gotten up, a slightly pained and frustrated look on his face.. "What's the matter now, Potter?"

Harry had not gotten up because, truthfully, he didn't have anything nice to wear. Atleast, nothing that he thought would meet the Professor's standards. The Dursleys had never taken him to dinner parties, never bought anything in the least bit proper for special outings, frankly because...they never took him out. They didn't see the need for him to look very proper, as the only places he really ever went were around Privet Drive.

"You have nothing to wear, do you." It was said as a statement, not a question.

"No," Harry said quietly, looking down at the table.

Snape sighed. He waved his hand, muttering a spell Harry did not hear, and a folded pile of clothes, appeared beside him.

"These were my old clothes I used to wear for special outings. Please, do try to keep them in better shape than you do the rest of your clothes," Snape admonished. Harry lifted up one of the articles of clothing that lay there, and saw that it was a dress jacket. He noticed a dress shirt, a tie with a tint of green in it, and a pair of dress pants laying there too. It reminded him of the clothes that Draco Malfoy sometimes wore, and some other Slytherins as well. Harry grimaced, not being able to imagine having to dress like that git.

Snape chuckled as he saw Harry make the connection.

"Yes, Potter..." Snape smirked. "Dress like a Slytherin today." He almost laughed as Harry stalked off away, frustratedly, taking the clothes along with him.


They had apparated to an abandoned alleyway in the center of muggle London. Snape walked briskly across the alleyway, as if he knew his way around his place, and Harry had to run to keep up. Harry's appearance had been changed, his hair a bit longer, and now sported a dark reddish colour, and his eyes were now a deep ocean blue. Snape had had a little trouble changing his eye colour, staring deep into those bright green ones of Harry's before closing his eyes and saying the spell.

The first place they entered was a shoe store. Harry gave Snape a confused look, wondering why they were shopping for shoes before actual clothes, but Snape waved off his look as they walked around, looking at the various options of shoes. Snape pushed into his hands a pair of dress shoes, which Harry almost threw to the ground, until he saw the look on Snape's face. He begrudgingly sat down and had his shoe size determined and tried on the pair of shoes, earning a curt nod of satisfaction from Snape. Harry had been able to select a couple of pairs of running sneakers as well, and then went to the register to pay for them. It wasn't until they reached the register that Harry had remembered something.

"Oh, damn it! I didn't get any money from Gringotts. Maybe we could just go there and I could get some money quickly..."

"Don't be so daft, Potter," Snape took out his wallet and started to count the amount of bank notes that the clerk at the register requested. Harry opened his mouth to reject, but Snape stopped him.

"No need, Potter. If you really wish to pay me back after, I will not refuse," Snape said simply, and Harry spoke no more. They took the shoes and left the store, walking only a couple of minutes before entering another store, this time a clothing store.

Snape looked over to a pair of teenage boys who were at the dressing room, trying on pants. "Now, I'm warning you now Potter, if you show me any pair of pants that lands halfway down your arse, I will make you walk halfway across London in your underwear, as you would be showing them off anyways."

Harry nodded, chuckling at that comment.

An hour later, Harry had acquired four casual t-shirts, one dress shirt, 3 pairs of jeans, a pair of dress pants, a shirt and pants to wear to bed, some new underwear, and 7 pairs of socks. Again, Snape paid for all the new clothing, this time Harry not disagreeing with Snape's unusual generosity, whether Snape felt forced to buy the stuff for him because he was living in his house for the better part of the summer, or because he chose to.

A couple more stops for toiletries, groceries, and a stop at the muggle apothecary, or what they liked to call it, the "pharmacy", Harry and Snape were finished shopping for the day. They walked around, Harry gazing around at the many different stores, ones that sported electronic gadgets, sporting goods, and from one building, there was music emanating from it, bright lights flashing on the outside, and the slogan "Big Ladies, Big Drinks, Have Some Fun" adorned on it, and the front displayed a big picture of a girl in a bikini, bending down and blowing a kiss. Harry stared at it for a minute before he felt Snape push him along. Harry blushed, and kept walking, but Snape had enough reserve to not comment on it.

They had walked for fifteen minutes before they came across a restaurant, a fancy restaurant at that. Harry now understood why Snape had wanted him to dress nicely. They entered the restaurant and were shown to a table in the corner beside a large window. The waitress handed them both menus and walked away, with a promise that she would be back in a few minutes to take their order. Snape had opened his menu and was examining it's choices, but Harry set down his menu for the moment and looked outside. They had been seated on the upper floor, giving a glorious view of London, the city square with gardens surrounding it, a fountain in the middle, and some jazz band performing on the stage that day. It was a bright morning, the sun shone and he saw little kids playing in the splash pad just beside the city square. It was beautiful.

He was startled out of his thoughts with the sound of someone clearing their throat. Harry turned around and saw Snape glaring at him, and the waitress back, smiling and waiting for his order.

"Oh," Harry said, embarrassed. "I'll have...the Scallop Carbonara." He gestured to a picture of spaghetti and scallops, with bacon wrapped around them. She nodded and then left, apparently already taken Snape's order. Snape gave him a quizzical look. "That was a quick choice," he said curiously.

"Oh, well I've tried it before," Harry said matter-of-factly. "When I was young, the Dursleys took me to a restaurant once, and Dudley had ordered it. Aunt Petunia had let me try one bite, because I had fussed about it and she got irritated. It was really good."

"I can just imagine you making a fuss about something as trivial as that, Potter," Snape said sarcastically, but it was not tainted with as much malice as it would have been.

After ten minutes, the waitress brought the food that they had ordered. Harry looked at Snape's plate. "What did you order?" Harry asked.

"Linguine," Snape said shortly. Harry nodded, and they had started to eat.

It was a quiet meal, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Both seemed to be off in their own worlds. Harry hadn't gone to a lunch like this since he was 6. Harry's eyes crawled over to Snape's plate of food, greedily looking at the spaghetti on Snape's plate. Yes, he was not 6 anymore, but somehow he felt the childish desire to try something off his plate. Harry did not think he was very obvious, but when he looked up, he saw Snape looking at him, and he looked down, embarrassed at this childish desire. Snape rolled his eyes, spared some spaghetti on his fork, and held the fork out to Harry. Harry looked surprised, yet took the fork and ate the spaghetti, savouring it's taste, before returning the fork to Snape. It was a silent action, and none of them said a word, but there was some sort of understanding. They continued to eat their meals, and soon they were done. Just as soon as Harry had taken the last bite of his food, dessert had arrived. Harry's eyes brightened as he saw the chocolate fudge cake slice set in front of him. If there was anything he had cherished about his childhood, it was chocolate. It was a sweet delicacy he didn't get often, but when he did, he was absolutely overjoyed. He ate it excitingly, as Snape watched him, chuckling quietly to himself as he saw Potter devour the slice of cake as if it would run away from him at any second. The way Potter was raised, he probably did think that, Snape mused to himself.

When they had finished eating, and Snape had paid for the bill, they left the restaurant. They stopped in front of the door, Harry wondering what they were going to do next.

"We're going to go to a wizarding part of London, Potter. I need to purchase a few potion ingredients from the apothecary," Snape stated. Harry was starting to notice that Snape had a direct way of speaking. He figured it was something he would have to get used to. They went back to the deserted alleyway, and Harry grabbed onto Snape's hand as they apparated away again.


The particular part of London that they had apparared to fascinated Harry, as all things that had to do with the magical world he belonged to did. He walked past stores filled with candy stores, stores filled with owls, book stores, piled high with wizarding books of all kinds, along with fine quills, ink and parchment. He found a store that was dedicated to quidditch brooms and supplies. He found a store that could rival Zonko's joke shop, where he found many items that he had never seen before, and that could probably get him expelled if he set them off in school. He chuckled at that thought. Snape just followed Harry around, shaking his head at Harry's child-like excitement, but the sparkle in Harry's eye could not let Snape ruin this for him.

He was especially interested in the store he found that was dedicated to Quidditch brooms and supplies. He glanced in amazement at all the quality-made brooms, brooms that actual Quidditch players used in the leagues, like the Chudley Cannons and the Holyhead Harpies. He asked if he could get a Chudley Cannon shirt for Ron, and promised that he would pay Snape back the money. With the shirt in his hand, he went all around the store, looking at the posters, the dragon-hide gloves that he had to wear when he played Quidditch, open boxes which contained the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch (Harry admired the Golden Snitch, being a Seeker himself) , and more. Snape had to go buy his potion ingredients, so he agreed with Harry that they would meet up later, and after giving Harry some money to pay for the shirt, he turned around and left the store. However, just before opening the door and exited, he turned back to look at Harry, still wandering around in amazement.

His eyes softened at the boy's joy. He lifted his hand, made a cross against his heart, closed his eyes, and said in a soft voice to himself..."My promise, all for you."

Snape opened the door and left the store, his eyes still closed, words sticking onto his heart.


When Harry had paid for the shirt he had chosen for Ron, he left the building and walked around for a bit. He knew he was supposed to meet Snape in a bit, but he figured, why not do a little exploring? He walked around, examining all the stores, until he came across that stuck out. He entered a store with sign "Walter's Music Emporium" tacked to the top of the door.

When he entered, the first thing he saw were instruments. Instruments of all kinds. Guitars, drums, harps, saxophones, flutes, etc. But the one that intrigued Harry the most was a piano. A beautiful grand piano stood in the middle of the store, and Harry tentatively walked over to it. He sat down on the chair, and flexed his fingers above the keys. He gingerly places his index finger on the Middle C key and pressed down. The sound rung through the store, rung through him. He played a D next and an E, each time pausing once before pressing down on the key. He looked up, and found a piece of sheet music sitting on the mantle above the piano keys. It was an arrangement of the classical song, "Fur Elise". He glanced at the sheet music, placed his fingers in the appropriate position, and started to play, closing his eyes as the music swept him away. He wasn't perfect, but he was quite good at sight-reading, and worked his way through the song.

"Potter." Harry jumped, removing his hands from the keys and turning around, to find Snape standing behind him, surveying him. He didn't know how he could have found him, since he had walked a ways away from the Quidditch supply store, but he figured that if it was Snape, he knew a way. Harry looked nervous, but Snape's stare did not look like an angry one...more of a contemplative look.

"I didn't know you played piano, Potter," Snape said quietly, walking over to Harry and standing beside the bench.

"A little bit," Harry answered just as quietly. "I used to have a neighbour...Mrs. Figgs...and a lot of the time I would go to her house, and she would teach me about the keys and the notes. She taught me how to play some songs, and she said I was a quick learner, that I had a knack for music." He shrugged his shoulders, but Snape could tell that this was something that struck deep for Harry.

"Really, now," Snape said, as he gestured towards harry to move out of the chair, and Harry obliged as he stood up and Snape sat down. He placed his hands on the keyboard, closed his eyes, and started to play. The song started off with a few quiet, held notes, ones that seemed to dance across the air as they were played. Then the song changed, with a soft, melodious, painful tune, one that made Harry feel calm and soothed. And yet, he could feel the pain in the melody, the heartache that seeped through each note, and he barely noticed when Snape had finished playing.

"I didn't know you played the piano," Harry said, still absorbed in the melody.

"It was one of my favourite past times," Snape sighed, memories coming into his head. He shook his head and stood up, turning to Harry. "I have a piano back at my house, if you wish to use it to play sometimes."

"Really?" Harry did not say anything at first, but then after a moment, Harry gave a small smile to Severus. "Thanks. Can we buy this book too, so I have something to play?"

Snape nodded, his face not betraying any emotion, and yet there was some emotion burning deep inside him. He averted his mind away from it though, as he did not want to think about it.

They both went to the register, payed for the book, and left the store. As they went out of the store and went to one more store before they apparated home, the moment in Walter's Music Emporium had stuck with them, in a way both of them could not comprehend. They were both content to forgetting the moment ever happened, and yet there was something that had touched them, something they could not wave off despite how much they tried to deny. For the time being, however, they treated the instance as if it never happened.

When they got back to Snape's house, after setting all their bags down, Harry taking his belongings and purchases back to his room, and grabbing the piano book, he followed Snape to a room that Harry had not noticed when he first got there. It was a comfy sitting room, this one adorned in the colour of deep maroon, looking strange compared to the green of the rest of the house, and yet it gave comfort. The room was bright and inviting, and in the corner stood an upright piano, a gorgeous black piano, that stood against the wall. Harry stood staring at it in awe.

"Sir..." Harry turned around to look at his professor, as he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"Yes?"

"...could I learn that song you were playing back at Walter's?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Snape thought about it for a second. "I have the sheet music for the song upstairs." He walked upstairs, grabbed them from his room, and handed them to Harry. He nodded to Harry, and left him in the room, where Harry walked over to the piano, sat down, and started to pick through the song.

Snape sat in the living room, watching television, which he rarely did anymore, but he felt he needed a more animated distraction. Harry's piano playing wafted through to the living room, and occasionally Snape's focus would turn away from the TV and towards the room in the distance. His neighbour had been right, Snape thought, as he heard Harry working through the score. He did have quite knack for music, as much as Snape didn't want to admit. He was going through his song with ease. His song. Their song. That song meant so much, something Harry would never know. But he believed Harry noticed something about it, that it meant something to his Professor. Snape let himself be absorbed in the music at the times where his mind lost focus of the television. Harry let himself be pulled into the music as well, his fingers playing the melody that Snape had played so gracefully, so effortlessly back at the store. They both became transfixed in the sound of the piano, until Snape had enough sense to whisk him away from it, get him to eat some dinner, and send him up to bed before it got too late.

But the song stayed etched in both of their minds, playing itself over and over, the tune a mesmerizing, hypnotizing lullaby.


AN: For people who have watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the song Snape was playing on the piano for Harry in the music store (my vision) is "Lily's Theme". Particularly, I envisioned him playing this version: /watch?v=rEnKGGmUnHo&list=FLu-LUcjKm-JQ_YvouAi3JZQ&index=4 (add the Youtube main URL to the beginning of that link, it is somehow erasing that part whenever I save the file :S) . Credits to the video go completely to jorg1piano, as I am not playing this and do not own this video at all. But it is a beautiful piano rendition of "Lily's Theme" from the movie soundtrack, and the one I envisioned when writing the scene. I found it to be very...fitting, as you can tell by the name, and if you've watched the movie, you will know. Also, in my story, for Snape, this song is a tribute to Lily. Just in case anyone was wondering, or if it gives a better vision of the scene. I was actually listening to this as I was writing the scene :')