Chapter 3

During their free period, Harry and Neville went for a walk outside, looking for a spot away from the other students. When they were far enough away from the others that Harry felt safe to tell him about the Princes, he began, but told him a little bit about his years in muggle school.

"So," he added after telling him about his friends and his cousin, "during lunches, I would go to visit Mrs. Prince, where we would eat lunch together. Her husband would often visit during those times, and we would talk about magic, and families, and lots of other things. They would talk to me about school and became sort-of like parents to me."

Harry took a deep breath and continued. "They would always give me advice on dealing with people and...lots of other things. So, naturally, I wrote to Mrs. Prince about Professor Snape. She wrote back, encouraging me to persevere, saying that it sounds as if he is a private man. Among other things, she also...told me that she and her husband were friends with your parents. It's one of the main reasons I asked you if you are planning on staying over the Christmas holidays."

Harry watched Neville closely as his friend paled with shock. He helped him slowly sink to the ground and watched as he put his head in his hands. Finally, Neville looked up. "You mean, they can tell me stories about Mum and Dad?"

Harry nodded, adding, "She also said that she remembers meeting you when you were a baby."

Neville blew out a breath and replied, "Merlin, Harry, that's quite a bit to take in! I...thank you for telling me."

Harry smiled gently. "No problem. I know I'd want to know if one of my friends knew someone who knew my parents and could tell me stories about them. Would you like some time alone? Perhaps you could take a walk; I know that walking often helps me sort through things."

Neville nodded numbly and rose to his feet with Harry's help. "Thanks," he said hoarsely, then added at Harry's concerned look, "I'll be fine—I promise."

Harry nodded and walked away to allow Neville time to process things on his own. When he reached the castle entrance, he turned to look back and saw Neville walking by the lake. Turning, he made his way back into the castle and decided to finish his letter to Mrs. Prince before his next class. His homework could wait for now.

That walk seems to have done Neville quite a bit of good, Harry thought to himself as they sat in the Potions classroom that afternoon, waiting for the bell signaling the beginning of class. Neville smiled at him reassuringly. He seemed a bit happier, perhaps at the prospect of hearing stories about his parents.

Unknown to Harry, all Neville heard from his grandmother and uncle was how much of a disappointment he was and how disappointed his parents would be if they knew the little amount of magic he had. He had heard that he had showed signs of also being under the Cruciatus curse and he wondered if it had affected his magic.

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. All the students sat up straight, facing the front, as their professor strode to the front, flicked his wand, and a piece of chalk began writing notes on the board. "We will be having a lecture today," he hissed quietly. When only Harry and Neville moved to get parchment and quill with which to write notes, he snapped. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get out parchment and your quills and start taking notes!"

Why were they the only ones to pull out parchment and quills? Severus thought to himself. He watched Harry closely throughout the class and noted he was devotedly taking notes, as well as Neville. Harry would send Severus a small smile throughout the lecture, further perplexing the professor. What is he hoping to accomplish by smiling at me every now and then like that?

At the end of class, Harry and Neville were still none the wiser about what to get their Potions professor for Christmas, other than something to do with potions. As they were packing up to leave, however, Harry came up with an idea, and Neville saw the excitement shining in his eyes. They left after the other students were already a good ways away from the classroom, Harry calling out, "Have a good afternoon, Professor!" before he and Neville walked out of the classroom, leaving behind a puzzled Potions Master.

Once they were far enough away from the classroom, Neville whispered to Harry, "So, what's your idea? I saw it in your eyes as we were packing up to leave."

"Well," Harry began slowly, "he obviously likes potions, yeah? And have you seen the books in his office? I glimpsed them, just behind his desk. So maybe we could get him some sort of book or something about potions?"

Neville frowned thoughtfully. "I think it would be hard to find something he doesn't already have. But, it's better than nothing, so if we don't come up with anything else, then we'll go for that, yeah." Harry grinned excitedly and his mood was infectious, causing Neville to grin, as well. They made their way to their next class, grinning widely and whispering furiously.

That evening, as they made their way to the Great Hall, they were again talking about their ideas. Neville had written to his grandmother, asking her if he could spend part of the Christmas holidays with "a friend who would be staying at Hogwarts." He knew she wouldn't want to invite anyone she hadn't personally met to their home, so he had no fear that she would tell him to invite Harry to spend the holidays with them. He really wanted to meet the Princes.

Harry was nearly bouncing with excitement as they talked, never noticing the tall, dark man they were walking towards until he ran into the man. He would've lost his balance had two pale, long-fingered hands not grabbed him to keep him from falling. Harry looked up, an apology already pouring from his mouth. "I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed. "I wasn't watching where I was walking..." He trailed off as he looked up and realized he had run into none other than his Potions professor.

"Indeed. That much was obvious, Mr. Potter," Severus replied coldly. Hmmm...how can I work this so that I can try to get more pieces to the puzzle that is Harry Potter? Maybe a detention...Harry watched as something indecipherable flashed through the professor's eyes. "Ten points from Gryffindor and detention with me, tonight after dinner, Mr. Potter. Perhaps that will teach you to pay more attention to where you are going." He turned on his heel and walked into the Great Hall, cloak billowing. He's going to hate me, I know he is. But I have to figure him out, and he's been so well-behaved that I've had no other reason to assign him a detention. He'll probably be complaining the whole time, like the youngest Weasley brat did during his detention.

Harry stared, slack-jawed, at his professor, hardly believing that the professor had taken points and given him a detention, for not paying attention to where he was going. It seemed rather harsh. Then he recalled the odd look in his professor's eyes. Sighing, he looked at Neville a bit forlornly, before they trudged into the Great Hall together.

"Hey," Neville said, "maybe this'll give you an added opportunity to come up with more ideas on what to get him!" Harry smiled, cheered somewhat by his friend's attempt to be optimistic.

They finished their meal mostly in silence, with Harry mostly pushing his food around on his plate. His stomach was in knots, nervous as to what his professor would have him do during the detention. The Weasley twins had told them stories about the Potions Master's detentions. But perhaps it won't be too bad. Scrubbing cauldrons, at least, would not be. I've been cleaning since I can remember. Preparing potions ingredients, though...I imagine some of it can be rather gruesome, but I suppose someone has to do it.

After dinner was over, Harry made his way down to the Potions classroom, his nerves getting worse with each step closer he took. Finally, he reached the door and knocked on it. "Enter," came the cold tone of his professor.

"Hello, Professor," Harry greeted him quietly.

Severus sneered, wondering if perhaps Harry thought to make his detention better by being polite. Then he sighed internally, reminding himself that Harry always had been unfailingly polite to him—and, as far as he had observed, to everyone else, too. Flicking his wand, he closed the door and indicated for Harry to follow him. He led the boy to the washroom, where there was a stack of about twenty medium-sized cauldrons.

"You will wash these, without magic. In fact, give me your wand so that I know you will not be tempted to use it." Once Harry had given his wand to Severus, his professor continued, "The sink is there and the cleaning supplies are in this cabinet," he said, pointing to the sink and the cabinet. "Do not think that these will be easy to clean, either; there is slim from some of the ingredients used that is very difficult to get off. I will be in my office. You may begin." Severus stalked out of the room in a swirl of black robes, closing the door firmly behind him. He walked away and then quietly walked back, so that Harry would be unaware of his presence, intent on catching him complaining.

Harry, meanwhile, looked for a moment at the cauldrons, then shrugged his shoulders. This wasn't too bad. He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the supplies he would need before taking the first cauldron over to the sink. As he cleaned, he hummed a cheerful tune, as he usually did when cleaning at the Dursleys' and they were gone for the day. He was blissfully unaware of his professor just outside the door, listening to him humming, a puzzled look on his face.

Shouldn't he be upset? Severus thought to himself. If he's spoiled, then he would be. Sighing, Severus came to the only conclusion he could with such evidence. The boy is not spoiled. Well, at least his relatives have raised him right. Slowly, cautiously, he opened the door to observe Harry as he worked. To his surprise, Harry was already half-way through the stack and working on another cauldron.

That's impossible, Severus thought. He shouldn't be able to get through them that quickly without magic. The only people that I know of who work that quickly are... He shuddered and pushed aside the thought. That's absurd. There's no way he's abused.

As Harry set aside the cauldron after washing it and went to get another, he noticed his professor watching him. "Oh, h-hello, Professor," he said nervously, then went to put the next cauldron in the sink to wash it. Severus watched him closely as he finished cleaning the rest of the cauldrons, half an hour after receiving his task. Once he was done, he quietly put away the supplies and dried each of the cauldrons, placing them in neat stacks and stunning Severus in the process. The other students usually barely got through one in a detention, let alone twenty, in half an hour, and then dried them. Turning to his professor once he was done, he asked quietly, "Where would you like me to put these?"

Severus was jolted from his shock at Harry's actions by that question. "Just leave them there," he replied without his usual bite. He wants to put them away...this...this...it's highly unusual. I've never had a student get through all twenty cauldrons, in thirty minutes, dry the cauldrons, and then ask to put them away. "Come with me." Harry nervously followed his professor, surprised when they came to a cozy-looking room. "These are my personal quarters. You are not to touch anything without my permission. Sit." Harry did as he was told, waiting for his professor to speak again. Severus studied Harry for a few moments before beginning. His face is too thin. How is it he washed the cauldrons that quickly when he looks like he's been...no, I said before, it's impossible that he's abused. It's also impossible that he's neglected and starved.

He quickly pulled himself from his thoughts. "I will only say this once, Mr. Potter, so pay close attention." Once Harry had nodded, he continued. "You seem to enjoy potions a great deal and you do very well in class and with your essays. On Saturdays, I brew potions with Draco Malfoy and I wish to extend an invitation to you to join us."

Harry's face lit up. "Really?" he asked eagerly. "Can I bring Neville along, as well? He might wish for the extra practice."

Severus hesitated for a moment. "I suppose it would be all right for you to bring Mr. Longbottom," he finally drawled. Maybe watching them interact will aid me in understanding Potter better.

Harry grinned before saying, "Thanks, Professor! Ummm...if that's all...?" he added hesitantly.

Severus nodded. "You may go. I'm sure you have plenty of homework to do."

"Thank you, Professor. Goodnight!" he replied before fairly bouncing out of the room.

"Goodnight, Potter," Severus whispered after Harry had already left the room. Sighing, he began to pace. I'm even more confused than before. The boy was smart, clearly enjoyed studying, had no confidence problems, stood up against bullies, and was not boastful. Yet he was too thin, cleaned the cauldrons extremely quickly, dried the cauldrons equally quickly, and then asked to put them away. He shook his head. The thinness and the speed he worked are signs of abuse. But he does not lack the confidence that abused children always do. I wonder about those cauldrons...

Hastily making his way to the washroom, he inspected each of the cauldrons and cursed. They were each spotless. This meant that Harry's relatives had taught him to clean quickly and perfectly. There were only a few ways to do that, and the most successful way was...through fear, nine times out of ten, Severus thought with a sigh. If someone outside of his family had tried to teach him to clean this quickly and perfectly, his family most likely would have undone the teaching through their influence. And undoubtedly, if they cared about him, he would have told them.

He determined he would have to watch the boy more closely. No longer was he looking only to understand Harry Potter, but now he was looking for signs of abuse.

A/N: Is this better? Did I put in enough of Sev's thought processes? Is there anything else you think should be tweaked?

And Moi, before I forget (again), here is my reply to your review. You make this so hard for me, you know? I always reply to reviews by PM, but you don't have an account, so I can't reply to yours by PM! Grrrr... ;)

You know, it's not too late for me to change Mr. and Mrs. Prince's relationship to Sev. I just have to figure out what would make the most sense. It is an AU story, so events don't have to have happened as they did in canon, but I'm not sure exactly how to work this, now. Either way, they are not aware of Sev, and Sev is not aware of them. You've started the wheels in my head turning furiously for this story! ;)

As for Eileen, my guess is that her parents wanted to marry her off to another rich pureblood whom she didn't like. So she ran off to the muggle world and married the first man who would take her.

Thanks for the reassurance about Harry's maturity. I hope I've kept it that way. I'm really bad with figuring out how to write someone with the appropriate maturity for their age.

And, no, Mrs. Prince doesn't know about Arabella Figg. She's never gone to Privet Drive and Arabella's never been to Harry's school. When Harry ran into Mrs. Prince, he'd been...ummm...maybe returning library books for Petunia, who was busy and couldn't do it herself? I'm not sure, but wherever he ran into her, it wasn't at a place (or time) that Mrs. Figg (or the Dursleys) would have seen her.

Yeah, it really is great that Harry's had that outside influence. I always say that the story writes itself, and it's rather true. I wasn't planning on continuing to include Mrs. Prince in Harry's life—I wasn't even planning on giving her a name. But Harry forced me to and now she's stuck in the story whether she likes it or not. Given how much she likes Harry, though, I'd have to say she doesn't mind.

And thank you so much for your question about Dumbles becoming suspicious if Harry sends and receives letters by owl. Dumbles doesn't know when Harry writes and sends letters, but if Harry received one in the Great Hall, he'd certainly be suspicious. If you hadn't asked that question, it probably would have taken me a while to figure that out (like, after I'd already written out the scene of Harry receiving a letter in the Great Hall). Your question is why I wrote him receiving it in the common room.

Thanks for your review! :D