As always, I don't own and just borrow.

Draco was up and around the next morning, groggy and stiff but not in pain any more. He showered, getting the last of the twigs and leaves out of his hair from the accident, and found himself wondering what to do about that Baker boy. He had been set up to hate the boy, his father had told him that the child was beneath him, and that as a half-blood he was little better than a peasant. But the boy showed clear bravery and talent on the broom, so much so that Draco found himself admiring him just a little. And then the bloody mudblood had to save him, or at least do his best to slow down the broom. Though Draco knew himself to be arrogant, selfish and driven, he also had a clear sense of honor. He would not be able to treat Harry as his enemy any more. But then that left him confused on how he would treat him.

"Breakfast, Malfoy!" Harry called to him. "Are you feeling better?"

"Just dandy," he snarled back, but quickly combed his wet hair and left the bathroom for breakfast.

"We're having pancakes," Snape announced as Draco descended. "How are you feeling, Draco?"

"Better," he admitted. "My shoulder is still a little sore."

"Sprains are harder to heal than breaks," Snape told him. "It's because bones have a better blood supply than tendons. You could be sore for a few days, but you should have full motion. Can you move it?"

Draco moved it experimentally, and found that he could roll it around just fine.

"Excellent," Snape told him. "But let that be a lesson to you on flying unsafely, Draco," he lectured. "If Harry hadn't slowed you down, and if you hadn't been wearing protective equipment, you could have been seriously injured. You need to not fly beyond your ability."

"Yes, sir," Draco said, realizing he was right and that he should just accept the reprimand. "Are Harold and I going to be punished?"

"No," Snape told him. "I am going to let there be only natural consequences to this incident."

They started eating their pancakes in silence, each thinking about moving forward. Draco scowled at the fact that the natural consequences to this incident is that he would have to be kinder to the peasant boy that got under his skin. He had not really known many other boys his age, and most of them had been sons of pureblood families like his own. The fact that this boy didn't see that he was Malfoy's inferior just really annoyed him. Sighing, he realized that he was just going to have to suck it up.

Harry grimaced, thinking that the natural consequences were for him to not be showing off. He knew it was true, and he felt grateful for the guardian that was beginning to understand him better. Harry had really enjoyed the previous evening with his guardian, they had a simple dinner together, practiced wand work, and then ate chocolate cake for dessert afterwards in the sitting room. It felt good just to have that time together, and best yet, Snape allowed Harry to crawl into Snape's lap for a long hug before bed. When Snape hugged him Harry felt his doubts and his worries melt away; it was easy to believe that the man cared about him. It was easy to pretend that he was his father.

But now he was back "handling" Draco, and he warily watched the other boy. He resented the intrusion on his life and relationship with his guardian, but he also wanted to prove himself. Snape wanted him to be able to handle the arrogant prat, he was going to figure out how to do it.

"I think if Draco feels up for it, we should have a picnic," Snape announced. "You two can work on your schoolwork this morning, and we'll fly out to the lake for lunch."

"That sounds good," Harry agreed. "Malfoy, are you up for it?"

"I'm up for it," Draco agreed. "But isn't my broom broken?"

"I fixed it," Snape replied briskly. "It should be as good as new."

Harry smirked, repairing Draco's broom had been the subject of their wand practice yesterday. Snape had patiently showed him how to pieces the shards together and carefully repair them, making sure that the original spells on the broom wouldn't be harmed. By the time they were done the broom looked new, with only the merest ghost of cracks showing that it had been broken into so many pieces.

"Thanks," Draco thanked him, reaching for a pancake. "It will be nice to fly without worrying about those bloody wards."

"Language, Draco," Snape corrected him. "But yes, I can understand your sentiment."

That afternoon they found themselves past the wards, each flying on their brooms. Maisie was going to meet them there at the lake and set up their picnic, so they were each able to fly unencumbered. Snape led the way, as the boys did not know where they were going. It had been so long since he had actually flown on a broom for any distance; they weren't as convenient as the floo or apparating, but he had to admit that there was something nice about the sunshine and wind. Though Draco couldn't do the tricks that Harry could, he was competent in flying straight, so the three of them made their way to the lake.

Maisie met them there with a red checked tablecloth and sandwiches, but they spent some time flying over the lake first. Harry came so close to the water that he could dip his finger in the water as he raced along, spraying it up and then pulling the broom up and away. He loved the water, loved the blue sky, and loved the freedom of not worrying about hitting the wards.

"Not too far," Snape called to the boys, and sat himself on the grass in the sun. Just last night he was berating himself for making the mistake of letting Draco come to stay, and now it seemed as if he had been worried for nothing. The boys seemed to be getting along so much better, maybe it would actually work.

Snape drowsed in the sunshine, lounging in the halfway point between awake and asleep, and allowed his mind wander to Lily. He hardly ever let his mind go there, the pain was not worth the sweetness of the memory. But today, in the soft, late summer sunshine with her son zooming overhead, he allowed his mind to wander to her memory. A particularly sweet memory came to mind, it had been a day that they had spent together in the sunshine during the summer before Hogwarts. He could picture her red hair swinging behind her as she led him through long grass, and she reached her hand behind her to take Snape's hand in hers. He had taken it, holding it gently as they went through the grass, and wishing she would never let him go. Sometimes Harry reminded him so much of her, some of his movements and certainly his eyes. She would be so proud of her son, Snape thought to himself.

By the time the boys had returned from their laps around the lake, they were dripping with lakewater from a mid-air collision that had tumbled them both into the water. They were laughing, pushing each other, and threw themselves on the picnic blanket. Rolling his eyes, Snape flicked his wand to perform a drying spell, and then let Maisie hand out the sandwiches and fruit that she had brought.

"I think we can go to Diagon Alley tomorrow," Snape told the two boys. "I have your supply lists, and for Draco we can just use Lucius' store credit. He gave me permission for this trip if we found time in our schedules."

"Do we get to get robes and cauldrons and everything?" Draco asked.

"Robes, yes; cauldrons, no," Snape answered. "Your school uniforms have been set, you will be wearing black and white and have no house affiliation. There will be no wands or cauldrons, you will not be casting or brewing. Most of the classes will be what you've been studying previous to now: maths, grammar, spelling, muggle history, and so on. The headmaster is thinking of having different professors rotate in to teach at different times, to give students a beginning understanding of the subjects they will learn when they become regular students at Hogwarts."

"Why are we doing it this year?" Draco asked. "I'm not sure that this won't be boring. I didn't mind my tutor, but father says that being at Hogwarts has some advantages. I think he would just rather not be bothered with having me at home."

"Many parents like the idea of boarding school for that reason," Snape agreed. "But I think you might like it as well. You get to be around other students your age every day, not just when your parents entertained."

"I'm looking forward to that," Harry added. "I mean, it was nice to be here with just Maisie to get my bearings, and this summer has been really fun. But I don't want to get left here again when you head back, Professor."

"I must say it will be nice to see you every day, Harold," Snape agreed. "I hope to see more of you as well, Draco," he nodded towards his Godson.

"I'll be floo'ing in just for the day," Draco complained. "Baker gets to stay there all the time."

"He'll be in my quarters with me," Snape explained. "I am having the house elves add a bedroom as we speak. Perhaps Harold might invite you to stay on occasion." There, Snape thought. That put the power of having Draco visit directly with Harry, and so then he gets to choose if it happens. That gave Draco extra incentive to be kind to his ward.

"I can't wait!" Harry said, stuffing the sandwich in his mouth.

The next day, Harry found himself going to Diagon Alley as he had the previous spring, but this time it was filled with students buying things for school. By the time they got their books, robes, and other supplies for school, Severus was looking forward to a quiet lunch. He found a small cafe, and quickly seated himself and the two boys.

"I want a cheeseburger!" Harry announced. "Can I have one? Please? And hot chips?"

"Fish and chips!" Draco chimed in.

"Yes, yes," he said, calming them. This was certainly better than the first time he took Harry out and he was almost too frightened to order anything. Perhaps some time with the arrogant Malfoy heir might have not been the worst thing for Harry after all.

As Severus ate his braised pork with sauteed vegetables, he watched the two boys interact. They weren't easy friends like Harry and Ron were, but he was seeing the beginnings of respect between the boys, and hopefully that could translate into at least tolerating each other when they went to Hogwarts together.

And the rest of the week went much the same, with the boys mostly tolerating each other and hostilities not going past verbal sparring and jostling each other. But on the final day, both boys came down to breakfast a little subdued. He wondered if they would actually miss each other.

"Draco, I will floo you over to your parents' house after breakfast," Snape told him. "I hope you are all packed up."

"I am," he admitted. "It's only two weeks until classes start, yeah?"

"Two weeks," Harry confirmed. "Ron and Ginny are going to come too, Draco, and we're going to have much fun!"

"I can't wait to try out a real Quidditch pitch," Draco said. "Do you know anything about our teacher, Professor?"

"His name is Remus Lupin," Snape replied.

"I met him at my birthday," Harry explained. "He looks shaggy but pretty nice."

"Well, if he's shaggy you'll feel right at home!" Draco exclaimed, pushing a little against Harry in jest.

"And if he's nice he'll be much different than you!" Harry retorted, laughing. "And let's hope he's nice with as much trouble as we're going to get in this year."

"Trouble will be disciplined," Snape intoned. "You two will become acquainted with detentions if you do not follow the rules and regulations."

"An older boy once told me that some professors hang students upside down by their heels in detention," Draco smirked. "I'd like to see you do that, Baker."

"Detentions are normally boring or tiring," Snape told them. "You usually write lines or you do some project to help the professor. I often have students either chop unpleasant potion ingredients or scrub out cauldrons. Lines never help anyone, I prefer detentions that are useful. But detentions are not abusive or hurtful, and students are not ever physically disciplined except by their heads of houses, and even that is very rare."

"If we're not in a house, who will our head of house be?" Draco asked.

"Probably Professor Lupin," Snape replied. "I'm sure Dumbledore has thought out details like that. I believe Professor Lupin will be responsible for you all day, from the time you come in the morning to the time that you floo home in the afternoon."

"Are going to have after school activities?" Harry asked. "It would be really great if we could have quidditch lessons or something."

"We can think about that," Snape answered. "But Quidditch could be part of a physical education program, perhaps. Strictly speaking, it is magic to use brooms, but most wizarding families allow their pre-Hogwarts students to use brooms. So, I think that could be something that works."

"I wish we were going tomorrow!" Harry exclaimed. "It will be so much fun!"

Snape, wondering himself, decided to hold his tongue.