Chapter Seven:

The Talk

A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing!

I know a lot of you hated the scene with Severus and Pat but I promise all will be explained in this chapter. I am going to explain the reason for Severus and Pat's relationship in this chapter.

Savoren.

WARNING: AU! OOC! Take this seriously, seriously. . .

Nervous, Harry followed his guardian into the living room and waited to be told to sit down. He sat, fidgeting a little in an attempt to find a comfortable spot. He kept his eyes down though, not trusting that if he opened his mouth he would get himself in trouble.

Feeling a little awkward and out of place, Severus pulled a seat up so he was sitting across from the boy. After a few minutes where Harry refused to make eye-contact, Severus started the conversation, knowing that if he did not start soon he would not start at all.

Clearing his throat, Severus placed his hands on his knees and flattened out a wrinkle on his trouser. He kept his eyes down, not wanting to look at the boy. "I have not been completely truthful with you about Mrs. Klein's and my relationship."

Hearing that, Harry glanced up at him. Relationship? Not romantic, right? Harry immediately felt disgusted.

Severus continued, not realizing where Harry's mind was racing to, "As you already know, this house is the house I grew up in." He took in a breath, hoping his voice didn't sound as shaky as he felt. "My mother died when I was in Hogwarts and my father. . . My father did not handle her death well at all. Before her death he had a temper but his violence grew after her passing. My father became an alcoholic and I became the victim of his drinking. Mrs. Klein, who was living in the same house she is now, took notice of me and took me under her wing. She took care of me and gave me rules and consequences. She knew I attended a private school but I never told her about being a wizard." Severus sighed, realizing he was starting to ramble. "Anyway, Pot- er, Harry, I would go to her house when my father was drinking and she became something like a mentor to me. The summer of my sixth year I practically lived at her house."

Hary gave a small nod, not sure where this conversation was going. "Is that why you let her reprimand you when you don't call me by my first name?"

Severus forced his blush to not appear on his cheeks. Masking his features, Severus nodded and continued, "Today, while you were mowing, she told me something else." He paused, eyeing Harry closely. "I know I am not an ideal guardian, P- Harry, and I know we have had a rough past. However, I also know that I am in charge of your well-being and health now. I am in charge of making sure you know right from wrong and that you know the consequences of certain actions. I realize that I am a strict guardian and that will not change. However, Mrs. Klein has opened my eyes to something." He paused again, watching the boy closely.

Harry fidgeted under his piercing stare, Why is he telling me all of this? He's just going in circles! Does this conversation have a point or is he wasting my time? Harry nibbled on his bottom lip and tried to make eye-contact with his guardian. No sooner did his emerald eyes lock with onyx eyes, he dropped them and bit his bottom lip harder. I don't want to be talking to you. I just want to go back to sleep - you're not the Snape I want.

Severus sighed, he could tell he needed to get to the point soon because Harry seemed to be growing fidgety in his seat. An impatient Potter does not make a good Potter. With this in mind, Severus pressed on, "She made me realize that if we are going to make this guardianship work then something needs to change."

Interested, Harry glanced at his guardian. He did not make eye contact though, instead he focused on staring at Snape's shoulder.

Severus immediately took notice of Harry's peeked interest and he felt himself relax a little. "Do you have any idea of what we need to change, Pot-," Severus let out a deep, annoyed sigh. "Harry. Do you know what we need to change to make our," Severus paused, not knowing what to call them: Relationship? Family?

Harry gave a small shrug of his shoulders and dropped his eyes to the floor. "Respect?"

Severus eyed the boy closely and gave a small nod of his head. "Well, yes, we both need to respect the other better. You need to respect me by listening to me and following the rules. I too need to respect you though. I know I have been failing in this part of the guardianship. Do you understand?"

With his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Harry glanced up and locked eyes with his Professor. "You're my guardian. What respect do you have to give me?"

Severus sighed, And this just shows how much I truly have been failing in respecting him. "I need to realize that you are but a teenager. I should not expect you to be able to know how to deal with all of your feelings (I should try to understand emotional explosions more). I also need to respect you by knowing that you need space sometimes." Severus looked away, not used to Harry making eye contact with him for this long. "I also need to comfort you."

Harry's heart immediately started to race. Did he seriously just say that he will comfort me? Comfort me like the Snape in my dreams? Harry mentally shook his head, Stop it! Don't get your hopes up. He will never be like the Snape in my dreams. He's probably just screwing around and isn't being serious. He'll probably tell all his snakes about how I want cuddled!

Severus continued talking, not noticing the emotions flying across Harry's face. "I know this might seem awkward coming from me but Mrs. Klein is right. I do need to comfort you. As your guardian I have been failing at that. When you are punished I need to start comforting you afterwards and forgiving you for your actions." Severus paused and looked away, "That's what she would do for me and that is what I need to do for you." Severus refused to look at his ward, nervous that the boy would be disgusted or think he lost his mind. Have I lost my mind? Am I seriously thinking about comforting the boy afterward? I mean, it's not like I'm going to cuddle him or kiss his forehead or anything. . . Right?

Harry pulled his guardian out of his thoughts by saying, "Can we do this?"

Severus frowned, eyeing Harry's face to try and figure out what he was thinking. "Can we do what?"

Harry looked away and bit his lip again. "Can we make this guardianship work?" He fidgeted again, feeling more awkward than he would like to admit. "I mean, it's not like we have had a loving past or anything. . ."

Severus tried to catch Harry's eye again as he answered him, "I think we can. You know I'm not going to go soft on you and I will continue to break the paddle over your backside if you misbehave but I do believe that we can make this work. I know I'm not someone you would come to if you have a problem but we need to fix that. When you have a problem I need you to feel comfortable coming to me." Did I honestly just say that to Potter?

Harry smirked and kept his gaze locked on the floor. He could feel Snape's eyes on him and it made him shiver. "Even if I have a nightmare?"

Severus could hear the sarcasm in the boy's voice and answered his question, "Actually, yes. I need you to feel comfortable coming to me about anything. As your guardian it is my job to try and fix all of your problems or teach you how to fix them yourself." Severus fought with his emotions. This is the strangest conversation I have ever had. Can I actually do this? Can I actually comfort him after a well-deserved punishment? Can I comfort him after a nightmare? Can I be the guardian he needs? How will I know until I try?

Harry fidgeted again for the umpteenth time, not used to these types of conversations (especially with the bat of the dungeons!). "What about when we get to school?"

Severus knew exactly what he was asking, "I will continue to act like your guardian at school - and yes, that includes comforting you." Seeing the boy look up at him, Severus kept talking, making sure Harry didn't have any misconceptions. "I will be strict, P- Harry. I will expect a lot from you including high marks in all of your classes. If I even get the slightest hint that you are slacking off you will feel my hand. I will not hesitate to reprimand you or give you a warning smack in front of my colleagues."

Harry paled at the thought, "What about in front of my classmates?"

Severus rose a single eyebrow at him, "Do not test me and we will not have to find out."

Sighing, Harry dropped his eyes again. That's not the answer I wanted to hear.

Severus continued, "Now is as good of a time as any to discuss your sleeping arrangements." Seeing Harry's eyes go wide, Severus hurried to keep talking before Harry gave him any attitude, "You may sleep in the Gryffindor dorms unless you lose the privilege of doing so. I expect you to be in bed by curfew and if I find you out of bed I will, personally, take you to your dorm and tuck you in." He smirked at Harry's blush, "As I said, H-Harry, do not test me and you won't experience it."

Harry gave a small nod, So long as I use my invisibility cloak he won't ever catch me out of bed. He kept his eyes down and muttered, "Okay."

Severus forced himself not to let out a tired sigh, "I think we can do this. It's going to be strange but, eventually, it will seem normal." And if you don't misbehave and if you act like an angel then we won't have any problems.

A spark of fury flashed inside him and he quickly bit his lip to try to keep his mouth closed. Normal? You have told me time and time again that your guardianship of me is TEMPORARY! Why the Hell are we even doing this? We are wasting time! You don't want me forever. . .

Seeing the fire in Harry's eyes, Severus frowned in concern. What did I do? What could possible be making him angry? "This is one of those moments where you need to talk to me, P-Harry." Severus could hit himself, Why is saying his first name so damn hard?! "Why the anger?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Harry glared at the fireplace. "You're smart. Figure it out!"

What? Severus eyed Harry closely, honestly having no clue as to what is wrong with the boy. Teenage angst? Severus sighed softly, "I thought this conversation was going smoothly, H-Harry."

Harry rolled his eyes, "You want to be my guardian but you can't even say my name without stumbling on it. Why do you even want to be my guardian? Is it just because Dumbledore told you to? You keep telling me it's temporary but you're giving me mixed signals that it is going to last for a while. You can't just keep confusing me and act like you're doing nothing wrong! You need to pick one: do you want to call me Potter and keep the guardianship temporary or do you want to call me Harry and have the guardianship? You can't have both! You can't fuck with my head, Snape. I won't let you!"

Sitting up straighter, Severus leveled Harry with a stern look, "You need to take a deep breath and close your eyes. Once you are calm, we will talk."

Harry rolled his eyes again, "Don't tell me what to do, just answer the question!"

Growing angry, Severus forced himself to remain patient. "I'm going to count to three and if your eyes are not closed and you are not taking deep breaths then you will stand in the corner until you calm down." He leveled the teenager with another serious look, hoping the boy would stop testing him. "One."

Harry crossed his arms and leveled his guardian with a cold glare.

Severus sighed softly, "Two."

Defiant eyes locked with stern ones. Harry held the glare for a few seconds and just as his guardian opened his mouth to say three, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

Relieved that he broke the boy's defiance, Severus leaned back in his seat and watched Harry take in a couple deep breaths. The boy's shoulders physically relaxed after the third deep breath. "You may open your eyes once you have a better hold on your tongue." Once Harry opened his eyes, Severus continued speaking, "First of all, you know better than to use foul language." He watched Harry cringe and gave a firm nod of his head, "I will let it go this one time only because your outburst was emotionally created."

Harry kept his eyes down, still worried that he was in trouble for his outburst. I should have bit my tongue. "Yes, sir."

"The guardianship I have of you is not permanent, Harry. When a more suitable guardian shows up, they will take over. You know this," Severus told him. He tried to keep his voice even as to not make the boy angry again.

Harry let out a small huff and looked away, "Then why are we bothering?" He doesn't want me. Why do I care so much? This is all that fucking dream's fault!

"Would you rather make this guardianship smooth or would you rather be at each others throats the whole time?" Severus countered back.

Harry remained silent. If I can't stay with my relatives then I want a permanent home. I don't want to waste time caring if it's not going to matter. Why doesn't he understand this?

Taking his silence as acceptance, Severus forced himself not to leave out a sigh of relief. "Good. I am glad that is taken care of." He didn't notice Harry's annoyed look as he moved on to a new conversation, "Do you have your homework completed? We will be heading to the castle tomorrow morning. I have a few meetings I need to attend, hand in my lesson plans and get my new classroom ready for the first day of classes."

"No," Harry smoothly lied. If I say it's done, he said he would give me more.

Shocked, Severus leveled Harry with a frown, "I expect your homework to be completed, Harry. I'm sure I do not have to explain what will happen if I find out your homework is not handed in on the first day, correct?"

Harry sighed, "Yeah. It'll be done by the first day of classes." He didn't stutter my first name.

Severus eyed him closely, "Make sure it is." Standing from the chair, Severus returned it and turned to look at his ward, "I want you to go work on your homework for the rest of the night. I will stop you when supper is on the table." He frowned when Harry didn't immediately stand and do as he was told. "Did I stutter?"

Immediately annoyed, Harry stood from the couch and, without a word, went to the guest room to pretend to work on his already finished homework. Confusing emotions tormented him as he blankly stared at his open textbook, hoping night would come quick so he could return to his dream.

A/N: Did that explain some things with Pat? I hope so. If not, please let me know.

I know this chapter was OOC and AU but I tried to keep it as real as possible.

Savoren.