They hovered nervously around the entrance to the Great Hall as the corridors started to fill and swell with students escaping the confines of morning classes.

"What makes you think Ron'll come here first instead of the common room?"

"Trust me 'mione, we're always first for lunch or any meal come to that, Rons stomach is his main priority."

"How are we going to tell him Harry, what do you think we should say?"

Harry was about to say they should start at the beginning and go from there but before he could open his mouth a finger prodded him in the back. For one heart stopping moment her thought it was Uncle Sev coming to say he'd changed his mind but then he heard Rons voice.

"Blimey Harry you've been forever, I was starting to think Snape might've chopped you up and used you in one his potions." Then he spotted Hermione. "Hi Hermione ... Uhm glad you're ok." He added self-consciously and blushed when she smiled shyly back at him. Then he moved in between them and whispered, "So what's going on?"

Harry looked around nervously at the other students. "Not here, we need to go somewhere more private."

"What about an empty classroom?" Suggested Ron doubtfully. He really wanted to know what was going on but he could smell food coming from the Great Hall and didn't want to miss out on lunch.

"We need to decide soon." Interrupted Hermione. "Otherwise we won't have time to tell you everything before next lesson."

Ron perked up at this. "Haven't you heard, McGonagall told us at breakfast, Snapes cancelled his lessons today, so we've got a free double period this afternoon."

Hermione looked at Harry wide-eyed, did she really matter that much for him to cancel classes and now they knew where she was why wasn't he teaching this afternoon? But then Rons rumbling stomach distracted them.

"Why don't we go outside, no-one will be out there." She suggested nervously not wanting the boys to accuse her of being bossy.

"It'll be freezing." Ron blurted out.

"It won't be so bad if we get our cloaks." Suggested Harry playing the peace-maker, he really wanted his friend and sister to be able to get on.

"And I can magic this blue flame which'll keep us warm. Why don't I go get our cloaks while Ron you go and get us some lunch to take with us. Harry can you go to Hagrids he's got some big glass jars outside his door, can you borrow one and we'll meet in the courtyard in ten minutes."

Ron nodded, happy that the plan included lunch, maybe Hermione wasn't so bad after all.

"You've been to see Hagrid?"

"He's invited me for tea a couple of times."

"Oh. He never said you'd been down."

Hermione shrugged and looked over at Ron. "Well he couldn't could he, not when you were going down with other people."

"Suppose so." Conceded Harry looking unhappy but then brightened considerably. "But its going to be different now. Come on we'll meet in a few minutes at the end of the courtyard nobody'll bother us there."

Ten minutes later, under the purple bruise of the scottish sky they huddled in the far left hand corner of the courtyard only sheltered from the fierce highland winds by the stone walkways, sat around Hermiones blue flame and awkwardly eating sandwiches.

"So ..." Started Ron nervously talking around his sandwich " ... Snapes really your Dad?"

"No! Godfather." Corrected Harry just as Hermione argued, ""No! Uncle."

Ron looked between the two of them, confused, his sandwich half way to his mouth.

"He is Harrys Godfather, he and Harrys mum were friends as children but I'm not really his niece. My parents were muggles and they died a few years ago, the Headmaster decided I should live with the Snapes." Hermione confirmed.

"But I don't get it mate, everyone thinks you live with muggles. You told me you lived with your mums sister. You told me they were horrible to you." There was accusation in the redheads voice and some underlying hurt in his eyes.

Hermione sat back a little, this part was Harrys story, she only knew the basics and it was up to him how much he wanted to say. "Harry was already there when I moved in, he'll have to tell you about that."

Harry was quiet for a moment, he'd tried not to think about what had happened before never mind talk about it, but if he wanted Ron as his friend then he guessed he should tell him the truth.

He took a few steps back, distancing himself, and wrapped his cloak tighter around his body. He swallowed nervously and began talking in a monotone voice as if relaying boring facts instead of describing his life.

"I did live with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. For as long as I could remember I lived with them. I slept in the cupboard under the stairs where I had a dirty mattress, an old blanket and a couple of Dudleys broken toys. Some days the spiders I shared it with were the only things I talked to. I wore my cousins old clothes and he was the size of a whale. I ate their leftovers or the off food they were throwing away. They told me my parents died in a car accident." He paused and looked up, showing emotion for the first time. "Sorry 'mione. Her parents did die in a car crash." He explained to Ron then carried on again with his own tale, once again devoid of any feeling.

"I cooked for them and cleaned for them. If they were in a good mood they called me 'boy', if they were in a bad mood I was 'freak'. I didn't know my name was Harry until I went to school. Freaks don't celebrate birthdays or Christmas, they don't get Easter Eggs or treats and it wasn't that they just didn't bother they made sure I knew I wasn't good enough. They'd hit me, it started off with their hand but as I got older he'd use his belt. Dudley and his gang would hunt and chase me and no one at school would come near me because he told them I was a freak. Uncle Vernon had a sister that they made me call Aunt Marge, she had these big dogs and when she came to visit she'd let them chase me. I stayed up a tree a whole day and half the night before she called the dog off. Whenever I was ill they just shut me in my cupboard until I got better by myself. The only reason I got glasses was because the school did an eye test on everyone in my year and it would have looked odd if they didn't get me any."

Harry took a deep breath, it was getting closer to the hard stuff. "As I got older weird stuff started happening. I kinda flew on top of the school roof when Dudley was chasing me, my hand that got burnt on the cooker healed overnight, my Aunt shaved my head and by the morning all my hair had grown back again. I broke a vase I was dusting and while they were shouting at me it mended itself, that was the first time he used his belt, he said he would beat the unnaturalness out of me."

Harry paused for a minute, he knew Hermione was silently crying and Ron was sat their with his mouth hanging open but he couldn't deal with the emotions at the moment. "I was seven and it was Christmas Eve. The house was decorated and I'd been made to wrap all of my cousins presents while my aunt and uncle spend all day telling me that I was an ungrateful freak which was why I wasn't getting any. I always spent Christmas Day in my cupboard so I didn't ruin their day with my freakishness, I was never even asked to help cook lunch so they could pretend I really wasn't there. Dudley had left the controller to one of his pre christmas presents on the floor and I stepped on it, breaking it. He saw me do it and tackled me to the floor, shouting and hitting me. My Aunt and Uncle came running in just as I somehow managed to throw him off me, he went flying across the room and landed in the christmas tree. And if you'd ever seen my cousin you'd know how strange that was, he was the size of a elephant. That's when it happened, my aunt and cousin left the room and Uncle Vernon went mad. After a while I couldn't take the pain or blood and blacked out. I woke up in the hospital two days later with the Headmaster telling me I never had to go back and a load of stuff about blood wards that I didn't understand. Turns out my aunt panicked when she saw the mess I was in and left me at the hospital door. That's when he told me about my mums friend who was my Godfather and that I was going to live with him and his wife. A couple of days later I went home with them and they told me I was a wizard. Then 'mione moved in that summer."

He felt Hermione slide towards him, her cold hand slipping into his, squeezing gently, to show her support.

"Bloody hell mate ... I don't know what to say." Stuttered Ron. "But I still don't get it, why did you pretend to still live with them after all that?" He looked between the two of them. "And why do you pretend not to know each other."

Harry and Hermione exchanged looks, Harry shrugged while Hermione wiped her eyes with her free hand. "Its complicated Ron." She started to explain, knowing it would be easier for her than Harry. "You've got to promise you won't say anything to anyone." She implored.

"Alright ...I swear on my new Chudley Cannons scarf." It may not seem much but to the youngest son in a family of six boys who usually had nothing but handmedowns it meant everything. He saw Hermiones confused look and pulled a face at Harry. "You know the quidditch team, my quidditch team."

For the first time since they'd started talking Harry grinned at his friend.

"Boys." Muttered Hermione rolling her eyes but somehow in that shared moment their friendship became cemented. "How much do you know about the war with Voldemort ..." She paused while Ron winced "... And what happened to Harry?"

"I'm pure blood I've grown up hearing stories about it, sorry Harry but you're famous, everyone knows what happened on that Halloween." He flashed his friend an apologetic look. "And my family fought against you know who. We're what people like the Malfoys call blood traitors caus we don't believe in this pureblood rubbish. My Dad likes muggles, he'll want to ask you loads of questions if he ever meets you, he works at the ministry in the misuse of muggle artifacts department."

Harry got the impression from the look on Hermiones face that she'd have just as many questions to ask Rons dad if she got the chance.

Rons mind had been busy all morning, not on his classes but trying to work out what was going on with his best friend. All he could think about was that the boy who lived was living with a Slytherin and not just living in the same house but calling him Uncle. Why did he want Harry, it didn't make any sense ... Unless! His imagination started to work overtime. Everyone knew what Slytherins were like, bad wizards came from Slytherin and Snape was head of Slytherin house. Snape was horrible to everyone but Slytherins, he remembered the twins moaning about him when they came back at Christmas, they'd told Ron the rumours about Snape being a vampire and then Bill had added that the older students said he used to support you know who.

But then their Dad had come in and said it was all nonsense. It wasn't often that he got mad at them but this time he was really angry which was why Ron remembered it so well. He told them that Dumbledore trusted Snape and as he trusted Dumbledore that was good enough for him. Ron knew that after their dads lecture his brothers had never complained about Snape in his hearing again but like most of the students they kept a wary distance from the potions master.

As with most children raised in a supportive, loving home Ron had blind faith in his parents opinion. The Headmaster had been to their home a few times and while Ron knew he could be strange, weird and bonkers, he was also brilliant, unique and a Gryffidor. So like his Dad he trusted Dumbledore. So at some point during Trangfiguration he grudgingly decided he may have to trust Snape.

But not once did he think about why Harry was living with Snape. Charlie had once told him that their mum had held them all tightly and cried when she'd heard about the Potters, they'd known Harrys mum and dad before they'd gone into hiding. Their Dad had told her a few days later that Dumbledore had left Harry in the muggle world with relatives and she'd seemed happy that he was safe with his family.

Ron was no stranger to a sore backside, his mum was pretty handy with a wooden spoon but he'd felt sick as he listened to Harry talk, it wasn't right. He was glad Hermione was there because he had no idea what to say to his best friend. So instead he just concentrated on what she was telling him and even though he could see that pretending Snape was nothing to them upset her, Ron could actually understand the Potion Masters reasons. But the idea of Snape as a spy took some getting used to.

"But he's so mean to you." Ron blurted out.

"He's mean to everyone." Shrugged Harry.

"But he's been really mean to both of you. He singled you out in the first class and look what he did to Hermione the other day."

"He always picks on someone in the first lesson, he knew the Slytherins would expect it to be me." Explained Harry, he really needed his friend to understand.

"And I did do something deliberately stupid to get his attention." Admitted Hermione, embarrassed. "But he's fixed it." She fished down the front of her robes and pulled out her new necklace. "He gave us these this morning" At Rons weird look she added, "Harrys is a watch! It warms up so we know he doesn't really mean whatever horrible thing he's just said."

"And he's said we can tell you too." Added Harry with a grin remembering his uncle's disgust at the idea.

"And you're really alright with this?" Asked Ron skeptically, he couldn't even begin to imagine how he'd feel if his brothers pretended he didn't exist, even though he wished they'd leave him alone sometimes.

The two siblings looked at each other. "Not really." Admitted Harry "But if it keeps everyone safe ..." His words dwindled away, he had no idea how to explain that he wouldn't let anyone die for him again.

"Its better than the alternative." Hermione explained. "I would have ended up in muggle foster care and Harry, well you know ..." She finished, not wanting to dwell on what Harry had already told them.

There was a difficult silence as they all tried not to look at each other, eleven year olds weren't supposed to need to have this sort of conversation.

Morbid curiosity got the better of him and the question just burst out of Ron without him thinking, the silence of the courtyard making his voice sound louder. "What's Snape like to live with?"

"Well ..." Started Hermione just as Harry said, "He's ..." But then they both stopped unsure of what to say because the man they knew bore no resemblance to the Professor Ron saw.

"I mean he's so nasty and mean and strict."

"He is strict." Confessed Harry in that resigned tone children have when they've been on the wrong side of a stern parent one too many times.

"But he's not mean or nasty, well not at home anyway." Added Hermione. "He let's me borrow his books and answers most of my questions."

"He showed me how to ride a broom and taught me chess."

Rons head was spinning, he couldn't imagine anyone having the patience to answer any of Hermiones questions, never mind Snape, or that he played chess and rode a broom.

"He's taken us to the beach to help with a school project, he magically freezes a pond in the garden so 'mione can skate, he reads adventure stories to me at night and he talks about my mum sometimes."

It was so surreal, one minute they were talking about abuse, death, spying and the most evil wizard of all time and the next about how Snape did normal family stuff. Ron knew which one was weirder because all he could see Snape as was the greasy bat of the dungeons and from bat it wasn't much of a leap for a boys overactive imagination to the twins idea of him being a vampire.

"And what's with all the black clothes, pale skin and greasy hair?"

"Its the potions." Replied Harry matter of factly.

"Uuhh?"

"The fumes from brewing potions all day makes his hair greasy, Aunty Bella's always on at him to wash it." Clarified Hermione. "His flat, classrooms, office and House are all in the dungeons so he doesn't get out much which is why he's so pale, he looks abit better in the summer holidays."

"And I guess he just likes the colour black, even his muggle clothes." Added Harry

Rons eyes widened. "Snape wears muggle clothes?!"

Hermione giggled, she couldn't help herself. "Not very often but yes he's got black jeans and jumpers."

There was something else Ron didn't understand. "So ... He's really married to that woman you were with this morning Harry?"

"You mean Aunty Bella? Yeah, they're married."

Hermione didn't miss the way Ron blushed when Harry said Aunty Bella's name.

"Wow... That's got to be the weirdest thing about all of this."

Harry looked puzzled, of all the things Ron could find strange, this was it. "Why?"

Ron looked uncomfortable. "Well Snape looks like he does and she looks like she does ... They don't really fit." He tried to explain.

Harry had no idea what Ron was talking about, they were just his Godfather and Aunty, of course they belonged together. But Hermione understood what he meant, she was more observant than her brother, she'd seen the way the social workers had looked at the two of them when they'd brought her to Prince Manor and how differently people treated Uncle Severus when he was disguised as Jefferson Prince.

"Aunty Bella loves him and even though he never says it he loves her to." She argued with absolute certainty.

Ron shuddered at the idea but then he thought it was gross when his dad and mum kissed too.

"He really is different at home ... May be you could come and visit in the summer holidays and see for yourself?" Suggested Harry abit nervously.

Ron looked pleased but unsure. "Thanks but I don't think Snape would like it, may be you could come to mine instead?."

"I'll ask Aunty Bella about you coming over and then he won't be able to say no." Now he'd had the idea Harry wasn't ready to let it go so easily, Ron was the first friend he'd had who knew everything about him.

Ron looked doubtful that anyone could tell Snape what to do.

"Don't worry Ron, Aunty Bella convinces Uncle Severus to do things he doesn't want to all the time. She usually wins all the arguments. She once charmed a swarm of dragon snap heads and made them chase him around the garden. This morning she threw a glass at him while she argued with him and the Headmaster which is why we can tell you the truth." Hermione sounded very proud of her Aunt.

"You shouldn't upset Hermione, Ron, she's learnt a few things from Aunty Bella."

Harry was joking but having a sister himself, Ron picked up on the subtle message not to mess with Hermione again.

"What are you going to tell people ...?"

"Ron you promised not to say anything." Interrupted Hermione, her voice high pitched and bordering on hysterical.

Ron looked a little alarmed. "I did, I won't. I meant that Harrys got his cover story, what's yours? If you're coming out of the library, 'caus you should know me and Harry don't spend a lot of time in there, and you're gonna start talking to people they're going to ask you questions."

"Oh."

"Uncle Sev told you to stick close to the truth." Harry reminded her. "You've just got to decide and work out the details."

Ron helped himself to the last sandwich "Makes sense."

She thought for a moment and wished her Guardians had just told her what to say like they'd told Harry. "I need to think about it carefully tonight, and then maybe if I tried out both options on you two and see which one feels better."

Sure." Agreed Ron around his bread.

Harry nodded. "Do you think we could go in now, I'm freezing and Wood's got me training again tonight, I'd like to warm up before I have to go out again."

"We've got that essay to do for Professor Spout anyway, suppose we should start it." Rons eyes lit up as her watched Hermione collect the plates from their lunch. "Hey Hermione, you're good at lessons and stuff, can you help?"

Harry glanced up just in time to see the scandalous look on her face and her hands migrating to her hips, he knew what was coming and tried to hide his grin.

"Ron Weasley, that's due in tomorrow, haven't you even started it?" Her tone became superior. "And no I won't help you with it." She turned on Harry. "Please tell me you've done yours?"

Harry picked the plates up and they started to walk back towards the castle. "Not really, no. I've been too busy with Quidditch practice." He admitted.

"And I've been helping him learn all the rules, there's hundreds of them you know?" Added Ron trying to find his own excuse.

Hermione gave a weary sigh. "Oh alright, just this once. I'm not helping you write it but I will let you look at my notes and then read it over before you hand it in."

The boys grinned at her, may be this was going to work out for everybody after all.

"Still can't believe Snapes your dad." Muttered Ron shaking his head.

"Godfather." Corrected Harry while Hermione replied "Uncle."

"Same difference." Smirked Ron as they entered the castle, laughing like they'd been friends forever.