Chapter 10: Cooking Lessons

Things had gone decently smoothly at Prince Manor since it had all come to a head on Tuesday, but there wasn't really any bonding going on. Mostly Harry would try to stay out of Severus's way. He would do the required studying each morning directly after breakfast, and then spent the afternoon desperately trying to entertain himself.

He'd explored the entire manor with strict instructions to stay out of any rooms that had locked doors with the assurance that he 'would not like the consequences' if he entered them. He found a couple mini suits just like his rooms that he assumed were for guests since they were fully furnished and even decorated. He'd also found Snape's study and a large library that would have made Hermione swoon at the sight.

While the Manor was several levels high, the library by itself was two levels. It was circular with one large wall instead of four joined with corners, and as you entered the room there was a carpeted ramp on either side that let up to a balcony level where books lined the wall right to the ceiling and a sliding ladder slid all around the balcony area so that someone would be able to reach whatever book they desired. The lower level of the library was a large, well lit open area furnished with comfortable sofa's and armchairs to curl up in while you read, as well as a couple tables set with reading lamps where you could sit to study. Beneath the balcony was another wall of books that stretched from the floor to the bottom of the balcony with an identical rolling ladder. Snape had once more given stern instructions that Harry was never to go up to the second level of the library or he 'would not like the consequences.' He had therefore roped off the two ramps leading up there just like the restricted section at school. This had peeved Harry slightly, but only because he felt once more like Snape was treating him like a child by attempting to restrict his reading material. As if Harry read much for fun.

Down below the main level Harry found something he never planned to visit again; Snape's personal potions lab. After seeing that the man was already stocking it, Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes. The man really was obsessed with potions.

After having explored all the places in the manor that he was allowed access to, Harry found himself bored out of his mind. He sat dully in his room and played himself at wizard's chess on the set he'd been gifted last year at Christmas and flipped through the photo Album Hagrid had given him in the hospital wing at the end of last year. Looking at photos of his mum made him think of when they had met Emily at the robe shop, and he could only shut the album with a sigh wishing he knew what his mum had been like.

He would go out back to fly on his broom, but with nobody to fly with and nothing to catch it too became dull after a while and he would find himself headed back inside where he would write to his friends. Ron had sympathized with him about having to study on holiday and being in bed at a decent hour, and again agreed about Snape being evil for making Harry write so many lines. He'd then called him mental for refusing to eat and attempted to explain that house elves were meant to serve witches and wizards and that they were never treated as part of the family. He'd then gone completely mental at the idea of going to study sessions with a bunch of Slytherin's and Harry could only sigh. That was going to be a complete nightmare.

Harry could have easily predicted Ron's reaction, but Hermione's came as a major shock. Her usual neat writing was exceptionally hard to read, (Harry guessed this was possibly due to having paws instead of hands) because it was full of ink splotches and tears that Hermione's work never possessed. Plus, it wasn't the usual novel Hermione tended to write and Miss By-the-Book was also in a complete fit of rage that wasn't directed at Harry, but rather at Snape instead. Harry had expected her to light into him about behaving himself and not arguing with Snape, inform him that he should just take his punishment quietly and that studying was actually a good thing, assure him that she was doing alright and was already out of the infirmary, and instantly agree to attend the study sessions with him. Her actual response couldn't have been more opposite.

Harry,

I can't believe Professor Snape would treat any kind of creature in such a manner! It's absolutely repulsive and it makes me sick! She is still a living creature, no matter her status, and deserves to be treated with respect, especially if she is going to be made to be some kind of servant. You did the right thing by standing up for her, and the only consolation I can take from this is that he hasn't punished you for it.

As for how I am doing, my progress seems so slow I want to rip all my fur off hair by hair to speed it up. The only noticeable difference so far is my fur turning into my normal hair color and my fingers lengthening a little bit. I have to take several potions at each meal and just before bed, and Madam Pomphrey runs all kinds of diagnostics on me all day long. It's quite exhausting.

While I think that a study session would be a great idea, I'm not so sure I should be attending with a bunch of Slytherins. I AM a muggle born after all and I don't think that intruding in a study session just for them would be very smart, especially with what's been going on around the school lately. I'm sure things won't be all that bad though, so just hang in there. It's less than two weeks. See you soon.

Hermione

Harry ran his hands through his hair with a sigh as he placed his head on his desk. This was just great; he was going to have to attend daily study sessions with a bunch of Slytherins by himself. He'd figured that Ron would initially refuse and that he and Hermione would have to coerce or physically drag him along, but he had been seriously counting on Hermione's support. Thinking about it however, she did have a point. It was going to be pandemonium for Harry to start joining them, and after having the Slytherin password being 'pureblood' he could only imagine what it would be for Hermione to join them.

Dejected, Harry couldn't bring himself to pen an immediate response to his friends. Instead he loafed around the manor some more and used a spare bit of parchment to create a countdown calendar similar to what he had done when with the Dursleys last summer.

Thursday evening had Harry's world completely upside down. Without being at Hogwarts with his friends like he had been last year, he couldn't help but think about the massive party he would have had to put together for the Dursleys while not being able to actually attend. This year however, there was no party. The Manor was just as dead as it had been since they had arrived, and there was absolutely no sign at all that people all over the world were celebrating the arrival of the year 1993.

If Harry thought that Thursday had been dull, it was nothing compared to Friday. He was seriously out of ideas for entertainment, and actually exceeded his required hour of study out of sheer boredom. It wasn't until that evening that he had half an idea about something he could do, but he would need to ask permission since he wasn't sure how something like this would work since he had to take Blinky into consideration now.

At four o'clock Friday evening, Harry took a deep breath as he leaned against the door frame to Snape's office. "Sir?" he asked the man tentatively.

"Yes Po... Harry?" Severus had to stop himself from using the all too familiar last name as he looked up from his ward research. If they were going to keep 'The Boy Who Lived' at Prince Manor, they were going to need to provide maximum protection and that meant he needed to take a refresher course in protective wards.

"I was wondering, could I maybe make dinner tonight?" It was clear that whatever the sinister Potions Master had been expecting, that request wasn't it.

"Harry," Severus prided himself on remembering to use the boy's first name despite the level of shock he was feeling. "While I appreciate your desire to do something constructive with your time, I do not have any interest in having the manor blown up by allowing you anywhere near the stove or oven."

Harry had to clench his fists tightly and silently count to ten to refrain from giving a disrespectful retort. "I won't blow the kitchen up sir." Even after counting to ten, Harry still found himself speaking through clenched teeth. "My relatives taught me to cook when I was really little and I've cooked pretty much all of the meals since I was 5."

Severus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise at the boy still standing in the doorway to his study. He may not know anything about raising kids, but he was pretty sure that a 5 year old would not be allowed near an oven or stove, let alone cooking meals by himself. Was this some kind of made up story to gain sympathy?

If he were to be completely honest with himself, he had actually been very surprised by the boy the past week. Not only had he obeyed his grounding and gotten his lines done quickly, but he hadn't heard a word of complaint from him. Then, there was how he had acted since the grounding had ended. Harry had seemed to genuinely think he had to pay for his own clothes, and since they'd gotten back from the shopping trip, he'd kept his things cleaned up. Severus hadn't once had to ask the brat to put his books, magazines, toys, clothes, or broom away since the argument Tuesday night. As far as he could tell by just walking by the boy's room, everything was consistently cleaned up. He hadn't broken any of the rules Severus had set down that first day.

Severus had placed wards up inside the house already to alert him if Harry tried to enter any of the rooms that were locked, or the upper level of the library, but none of those wards had come close to being breached. That meant the child was obeying the restrictions set down about wandering around. None of it added up. This was all very far from the image he'd had of Prince Potter. Where was the pampered spoiled brat he'd expected? Who in the name of Merlin was this child that quietly went to bed at the set time? Severus had charmed the doors to Harry's rooms to alert him if the boy tried to leave after the set curfew, and they had yet to go off. No, he couldn't be positive he was actually sleeping come nine o'clock, but according to the set charms, he was at least in his actually sleeping quarters, and the rooms had been charmed to turn out the lights directly at 9:00 so it wasn't as if there was anything the boy could do in the dark.

"Sir?" Severus had to shake his thoughts clear as he focused on Harry once more.

"You really want to cook dinner tonight?" Severus asked feeling a cross between uncertainty and curiosity. When the dark haired child nodded, Severus ran a hand through his hair in thought. He really didn't trust the boy alone in the kitchen since he was so bad at Potions, but he kind of wanted to see if the boy really could cook like he claimed.

"Blinky," he called out ignoring the frown on Harry's face. When the elf appeared half a second later, Severus told of the evening's plans. "Blinky, we won't need you to make dinner tonight. Harry wants to cook." The elf looked absolutely devastated, and Severus had to close his eyes for a moment before wrapping his hands around her throat. "You still serve us Blinky, but it is important for Harry to know how to care for himself if anything were to happen where he couldn't have you with him. Since he can't exactly learn that at Hogwarts, he has to learn it here. While Harry makes dinner, I want you to place the grade reports for the Slytherins in envelopes and address them to the parents so that they can be shipped off." This last part was just a filler task for her to give her some sense of worth, but he was glad to at least have something for her to do.

"Of course Master Severus; Blinky is being doing that right away." At being given a task to replace her dinner duty, the elf was once again smiling as she bounded over to Severus's desk to get started on her work.

While Blinky got started on the midterm reports, Severus stood from his desk to give her room and headed for the door. "Alright Harry, let's go see what you can do."

Harry couldn't help a sigh as he saw that Snape planned to come watch him in the kitchen. Maybe this hadn't been the best of ideas after all. There was absolutely no way Harry would be able to concentrate on cooking if the 'Dungeons Bat' was hovering over him criticizing everything like in Potions. "Sir, I can do it. I promise I won't blow the manor up." Harry had to hurry down the hall now since the Potions Master had walked right past him and was now billowing down the steps towards the kitchen.

"I'm quite sure of that Mr. Potter," Severus stated fighting the urge to roll his eyes. Here was the Potter he had expected; attempting to assure everyone he could handle it by himself and didn't need a babysitter. This attitude showing up just made Severus believe even more that he should be there to supervise since there was no telling what the boy would get himself into.

Huffing his disgust, Harry stormed into the kitchen just as Snape sank into a chair he'd summoned so he'd be able to watch. "What were you planning on cooking Harry?"

"I was thinking Spaghetti and Meat Balls," Harry muttered resigned to his fate of putdowns as he did one of his favorite tasks. Cooking had always been kind of an escape for him at the Dursley's since it took more thinking and waiting than physical labor, and it was a great opportunity to let his imagination secretly run wild. Like pretending that he was preparing a meal for a noble family and that as soon as they tasted his wonderful dinner they would whisk him away from the horrid Dursleys to give him private cooking lessons and let him cook for them while living in their manor. Now however, he had a sinking suspicion that he was going to absolutely hate cooking all because he'd had the brilliant idea to ask Snape if he could cook.

Severus gave an intrigued nod and flicked his wand making the needed pots, pans, and ingredients appear. All of the ingredients for the sauce and meatballs were raw and in their standard form because Severus seriously wanted to know if Harry could figure out what to do with the raw ingredients and how much of them to use. "Would you like a cookbook?"

Harry was slightly surprised when all the items he would need to make the meal suddenly appeared. He seriously wasn't used to magic to perform household tasks, and he had to admit that it was pretty cool since this way he wouldn't need to hunt all over the kitchen for the items he would need. At the request of needing a cookbook, Harry frowned. Was this some kind of test? He never used a cookbook to make the sauce or noodles, but he was sure he would need one for the meatballs since that took a bit more precision for the ingredients. Finally, he nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to need one for the meatballs and breadsticks."

Severus raised an eyebrow when Harry didn't mention he would use a cookbook for the spaghetti sauce, but decided to shrug it off and provide him with a cookbook for the two recipes he had requested. "Anything else you need?"

Yeah, for you to leave, Harry internally told himself already starting to get nervous at the Snape watching him cook. He managed to gather his Gryffindor courage however, and forced a smile as he shook his head. "Nope, I think this should be it."

With that said he did his absolute best to pretend that Snape didn't even exist as he looked through the cookbook and scanned the needed recipes. Realizing that the breadsticks would take the longest, he combined the required ingredients to make the dough and set it to rise before starting on the meatballs. The sauce would need to simmer awhile to bring out the flavor, but the meatballs would take a bit longer because while they would need to sit to bring out the flavor, they would also need to cook.

Severus watched in silence as the boy moved around the kitchen as if he were completely at ease. He watched as Harry carefully measured out water, flour, yeast, butter, and salt for the breadsticks. He set no timer for the dough to rise, but otherwise Severus was actually impressed with Harry's attention and ability in the kitchen. He showed the same skill in creating the meatballs, and this time set a timer before turning to two empty frying pans.

After Harry set the meatballs to cook he turned his attention to the spaghetti sauce. As he put some butter in a frying pan to melt he cleaned off his cutting board that he had used for the breadstick dough and started to dice mushrooms, onions, and peppers. While he placed them in the butter to sauté he moved on to frying up the ground Italian sausage, cutting up some basil leaves, dicing a small clove of garlic and adding these all to the mushrooms, onions, and peppers before pouring over a large can of tomato sauce and setting the ingredients to simmer.

It was as Harry turned back to the dough to shape them into the breadsticks that Severus finally spoke up. "Harry, if you can do all of this, why can't you make a simple shrinking solution?"

Harry grit his teeth and began taking his frustration out on the dough as he ripped it apart to make the breadsticks. "I can't make a 'simple shrinking solution' because you hover like a black bat criticizing everything I do no matter how hard I try, and then I've also got Malfoy and his goons throwing things into my potion or swiping my ingredients so I can't do the steps properly."

Severus could see he was hitting a nerve with the boy in front of him and sighed. He wasn't trying to cause problems here. "Harry, you might be able to blame Malfoy for some of it, but Malfoy isn't responsible for the distracting conversation and note passing you do with Mr. Weasley. If you would treat potions like a cooking class and be just a bit more specific about concentration and timing, you would easily be able to create an A or E quality potion."

Severus was surprised to see Harry just shrug at this comment and couldn't help but frown. Did the boy really not care about his schooling at all? "It wouldn't matter," was the boy's only response as he set the breadsticks to rise once more and moved to stir the sauce.

"And what makes you say that?" Severus scowled trying hard to keep control of his temper. If the boy really didn't care about his schooling, they were going to have serious problems.

"You don't care," Harry stated simply as he checked on the meatballs before putting some water on to boil and beginning to clean his workstation up.

"What do you mean I don't care?" Severus snapped feeling his temper rise even more.

"It wouldn't matter if I did it all perfectly, you would still insult my work and mark it down for stupid things."

"What makes you think that?" Severus's temper was no longer rising as he began to realize he thought he knew where this was heading.

"Hermione's work is always perfect, and yet you do nothing but criticize her."

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose to refrain from giving a full on sigh. "Miss Granger is a bossy know-it-all show off that needs to be taken down a peg or two."

"Malfoy is an arrogant pompous bully that thinks he owns the world because he's the Malfoy heir," Harry snarled pounding his fist onto the countertop. "Yet you never do anything but praise his work. What about Neville? He isn't a show off. He sits quietly trying his best to do his work, and yet every chance you get you slander his sense of self-worth."

"Mr. Longbottom is a complete dunderhead that is scared of his own shadow and incapable of boiling water correctly. How that boy made it into Gryffindor without any sense of a backbone is a mystery I doubt I will ever figure out." Severus's own teeth were now clenched tightly as he thought about the Longbottom boy. The boy the dark lord could have chosen to target rather than going after Harry and ultimately causing him to kill his precious Lily.

"He has a backbone, he tried to stop Ron, Hermione, and I from leaving the tower to save the stone at the end of last year." Harry was glad he wasn't doing the Dursley's dishes right now because their glass cups would have shattered in the vice grip he had on the silverware in his hands right now. "He's just terrified of you because you live to torment him beyond belief. And what about the rest of the Gryffindor's? They aren't show offs, and they all work hard, but you have no praise for them. "

"Alright, we're going to back up there for a moment and go back to Mr. Longbottom," Severus stated holding up one long index finger. "While I am very preservative about giving out house points, I was in complete agreement with those ten points given to Mr. Longbottom at the end of last year." Severus watched the shock explode onto Harry's face as he spilled the box of spaghetti noodles all over the counter. "The three of you had absolutely no business even attempting to go after Quirrell."

"Nobody else was doing anything about it," Harry stated stubbornly.

"Don't even try to pull that Mr. Potter. You had been told several times that the stone was well protected and that you shouldn't have even known about it in the first place. Somehow the three of you found out about a heavily guarded secret that was on a forbidden floor hidden beneath a ferocious guard dog that nearly took my leg off and I'm a full grown adult."

"How does this lead back to your unfair treatment of the Gryffindors?" Harry asked desperately wanting to change the subject.

"It may not be under that same category Harry, but I'm bringing all of this up because I don't want you to be doing stuff like that anymore." When Harry only rolled his eyes in response, Severus reached out and clasped the boy's chin in his hands, forcing the child to look into his eyes. "I'm serious Harry. I may not have shown much care in the past, but I will now. I want you kept safe, and if you continue to run head first into things that don't concern you then you aren't being kept safe."

"I don't always..." Harry started but was cut off.

"Yes you do Harry," Severus declared firmly finally letting go of the boy's chin. "Last year you had no reason to go after that troll. I don't care what Miss Granger told Professor McGonagall, you should have told a prefect or teacher instead of going after Granger by yourselves. You also should have told a teacher about Hagrid's dragon." Severus ignored the look of shock on Harry's face at this statement and plowed on. "It was incredibly foolish of the three of you to get involved at all. Dragons are illegal because they are exceptionally difficult to keep secret from the muggles due to how dangerous they are. We've already breached the subject of Quirrell, but I will remind you that all three of you could have been killed, and for a moment there everyone thought that you had been."

"But Professor McGonagall wouldn't believe us, Professor Dumbledore was gone, and Hagrid let slip how to get past fluffy so we knew that he had told the guy in the pub and we had to protect the stone." Harry couldn't help but think that this was all incredibly unfair. First of all, it was all in the past, and second of all, they'd had to do something. Voldemort could have gotten ahold of the stone."

Severus took a deep breath in an attempt to squish the desire to strangle the half giant. Of course he was behind half of what Potter and his friends managed to pull off. Then there was the fact that of course the boy wouldn't think there was anything wrong with rushing into the danger because Dumbledore had rewarded him for it. That was no doubt why the child had thought it alright to take a flying car to Hogwarts, and then pull off this entire Polyjuice fiasco. Looking directly into Harry's eyes once more Severus tried again. "Harry, I understand that you think you had good reason for what you did, but I want you to try to understand why the adults have been upset by so many of your choices the past 16 months." At getting a small head nod from Harry, Severus continued. "I don't care what your reasons are for doing your foolish stunts. From now on, I want you to come to me or Professor McGonagall instead of rushing in to take care of it all on your own."

"it's not always that simple," Harry muttered stirring the noodles down into the water to cook fully.

"It IS that simple Harry," Severus countered. "You are 12 years old, and you need to understand that there are adults that care about you and want to keep you safe. We can't do that if you race headlong into danger without even letting anybody know. I understand that each time you have found yourself in those dangerous situations it is because you, and usually a friend, are going to be in trouble as soon as you go to an adult, but I can assure you that whatever you are doing at the time, you will be in a lot less trouble than you will be if you continue to race into dangerous situations that could get you or your friends hurt or killed. I don't want you to be withholding information from the adults that can actually help you like you have a tendency to do. Do you understand?"

"We tried to tell Hagrid, and even Professor McGonagall last year, but nobody would believe us!" Harry cried out feeling more and more frustrated.

"I commend you for trying to tell Professor McGonagall Harry, I really do." Severus was trying hard to keep his patience intact. "If you are having trouble getting our attention, try explaining the entire situation. I understand that Professor Dumbledore was out of your reach and Professor McGonagall wouldn't believe you and I'm sorry for your frustration at the time. However, after the things you three have already managed to pull, I'm pretty sure that she would be willing to listen just a little bit better now. You also now have me that you can come to." Severus watched Harry raise a skeptical eyebrow and sighed. "I understand that I'm not the most approachable person Harry, but we need to work on figuring this whole thing out. I will do my best to listen to you if you promise to come to me rather than rushing into something without thinking."

"Alright, I'll try," Harry muttered as he checked on the meatballs once more. "I still don't know what this has to do with you picking on all of the Gryffindors though."

Severus sighed. Of course the boy would go back to that topic. "Harry, it might surprise you to know that the majority of the second year Gryffindors are actually passing Potions." By the raised eyebrow, Severus could tell that the boy really was shocked to hear that. "I won't go into details, but if all of you would spend more time concentrating on your work and looking out for each other, and less time complaining and passing notes then we would have less accidents in the class and actually get quite a bit further. Miss Patil and Miss Brown work quite splendidly together, as to Mr. Thomas and Mr. Finnegan. I may not commend you all, but I DO notice such things."

"Why don't you let them know they are doing well then?" Harry asked feeling just a bit annoyed.

"Do you have some kind of heavy desire to see your classmates have a heart attack or something?"

"What do you mean?" Harry frowned at the question wondering why Snape thought his classmates would have a heart attack.

"How many of your friends do you think would manage to stay in their seats if I suddenly awarded Miss Brown 5 points to Gryffindor for managing to brew a halfway decent potion?" At this comment Harry couldn't help but smile because the Potions Master really did have a point.

"Well, they wouldn't all have a heart attack if you had treated them fairly from the start," he pointed out as he began dressing the breadsticks with a type of garlic spread.

"I have to keep my dungeon's bat image or it would create total pandemonium," Severus stated coolly, and Harry just shook his head.

"And you don't let us work in pairs. We each make our own potion," Harry objected.

"You each make your own potion so I can see how far you are progressing individually, but you ARE capable of keeping an eye on each other except during exams," Severus disputed.

"Ok, but that still doesn't fix the Malfoy problem," Harry muttered grudgingly. "I can't do a proper potion if he's behind me throwing stuff into my cauldron.

"Don't show your back to your enemies Harry," Severus answered simply. He wasn't about to start making everything simple for the boy. He had other lessons than his school ones to learn if he was going to take on the Dark Lord and his followers after all. "Look out for your friends, but also watch your own back."

"Got it," Harry murmured feeling annoyed the man didn't seem all that concerned that Malfoy was sabotaging his potions on purpose.

Severus sighed knowing that the boy was irritated by his response and lack of promised action. "You have to learn to watch your back Harry. Loads of people are going to try and get close to you, and you won't always be able to trust all of them. That's how your parents got killed." At Severus's words Harry dropped the bowl he was holding and spilled the rest of the garlic spread as the bowl smashed on the linoleum floor.

"What do you mean?" the dark haired child asked quietly completely focused on the Potions Master's face.

"Your parents put their trust in the wrong person and he turned on them," Severus was already wishing he hadn't shared this information; he wasn't ready to go off on a tangent about Black. Now that he had opened that box however, he decided to give the boy one more strong lesson. "I won't tell you who or how, but they were betrayed by someone that had been their best friend for many years." Harry looked absolutely dumbstruck, but Severus's cold demeanor kept him from feeling any sympathy. The Dark Lord wasn't gone, and if Albus's hunch was correct he was somehow tied to these current attacks. Harry was going to have to start learning now to watch out. It was just the plain and simple truth, no matter how much it hurt.

The rest of the evening at Prince Manor was a silent affair. Severus wasn't terribly surprised to find all of Harry's dishes tasted great since he had seen the care the boy had taken into creating them, but he still hoped that he would be able to push the boy into taking that kind of interest in his potions work. That class would do him a lot of good in the war that was sure to come sooner or later. It was true that you couldn't exactly fight with potions, but they were vital when dealing with the aftermath of battle and having a basic knowledge of Potion identities would be a must. Sure Granger would be able to help in that field, but what if there came a time when she wasn't around and Harry had to do it all alone? Severus was determined to get that boy as prepared as possible to face the Dark Lord.

Author's Note: Sorry it's a little late, things were kind of crazy on Saturday and I just spaced it. Thank you everyone for your support, and as for questions concerning Emily, she WILL come in eventually but not anytime soon. I'm not going to rush Severus into a relationship. Also, the only thing she has in common with Lily is the red hair, and that is just an attention grabber since Sev is the kind of guy that wouldn't look twice at a girl if she was standing naked in the center of the Great Hall without something to attract his attention.

Also, while it is currently true that my chapters are getting longer, don't expect that every time. I just kept getting bombarded with more material for this chapter the more I wrote. It was fun, but sadly it doesn't always happen. Hopefully I update quick enough to make up for it though.

~Lily