Harry was bored.
He'd explored the house, at least the parts that weren't too old and creepy to venture in to alone. He'd wait until Ron could come and explore those with him. He didn't dare ask Snape, the man probably thought he was a big wimp already.
Harry hadn't thought of things like running water and working toilets until he actually had to use one. When he'd found the bathroom fully functional, he gave a huge sigh of relief. Peeing in a bucket wasn't his idea of a good time.
Snape had been in the library, going over the ancient books and Harry had left him to it. But that was hours ago, and he was bored and hungry and was tired of the silence of the large house. At this point, he didn't even care if Snape yelled at him, at least it would be something.
Drumming his fingers along the oak tabletop, he sighed. Dobby had popped in once, but that, also, had been ages ago.
He came to a quick decision and stood, heading towards the library on the second floor. Snape would just have to suffer his presence. His eyes flickered to all the empty canvases on the walls, not seeing anyone in them. He had briefly contemplated trying to find them earlier on in the day. The prospect of meeting his family, even if only in picture form, was too enticing to pass up, but still he'd had to. If he had gone alone he would have gotten lost and that was another set of problems that he just had no intention of dealing with.
Entering the library, he headed towards the table at the center where Snape was seated amongst a pile of old, worn books.
"Anything interesting?" Harry asked, sitting on the edge of the table.
Snape looked up at him distractedly. "What?"
Harry tapped the book. "Anything interesting?"
"It's the history of the monarchy before it was overthrown. It's fascinating really."
"Oh?" Harry asked, trying not to sound too eager. At least he wasn't being thrown out on his ear. "Like what?"
Snape started going on about the first king, and this date and that date until Harry felt like his eyes were glazing over.
"Potter, are you even listening?"
Harry blinked. "Will you hex me if I say no?"
Snape rolled his eyes. "No sense of history."
"Sorry, I tried to pay attention, but history just never held any particular fascination for me."
"This is not just history, Potter, it's your history."
Harry gritted his teeth. "I know."
Snape sighed, shutting the book. "Was there something that you wanted, or were you so bored you decided to annoy me?"
There was a long silence as Harry looked everywhere but at Snape. "I wouldn't say I came to annoy you exactly..."
"Bored then. What time is it? I don't suppose you've checked the status of the plumbing, have you?"
"It exists," Harry told him. "And it works better than the Hogwarts plumbing does, nothing rattles."
"Well, I for one am hungry. Where are the kitchens?" Snape asked, pushing back from the table. "I assume you went exploring."
"A bit," Harry stated, "I didn't find the kitchen though."
Snape thought for a moment. "Typically, they were at the back end of the house."
"The 'back end'?"
"Yes, Potter. There is a front and a back to every home. The kitchens are usually at the back so the family didn't have to be bothered by servants coming and going."
Harry clapped his hands in front of him, and swung his legs back and forth. "And by back you mean...?"
Snape glared at him.
"I lived in a cupboard," Harry reminded him. "Under the stairs."
"Did your cupboard have a back and a front?" Snape asked.
"It depends on what you classify back and front."
Snape scowled and turned on his heel, going in search of the kitchen on his own.
Harry hopped off the table and trailed after Snape. They had been walking in silence, and Harry found his mind wandering, which in turn made him slow down in the dimly lit corridor, and almost made him lose track of Snape. He didn't fancy having to mill about the manor all evening so he jogged to catch up.
"Just how big do you suppose this place is?" he asked after a moment.
"Without finding the actual plans for the manor, I can't say. Who knows the extent to which charms were used, making the interior larger than the exterior."
"You could get lost in here," Harry murmured, not readily admitting he had no idea where Snape was leading them. He hadn't come down this hallway during his mini investigation.
"For all you know we are lost," Snape returned, halting momentarily at the end of corridor. "Left, I think."
"You think?" Harry gaped. "You can't think, you have to know!"
"You're one to talk," Snape snorted. "You've spent half your life doing things without thinking at all." He pushed through a door. "Hmm… should have gone right."
"I'm lost in my house with Snape. Joy," Harry said dully, letting Snape go past him and take the right he should have in the first place.
"It's not like you're lost in a forest full of dangerous creatures, Potter. It's just a house." He pushed through another door, and smiled when he saw not only a kitchen but also one that had brand new pots and pans hanging above a large chopping block.
"At least those creatures are expected and you can anticipate what they'll do," Harry groused. He stood in the center of the kitchen and folded his arms over his chest. "And you're an utter git."
Snape faced Harry, surprised. "What on earth did I do?"
"Lots of things," Harry replied vaguely, moving to sit down on a stool by the counters.
"Tell me, was it coming with you when you asked, or offering to cook a meal tonight?" Snape leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest.
Harry lowered his eyes, biting the inside of his cheek. He could tell a light blush was gracing his cheekbones and he wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or humiliation. "Neither, sir."
"Then please, enlighten me," Snape said, sneering.
Wincing, Harry answered, "I'm sorry."
"No, by all means, tell me what horrid things I have done to you today."
"You haven't done anything."
"Then we agree," Snape said, walking passed Harry and out of the kitchen.
Harry blinked in confusion. "On what?" he called after him.
"I'm going for a walk in the grounds," Snape replied, walking away.
"That wasn't an answer!" Harry hollered. He frowned and looked around the kitchen once more. Seeing the pot Snape had taken down he moved about the kitchen looking for something to make a good potato soup.
Snape wandered the maze of corridors until he found a door that led outside. The sun was low in the sky and he took in a great lungful of air and let it out slowly. This was never going to work. Even when he was being civil, Potter seemed to think he was a complete bastard.
He hadn't the slightest clue how to go about convincing Potter enough to accept their new roles, and they had to be accepted. There was no way around that. He cursed his ancestors for getting involved with bloody Potters until most of his anger was gone.
Snape considered his options and came to a very frightening conclusion. He was going to have to seduce Harry Potter.
He idly wondered if there was another Dark Lord he could swear loyalty too. That had to be easier than this.
As he entered the house once more the distinct scent of onions greeted him.
He found his way back to the kitchens, took a deep steadying breath, and stepped inside. "It smells good, what are you cooking?" he asked, keeping his voice as polite as he could make it.
Harry looked up and grinned from where he was hollowing out a piece of bread with a knife. "Potato soup. Can you help hollow out the other loaf of bread?" He jerked his head towards the counter where there was another loaf waiting. "I've only got a few more minutes before I need to add the cream."
Nodding, Snape took a knife from the counter top and went about hollowing out the loaf of bread. "Where did you learn to cook?" he asked, searching for something to talk about.
Harry shrugged. "I had to learn how to cook; otherwise I'd be locked up. But this," he wielded his knife in a small circle, "this I learned from a cooking show I got to watch once when the Dursleys went out."
Snape had to think for a moment. "Cooking show? Do you mean on the telly?"
"Yes." Harry grinned again, nodding. If Snape could be civil then so could he. It really wasn't much of a challenge when he wasn't constantly being insulted. "I also learned this great dessert when I was still there before all this happened."
"Tell me about the cupboard," Snape said, going through the cupboards in search of dishes.
"There's not much to tell. It was small, it was under the stairs, and it had spiders and me as residents."
"Surely you're exaggerating."
"It also had a nifty little lock on the outside meant to keep me in," Harry supplied.
Snape blinked. He wasn't joking.
"Was anyone aware of this? Albus? Minerva?"
"Who knows?" Harry stared down at his shelled out bread bowl. He had always wondered, but truthfully he'd been afraid to find out the answer. "Are the Hogwarts letters addressed magically or manually?"
"A bit of both. Why do you ask?"
"Because the first letter I ever got from anyone was from Hogwarts and it was addressed to me, in that cupboard under the stairs."
Snape frowned. Albus must have known. "I take it then, in his infinite wisdom, Albus believed you were safer under the blood protection of your relatives despite the less than ideal treatment. That man's idiocy is, at times, astounding, all things considered. For all intents and purposes the Dar - Voldemort was dead. At the time, there was no need for the protection they afforded."
Harry shrugged. "On the bright side I learned how to cook."
"And to cook well, it would seem," Snape answered as Harry stirred the cream into the pot. "Why could you not apply that same focus to potion making? The concepts are similar."
"Because food tastes good when done properly. Potions taste like horse piss and sometimes smell worse no matter how well you do them."
Snape snorted, oddly amused by the comment. "Yet they do come in handy, say for saving your miserable life, healing missing bones, allowing you to sleep without dreaming. Yes, very useless and not worth learning to do properly."
"Why learn when I have you around to save my mangy hide."
"Ah yes, my never-ending joy," Snape returned with an insincere smile.
"Oh, you love it," Harry teased, trying to bite down the irrational fear of being yelled at. This was Snape, of course he would yell, but it wasn't like this was the first time he'd teased the older man, and he doubted it'd be his last. However, it was certainly the first time he'd done so shortly after a fight.
"Yes, I would be utterly lost without the need to pull you out of every scrape you get yourself into." Snape went about making tea while Harry finished up with the soup.
"I really hope you like leeks and bacon for that matter," Harry commented as he sprinkled ground up bacon over the top of the soup.
"That's fine, just don't overdo the salt, it can completely ruin an otherwise good soup," Snape warned, looking over Harry's shoulder and into the pot.
Harry nodded as he sprinkled a bit of salt over it as well. "Did you finish your bread bowl?"
Severus picked up the scooped out loaf and Harry's as well, holding them both up to be filled.
Harry smiled as he ladled out the soup into the respective bowls.
Once filled, Snape took them to the table and set them down, then went to collect the tea and spoons. He waited for Harry to join him before tasting the soup.
Harry was looking at him with something akin to hope and fear.
Snape let it rest on his tongue, savoring the flavors. Then he swallowed and gave Harry a small smile. "Well done, Potter."
"Seriously? I mean!" Harry flushed and squeezed his eyes shut. "Thank you," he squeaked, taking a large bite of his food before he could say something even more mortifying.
"I take it the elves stocked up on enough food to last us through next winter," Snape said, his voice laced with sarcasm. "If you're going to take up permanent residence here after school you should look in to getting a house elf."
Harry swallowed his food thoughtfully. "As much as Hermione would hate me to say this, I think you're right."
"I'm sure Albus would let you have Dobby, at least then you can pay him a wage and Granger won't be throwing fits all over the place."
"She'll be throwing fits even if I do pay him," Harry mumbled into his soup.
"I'm surprised you didn't invite them to stay with you," Snape said, studying Harry across the table.
"Who?"
"Granger and Weasley."
Harry shrugged. "Didn't think of it."
"They've got to be better company than me," Snape added, frowning. "Which begs the question, why me?"
"Because you know more about this situation than they do."
Snape frowned. Considering Potter could have access to him without their living together, he was confused. "And you need me in residence for that?"
Harry bit his lip. "I feel safe."
"I see," Snape answered, frowning into his soup. That's twice Potter had claimed he felt safe with him, which was odd within itself.
"Do you?"
"No," Snape admitted, considering Harry.
Harry grinned. "Good."
"Good?" Snape asked, arching his brow in question. "Would you care to explain yourself?"
Harry continued to grin as he tore a piece of bread from the rim of the bowl. "You don't know everything."
An evil smile graced Snape's lips. "True, but as I am an accomplished Legilimens and you are a poor excuse for an Occlumens, you shouldn't rely on that."
"At least I know when you're in there."
"How do you plan on occupying your time until school starts?"
Harry popped another spoonful of soup into his mouth. "Have you seen the garden out the front?"
Snape's lip curled into a sneer. "If you can call it that."
"That's what I'm doing until school starts."
"I was thinking of setting aside a piece of ground to grow plants and herbs for potions. Would you have any objection?"
Harry shook his head. "No."
Snape idly wondered if Potter understood the ramifications of that. If he were to plant a herb garden, it meant he planned on being around to take care of said garden. "You have no desire to think about it first?"
"No," Harry replied, slowly looking up from his soup, "Should I?"
"It may be wise to do so."
Harry continued to stare at him blankly. "Why?"
"Because it's never good to agree to something without considering all of the angles. How do you know I won't be growing something illegal in your gardens? How do you know that what I plant won't interfere with what you wish to plant?"
"I just plan on removing all those damned weeds, to be honest," Harry told him with an uneasy shrug. "And why, of all the mean and spiteful things you could do to me while you're here, would you wish to sabotage my garden?"
Snape rolled his eyes and pushed back from the table. "You're hopeless."
"What?"
"You are too trusting."
Harry stood and made an aborted move to go around the table. "Is there a reason I shouldn't trust you?"
"Tell me the reasons that you should," Snape countered.
Harry opened and shut his mouth once. "Because—"
"If you're going to trust someone, Potter, you had better have a good reason for doing so."
"I just do, all right!"
"There is no need to shout. Thank you for dinner, it was very good," Snape said, deciding to change the subject before he said something insulting.
Harry's eyes widened and he sat down in his chair, hard. "You're welcome."
Snape attempted to smile, but he had a feeling it came out wrong, so he stopped bothering to try. "Would you like to explore the grounds before it is completely dark outside?"
"Yeah, why not?" Harry agreed, still reeling from the abrupt subject change. "I only got a little sense of those gardens earlier."
With a wave of his wand, Snape set the kitchen to cleaning itself. "I believe I might even remember the way."
"I'm sorry about earlier."
Snape waved Harry off, not wishing to speak of it. He led them unerringly to the same door he'd used earlier to go outside. The sun was just beginning to set, but there was still plenty of light to see by.
"I wonder how much land there is here," Harry murmured, looking out across a large field.
"Enough to build a number of small buildings and still have room to roam," Snape said, scanning the surrounding fields. "You could build your own Quidditch pitch if you so desired."
"Who'd play with me?" Harry asked, shading his eyes as he looked around. "You?"
Snape snorted. "I think not. There are enough Weasleys running about to make two teams, I'm sure."
"That's mean," Harry laughed. "There's only enough of them for one team and an extra player, and that's only if you convince Molly or Arthur onto a broom or if you can make Percy play nicely."
"You have to admit, it would be amusing to watch Molly play Quidditch," Snape replied. "She would make a good beater, particularly if one of her children were in danger of being hit by a Bludger."
Harry beamed at the thought. "She would indeed. I think she'd be just as good if any child was in danger."
"Have you ever seen her duel? The woman knows some truly painful hexes."
Harry looked at him curiously. "I haven't; does she really?"
"Quite, as the boils on my arse would attest. They wouldn't respond to any type of potion or counter spell," Snape said, cringing at the memory. "I couldn't sit for days, which is awkward when you're in front of students all day." He wasn't about to tell Harry why he had made Molly so angry. That was more embarrassing than the boils.
"I now understand where Ginny gets her talent from."
They had meandered to the small plot of land Snape was considering for his own garden. "If you have no objection, I'd like to plant my garden here. It would include some of the ground in the center of those trees, as it will be cooler there for some of the temperamental plants."
Harry nodded. "I honestly know nothing about gardening but the basics."
"If you'd like to learn more, I can help you plant your garden," Snape said, crouching and feeling the dirt, letting it run through his fingers.
Harry gazed back up towards the garden beds overrun with weeds and wildflowers. "I'll take you up on that, once I fix it up."
"That will give me time to mix up something to act as fertilizer. Good soil can make all the difference." He rose to his feet and looked at Harry. "Did you wish me to stay for the duration of the summer?"
Harry gazed up at him. "Only if you want to."
"That was not the question, Potter. Do you wish me to stay?" he asked again, frowning. He'd be staying regardless, but it wouldn't hurt for Potter to think it was his own idea.
Harry frowned, but nodded. "Yes."
"Then I'll need to convert some rooms into a makeshift lab. There seemed to be some rooms off the kitchen that would be suitable."
Harry's mouth dropped open. "So you're staying then?"
"Did we not just establish that?" Snape asked, amused.
"Well, yes… but no!"
"I will be staying, for the duration of the summer, at the manor, with you. Is that clear enough?" Snape asked, bemused.
Harry flushed. "Yes."
Snape nodded, and they made their way back to the house.