Many miles away, in a normal house, in a normal street, in a normal suburb, a very abnormal boy named Harry Potter awoke with a start. He lay motionless in his bed for a while, trying to calm his thoughts after a very … unusual dream. Unless he was very much mistaken, (and he sincerely hoped that he was), he had dreamed that Severus Snape, the cold, emotionless Potion's Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had actually been crying! Crying after a dream in which he was bullied by Harry's father and godfather, no less.

Harry quickly put the thought out of his mind. Much as he hated to admit it, he was starting to feel sorry for Snape, which was the last thing that he wanted to do. Snape was after all the reason why his beloved godfather, Sirius Black, had been murdered a week earlier, and under no circumstance was he going to forgive him, ever! Unconsciously, his mouth thinned and his eyes narrowed, before Harry came to his senses and got out of bed. Glancing at his alarm clock, he saw that it was almost six o'clock, which left him over an hour to do whatever he liked before the Dursleys woke up. He decided to go for a long walk, hoping that the fresh air would clear his head of all unpleasant thoughts, for a while at least.

Changing quickly into a pair of brand new jeans and a sweatshirt (bought especially for him by the Dursleys, after the 'subtle' threats that they had received), Harry jogged lightly down the stairs, avoiding the creaky one, and out on to the street.

The obsessively tidy street was bathed in the pale yellow light of the slowly rising sun, making Harry feel strangely at peace. It was hard to imagine anything being wrong with the world at that moment, and as Harry walked up the narrow street, a smile played on his face, the first one that had appeared since he said goodbye to his friends at King's Cross three days earlier.

All too soon, he had circled the neighbourhood, and found himself at the top of Privet Drive, and face to face with a quaking Dudley Dursley.

"D-Dad says y-you better get home r-r-real quick, 'cause there's one of y-your kind in the house." He hopped nervously from foot to foot, hoping desperately that Harry would run home and get rid of the freak that was currently sitting in their living room. After all, he wouldn't be allowed to watch cartoons until after their 'guest' had left.

"Alright Dudley, I'll be there soon," mumbled Harry, unwilling to let the fragile peace he had found be disturbed.

"No, Dad says you gotta come NOW!" exclaimed Dudley, and with that he grabbed Harry's shoulders with his troll-like arms and pulled him bodily down the street, ignoring Harry's protests.

They barreled in through the front door, Harry still resisting Dudley's heavy-handed tactics. He wasn't released until they were well inside the living room, Dudley clearly terrified that Harry would run off and they would be forced to put up with the wizard for even longer.

The second that he was released, Harry turned around and let out a barrage at Dudley.

"What the HELL were you playing at Dudley; you nearly dislocated my bloody arms!" He would have kept on going, but a small polite cough brought his attention to the Dursley's new leather lounge. Sitting quite comfortably on it, was Albus Dumbledore.

Harry was quite surprised at this. He had fully expected that Moody or Lupin had been sent to check on him, and make sure the Dursleys were behaving themselves, but the presence of Dumbledore immediately changed his mind.

"What's happened, Professor? Has something happened to the Weasleys or Hermione? Has…"

Professor Dumbledore held up his hand to stop Harry, the twinkle in his eye reassuring Harry that nothing serious has happened.

"Calm yourself, Mr. Potter, nothing has happened to any of your friends. We have, however, received some intelligence that worries me a great deal, that I think you ought to know about. Please take a seat." He gestured towards the armchair opposite him, and Harry slowly sat, relieved that Dumbledore had not come to give him bad news.

Glancing around the room, Harry noticed his aunt and uncle for the first time. They were sitting at either end of the other lounge, plainly scared out of their wits. Although, Harry mused, that might have been because Dudley was wedged in between them, and looked as though his rolls of fat were about to spill over and crush them.

Bringing his attention back to the venerable Headmaster, he looked him straight in the eye, and asked him quite calmly, "What was the information, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and placing his chin on his fingertips.

"I have recently received word from one of my … contacts … that Lord Voldemort has changed his plans concerning his wishes for your future."

Harry snorted. "Let me guess, he's decided to let ride off into the sunset on a white stallion, and spend the rest of my life in peace!"

"Not quite, Harry," replied Dumbledore, smiling softly. "Rather, he has decided that it would be best for him that you joined him, and became his second in command."

Whatever Harry had been expecting, it wasn't that. He almost fell off the overstuffed armchair in his surprise, and for several moments, sat gaping at Dumbledore, his mouth opening and shutting like a fish.

"Yes, I thought that would be your reaction," said Dumbledore, looking quite amused. "But, moving right along, we need to act fast to make sure that he doesn't manage to succeed."

"I am not going to join that murdering bastard!" yelled Harry, jumping out of his chair, quite incensed. "How could you think, for one second!"

"Relax, Harry!" interrupted Dumbledore. "I know that there is no way that you would join him of your own free will, I am merely trying to protect you from any ways that he may have devised to force you into it."

Harry sat back down again, ashamed of doubting the Headmaster, especially after what he had thought and felt last year. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Dumbledore beat him to it.

"I know what you are thinking Harry. We both know that you can quite easily beat the Imperious Curse, but I'm afraid that Voldemort has subtler, less detectable means at his disposal. There are certain potions that very slightly change your perception of the world, but enough that you see things the way that a Dark Wizard would. Or there are others that make you so paranoid that you believe that those who most care about you are trying to harm you, so that you turn to the dark side for protection against them. There are many more like that, most of them undetectable to everyone but those who know what to look for. You must understand my reason for caution, Harry. There is no way that I can risk you being taken by the Death Eaters."

Here Dumbledore paused, and looked straight into Harry's clear green eyes.

"That is why I believe it to be a good idea for you and the Dursleys to live permanently at Hogwarts."

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This is all I can get done tonight. I thought it would be a good idea to leave you with a cliffhanger. Hope you enjoy it!

Green Wasabi – I'll do my best to live up to your expectations. You'll have to wait for the pairings, but sorry, no slash, though I hope Harry and Snape will eventually become quite close.

Clynn – Thanks.

Lunablue – I agree with you. I'm so glad that Rowling gave us so much Snape, though I had hoped for lots more.

The Fallen Caryatid – I'll do my best. I don't picture Snape to be much of a drinker either, but after reliving memories like that, wouldn't you like a good stiff drink? I know that there have been times when I remembered when I was bullied and would have liked a strong drink to help me forget. Pity I'm underage!

Serpena – Don't worry, I won't go overboard. I don't particularly like stories that are all emotion. No offence meant to those who write them.

Thanks to all my reviewers, I'm really please with the number I got!