Chapter II: Off to Headquarters
"Pro..professor, what are you, why are you...you shouldn't be here." he ended miserably.
"Nonsense, Potter. I've been sent to fetch," he spat out the word "you and your things. Now, come along, let me into the house." Snape demanded. Harry, for all the world, wanted to be able to obey, but he knew the reaction his aunt and uncle would have to having a full grown wizard in the house.
At that moment, Uncle Vernon came barging up, ripping the door from Harry's hand and pulling it open all the way, "What is taking so long, boy?" He stopped short, noticing company on his doorstep, but recovered quickly. "Who is this person?
"Come in, come in, you mustn't mind my nephew, he's a bit of a problem. He's normally sent to St. Brutus's School for Incurably Criminal Boys, but I'm afraid they don't allow the little blighters to stay over the summer." At this comment, Snape raised and eyebrow and looked over to Harry.
"Petunia!" Vernon called, "we have company! Now," he said, rubbing his hands together and turning his attention fully to the guest standing in his living room, "What brings you to our home this morning?"
Snape raised one eyebrow before answering, "I have come to collect Mr. Potter and his things for the summer."
Harry tensed in anticipation to the reaction these words would bring from his uncle, but Uncle Vernon seemed to be in the middle of an apoplectic shock, turning more and violent shades of purple as the seconds ticked by. Snape seemed surprised by the reaction. After a few more seconds, Petunia came in, carrying a tray of tea and biscuits. Noticing her husband's state, she came over to him, touching his arm, "Vernon, Vernon! What's wrong, what is it?"
"These, this abomination, here in my house! Standing there, pleased as punch with himself, just standing there...freaks, the lot of them!" He finally sputtered to a stop. Petunia's eyes grew wide as she took in her two guests. Harry noticed Snape seemed to looking at Petunia with a rather odd look on his face. Finally, something clicked in Petunia's eyes and she started to shriek.
"Get out! Get out! I told my sister years ago--you and your kind are not welcome here!" she yelled at Snape. "Now get out. Leave my house immediately!"
Snape remained cool and collected, simply folding his hands together before calmly replying, "Mrs. Dursley, I assure you, I came only because I was requested to. I was sent to escort Potter back to Hogwarts. If he would be so good as to go and collect his things, we will be quickly on our way. I have no intention of interfering any further in your life." With this, he became quiet, his eyes looking intently at Harry's aunt. When Petunia failed to answer, Snape continued, quietly, "You've changed, Petunia." He then fell silent, a smile no longer playing on his features.
Snape put a hand to Harry's shoulder and said lowly, "Perhaps we ought see to your things, Potter." Harry gulped at the prospect of Snape seeing his bedroom, and threw a glance back to the hallway, where his Aunt and Uncle were standing still. Dudley, still frightened of all full-grown wizards, was hiding in the kitchen, behind the table. Harry quickly turned his attention back to the stairs, and the fact that his Potions Professor was following him to his room.
He swung the door open, thankful he had at least tidied a touch over the past few days, so that only two days worth of clothes and books adorned the floor. Snape snorted as he surveyed the room. "Is this everything?" Snape drawled, his lip curling. Harry steeled himself for a blistering comment on him cleanliness, but none came. Harry nodded.
Snape raised his wand and said clearly, "Pack!" using the same spell Tonks had the summer before. Unlike Tonks, however, this time everything went into the truck very neatly, all clothing folded, including the socks, all books stacked neatly, all his potions ingredients laid carefully on top, of course, Harry noticed with a slight snort. Last but not least, his firebolt fit on top. Hedwig's cage had been cleaned out the day before. Harry made one last dash to his hiding hole beneath the floorboards, where he pulled out some mementos of Sirius, his letters from friends, and his wand.
He noticed Snape looking at him curiously as Harry laid a pictured of Sirius, James, and Remus, all dressed in their Hogwarts robes, waving at him on the very top. The picture had originally been given to him by Hagrid, after his first year. Normally, Peter Pettigrew had been in the picture as well, but as of late, he no longer appeared. Harry felt his cheeks grow hot as he thought of Sirius; he was still undeservedly blaming Snape for his death. He thrust the letters in his left hand on top of the photograph and slammed the top down. Snape locked the trunk with magic and levitated it out into the hallway. As they approached the top of the stairs, Snape's arm stopped Harry, as they both caught sounds from the hallway below.
"They've got to go, Petunia." came the first voice.
"As soon as he gets his things, they'll be gone, Vernon." his aunt replied.
He glanced at Snape, whose eyes had begun to glitter dangerously, "Come, Potter," he said softly, guiding Harry by the arm down the stairs. When Harry stopped at the door, Snape exhaled irritably and motioned Harry to follow him outside. Harry turned towards the Dursleys, throwing a bewildered glance their way before following his professor.
Outside, Harry felt very ridiculous. Here he was, in broad daylight on Privet Drive, following his potions professor, who seemed very discomfited from the muggle clothes was wearing, carrying a bird cage in his left hand. Harry was struggling after him with his trunk. He looked back at 4 Privet Drive, where Aunt Petunia was glaring out from between the kitchen curtains. He started to giggle from the situation. Snape stopped and glared back at him.
"Come, Mr. Potter, I need to be getting you back." With this, he held out a small teacup. A portkey. Harry sighed, still not entirely trusting portkeys, after the Triwizard cup in his fourth year, which had transported both him and Cedric Diggory to the graveyard where Voldemort announced his return.
"One...two...three!" Snape counted off. Harry felt the familiar tug at his navel as they were transported. They arrived in the grassy square outside the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Harry caught himself before he stumbled; he was pleased to see Snape almost did not. He quickly repressed a smile and followed the briskly walking Snape to the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place.
Rather than ringing the doorbell or knocking, Snape simply put a hand to the old doorknob and pushed. The door opened silently and the two of them stepped inside quickly. Immediately, Harry felt tears well up inside him. He had not been here since Sirius had died. Freezing to the spot just inside the door, Harry tensed up, determined not to cry in front of Snape.
Snape, however, had different plans. He roughly pulled Harry's arm towards the kitchen, and pushed him into a chair. A few seconds later, a steaming cup of tea was set down in front of him. A second one was placed at a spot to his left. Harry kept his eyes closed, as he heard the scraping of a chair being pulled out and the sounds of Professor Snape settling himself in the chair beside him. Slowly, Harry opened his left eye, wary of what he might see.
There was no one else in the kitchen. He continued to move his eye around the kitchen until it was inevitable, to rest upon his Potions Master, who was sitting back in his chair, the mug of tea in his hands, staring at Harry intently. Harry gulped and looking down quickly, keeping his eyes on the swirling reflections of light on the surface of the liquid. They sat in silence for a minute or two, until Snape raised himself from the chair and began pacing the room, muttering irritably to himself. Finally, Harry heard the soft thud of someone coming down the stairs. A moment later, Nymphadora Tonks opened the door, her hair curly and purple, "Wotcher, Harry!" she smiled in his direction. Noticing Snape, she gave a slight inclination of her head, "Professor."
Snape nodded in acknowledgment. "Miss Tonks. Now that you are here, I shall take my leave. I will be back for the meeting this evening. Good day." With this he swept from the room, though the impression wasn't quite what it usually was, as he was still in his muggle clothes and had no great robes to billow out behind him.
Tonks, after Snape had left, grabbed the chair next to Harry, and turned it backwards before sitting down. "So, Harry how are things?"
Harry smiled a little, and was about to answer 'fine' when he was struck by the thought that Sirius had been Tonk's second cousin. Her eyes, though smiling, were not quite as bright as usual. This came rushing back to Harry in a brief moment, and he settled on "Okay."
Tonks squeezed his arm and gave him a reassuring smile. "I know, me too. I finally feel completely better. This is actually one of my first visits back to the house since... Hard, isn't it?" She looked right at him.
Harry felt a wave of sympathy towards Tonks. "Yeah, it is. I, I only just got here, Snape came and got me."
"Oh!" Tonks looked surprised, "That must have been awful. All that time alone with Snape? Urgh, I remember being frightened just being terrified during a detention I had with him in my sixth year after I spilled a potion in class. "
Harry smiled at the thought. By this time, the dregs were starting to cool.
Harry was about to ask Tonks more about her summer when Ron and Hermione, along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley cam bursting through the kitchen door. "Harry!" Ron and Hermione shouted in unison, both running at him. Hermione got to him first, enveloping him in a crushing hug. She stepped back and allowed Ron to step forward to give Harry a solid slap on the back, followed by a "Good to see you, mate!"
"Oh Harry! We've only just arrived home, we were at the Burrow all day, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley told us you were going to arrive today. I can't believe you're here already! How are you?" Hermione rattled off. Harry smiled. He knew Hermione was acting nervous; her letters all summer had been rather prattling, always avoiding the topic of Sirius, asking about everything possible except that. Harry didn't mind. He thought of Sirius enough on his own that it was nice to be distracted from it in her letters. Ron's had been much the same, mostly filled with looking forward to the upcoming Quidditch season--with the both of them on the team.
After Ron and Hermione had said their hellos, Molly and Arthur Weasley came over. Arthur Weasley patted him on the back, and gathered up his tea mug, carrying it over to the sink before putting the kettle on. Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into a tight hug, "Hello, dear," she said in his hair, rustling her hand around in it. Harry hugged her back, wanting to thank her yet again for all the comfort she had shown him since Sirius had disappeared behind the veil.
Then she joined her husband at the stove, bustling about to get some tea and biscuits ready for everyone. Ron and Hermione settled down in other chairs at the table, beside Harry and Tonks.
"So, Harry," said Hermione, "how did you get here?" Harry noticed she and Ron were sitting closer to each other than normal, but didn't comment on it. Instead he looked up brightly and said, "Snape brought me."
"Snape?!" Ron exclaimed, "Why did that greasy git come to get you? Why didn't Lupin or ANYBODY else come and get you?"
Harry shook his head, "I don't know. I would have thought Moody would think having only one wizard to escort me would be too big of a chance. But, while Snape was there, there was this weird moment where he seemed to know my Aunt Petunia. Then we took the portkey back here to headquarters."
Harry noticed the youngest Weasley missing from the group and asked, "Where's Ginny?"
"Fred and George invited her to stay with them for a short while this summer," Ron said, "at first, Mum and Dad were against it, but she won out- she's been there about three days, she has about three days left. Bet she's getting to try out all sorts of new stuff." Ron finished, sighing.
"Ron," Hermione said admonishingly, "the things the twins would've wanted you to try probably wouldn't have been worth it. You're far better off here at headquarters."
Personally Harry agreed with Hermione. But he smiled sympathetically with Ron, turning over in his head when they could possibly talk about Professor Snape and what had happened on Privet Drive, some time that they wouldn't want the adults to hear.
After a quick tea, the rest of the afternoon was spent helping Mrs. Weasley put away the things they'd brought back with them from the Burrow. It was mostly, Harry noticed, regular house-cleaning supplies and devices. About halfway through the afternoon, Harry noticed he hadn't seen Kreacher around yet. "Where's Kreacher?" he asked Hermione, who was in the middle of stowing blankets in a closet in a spare bedroom on the third floor.
"Oh, well, we're not quite sure. He technically isn't bound to the house anymore, because Sirius is d...well, because he doesn't have a master anymore, but he still shows up from time to time. Dumbledore has said not to talk about anything around him, and so far he doesn't seem to be bothering anyone. When he is here, he stays by Mrs. Black's portrait and waits for instructions from her."
"But where does he go?" Harry persisted. Having a house elf who knew about the Order just wandering about, with no master to control him didn't sound like a good idea to Harry.
"Well, we think the adults may have an idea, but we haven't heard anything. Ron thinks he's going back to Malfoy's, but I reckon there's someplace else." The last of this was muffled as she stuffed her head far inside the closet to make sure the blankets didn't fall out.
And so the afternoon continued. Harry didn't have a chance to talk about Professor Snape, as Mrs. Weasley or other adults came to check in on their progress in the different rooms throughout the afternoon. Finally, Mrs. Weasley called them all for dinner. Exhausted, Harry and Hermione pulled a snoozing Ron down the stairs after them to the kitchen. When they entered, Harry noticed most of the Order was already present.
"Pro..professor, what are you, why are you...you shouldn't be here." he ended miserably.
"Nonsense, Potter. I've been sent to fetch," he spat out the word "you and your things. Now, come along, let me into the house." Snape demanded. Harry, for all the world, wanted to be able to obey, but he knew the reaction his aunt and uncle would have to having a full grown wizard in the house.
At that moment, Uncle Vernon came barging up, ripping the door from Harry's hand and pulling it open all the way, "What is taking so long, boy?" He stopped short, noticing company on his doorstep, but recovered quickly. "Who is this person?
"Come in, come in, you mustn't mind my nephew, he's a bit of a problem. He's normally sent to St. Brutus's School for Incurably Criminal Boys, but I'm afraid they don't allow the little blighters to stay over the summer." At this comment, Snape raised and eyebrow and looked over to Harry.
"Petunia!" Vernon called, "we have company! Now," he said, rubbing his hands together and turning his attention fully to the guest standing in his living room, "What brings you to our home this morning?"
Snape raised one eyebrow before answering, "I have come to collect Mr. Potter and his things for the summer."
Harry tensed in anticipation to the reaction these words would bring from his uncle, but Uncle Vernon seemed to be in the middle of an apoplectic shock, turning more and violent shades of purple as the seconds ticked by. Snape seemed surprised by the reaction. After a few more seconds, Petunia came in, carrying a tray of tea and biscuits. Noticing her husband's state, she came over to him, touching his arm, "Vernon, Vernon! What's wrong, what is it?"
"These, this abomination, here in my house! Standing there, pleased as punch with himself, just standing there...freaks, the lot of them!" He finally sputtered to a stop. Petunia's eyes grew wide as she took in her two guests. Harry noticed Snape seemed to looking at Petunia with a rather odd look on his face. Finally, something clicked in Petunia's eyes and she started to shriek.
"Get out! Get out! I told my sister years ago--you and your kind are not welcome here!" she yelled at Snape. "Now get out. Leave my house immediately!"
Snape remained cool and collected, simply folding his hands together before calmly replying, "Mrs. Dursley, I assure you, I came only because I was requested to. I was sent to escort Potter back to Hogwarts. If he would be so good as to go and collect his things, we will be quickly on our way. I have no intention of interfering any further in your life." With this, he became quiet, his eyes looking intently at Harry's aunt. When Petunia failed to answer, Snape continued, quietly, "You've changed, Petunia." He then fell silent, a smile no longer playing on his features.
Snape put a hand to Harry's shoulder and said lowly, "Perhaps we ought see to your things, Potter." Harry gulped at the prospect of Snape seeing his bedroom, and threw a glance back to the hallway, where his Aunt and Uncle were standing still. Dudley, still frightened of all full-grown wizards, was hiding in the kitchen, behind the table. Harry quickly turned his attention back to the stairs, and the fact that his Potions Professor was following him to his room.
He swung the door open, thankful he had at least tidied a touch over the past few days, so that only two days worth of clothes and books adorned the floor. Snape snorted as he surveyed the room. "Is this everything?" Snape drawled, his lip curling. Harry steeled himself for a blistering comment on him cleanliness, but none came. Harry nodded.
Snape raised his wand and said clearly, "Pack!" using the same spell Tonks had the summer before. Unlike Tonks, however, this time everything went into the truck very neatly, all clothing folded, including the socks, all books stacked neatly, all his potions ingredients laid carefully on top, of course, Harry noticed with a slight snort. Last but not least, his firebolt fit on top. Hedwig's cage had been cleaned out the day before. Harry made one last dash to his hiding hole beneath the floorboards, where he pulled out some mementos of Sirius, his letters from friends, and his wand.
He noticed Snape looking at him curiously as Harry laid a pictured of Sirius, James, and Remus, all dressed in their Hogwarts robes, waving at him on the very top. The picture had originally been given to him by Hagrid, after his first year. Normally, Peter Pettigrew had been in the picture as well, but as of late, he no longer appeared. Harry felt his cheeks grow hot as he thought of Sirius; he was still undeservedly blaming Snape for his death. He thrust the letters in his left hand on top of the photograph and slammed the top down. Snape locked the trunk with magic and levitated it out into the hallway. As they approached the top of the stairs, Snape's arm stopped Harry, as they both caught sounds from the hallway below.
"They've got to go, Petunia." came the first voice.
"As soon as he gets his things, they'll be gone, Vernon." his aunt replied.
He glanced at Snape, whose eyes had begun to glitter dangerously, "Come, Potter," he said softly, guiding Harry by the arm down the stairs. When Harry stopped at the door, Snape exhaled irritably and motioned Harry to follow him outside. Harry turned towards the Dursleys, throwing a bewildered glance their way before following his professor.
Outside, Harry felt very ridiculous. Here he was, in broad daylight on Privet Drive, following his potions professor, who seemed very discomfited from the muggle clothes was wearing, carrying a bird cage in his left hand. Harry was struggling after him with his trunk. He looked back at 4 Privet Drive, where Aunt Petunia was glaring out from between the kitchen curtains. He started to giggle from the situation. Snape stopped and glared back at him.
"Come, Mr. Potter, I need to be getting you back." With this, he held out a small teacup. A portkey. Harry sighed, still not entirely trusting portkeys, after the Triwizard cup in his fourth year, which had transported both him and Cedric Diggory to the graveyard where Voldemort announced his return.
"One...two...three!" Snape counted off. Harry felt the familiar tug at his navel as they were transported. They arrived in the grassy square outside the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Harry caught himself before he stumbled; he was pleased to see Snape almost did not. He quickly repressed a smile and followed the briskly walking Snape to the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place.
Rather than ringing the doorbell or knocking, Snape simply put a hand to the old doorknob and pushed. The door opened silently and the two of them stepped inside quickly. Immediately, Harry felt tears well up inside him. He had not been here since Sirius had died. Freezing to the spot just inside the door, Harry tensed up, determined not to cry in front of Snape.
Snape, however, had different plans. He roughly pulled Harry's arm towards the kitchen, and pushed him into a chair. A few seconds later, a steaming cup of tea was set down in front of him. A second one was placed at a spot to his left. Harry kept his eyes closed, as he heard the scraping of a chair being pulled out and the sounds of Professor Snape settling himself in the chair beside him. Slowly, Harry opened his left eye, wary of what he might see.
There was no one else in the kitchen. He continued to move his eye around the kitchen until it was inevitable, to rest upon his Potions Master, who was sitting back in his chair, the mug of tea in his hands, staring at Harry intently. Harry gulped and looking down quickly, keeping his eyes on the swirling reflections of light on the surface of the liquid. They sat in silence for a minute or two, until Snape raised himself from the chair and began pacing the room, muttering irritably to himself. Finally, Harry heard the soft thud of someone coming down the stairs. A moment later, Nymphadora Tonks opened the door, her hair curly and purple, "Wotcher, Harry!" she smiled in his direction. Noticing Snape, she gave a slight inclination of her head, "Professor."
Snape nodded in acknowledgment. "Miss Tonks. Now that you are here, I shall take my leave. I will be back for the meeting this evening. Good day." With this he swept from the room, though the impression wasn't quite what it usually was, as he was still in his muggle clothes and had no great robes to billow out behind him.
Tonks, after Snape had left, grabbed the chair next to Harry, and turned it backwards before sitting down. "So, Harry how are things?"
Harry smiled a little, and was about to answer 'fine' when he was struck by the thought that Sirius had been Tonk's second cousin. Her eyes, though smiling, were not quite as bright as usual. This came rushing back to Harry in a brief moment, and he settled on "Okay."
Tonks squeezed his arm and gave him a reassuring smile. "I know, me too. I finally feel completely better. This is actually one of my first visits back to the house since... Hard, isn't it?" She looked right at him.
Harry felt a wave of sympathy towards Tonks. "Yeah, it is. I, I only just got here, Snape came and got me."
"Oh!" Tonks looked surprised, "That must have been awful. All that time alone with Snape? Urgh, I remember being frightened just being terrified during a detention I had with him in my sixth year after I spilled a potion in class. "
Harry smiled at the thought. By this time, the dregs were starting to cool.
Harry was about to ask Tonks more about her summer when Ron and Hermione, along with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley cam bursting through the kitchen door. "Harry!" Ron and Hermione shouted in unison, both running at him. Hermione got to him first, enveloping him in a crushing hug. She stepped back and allowed Ron to step forward to give Harry a solid slap on the back, followed by a "Good to see you, mate!"
"Oh Harry! We've only just arrived home, we were at the Burrow all day, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley told us you were going to arrive today. I can't believe you're here already! How are you?" Hermione rattled off. Harry smiled. He knew Hermione was acting nervous; her letters all summer had been rather prattling, always avoiding the topic of Sirius, asking about everything possible except that. Harry didn't mind. He thought of Sirius enough on his own that it was nice to be distracted from it in her letters. Ron's had been much the same, mostly filled with looking forward to the upcoming Quidditch season--with the both of them on the team.
After Ron and Hermione had said their hellos, Molly and Arthur Weasley came over. Arthur Weasley patted him on the back, and gathered up his tea mug, carrying it over to the sink before putting the kettle on. Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into a tight hug, "Hello, dear," she said in his hair, rustling her hand around in it. Harry hugged her back, wanting to thank her yet again for all the comfort she had shown him since Sirius had disappeared behind the veil.
Then she joined her husband at the stove, bustling about to get some tea and biscuits ready for everyone. Ron and Hermione settled down in other chairs at the table, beside Harry and Tonks.
"So, Harry," said Hermione, "how did you get here?" Harry noticed she and Ron were sitting closer to each other than normal, but didn't comment on it. Instead he looked up brightly and said, "Snape brought me."
"Snape?!" Ron exclaimed, "Why did that greasy git come to get you? Why didn't Lupin or ANYBODY else come and get you?"
Harry shook his head, "I don't know. I would have thought Moody would think having only one wizard to escort me would be too big of a chance. But, while Snape was there, there was this weird moment where he seemed to know my Aunt Petunia. Then we took the portkey back here to headquarters."
Harry noticed the youngest Weasley missing from the group and asked, "Where's Ginny?"
"Fred and George invited her to stay with them for a short while this summer," Ron said, "at first, Mum and Dad were against it, but she won out- she's been there about three days, she has about three days left. Bet she's getting to try out all sorts of new stuff." Ron finished, sighing.
"Ron," Hermione said admonishingly, "the things the twins would've wanted you to try probably wouldn't have been worth it. You're far better off here at headquarters."
Personally Harry agreed with Hermione. But he smiled sympathetically with Ron, turning over in his head when they could possibly talk about Professor Snape and what had happened on Privet Drive, some time that they wouldn't want the adults to hear.
After a quick tea, the rest of the afternoon was spent helping Mrs. Weasley put away the things they'd brought back with them from the Burrow. It was mostly, Harry noticed, regular house-cleaning supplies and devices. About halfway through the afternoon, Harry noticed he hadn't seen Kreacher around yet. "Where's Kreacher?" he asked Hermione, who was in the middle of stowing blankets in a closet in a spare bedroom on the third floor.
"Oh, well, we're not quite sure. He technically isn't bound to the house anymore, because Sirius is d...well, because he doesn't have a master anymore, but he still shows up from time to time. Dumbledore has said not to talk about anything around him, and so far he doesn't seem to be bothering anyone. When he is here, he stays by Mrs. Black's portrait and waits for instructions from her."
"But where does he go?" Harry persisted. Having a house elf who knew about the Order just wandering about, with no master to control him didn't sound like a good idea to Harry.
"Well, we think the adults may have an idea, but we haven't heard anything. Ron thinks he's going back to Malfoy's, but I reckon there's someplace else." The last of this was muffled as she stuffed her head far inside the closet to make sure the blankets didn't fall out.
And so the afternoon continued. Harry didn't have a chance to talk about Professor Snape, as Mrs. Weasley or other adults came to check in on their progress in the different rooms throughout the afternoon. Finally, Mrs. Weasley called them all for dinner. Exhausted, Harry and Hermione pulled a snoozing Ron down the stairs after them to the kitchen. When they entered, Harry noticed most of the Order was already present.