Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Potter Universe. It all belongs to the amazing J.K. Rowling, who, I might add, is a genius! I only like to force the characters to do things they would never do without the assistance of chemical substances!!!!

Pairing: Harry/Severus …. If this freaks you out, then PLEASE don't read any further, I don't really appreciate reviews telling me how sick I am, okay? P.S. Harry is underage, even in the U.K. okay? He's in his 5th year in this fic, but don't worry, it doesn't get really heavy for a while…maybe not ever, because I don't have much confidence in writing naughty scenes like that. -

Summary: Harry tries a blood magic potion to better understand his summer potions homework, but mixes up the name with another potion that binds the drinker to his or her most compatible match in ability(not necessarily romantic, for instance, siblings are often bonded). Guess who Harry gets bonded with?

Spoilers: All the books, especially the 4th one, so if you haven't read it, well, you'll find out what happens.

Author's Note: Yes, I know there are several fics out there just like this one, but I just wanted to write my own and maybe get a few nice reviews, so give me a break okay? And I've changed the rating to R for increased cursing in later chapters and naughty thoughts… and understand that a relationship between Harry and Severus will take a while to form. Kissing or any other actions probably won't happen for a while.

P.S. Harry is still being naïve, and hasn't admitted to himself that he likes Sev, and probably won't for awhile; he doesn't see this as a "date" but as a friendly outing…poor Sev ^-^

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Chapter 7: The Second Outing & Reactions

Harry awoke early the next morning, intent on eating breakfast and leaving for Hogsmeade before Sirius woke up. He had no doubt that Dumbledore was right; Sirius would know that he was bonded to Snape before lunch time.

After a rushed shower, Harry pulled on a new pair of jeans and a new, moss green shirt, then hurried to the Great Hall. Checking his watch, he saw that it was 7:30; Sirius wouldn't be up yet.

Snape was already seated, eating scrambled eggs. He obviously had been thinking along the same lines as Harry. Harry paused before entering, taking time to straighten his shirt and flatten his hair. He then strode purposefully in, sat in the chair across from Snape, and immediately reached for the toast and syrup.

Snape watched with scrutinizing eyes as Harry turned the syrup pitcher nearly upside down, and his lip curled when Harry made an approving sound.

"I'd hardly call that a nutritious breakfast, Potter," he said, sneering.

"I eat this every day," Harry said defensively, concentrating on picking up the toast without spilling the syrup.

"Hmmm. No wonder you're so skinny." Snape said loftily, sipping tea.

Harry frowned, but was suddenly distracted by a whole appearing in the middle of the toast from all the syrup. Harry made a distressed sound, before holding the toast over his mouth and catching the syrup. He put the toast down when he was done, and licked his fingers.

"Disgusting."

Harry rolled his eyes and continued to eat. Soon he had finished, and drank his orange juice in one gulp. Snape was still eating his eggs.

"You're finished?" An eyebrow rose skeptically.

"Yeah."

Snape's eyebrows rose even higher. "Eat something else, you'll get hungry."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I don't want anything else. I'm finished."

"Well, don't complain later." Snape snapped. "I'm not going to stop for you if you get hungry."

Harry glared. Grouch. Thinking logically, it probably would have been wise to eat more, but then, that would give Snape the satisfaction of being right…Harry didn't think he could stand that smug look on his teacher's face. He sat back in his chair, and waited for Snape to finish defiantly. Snape seemed to take longer than was necessary to chew.

Harry crossed his arms and legs impatiently. "Do you want Sirius to find you?"

Snape ate slightly faster after that.

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Twenty minutes later found Harry and Snape walking down the main street in Hogsmeade. As they walked, Harry observed a surly looking man dressed in all black robes and a hat, hunching over next to an alley. A disturbing thought suddenly occurred to Harry.

"Professor? Should we be here if Remus and Sirius were attacked yesterday?"

"Last night," Snape corrected. "People shop during the day; no one will attack us in front of people," Snape said curtly. Harry nodded, but couldn't help but glance back at the black-robed man. He was watching them. Harry walked a little faster to keep up with Snape's long strides. He still didn't feel right.

"But, if they were Death Eaters, would they care if it was night or not?"

Snape let out an annoyed sigh. "Leave it, Potter."

"But-"

Snape stopped and looked down at Harry. "I suppose if I don't give my honest opinion, you'll continue to prattle on about nothing?" Snape sneered. Harry gulped, but nodded.

"Honestly Potter, I do not think your godfather and Lupin were attacked by Death Eaters. There are plenty of wizards who are scoundrels and such and not every criminal on the street is an evil wizard. I'm not a nice person, but I'm not an evil wizard."

Harry looked to the side so that Snape couldn't see his eyes roll.

"I saw that." Snape started walking again and Harry had to run to catch up. He hoped Snape wasn't mad. That was all he needed; Snape to be mad while they shopped. Shopping with Snape was bad enough without the man being cranky.

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Severus grumbled to himself. The simple action of rolling one's eyes was stinging. He wasn't an evil wizard. He had just made some really bad choices in his youth; that was all. Severus growled when he heard Potter rush to catch up, and resisted the urge to trip him. The boy was like a goddamned shadow. Worse than a shadow; a soul mate. God it was degrading. The worst part was that soon, they would be bonded; Albus would make sure of that. Then, he would be stuck with the brat for the rest. Of. His. Life. The rest of his life! No matter what, he was now trapped in a life with the son of a man that he had despised. Potter was no different from his father. No different. Just a waste of magic, too wrapped up in his fame and quidditch –

"Um, Professor?"

"What?" Severus snapped, angry that his rant was interrupted.

Potter shuffled his feet. "We passed the store."

Snape growled, then turned around and retraced his steps back to the apothecary. Damn the boy. God, damn it all!

Severus stalked into the store, shutting the door behind him. He heard the boy open it and follow him. Curses. Hopefully, he would lose him amongst the barrels of frog's eyes and hanging bunches of knotgrass, then he could sneak off and leave him there…

"Professor?"

"What now, Potter?"

"Erm, the lady wanted to know what you wanted…"

Severus turned to see a tiny old witch with huge protective goggles on, looking at him expectantly. She must have been new; Snape had never seen her before.

"Excuse me. I can find every thing for myself, thank you." The witch narrowed her eyes doubtfully, but walked away.

Snape gave her retreating form a sneer, then turned and swept down an aisle marked "dried plants". Potter followed him like a lost puppy, practically treading on the back of his robes.

"Potter, look for dried moon flower, and make sure it was picked on the new moon." Anything to get the boy away.

"How will I know if it was picked on the new moon?"

Severus sighed. "The tip of the root will be white."

Potter wrinkled his nose at his condescending tone, but turned and walked down the aisle in search of moon flower.

"How much do you want?"

Blast! The boy had found it already?

"Twenty stalks," he said resentfully. Severus quickly turned into another aisle in search of freshly picked Wolfsbane, a dark green plant with sharp, purple edges. Where the hell was it? They had moved things around since the last time he'd been here. The apothecary in Diagon Alley was much better than this one, even if it was more expensive.

"Professor?"

God! Severus took several deep breathes before turning to face the brat.

"What NOW, Potter?"

The boy leaned back. "I – er, found the Wolfsbane."

Severus' eyes widened. Potter was holding twenty stalks of moonflower and five bunches of the raggedy weed.

"How did you know how many to get?" he asked, reaching for the plants.

"I looked up all the ingredients last night. You only need one stalk of moonflower to make a serving of the potion, and you only need one stalk of Wolfsbane, and there are four stalks in each bunch, so…I figured you'd need five if you need twenty servings…" Potter said quietly.

Severus raised an eyebrow. Even though he would never admit it, he was impressed that the boy had taken the initiative to research the potion.

"Hmmm."

Potter smiled and shook his head. Now that was worrisome. Severus turned on his heel and swept off in search of werewolf's milk.

A half an hour later, Severus was waking out of the apothecary with his purchases, Potter at his side. He had given the boy the gallon of werewolf's milk in hopes that the boy would get tired and complain from the weight, but so far, Potter had not. He seemed determined to not bother Severus. This was very discouraging.

"Oh. It's him again." Severus was jerked out of his thoughts by Potter's worried voice. He looked down to see the boy looking to the right with a wary look on his face. Severus looked up. There was a man watching them. Or rather, a man watching Potter.

"Again?" Severus asked.

Potter was looking straight ahead, trying to ignore the staring man. "He was watching us before…. He looks…like he could be dangerous."

Severus snorted. "He's probably just recognizing you."

"Oh." The boy sounded as though he hadn't thought of that. "Right," He didn't sound convinced.

Severus looked over at the man. They were passing him now. He was dressed completely in black, but then, so was Severus, so that wasn't saying much. His face was very ruddy, and his hair un-kept. He looked like a drunk. Severus' eyes narrowed. He didn't like the way the man was looking at Harry – Potter. It was a hungry, lustful look.

"Walk faster." Severus muttered. The boy did so without hesitation. Potter didn't need that sort of attention. Severus gave the man a glare worthy of the fires of hell, and walked behind Potter protectively.

Shortly after, Severus and Harry were walking through the main entrance of Hogwarts. It was a little after lunch, and they were both hungry, but neither was willing to brave the Great Hall. Severus cleared his throat. He was about to cross a line that, once crossed, he would never be able to go back.

"Potter. Would you like to join me in my office?" The boy's eyes widened in surprise. "It's just that, I don't want Black to find us any sooner than he must and – we need to put the, ah – the ingredients away." Right the ingredients, yes that was it.

Potter looked hesitant. His eyebrows drew together in thought. Finally, "Okay."

Inwardly, Severus sighed with relief. He didn't know what he would have done if Potter had said no. He would have looked like a fool for asking, and if Black had been eating in the Great Hall…. Severus and Potter walked quickly down the stairs.

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Harry was surprised that Snape had asked him to his office. He had been there twice before, and both times he had been in serious trouble. Harry hoped this experience would be better than the last. Snape muttered a spell that unlocked the door, then ushered Harry in and shut the door quickly, locking it. Harry wondered why he didn't feel awkward. He supposed it had something to do with Snape being his soul mate… and after shopping twice with Snape, and driving with him, Snape seemed…more human, more approachable. He wasn't scared of him anymore.

"Put that jug in the back room, Potter. It's unlocked."

Harry carried the jug of werewolf's milk over to a big, grey door. He pushed it open, and stepped inside. The door closed behind him.

The room was as large as Snape's office, and freezing. It was obviously a magically chilled room that took the place of a muggle refrigerator. There were millions of jars and containers lining the walls. Harry found an empty space near the door and set down the jug, rubbing his hands together to get feeling back into them. He took one last look around the room, before turning and pushing the door open again.

When he reentered the room, there was a pitcher of iced pumpkin juice, two tumblers, and a large plate with chicken sandwiches. Snape was already eating a shepherd's pie.

"I didn't know what you wanted; this is what the house elves sent up."

"That's fine." Harry sat down and reached for a sandwich. Snape didn't say anything for a while. The silence wasn't awkward. It was – not exactly comfortable, but not bad.

"So," Snape suddenly said. "That man – I'm sure you know that many famous people have stalkers, Potter."

Harry gaped and dropped his sandwich. "He's a stalker?"

"Well, no." Snape paused to think about how to phrase his idea. "But many people get rather – unfriendly, if they see someone famous. Especially if the person is younger, or physically weaker than them."

"What, they get jealous?"

"No, not necessarily," Snape said.

Harry didn't really understand.

Snape suddenly smirked. "In a way, the Dark Lord is like that with you. An amusing thought, to say the least."

Harry smiled dryly. It was kind of ironic. Voldemort was obsessed with him, in an odd way.

"I suppose a better way to put it would be, they want to be you, or they want to physically establish their domination of you. In other words, kill you like Voldemort, or hurt you, like that man."

"You think he wanted to hurt me?" Harry gasped.

"I don't know, but he wanted to do something to you." Snape muttered. He looked slightly disturbed over something. Harry couldn't figure it out.

BANG. Someone was knocking on the door.

"SNAPE!"

Snape and Harry stared at the door, looks of identical horror on their faces.

"OPEN UP! IS HARRY WITH YOU? I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, YOU –"

"Sirius! Please, control yourself!" McGonagall's stern voice floated trough the door.

"Severus," That was Dumbledore's voice. "Could you and Harry join us in my office? I believe a little chat is in order." There was an amused tone in the Headmaster's voice.

"DAMN RIGHT A LITTLE CHAT IS IN ORDER! DID YOU HEAR THAT, YOU SLIMY GIT?"

"I heard you, Black!" Snape roared back through the door. "Come, Potter." Harry stood up shakily. The last time Sirius was this angry was when he had been itching to kill Pettigrew. Harry hoped he wasn't about to kill Snape. Not that he liked being soul mates with Snape or anything, but he wasn't that bad.

Snape opened the door cautiously. Harry saw Dumbledore and McGonagall waiting for them, McGonagall looking serious and Dumbledore looking pleased. Remus was restraining a seething Sirius.

"Harry!" he shouted. He wrenched his arms free from Sirius and pulled Harry to him. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"

"No!" Harry pulled away and stumbled back to Snape. Sirius was being ridiculous!

"Even though you refuse to believe it, Black, I am not a killer." Snape snarled. "You on the other hand –"

"That is enough!" Dumbledore had finally stepped in. "Now, as I said before, may we please continue this in my office. Sirius, you deserve the whole story. If you would like to hear it, come to my office. Without past grudges."

Sirius continued to glare. "Fine. For Harry's sake." He put a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry shrugged it off. Sirius looked at him, surprised, and shocked when Harry took a step towards Snape. Snape smirked. Sirius growled, but stopped when Remus put a hand on his arm.

"You'd think it'd be the werewolf who would be hard to control." Snape said snidely. Harry glared at him. Snape noticed his look, sneered at them all, then followed Dumbledore and McGonagall up the stairs. Harry followed behind him, and Sirius and Remus brought up the rear.

When they reached the office, Dumbledore sat behind his desk and conjured five chairs. Harry sank into a chair, and Snape slouched in his and rubbed his temples. Sirius, however, remained standing.

"Now will someone please explain what is going on here?" He looked like he was on the brink of a cliff, and once he fell off, he would explode.

"Harry? Perhaps you should be the one to tell him." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Yes, do tell, since you're the cause of this mess." Snape sneered.

Harry frowned. That hurt. He and Snape had been getting along okay! He was back to the old Snape again. Harry looked cautiously at Sirius, who was looking uneasy. Harry looked at his lap and began to tell him what happened.

"Well, for our potions homework, we had to research potions with human blood as the main ingredient, and research the properties of human blood. We could get extra credit if we conducted an experiment that involved blood, so I did, but I didn't realize what potion I was making," he said all this very fast.

Sirius sank into his chair. "What do you mean you didn't know what potion you were making?" his voice was of a quiet, desperate tone.

Harry swallowed. This was the part he was dreading. "The recipe was, er, entirely in Latin. The potion was called Comperio Animus, so I thought it had to do with animals –"

"Oh my God." Sirius held his face in his hand.

"I'm sorry." Harry finished.

"Oh my God!" Sirius leapt from his chair. "Harry, do you realize how stupid that was? I thought you knew better than that! You made a potion that you didn't know anything about? For fuck's sake Harry!" Harry shrank back in his chair. Sirius was shouting now.

"Harry, that was – that was the most irresponsible thing you have ever done, and you've done a lot of things! I can't believe this!"

Harry shifted in his chair, tuning out Sirius' words. This was worse than anything Snape had ever said about the potion. Sirius was the closest thing he had to a real father, and he was calling him stupid. It hurt a lot.

"I think that's enough, Sirius." Dumbledore said quietly. Sirius stopped shouting. "Harry has heard this speech from Severus already, and I'm sure he has told himself this many times. What is needed from you, Sirius, is calm understanding, someone that Harry can depend on if things get hard to handle." Sirius looked ashamed and looked over at Harry, whose head was bent, staring at the floor. Sirius walked over and knelt down next to his chair. Harry looked up. His eyes were wet.

"Harry, I'm sorry." Sirius whispered. "I shouldn't have said those things."

"No." Harry said roughly. "You're right, I was stupid."

Snape leaned closer to them trying to hear what was being said.

"Look Harry, I don't like this one bit, and I don't understand how that potion paired you with Snape. You two are far from soul mates. I still think there was a mistake. Remus and I will do everything we can to fix this okay?" Harry nodded, although he doubted they would find anything. "Good. Come here," Sirius held out his arms, and Harry hugged him tightly.

Across the room, Snape scowled and looked away.

TBC

So did you like? Poor Sev at the end, I just want to comfort him! Sometimes, I REALLY get fed up with FF.net. They wouldn't let me update, I'm so sorry! Something about Microsoft XP not working….screw them. For future notice, a new chapter will come out every SUNDAY, April 13th this time (HOPEFULLY). Some times I may have it up sooner if school will allow, but most likely not, they're really piling it on lately. Hope you liked the peak into Sev's head! Anyway, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Harry hasn't had any romantic thoughts about Sev, and Severus hasn't had any romantic thoughts about Harry yet, but there were little clues throughout this chapter that show that it could happen soon. Everything, including the invitation to Snape's office, were considered innocent in their minds (So far... *evil grin*).