Two days later Snape, his belongings already packed and in the care of the house elves, rapped sharply on Draco Malfoy's door. He had better be ready or I'll skin him alive for making me late. He thought as he tapped his foot impatiently.

Draco looked up quickly from his summer homework. He was fast becoming tired of preparing for N.E.W.T.'s. He opened the door to the sound of the professor's tapping foot, after winding his way around the trunks full of his things that cluttered the floor.

"Tell me you're ready, Malfoy." Professor Snape articulated.

"I'm ready sir." Draco's voice held the barest hint of sarcasm.

"Good. Leave your things here for the house elves." Snape turned on his heel and walked outside.

Malfoy followed after waving his wand and whisking his homework into a trunk.

Once outside, Snape Accioed his broomstick. He had had no wish to carry it outside.

Draco sighed. Why is it that teachers never tell you everything you need to know? "Sir, I wasn't aware that I would be needing my broomstick."

Snape sighed loudly. "Foolish boy. How did you think we were getting home?"

"I hadn't thought about it sir." Draco looked a bit sheepish.

Snape growled. This will be a wonderful summer. Obviously his dripping sarcasm was not only limited to his voice. "Then do something about it." Snape tapped his foot impatiently again.

Draco hurriedly Accioed his broomstick.

"Finally." Snape mounted and kicked off hard. He loved this feeling; the wind rushing through his hair and robes. The feeling of freedom. He really did need to polish up his skills. Perhaps over the summer he could get away from Malfoy and have a fly. Not likely though. Snape never really cared whether or not Malfoy was behind him, but he turned his head to check anyway. Yes, the tagalong was indeed following close behind. Drat.

Draco rode a few feet behind and to the right of his teacher, staying completely silent until he saw the older man look back at him. "How much further is your house, Prof. Snape?" Draco shouted over the rush of the wind.

Snape didn't feel like shouting, so he pulled out his wand, gave it a flick and the words 'twenty minutes' flashed briefly in the sky. He wasn't worried about being seen, as he had muttered an invisibility spell over the two of them before taking off.

Draco scowled at Snape's back. Show off. After a quiet twenty minutes, they landed in front of a rather large, dilapidated house. It was hidden slightly from view by large trees that seemed to Draco great ones for climbing, though he had long grown out of that. The white paint on the sides was peeling and in dire need of some repair. Weeds and vines grew haphazardly on and around the two-story house while the black shutters seemed to hang on by a thread at odd angles. It contrasted drastically to Draco's parent's neat and tidy newly renovated mansion.

"Is this it?"

Snape rolled his eyes as he dismounted. "No Draco, this is an orphanage. I'm dropping you off here for the summer." Snape wandered over to the house and took out his key (which had the added bonus of briefly lifting the wards at the same time it unlocked the door). As Snape opened the front door, he thought, That isn't a half-bad idea, I only wish I could do it.

Draco stood still for a moment, shocked by the sudden, unexpected sarcasm. He'd heard that Snape could be humorous, but he'd never actually witnessed it. Shaking his head, he followed Snape into the house. As he walked up the front porch stairs, he wondered what his parents were doing. Probably something stupid. He didn't want to spend the summer with them... but he still wasn't sure whether or not it might have been better than a summer with a teacher. He looked up to see Snape looking at him.

"You can put your things in the guest room. It's down the hallway to the left." Snape got right to business. "The bathroom is opposite. I sleep upstairs and my study is downstairs. If you have any sense in you, you'll stay clear of both those areas."

So there wouldn't be servants to do things for him... To Draco, his parents were sounding infinitely better already. He picked up his bags and walked to the room Snape had indicated, without a word.

"And Malfoy..." Draco turned. Snape cleared his throat. "No friends. Of any sort." With that he briskly descended out of sight down the stairs to his study.

Don't get the wrong idea; Snape liked Draco, to a certain extent. As a student, though. Living with him for three months in close proximity was another thing altogether. Snape loved his privacy more than anything in the world and in one swift owl, it had been destroyed.

Draco watched Snape vanish with a sense of amusement... as if he'd want to have friends here... He didn't want anyone to even know where he spent his summer, much less see it. Besides, all his friends were either on exotic vacations or, in Pansy's case, a bit annoying. He didn't want to see her any more than he had to, part of the reason he had given in to coming here so easily.

Snape would probably never get his book written, what with worrying whether Draco was setting the house on fire or not. He always was a worrier. Snape sat down heavily in his chair and picked up his quill, desperately hoping that the ideas he had this morning hadn't already vanished into the air. Luckily they hadn't and his hand flowed swiftly from piece of parchment to piece of parchment.

Snape sat and wrote, the words coming easily to him and setting themselves eloquently down on the paper. He sat like this for what seemed a short time but was indeed a few hours.

……………

As Draco stepped into his new bedroom and set his things down with a sigh, he took a look around. Boring. A bed and a night stand, with a dresser in the corner and a desk by the window, which looked out over a dull view of shrubs blocking the sky from sight. Maybe he could convince Snape to get someone out to trim them. Sighing, he moved to unpack his things, pulling out his wand and making things zoom round the room as he thought about how much he wished there were servants to do this for him.

When he finished, Draco slipped off his shoes and lay down in the bed, which had non-descript gray trappings, and fell asleep. He was tired from the trip and couldn't see anything better to do.

…………….

It was only when Snape's stomach seemed to cry out in hunger that he wrapped up his fifth chapter and decided to get something to eat. No doubt Malfoy would also be hungry. After neatly stacking his dried papers in his desk drawer, and placing the wet ones on his desk, he climbed the stairs regretting that he had left eating for so long. He looked around for any signs of Draco but couldn't see him, so he headed to the kitchen wondering if it would soon be time to order some more food supplies. He stood in the middle of the kitchen and waved the cupboard doors, and refrigerator open so he could better see what was still edible and what was moldy with age.

………….

When he woke, Draco froze before remembering where he was. As his memory returned to him, his stomach growled, not giving him the liberty of deciding what to do next. He slipped his shoes back on and wandered down the hallway in search of a house elf, before realizing that there weren't any servants and resigning himself to finding food on his own. He found the kitchen fairly quickly, and saw that Snape had apparently had the same idea. "Is there anything to eat?"

Snape gave Malfoy a look that said 'look around and you'll see.'

"Oh..." Draco blinked. "So what are you going to do?"

Of course, Snape never really ate much and only had to buy food for one person, not two, so there really wasn't anything worth eating. Besides that, he hadn't done his yearly shopping trip yet, and the kitchen hadn't been stocked since last summer.

Snape rolled his eyes and pulled his wand out of his robes. "What do you want?" He asked in a bored, 'do I really have to do this' voice.

Draco had no idea how to live without servants, so he hoped Snape would be able to conjure up some food. But, despite his confusion, his voice retained its usual arrogance. "Hm... Some roast quail with a side of asparagus and bread pudding would be fine." He normally wouldn't have been so relaxed with Snape, but the man had been behaving a bit more humanely than usual today.

Snape glowered at Malfoy, not appreciating his insolence, and waved his wand. "There, enjoy." A plate of roast beef sandwiches and two glasses of milk appeared on the island. . Snape sat down and took a sandwich.

Draco expected Snape to say no, but he hadn't expected to be completely made a fool of. "What! This is... This is peasants' food!" Snape surely didn't expect him to eat this roast beef, which was no doubt marbled with fat, and besides, a sandwich? Malfoys did not eat sandwiches.

Snape's head jerked up from his food and stared at Draco as if he had just broken every rule in his classroom. "While you're here, you'll eat what I eat without complaint." He went back to his sandwich in disgust.

"Never mind..." That look was made to kill, and even Draco had to give in. He sat down gingerly and picked up one of the sandwiches. When he bit into it, he was surprised to find that it actually was decent, and had a special sauce that made it absolutely delicious. But, of course, he had no intention of admitting this to Snape.

Snape watched Draco scoff the sandwiches down one after the other. He could tell Draco was hungry but could also guess that his own special recipe had not gone unnoticed. It was a small token to Snape, who was not at all used to sharing things. In only a few minutes the plate was empty. "More?" Snape inquired after taking a sip of milk.

Draco didn't want to seem greedy, but he was still hungry, so he gave in. "I suppose."

Snape waved his hand and refilled the plate. He figured if they were going to live together, he may as well make the most of his company, as much as he loved being alone. "So where did your parents go?" He was always intrigued to hear what was going on in Voldemort's world. He was a "follower" but seemed to "work" best from a distance, not constantly in the spotlight like Lucius.

Draco picked up another sandwich and ate it a bit slower than he had the last few. He finished his first bite before replying, "Southern France somewhere. Toulon, I think." After another bite, he added, "The Dark Lord had work for them." Draco kept his reply as short as possible, but he felt as if he had to give Snape a little extra information.

Snape took a small sandwich and chewed on it thoughtfully. Obviously the boy wouldn't or couldn't spill what they were doing for him and he didn't want to seem too inquisitive by asking.

Draco felt rather sorry for the older man, whose lonely life would've driven the boy insane, though he didn't know much about it. They finished the meal in silence and Draco went back to his room to work on the obligatory letter to his mother.

Snape drank the last of his milk and went back to his study to write.

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A/N: Well, there you have it folks, the second chapter. Don't worry, the action will pick up soon, I promise. Hope you enjoyed and please please give us some reviews! J