Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or anything that came from it; it's all Rowling's.

A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed my last chapter! It made me feel all warm and fuzzy to hear that people liked it. Now…on with Chapter 2!

--------------

Manners, Chapter 2-

The calm demeanor of the potions professor had startled Harry. He barely heard when Snape had told him to take his trunk and owl inside. Once he did, however, he was at a complete loss. Snape was nowhere to be seen, and Harry didn't know what to do. The place was huge; he didn't know where to go. Knowing that it was his potions master's house didn't make him feel any better, either. He felt grateful that he had been rescued from going to the Dursley's, but he didn't think that this would be much better. What had Dumbledore been thinking when he sent Harry here?

He didn't have much time to ponder this, because a house elf had appeared next to him and was looking at him with its big gray eyes.

"Sir, Essi is here to show you your rooms, on master's orders." The small house elf said, rather shyly.

"Oh, okay then. Would it be okay if I just left my things here for now, and bring them up later? I'd like to just see where I'm going now."

"Hmm…master didn't say anything about leaving your things, he said to take both…"

"That's okay, I can take them, no worries." Harry didn't want to cause trouble, especially if Snape was around. The elf smiled at him and led Harry out of the room they had been standing in. Harry followed Essi through two more rooms, then up a set of stairs, leading to a hallway. Essi stopped at the last room on the hallway and turned to Harry.

"Master said that this would be your room, and you are not to leave it unless he calls you." And with that, Essi disappeared with a little 'pop!' leaving Harry alone once more. If I can't even leave my room, it'll probably be just like at the Dursley's, Harry thought. Of course, there wasn't any abuse, yet, but it was Snape he was going to be living with. He moved his things into the room, and was stunned to see what the inside looked like.

The room's walls were dark green, with ivy designs in yellow. There was a bed on one side of the room, it had a dark wood frame and the blankets and pillows on it were green, like the walls. It looked comfortable. He also noticed a bookcase with many books in it. He walked over to it and noticed that there were, of course, several potions books. There were also numerous books on other subjects as well.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Harry went to open it and found Essi waiting on the other side.

"Master wishes to see you, sir." Before Harry could say anything, the house elf started down the hallway. Harry hurried to follow her.

They found Snape in the library. He was reading a book, but Harry couldn't see what it was called. Snape hadn't noticed Harry and Essi come in, so Essi cleared her throat.

"Master, I have brought the boy, is there anything else you need?" She asked timidly.

"Thank you, Essi, that will be all." Snape put the book down as he dismissed Elli. Harry was rather nervous about being alone with Snape. He looked down at his shoes.

"Well, Potter, it seems as if you are temporarily stuck with me. I hope you do not expect me to pamper you as your family would. Speaking of your family, we are to check to see if something has happened to them that prevented their retrieving you at the station." Snape said with his normal contempt he saved for Harry. It was as if he had never acted kind towards Harry. His sudden mood alteration didn't surprise Harry, as he was used to this treatment.

"They probably just wanted to leave me at the station so they wouldn't have to take care of me." He mumbled. He knew very well the Dursleys didn't care for him. It was only reasonable that they would leave him at the station, thinking they had rid themselves of him.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, sir." For some reason, Harry didn't want Snape to know about the way his family treated him. "Can't we just stay here? I'll be quiet and I won't bother you at all."

Snape raised his eyebrow. "No, Potter, Professor Dumbledore gave me specific orders to check your house and see if something has happened. If your relatives are there, you will stay; if they are not, you come back with me. Understand?" Harry reluctantly nodded. He knew his family would be there. "Good. Leave your things here. If your relatives are home, I will bring your trunk and owl later. Now, let's go before it gets late." He walked out of the room and Harry realized he was supposed to follow. Snape brought them down to the front of his mansion before turning to Harry.

"We will be apparating to a few streets from your house. Just hold on to me until the apparation is over." Harry grabbed Snape tightly, for apparating wasn't a pleasant experience.

------------------

They arrived, as Snape had said, just a couple of streets away from Harry's house. When they reached the house, Harry noticed everything was in perfect shape. He knew right away the Dursleys were home, and wanted to just turn back. He and Snape walked to the front door, and Snape knocked loudly. They could hear feet shuffling, and then the door opened.

A large, neck-less man appeared. He opened the door with a fake smile plastered on his face, but as soon as he saw Harry, the smile turned into a look of repulsion.

"What are you doing here, boy? I thought it was clear enough that we don't want you here when we never showed up at the station. I don't see why you even bothered to-" Snape cleared his throat.

"You never even tried to pick him up?" He asked, his tone icily cold.

"Of course not. Why would I? He's a freak and doesn't deserve our hospitality. We were kind enough to even let him be on his own, after all-"

"Dad, who's at the door?" It was Dudley.

"No one, son, now go away."

"But I wanna see!" Dudley appeared with half of a cookie in his hand, happily chewing on the other part. When he saw Harry, he gasped, causing him to choke on the cookie. He seemed to have a hard time recovering himself, and when he did, he gave Harry a disturbingly calm look. "Dad! Harry put a spell on me to make me choke!" Harry knew what this meant, and tried to run. Harry's uncle grabbed his shirt rather quickly, considering his size. Snape was too shocked to do anything. He hadn't expected this at all. Before he could do anything, Snape saw Harry being dragged in by his uncle, and the door was shut in Snape's face. Then, Snape heard yelling, and then, something that sounded very close to a body being slapped, then kicked repeatedly. Snape had had enough. He opened the door with incredible force, making a dent in the wall where it had hit. Harry's uncle stopped as soon as he heard the door. Snape pulled out his wand and pointed it at the large man.

"You, stay away from that boy, if I ever hear that you have been anywhere near him, do not expect to live for long." There was a poisonous tone in his voice. Snape stepped forward, still aiming his wand at the man, who backed away, looking insulted.

"The boy had it coming, he made Dudley choke-"

"I will hear nothing of that sort. Potter did nothing to the boy," he turned to Harry, and said with a much softer voice, "Potter…dammit." He cursed himself for not realizing the damage done to Harry. There was a rather large red mark on his face, most likely from the slap Snape had heard, and his side seemed to be bleeding badly. He knelt down to pick Harry up, who looked as if he had passed out, and carried him out the door. Before he left the house, he turned around and looked at the portly man.

"So long as I can help it, you will never, ever, see this child again." And with that, apparated back to his mansion.

----------------

Back at his mansion, Snape gently placed Harry on his bed, and then went to retrieve the necessary potions to heal his wounds. When he returned, he carefully slipped Harry's shirt off, and gasped in horror at what he saw. Not only were there the wound he had gotten today, but also numerous scars from previous beatings. He quickly cleaned and medicated the most recent wound, and tucked Harry into bed. He stood up and looked closely at Harry, noticing for the first time that there really were differences between the boy laying on the bed in front of him and the boy who used to torment him in his childhood.

---------------

Hmm…well, I hope you liked this chapter. Not exactly where I wanted it to stop, but it'll do. Thanks to eyeinthesky for reminding me that they should check the Dursleys.

Until next time,

AllisonSlytherin