There's some addition to the previous chapter which you might want to read, otherwise this would seem a little abrupt.
Thanks for reviewing and brightening up my day =) SafireMoon, ER, Ginny Lorina Fireseerer, noraseyes, npetrenko, Layce74, Solo, potterlover2004, dass, Laura, BF110C4, K, shortnsassy, frizzy, Cat15, Alena, Different, henriette, avid_reader, Iniysa, Phoenix1210, hazzagriff
Mella deRanged it's quite hard to make him cold and sarcastic and still act like Lily's brother. They are half- siblings. Harry will be a natural; all that reading must count for something. hehz.
daxed, tati1 read reply to Mella deRanged.
Rachel A. Prongs much closer and friendlier is because they kind of need/ want a close siblings relationship. Because Lily and Petunia doesn't exactly get along and Sev always seems like a loner.
Potter Reader yes. I think harry would become more matured after living in the orphanage and learning to protect himself from beatings/ bullies etc. I suppose you can say the hardships make him grow up faster.
Fox890 bingo on the Snape/Lily relationship. I'm working on Dan, was thinking along the same lines. Still debating the house issue though. Thanks for the lovely long review. About my exams, two words: I died.
Logan interesting suggestion, I'll try.
Myrradin glad I could provide a respite from studying. Good luck for exams.
Lita of Jupiter it was a friendly game. There's nothing much for him to be assertive about. Not currently, perhaps at Hogwarts.
Kira-Leigh I didn't plan for him to meet any of them until he goes to school
Alex it's not long and boring, but I'm not going to answer your questions yet; don't want to spoil the story. ;)
Chapter 10
Mindy said that he was working in the potions workroom, and had been there since dawn. He usually does not like to be disturbed while working, but Harry wanted to ask before he changed his mind again. Plus who knows when his uncle will come out. The house-elf revealed that 'Master' has been known to stay inside for days on ends while working on some new potion.
So Harry stood outside the door to the potions workroom, shuffling his feet and worrying at his lower lip. He wondered if he should knock; it's only polite after all. Rising his hand, he rapped the door twice.
"Go away! I'll eat later."
Well, he sounds a little disgruntled, but not too angry. Harry pushed the door open and slipped into the darkened room. How does one work in this place when you can barely see anything? he wondered, eyes taking a few moments to adjust.
"Insistent as usual, Mindy. Very well, leave the tray over there. I'll eat when I'm hungry."
It was past dinner- time. Perhaps Mindy does this frequently, though she would probably just leave the food and disappear silently.
"I'm not Mindy, sir."
"Harry? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to-"
"Never mind, just don't move."
"What-" his hand caught something, and sounds of glass breaking rang out a second later.
"I told you to stay still!"
There were more mutterings, which Harry could not catch, but he gathered his uncle was irritated.
"Lumos!" The room lit up suddenly, and Harry had to blink a few times at the transition from one extreme to the other.
"Reparo!" The glass shards on the floor pieced together to form several containers, rather like the test tubes he had seen in some science textbook.
"Luckily it's just some empty vials. Well, what do you want?" Severus glared at him in annoyance.
"It's ok, I'll come back later," said Harry, slowing inching towards the door.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake! You've already spoiled the potion, so no point coming back later, unless you're planning to spoil it again. Now, what do you want?"
He should have known this was a bad idea.
"I want to write to a friend, but he's a Muggle, and I don't know how much I should tell him."
"Do you absolutely have to write to him?"
"Yes."
Severus studied Harry for a while, and turned serious at the determined expression on his face that was so reminiscent of Lily in her moments of stubbornness. It would be less trouble if Harry had just answered no, then he would not have to hint at the complexities of human nature, or teach him skills to surviving life. It is a delicate matter, teaching a child how to lie. The lessons he learnt from this may be morally wrong, but if it can save his life, then so be it.
"If he's trustworthy and would not betray you, you may tell him about magic and being a wizard," Severus started slowly, his words careful and precise. "If you're not sure how he would react, it's best not to say anything about it. Decide how much you can tell him and try to stick to the truth, but avoid giving names in case the letter is intercepted. No one must know where Harry Potter is staying, and with whom. It is not only a danger to you, but also to your friend." His tone softened slightly but his eyes were no less intense as he asked finally, "Do you understand what I am saying?"
Harry looked thoughtful, his brows knitted together as he processed what his uncle said. "I understand. Thank you. I'm sorry for spoiling your potion."
"The potion is still at its experimental stage."
Harry supposed it was his way of saying 'it might have failed anyway'. "At least you can take a break now." Harry gave him a small smile.
"Yes, I would have died in here if you hadn't come to rescue me," he said dryly.
Harry laughed softly, and asked, "Do you always work in the dark?"
"Of course. I see better when there's no light." Severus opened the door and nudged Harry outside with a hand on his shoulder.
Harry considered him for a while then asked curiously, "Are you always like this?"
"Like what?"
"Like so sarcastic."
"Sometimes. Other times I'm just plain mean." His lips curled upwards in a smile which seemed to mock himself.
Harry gazed at him silently, wondering if he was serious, or bitter. Wondering what made him this way.
"If you really must know, the potion requires ingredients which cannot be exposed to light."
Harry had a feeling that Uncle was trying to distract him from thinking too much about him, but it worked anyway as his natural curiosity always prompted the one word response to something he did not understand fully. "Why?"
"You won't understand now. Ask me again if you're still interested after you've studied the basics for making potions."
"You can teach me now," Harry said persistently.
And that started a long lecture on the properties and effects of ingredients in various potions, with other ingredients, at different states and sizes et cetera. Harry simply soaked up all these like a sponge, asking questions and clarifying doubts he had, marveling at the sheer knowledge and skills involved in just brewing a potion. Because by the end of that four hour long lecture, he was still no where near understanding why the woolsbann (or something) potion required ingredients which could not be exposed to light.
Tap. Blue blankets shifted a little. Tap, tap. The body turned away from it, resting on its side. Tap, tap, tap. Tousled brown hair peeped out from the top of the blankets, blinking eyes still drowsy with sleep. The tapping had become more insistent, and it seemed to be coming from behind the curtains.
'Since when do curtains produce tap tap sounds?' the boy thought, still half asleep. Well, he was a light sleeper, but not one too alert when just woken from slumber. 'Uh curtains… oh yes, the window.'
He wrapped his thick blankets around his shoulders and walked to the window, curious. Bright yellow eyes stared back at him outside the glass pane, with a dim outline of the rest of the creature visible through the glass as it was covered partially by tiny water droplets on the inside. The creature hooted impatiently and pecked at the window, as if seeking entrance. Surprised, he opened the window to let the owl in, then closed it to prevent the chill wind from entering. The owl landed on his desk and turned those yellow eyes on him expectantly.
"I don't have any food," he said to it, feeling a little foolish for talking to an owl.
It lifted one of its leg, and a flash of white caught his attention. It looked like rolled up paper tied to the owl's leg by a piece of silver string. He tugged at the string and took the paper, unrolling it to read. Neat, childish handwriting greeted him, and his heart quickened with joy and relief, recognising it as Harry's.
He had been quite worried after he discovered Harry missing from the orphanage, having gone back to visit the boy a few days ago, wanting to give him a pleasant surprise. Instead, he went home with mysteries surrounding Harry's and Keleman's disappearance. No one saw Harry leave the orphanage, but the other children mentioned a 'scary man' at the orphanage the day he disappeared. And Keleman went missing the next day, with all his clothes and possessions still in his room. It was most curious.
He could not be bothered about Keleman's disappearance at all if he did not think that the former caretaker knew where Harry was, or at least whom he went with, being more worried for the little boy who was like a brother to him. Perhaps the letter would have answers.
Daniel lifted his eyes from the letter and looked askance at the preening owl. "I'm supposed to give you the letter to deliver to Harry?"
The brown owl puffed out its feathers and hooted twice, which he took as a yes.
"Well, Harry's uncle sure is a strange man. Fancy training owls to deliver letters."
Harry sat at his desk, staring gloomily out of the window, eyes searching the sky for a glimpse of the brown owl he had sent out a few hours ago. What if the owl got lost and can't find Dan? What if it forgot the address? What if-
//Master, stop looking out of the window. The owl will find you when it's back.//
//What if the letter dropped halfway?//
//Calm down. Perhaps we can take a walk in the garden; I heard green makes people less stress.//
//But, Sandy-//
"Harry?"
//Yes?// he hissed, turning around to face the speaker.
Harry caught a flicker of something in his uncle's expression that was gone as quickly as it came, and both found themselves staring at each other; one inquiring and innocent, the other unreadable and still as stone.
"I was reminded that you are interested in flying." Severus finally broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Yes?" Harry said uncertainly, wondering where this was leading to.
Severus looked out of the window and commented, "The weather is fine today."
Harry turned his head in the same direction and agreed. At least it was not raining (or snowing) like the past few days. Even the sun was out, and while not strong enough to provide much warmth, it at least brightened the usually dark winter skies.
"Your broom just arrived by owl post."
"My broom? But I don't have a-" Harry's confusion was quickly replaced by joy and delight as realisation dawned on him. "Oh thank you!" Harry wrapped his arms around his uncle in a spontaneous hug, and felt him stiffen before relaxing slightly.
Severus patted Harry's head awkwardly and tried to ease out of the embrace. "It's in the foyer. I'll meet you at the Quidditch Pitch."
Harry flashed another blinding smile and almost raced out of the room in his excitement. (Well, he managed to walk briskly out of the room, but raced the rest of the way to the foyer.) Severus hid a smile at the boy's obvious self-restraint, musing about the likeness to another child's composure. Different upbringing yielding same results. Yet one from pride and instruction, while the other for self-control and protection.
Hissing from the desk caught his attention, and he became thoughtful as his gaze landed on the colourful snake. Black met black, both challenging and assessing. Then the snake turned away and slithered on, leaving behind a disconcerted Snape.
'It's just a silly snake,' he sneered at himself.
Then why did he feel like he just won a staring contest and the creature's approval?
Perhaps there's nothing wrong with his hearing after all.
A/n: so sorry that this took ages. I haven't wrote for a few months and am finding hard to write now 'cause of lack of inspiration and all the usual stuff. I know that's no excuse and will continue to force myself to write, even if it's just sitting in front of the computer and staring at the screen for hours with nothing to show for it. It's a promise that I will try, but not a guarantee for frequent updates. I think just 2 more chapters at the manor (or less) before sending Harry off to Hogwarts.
Some questions for reviewers: what do you think of 1) Harry's and Snape's characterization 2) Snape-Harry's interaction 3) Dan's character 4) Keleman's disppearance
Constructive criticism and other thoughts welcomed.
