Disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter two: Summer at Spinner's End

Severus read the letter in his hand carefully, making sure he didn't miss anything important Lucius might want him to know. It was a lengthy missive about the allocation of the education budget for the next school year, which made it particularly difficult to extract all pertinent information. But as far as Severus could see, the Dark Lord's plans had not been changed, and the Dark Lord himself had not been seen since the night he'd given his orders. Their own plans were going well. Narcissa didn't suspect anything untoward, and their meeting at Diagon Alley later in the summer was still on.

Yet in the entire letter there was no mention at all of how Lucius and Draco were faring. The silence alone was telling, and Severus wondered if thwarting the Dark Lord's plan in this way was really worth the cost. He knew that maintaining Lucius' position was important, but he could not help but feel the burn of unfairness. He snorted with derision at the thought, since life was unfair, and no amount of lamenting that fact could change it. He'd learned that lesson at an early age, and the rest of his life had just been a confirmation. He put the letter away and picked up the book he was reading. Sinking his teeth into the new Potions text would surely distract him.

While the fire in the hearth burned merrily, Severus delved into the latest research about medical potions. The silence was a blessing, as was the knowledge that nobody would disturb his peace. He loved teaching, loved helping children reach their potential. But he hated the fact that he had to be so strict to prevent accidents, making a lot of his students dislike him and his class. Not to mention the fact that he had to be blatantly unfair to the other houses in order to balance out all the unfairness heaped upon his Slytherins. He'd seen what that unfairness could push teens to do. He'd been pushed like that himself, and he'd wound up doing something monumentally stupid. With the Dark Lord rising once again, it was more important than ever to present his Slytherins with other options.

Realizing his thoughts had turned dark again, Severus forced himself to focus on his book. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that this peace and quiet was just the world holding its breath before a storm descended. But as the text grew more complex, forcing Severus to pay attention only to what was written, he stopped thinking about other things and started to relax.

Halfway through the chapter, the fire flared green, and Severus put his book aside. His body was tense in anticipation as he stood, and he gripped his wand tightly in his hand. Nobody ever visited him in the summer; at least, not without notifying him first. Every once in a while, one of his students used the Floo to get to him, mostly after they'd been kicked out or had run away from home. They were usually injured in some way, and it always broke Severus' heart. As the seconds ticked by without anyone coming through, Severus held his breath.

Just as Severus started to become nervous, the fire spit out a young boy in wizarding robes. He wasn't moving, and Severus hurried to his side. He turned the child gently around and gasped as he recognized Harry. Performing a diagnostic scan, Severus was shocked by the injuries Harry had sustained. He had no idea what had happened, but it was obvious the boy had been attacked. After transferring Harry to the couch, he used the Floo to call an Emergency Healer, who immediately stepped through.

"Oh my," the Healer, Forswhite according to the nametag on his robes, said when he saw who he was treating.

"Don't stand there, you dunce," Severus bit out. "Help him, and make sure you record it all."

As the Healer worked on Harry, Severus tried to reach Black to no avail. He hadn't really expected to find him. Black wasn't the type to let Harry wander around without supervision; he'd want to spend as much time with the boy as he could. So they both would've been attacked, and Black was most likely injured or dead. Seeing no other option, Severus used the Floo to call the Auror department. Quickly explaining the situation to the Auror taking his call, he was assured a dispatch would be sent to 12 Grimmauld Place at once, and someone would be coming to Spinner's End to take Harry's statement. Severus thought it more likely they wanted to make sure he wasn't the one harming Harry.

After ending the call, he walked back over the where the Healer was working on Harry. The boy was pale and still unconscious. Severus knew the curse he'd been hit with, and it was nasty. Looking at the Healer working, Severus felt helpless. He'd been worried about several of his students, knowing their home situations, but he hadn't been worried about Harry. In fact, he'd been feeling good about Harry's improved home situation. Looking at the child now, he felt like a failure.

"How is he?" Severus asked.

"He's going to be fine," the Healer answered. "He'll feel miserable for a few days, but the curse was caught in time to prevent serious damage."

"Then why is he still unconscious?" Severus asked, not convinced at all by the Healer's words.

"I spelled him asleep to spare him the pain from the curse," the Healer answered.

"Good," a deep voice sounded from behind them. "That means we can talk without being overheard."

Severus whirled around, wand in hand, berating himself for not paying attention. The wizard who had spoken was a tall, black man. He was well dressed and had an Auror's badge pinned to his robes. Severus relaxed marginally, pointing his wand at the ground instead of straight at the man, but he wasn't letting his guard down completely yet. The war had shown him sympathizers of the Dark Lord were everywhere, and he would not risk Harry's safety by giving trust where none was earned.

"Who are you?" Severus demanded.

"Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt," the man answered, not even fazed by Severus' tone. "Is there a possibility of me speaking with you in private?" he asked the Healer, effectively dismissing Severus.

"You can use the kitchen," Severus said grudgingly, because there was no way he was going to leave Harry with two people he didn't know.

And just like that, Severus was alone in the room, with only the child sleeping on the couch as proof that the last half hour actually happened. He sat down on the edge of the couch, careful not to jostle Harry, and ran his eyes over the boy. He was still pale, but his breathing was more even, and the lines of pain he'd sported were gone. But even though Harry was looking better and the Healer had said he was going to be fine, it still felt like he had a suffocating spell cast on him, restricting his breathing. Severus knew the feeling wouldn't go away until Harry opened his eyes.

"Mr. Snape?" Shacklebolt asked.

Severus was once again caught off guard, and he cursed himself for his laxness. Thankfully, he managed to control himself to a tiny, barely visible flinch instead of jumping up startled.

"Professor Snape," he snapped to cover his momentary lapse in attention.

"My apologies, Professor Snape," Shacklebolt said, a small smile on his lips. "I have taken Healer Forswhite's account. Now I would like to take yours, please."

"Where is the Healer?" Snape asked, hoping he hadn't missed the Healer taking the Floo as well, for that would be too embarrassing.

"He's still in the kitchen. He will be accompanying me to the Ministry for a memory extraction and duplication once we are done here," Shacklebolt said. "Now, can you tell me what happened exactly?"

Severus recounted what had happened from the moment the Floo had activated until Shacklebolt had arrived. It was peculiarly hard to tell the story, especially the part about realizing how badly Harry was injured. Shacklebolt listened without interrupting, and Severus' fears of being accused of hurting Harry himself faded a bit, although they were still present.

"Do you know what happened to Sirius Black?" Severus asked when he'd told Shacklebolt everything.

Severus honestly didn't care much about Black's fate; but since it was so closely tied with Harry's, it was important to know what had befallen the man. He also knew that Harry would want to know as soon as he was awake. A shadow of a frown crossed Shacklebolt's face and then it smoothed back into his professional mask again, making Severus afraid the news was going to be bad.

"When a team of Aurors reached his residence, it became apparent there had been no attack," Shacklebolt said. "As far as we've been able to determine, Mister Black had some kind of delusional attack. He's been transported to St. Mungo's."

"You mean to say Black did this to Harry?" Severus hissed.

"I'm afraid so," Shacklebolt said. "Azkaban must have damaged him."

"And how come the Healers didn't pick up on this before they released him?" Severus whispered angrily.

Shacklebolt had no answer for that, which only enraged Severus further. He wanted to shout, to scream his rage to the man in front of him, but Harry was still asleep, and he didn't want to wake the child. To be attacked in one's own home, by someone that should be protecting you, Severus could imagine only too well how it felt. And he'd thought Harry had been rescued from that. Instead, he'd just been trading one abusive guardian for another. Well, no more.

"As his Head of House, I'm filing an emergency guardianship," Severus said. "Please make sure the necessary people get notified."

He felt a brief flash of triumph at the surprise that showed so clearly on the Auror's face, but the reality of the reason for that surprise dampened any pleasure he could've gotten from drawing a reaction out of the stoic wizard.

"I will notify them," Shacklebolt said. "As soon as Black's condition has been evaluated, there will be a guardianship hearing. I don't expect it will take more than a couple of days before he can be placed with a new guardian."

Severus nodded, knowing Shacklebolt probably thought Harry would just get placed back with the relatives he'd been staying with before Black had been released. But Severus knew better. He was not going to allow that, whether Harry would cooperate or not. Either way, this was one fight he did not intend to lose. This time, he'd get Harry placed with a guardian Severus could trust not to abuse the boy. And the only person he could trust was himself.

As Shacklebolt and the Healer departed, Severus started plotting. Getting the Dursleys discredited as guardians would hopefully not be too difficult. Any inquiries about why he did nothing about the abuse before would not be too difficult to deflect either, since Black had been released well before the summer holidays. In that case, with Harry out of danger, keeping to the child's wishes would count for more than exposing the abuse would. But his own past would be difficult to overcome in getting appointed Harry's permanent guardian.

Severus' thoughts drifted to Albus, whose word would surely weigh heavy with the court. He didn't want to involve Albus in this. He still did not know how far he could trust Albus when it came to Harry, and if Albus should choose to speak against Severus getting guardianship, all would be lost. No, he would leave Albus out of his plans. The man would not be admitted to the guardianship hearing, whereas Severus would be, and only then would he make his intentions known to the world. It was the safest course.

Severus rolled up his left sleeve to reveal the faint Dark Mark that marred his flesh. Freedom he might have, but the taint of that mark would almost guarantee he would not be granted guardianship. Without someone as powerful as Albus Dumbledore backing him, he knew he stood virtually no chance. Covering the damning mark up again, Severus looked over at Harry. The boy had enough political clout to get whatever guardian he wanted; yet if Severus so much as breathed a word of his plans to the boy, the judges would call it manipulation, and he would not even be considered. So asking Harry to speak up on his behalf was out of the question as well. In fact, he couldn't even risk asking Harry if he wanted Severus as a guardian.

Severus snorted as he stood to get a blanket for Harry. It was a ridiculous question. Of course Harry would not want Severus as a guardian. The best he could hope for was that the child would not speak against him at the hearing. As he covered the sleeping child, Severus wondered how mad Minerva would be if he dragged her to the hearing as a character witness without telling her what it was about.

A pained murmur from Harry made Severus lose his train of thought. There wasn't anything he could do for the child to alleviate the pain, yet Severus pulled the blanket up a bit higher, hoping the warmth would help at least a little, and ran his hand softly down the boy's cheek. Harry settled down again, and Severus sat down in his chair, intent on keeping watch until the boy woke up.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

It was midmorning when the sound of his name being called woke Severus from his slumber. A quick look over at Harry showed the boy was still asleep, and Severus hurried to the hearth to prevent whomever was calling from waking the boy up.

"What?" Severus snarled, although he kept his voice down.

The woman whose face danced in the flames frowned at his tone.

"I'm Miranda Wobberwacky, Mister Potter's casewitch," she said. "Could I come through?"

Severus briefly closed his eyes. This woman would have a huge voice in the upcoming hearing, and already he'd made a bad impression. He gave her permission to come through and once she was, he apologized for his tone, explaining he'd been asleep. He didn't know if an apology would help, but at least it wouldn't hurt.

"I've brought some of Mister Potter's belongings," she said.

Severus had to make a conscious effort not to point out that it was rather obvious, considering she'd brought a trunk with the letters H.P. on it. She directed it down near a side table with her wand.

"Now," she said briskly. "I would like to talk to Mister Potter."

"He's still asleep from when the Healer spelled him yesterday," Severus said, pointing at the couch.

Severus hoped she wouldn't ask to wake Harry up. Not only did he want the child to sleep some more, but he also wanted to talk to Harry before she did. He didn't think Harry would really talk to a stranger, and he'd most likely clam up so tightly even Severus wouldn't get anything out of him.

"Ah, I see," the casewitch said. "Well, I'll be back sometime this week then. The hearing will be held next Friday, and I'll want to speak with him before that."

Severus nodded his consent. The casewitch turned to the Floo and was about to step into it when Severus had a thought.

"What about the press?" he asked. "Is there any way they could publish something about him, about this?"

"No," the casewitch said. "As he is a minor, our laws protect him. Nothing can be published about this case. Not that they would ever know about this, unless someone talks, of course."

The accusation was clear, but Severus refrained from defending himself. He had more important matters on his mind than trying to defend himself to someone who was never going to like him. As the casewitch left, Severus heaved a sigh. It looked like he would have one more person against him during the hearing.

Half an hour after the casewitch left, Harry woke up. He seemed momentarily confused as to where he was; but as soon as the child laid eyes on Severus, he remembered. Severus could see the knowledge and memories take hold, turning the confused gaze into a troubled one that was quickly averted.

"Harry, we need to talk about what happened," Severus said, knowing it wasn't going to be pleasant but had to be done.

Harry kept his eyes averted, staring intently at the blanket covering his legs. Severus sighed. He hadn't really expected this conversation to go easy, but he needed to know what had happened. Not only would it be better for Harry, but he couldn't risk being blindsided by anything during the hearing next week. He walked over to the couch and perched on the edge, placing his hand on Harry's.

"Harry, you need to tell me what happened," he said softly.

"He didn't mean to!" Harry blurted out, now looking straight at Severus with tears in his eyes. "He didn't!"

The pain in Harry's eyes and the anguish in his voice tore at Severus' heart, but he knew there was nothing he could say or do that would help. Still, he wanted to comfort the boy and drew him into his arms.

"Shhh, it's all right, just tell me what happened," Severus said softly.

Held tight against Severus' body, Harry told him about what had happened, all the while trembling uncontrollably. Severus squeezed his eyes shut as Harry related how Sirius had thought he was James Potter, his heart breaking at the pain in the boy's voice. When Harry told him how he got his injuries, Severus found it hard to breath even though he knew Harry was going to be just fine. Eventually, tale told and tears exhausted, Harry fell silent in his arms. Severus reluctantly let the boy go, easing him back into a prone position.

"What happens now?" Harry asked.

Severus sighed. He wished he could tell Harry about his plans, just to take the uncertainty out of the boy's eyes, but he couldn't. Besides, even with his plans, nothing was certain. All he could do was tell Harry what was happening right now.

"Your godfather was brought back to St. Mungo's," Severus said. "Because his attack was caused by an illness, he probably won't be persecuted for it. Especially since St. Mungo's clearly released him too early, missing all the signs."

Severus noticed Harry had started fidgeting, picking at the edge of his blanket with his fingers. He was also once again avoiding Severus' eyes.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I should've known," Harry whispered. "Every time I said something about being in Slytherin or mentioned Draco or Theo or even you, he would just, just ignore it. But I was just too happy he wasn't angry with me for not being like my father."

Severus sighed. No, Black had not been angry that Harry was nothing like his father, mainly because the man had clearly been deluding himself that Harry was James Potter.

"That's easy to say in hindsight," Severus said. "Besides, I am sure that if Black had been in his right mind, he would've seen how much you're like your mother and been delighted."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Severus said.

It was only half a lie. Harry really was very much like his mother. But Black probably wouldn't have been delighted; the man had been more Potter's friend than Lily's. In hindsight, Severus should've seen the symptoms of his delusions, too. The man had accepted all things Slytherin far too easily. But, like Harry, Severus had been too relieved with Black's attitude to question it.

"So what happens now?" Harry asked.

"I've been granted emergency guardianship of you at the moment, as your Head of House," Severus said. "So for the moment, you'll be staying here. The witch handling your case has already brought some of your belongings here."

"I get to stay here?" Harry asked in an awed voice.

Severus quirked a smile and suppressed the small, hopeful sting those words brought. Oh, how he wished he could unconditionally say yes to that question. But the painful reality was that he couldn't and therefore shouldn't. Rule number one of dealing with abused children: don't make promises you can't keep.

"For now," Severus said. "There'll be a hearing next week to determine where you will stay until Black is able to care for you."

"Right," Harry said, looking down.

The boy looked lost and small and impossibly young. There was a quiet despair in the tense lines of his shoulders, and Severus wanted nothing more than to take that away.

"I won't let you go back to the Dursleys," he said.

He'd just broken his own rule, as he knew he couldn't promise that. Harry probably wouldn't speak up against them, and Severus had no proof whatsoever. If Severus wasn't believed, and there seemed to be a high chance of that, then Harry probably would go back there. But the small, hopeful grin on Harry's face made the lie worth it.