Chapter Two

Severus Snape was sitting in his office, taking a break from grading the drivel his second year students had tried to pass off as essays. Several of them read as though the student had read maybe the chapter headings only during the whole year. Ridiculous. Rubbing his aching temples, he went to his potion cabinet and began to grouchily search for a headache potion. Finding one hiding behind his supply of Niffler whiskers, he downed it in one long draught, and sighed as the relief immediately took effect.

Suddenly, there was a loud POP from behind him. Whipping his wand out of his robe pocket, the young man spun around, searching his dim room with wide beetle black eyes. Something in the shadow of his desk moved, and Snape felt his wand get jerked out of his hand. Nervously, Snape pressed himself against the closed cabinet, his body tense.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

His voice was hoarse, and he was surprised by the tendrils of fear snaking through him. Normally he was unflappable. He hadn't felt this way since he had opened his mind to Dumbledore, in order to convince the old fool that his lies were the truth. That he had renounced Voldemort. The old man's mind had felt so incredibly Snape had been dreading more and more that his "employer" would find him out. Being friends with Lucius Malfoy and having just been named Godfather to young Draco had raised Dumbledore's suspicions. He desperately hoped that nothing had happened to make the old man come after him. The thing in the shadows moved again.

"I's Petal, sir."

Snape's eyes widened even more as a tiny house elf stepped out of the shadows. Her huge eyes were an odd purple color, and she was wearing a neat little toga made from a towel.

"Miss Lily told Petal to come to Mister Snape if Master Harry was in trouble. And he is. So I comes."

Snape's head was whirling. Walking to his desk, he sank into his chair.

"Lily…why…what's going on? How did you know where I was? How could Harry be in trouble?"

The little elf scrambled with some difficulty onto the desk, were she then sat herself facing Snape. She held his wand out, and he took it slowly, placing it in his lap.

"Miss Lily was worried that the bad wizard Dumbledore was too interested in Master Harry. Mister James was hurting her, and planning bad things for Master Harry with the bad wizards. So Miss Lily tells Petal that Mister Snape will help Petal protect Master if anything happened to her. She put a bonding spell on Master and Petal, but that bad Dumbledore finds it and blocks it when he takes Master from the house the day Miss Lily died. Today the block gets broken, and Petal feels that Master be's in trouble. So she comes to find Mister Snape. Will Mister Snape help Petal?"

Snape was feeling totally overwhelmed at this point. Lily's son was in trouble, and Lily had been worried that Dumbledore had things planned for Harry, and that James was in on them. Why was Dumbledore trying to hide Harry from the little house elf?

Snape was startled from his thoughts by a tiny hand touching his. He jumped violently, and the house elf toppled off his desk with a surprised squeak. Snape reached down and scooped her off the floor.

"Sorry, Petal was it? Sorry I scared you. I don't really like to be touched."

The elf nodded, as if she already knew this.

"Miss Lily told Petal that. But Mister Snape was not hearing Petal. Miss Lily gave Petal a letter and told Petal to give it to Mister Snape if Master was ever in trouble."

Reaching in a pocket sewn on her toga, she pulled out an old and slightly crumpled envelope. Snape took it with trembling hands. It smelled faintly of lilies. Opening it he pulled out a sheet of paper covered with Lily's neat hand writing.

My dear friend,

I am so sorry that you are reading this right now, because it means that I am dead and that my son is in trouble. Dumbledore has convinced James that Harry has to kill Voldemort. They are determined to force my sweet little boy to become a sacrificial assassin of some sort. They are both insane. They punish him for crying or playing. They say that he has to be treated this way so that he'll grow up tough. He's barely old enough to understand what people are saying, and only knows a handful of words. Yet they treat him like a soldier. And if I interfere, which I MUST DO, James either beats me or takes it out on my sweet little elf Petal. Yesterday she defied his order to not feed Harry dinner, and he cast a shrinking spell on her. It went wrong, and now the poor little thing is stuck at half her original size. I asked her to give you this letter if she ever felt that Harry was in trouble and needed rescuing. My little boy needs you, Sev. Please find him and protect him from the twisted plans that Dumbledore has for him. Please take Petal into your employ. She is a bright and responsible little elf, and will be of great help with Harry. I wouldn't ask you to do this if there wasn't real need. Please save my son.

Love now and always,

Lily

P.S.

Harry loves stuffed animals, and his favorite food is chips. He loves stories.

Snape dropped the letter on his desk, and covered his face with his hands. He tried to process all the information in the letter. Petal appeared at his side, and handed him a cup of tea. Taking it, he drank the whole cup in one long swallow.

"Petal, in order for me to be able to help Harry, I have to hide him from Dumbledore. In order to do that, I have to set some plans in motion. I'm going to have to find a way to quit my job without raising suspicion, and I need a good place to hide. I also need to contact Voldemort and inform him of what's going on. I'm going to need some help. For now I think it would be best if you kept watch over Harry while get things going. I have to speak with Dumbledore and start the process of quitting. If I do it now he'll have the summer to hire a new potions teacher."

The elf nodded, looking incredibly happy that he was going to help her.

"Should Petal go now, sir?"

Snape nodded, and the elf disappeared with a POP!