Snape and Lupin walked up the Dursley's driveway, both of them a little nervous about being in the very muggle neighborhood of Privet Drive, but both determined to rescue Harry. Snape desperately hoped that Petunia wouldn't be too much of a problem, and they knew that Vernon had left for work an hour ago.

Snape knocked, putting a hand briefly on Lupin's shoulder to calm him. After a few moments, the door opened, and they were face to face with Petunia Dursley.

"YOU." She hissed, looking angry and a little scared.

Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Me."

"You're here to take my dratted sister's brat, aren't you?"

The two men glanced at each other.

"Yes, as a matter of fact."

She glared at them, but motioned them inside.

"Good riddance. That little monster has been nothing but trouble. We didn't want him to begin with. You take him, and you better not bring him back. My sweet Dudders doesn't need to be around such an unnatural freak one day longer."

Snape frowned, but bit back his scathing rebuke with difficulty. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Lupin's hands were in such tight fist his knuckles were white.

"BOY! GET OUT HERE NOW!"

A quiet voice replied from somewhere by the stairs, but Snape couldn't see the child.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia."

Snape had to clasp his hands behind his back to stop himself from throttling the skinny woman in front of him as a tiny boy opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs and stood, hands clasped in front, head down.

"These men are taking you away. Right now. Get your things immediately."

The boy didn't even look up, just repeated his ealier words and ducked back in the cupboard and came out seconds later with nothing but a threadbare blanket clutched tight to his chest.

Petunia turned back to the men.

"There, you have him. Now get out of my house and do not come back."

Snape glared at Petunia, the strength of hate in his gaze making her stumble back in alarm. Putting every ounce of venom in his voice, he replied.

"I would rather die than come back here. You were to give this child a happy home. Now I can see you did the opposite. Be glad I would get in trouble for cursing you, because you would be a pile of ash right now if I had my way."

Snape gently ushered Harry, who still refused to look at either him or Lupin, out of the house. Casting a discreet Notice Me Not charm, Snape bent down and very gently tipped Harry's head up so the boy was looking him in the face. The little boy was silently crying, his eyes full of confusion and fear.

"Harry, my name is Severus Snape. This is Remus Lupin. Both of us were friends with your mother. We would like you to come and live with us. Is that alright with you?"

Harry looked more confused, but slightly hopeful.

"Yes, sir. I would like that."

Snape filed away the use of Sir, and decided to discuss what Harry could call him and Lupin later.

"Good. Now, to get to my house, we are going to do something called Apparition. It's a thing that is kind of hard to explain, but I want you to be very brave. I need to hold you to do it. Is that ok?"

Harry straightened his back, trying to look brave, even though he didn't feel that way.

"Ok."

Snape scooped the little boy up, ignoring the flinch when he touched the boy.

"On the count of three, I'm going to do it. Hold on tight, and you should be fine. 1...2...3"

With a sound like a car backfiring, Privet Drive was none the wiser of the 3 people who vanished into thin air.