Harry hummed as he opened another box labelled 'Books'. Of course they weren't his. His books barely covered one small bookshelf in his new room, but last thing he wanted was to clutter his pristine room with the old leathery bindings Snape seemed to adore. No. These belonged to the potions master and were all about potions. He took the box over to the other stack of boxes and clapped the dust off his hands.

"Finally." He sighed. Snape appeared then, the final box in his hands. He looked at Harry with a faint look of alarm and Harry froze and looked down at himself. Fireplace ash covered his robes from head to toe.

"How on earth do you always find a way to blunder through the floo network enough to render yourself a soot sprite?" Snape asked in exasperation. Harry felt his cheeks becoming a little warm.

"I don't know. Never really worked for me properly." Harry shrugged. Severus levitated the boxes to be with the rest and nodded as he counted them.

"Well, you might as well clean up while I prepare dinner. How is the charm working?" He asked. Harry looked at the ugly wooden carving hanging from his neck from a leather strap. It looked like a scary crying figurine that freaked him out more than the house did. But, he didn't feel uneasy and there wasn't as much noise in the house as he remembered there being.

"I think it's working. Is it ok to wet it?" He asked.

"You better not, you can take it off while you bathe, its effect will linger long enough." Snape said calmly, waving his wand to have the books fly neatly into the wooden bookshelves now lining the walls on either side of the fireplace.

Harry left him to finish and went to prepare the bathtub. He'd never had an actual bath before. The Dursleys barely let him use the shower let alone the bath and the school only had showers for non-prefects. Fourth year didn't really count since he'd been on edge about getting caught in the prefect baths.

So now that he had free reign he filled the tub with water as hot as he could stand it and soaked in the bubbly water for a good hour and a half.

He focused on the sounds of the house. The wind echoed softly somewhere through the roof and every now and then he heard Snape moving things around. The sun was almost hidden over the horizon making it light enough to see yet dark enough for the crickets to begin their song.

He heard Hedwig hoot somewhere in the built in owlery. She'd probably just woken up to go hunt for mice.

It was… wonderful. Everything was perfect. He got dressed for bed and brushed his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror for a few seconds.

Something clicked inside and he remembered. Sirius' mirror. Sirius had given it to him to talk to him. Anytime, anyplace. Since his godfather had fallen into the veil, the mirror hadn't worked. But the hope still burned deep inside him. Even so, it didn't matter anymore. He'd thrown it into a drawer in Spinner's End and now it was probably nothing more than one more piece in the rubble of Snape's old home.

oOoOoOo

Severus sighed as he finished sorting some of the boxes. The smell of the stew he was making filtered from the kitchen. He stopped the sorting. "That is sufficient for today."

He looked up as Harry left the bathroom and headed for his room. "Dinner is almost ready. Are you hungry?" He asked but the silence stretched as Potter did not answer. The boy simply kept going. Severus frowned. Something was wrong. He reached for the boy. "Potter, are you hun-" The boy snatched his arm back without looking at him.

"Don't touch me." The boy said in a small voice that broke in the middle. Severus was shocked at the sudden and harsh response from the boy.

"Do not speak to me like that. If something's bothering you, say so." He snapped.

"Sorry…" The teen mumbled and hurried to his room. He closed the door behind him without giving Severus any further explanation.

Severus felt nothing but confusion. What had he done this time to upset the boy? He quietly stood close to the door. Everything was quiet until he heard the sob. His ears sharpened and he could hear the muffled whimpers and cries.

He had no way of knowing just what to do. Just what part of the boy's past had finally overwhelmed him? He sighed and returned to the kitchen to finish the food and cast a spell to keep it warm. He waited as he rested his hands on the counter.

What should he do? What did the boy want? Would he lash out if Severus asked him to talk about it? What would the potions master have wanted as a teen? He didn't know. So he just went with his instincts. He walked back to the room and knocked.

There was no reply but the sobs and whimpers suddenly froze. "Harry, I'm coming in." Once more there was no reply. When he opened the door, the teen was tense, his body perfectly still with his face mostly hidden by the pillow. His back was facing the door.

"…Why are you crying?" He asked. He pulled the chair from the corner closer so he could sit by the bed.

"I'm not crying, sorry about before." His voice was perfectly even, he didn't sound upset at all and Severus could practically feel the emotional block the boy had slipped into place the moment he sensed someone witnessing his moment of weakness.

Severus didn't know what to do, should he leave the boy alone? This was so frustrating. Why couldn't the brat just tell him what he was thinking? He moved from the chair to the edge of the bed and gently turned him around. The boy's eyes were red and his emotional block cracked as he turned away again, fully burying his face into the pillow, sobbing once more.

Severus frowned. "What bothers you? Is the amulet not working?" He asked. The boy was so tense from forcing his cries to be as silent as possible.

"S-sirius…" Was all the boy could manage without crying.

Black. It seemed a lifetime away that the fight in the ministry had happened. Lupin had said that Black had been struck with the killing curse and fallen back into the veil at arm's length from Potter.

"It was not your fault. Black knew the risk." Severus said.

"I went trying to save him… instead… I got him killed. Just like I get everyone killed." He'd never heard Harry's voice sound so small, even all the other times the teen had cried before him.

"The Dark Lord is the one to blame for making you think Black was a prisoner. Bellatrix is to blame for Black's death."

"It was because of me!" Potter yelled into the pillow and his cries became louder. His grief resonating in every sob, every cry that tore from his lips. Severus reached for him again but he knew that in this state, the other would never listen to him. The boy needed to grieve. What did his mother use to do when he was upset? It had been so long since he had been upset in front of her. It was before he even met Lily. He reached for the boy's head at pet it softly.

"A lot of things have happened to you. You have every right to grieve. You should not feel the need to hide your cries from me." He said gently, mimicking the tone his mother would have used, though it felt a little alien coming from him.

He was no saint. Had things been different, he knew the dark side of him would have been glad that Black had died. But seeing Harry in this state, looking so broken and distraught, he would have moved earth and sea so things would have turned out differently.

His words seemed to work at least, since the boy relaxed and cried freely. Soon enough the crying quieted down until finally the boy was all cried out and he sat, reaching for Severus and hugging him. Severus only paused for a couple of seconds before he hugged the boy back. It seemed that it was becoming easier to hug the other and comfort him.

"I'm hungry…" The boy finally said.

"I will serve dinner. Come along." He said and both released each other from the hug.

"Sorry…" The boy said in embarrassment.

"Your brash reply was expected considering the circumstances. It can happen when you do not allow yourself to grieve properly." He said. The boy looked at him briefly and Severus recognised the question. That perhaps Snape too, once upon a time, didn't allow himself to mourn for someone.

"Men shouldn't cry though… and I'm almost sixteen." He mumbled.

"The notion that men should not cry is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard anyone say. It is a muggle saying and one that they can keep." He said digging into the stew he had made. He was pleased to see the boy eat, though he took his time.

The boy looked down, seeming to assimilate his words.

"When was the last time you cried?" The boy asked. Severus wondered whether someone had told him already. But he answered the question calmly.

"When I thought you had died." The boy looked at him with those bright green eyes of his and Severus sighed as the fondness for the boy simply grew.

The quiet dinner ended and Potter returned to his room, falling asleep with the aid of the dreamless sleep potion. When Severus checked on him he saw the boy's features relaxed, as his mind erased all of his worries for the night.

Day one and he felt so exhausted. He used a few set of spells to have the dishes cleaned and smothered the fire before going to bed. All the while he thought of the boy and how he would have to help him deal in the future. Deal with the dark magic he tapped into, deal with his imprisonment, his grief and his fears.

He did not feel qualified at all to help… but he trusted no one else to care for the boy as he felt he could. Still, there wasn't anything wrong in asking for advice.