Author's Note: Urgent repost!!! Thank you so much to Chrissy for pointing out my mistake. I had forgotten that I had already defined Severus' childhood in chapter 9. This is the corrected post. Again, thank you so much for pointing that out!

Chapter 21

Harry's jaw dropped. He tried to form words but nothing was coming out.

Severus sighed at the reaction. He hadn't expected it to be pleasant but he didn't expect it to be so shocking.

Finally, Harry concentrated and took a deep breath. "Oh," came the short reply, which was all that Harry could muster at the moment.

Severus intentionally turned his back on the boy before Harry could voice any questions that would inevitably come up. "Let's be on our way then," he said, taking a few strides.

Harry silently followed closely behind him. Thoughts and questions were racing through his mind a mile a minute but he didn't want to risk getting lost again or Snape's wrath if he did so. Perhaps he could get some questions answered about his mother if he went about it tactfully. Sirius and Remus could tell him a lot about his father, but they didn't have many stories about his mother.

Severus' mind was churning with his own thoughts. As soon as he had uttered the words, he wished that he could take them back. The thought that Harry would eventually discover his past with Lily had never crossed his mind. As far as he knew, Lily had never told Black or Lupin. He certainly hadn't told anyone. He had been horrified when he discovered that James knew. But he supposed that he could understand Lily's reasoning under the circumstances.

He heard the adolescent stumble over something behind him. Tossing his head around, he found Harry on his knees. He stopped abruptly and strode toward the boy. "Are you all right?" he inquired in his customary deep voice.

Harry scrambled to his feet embarrassed. "Yeah, sorry. I just wasn't paying attention," he said hurriedly.

Severus, with his characteristic scowl plastered on his face, took the Harry's arm and hoisted him up to his feet. "Are you tired?"

"No," Harry lied. Frankly, he was exhausted from trying to keep up with his professor's long strides but weakness was not something that he was used to displaying and for another matter, Snape was someone he especially didn't want to show any weakness in front of, and lastly, he figured that the less he irritated the man now, the more questions he might be willing to answer later.

Severus cocked an eyebrow. From looking at the child's flushed face, he could tell that he was probably having trouble keeping up. And, he was probably hungry. He didn't remember when they last had eaten anything. It must have been at Hogwarts and that was about three days ago. The boy's pride rivaled his father's.

"I'm going to take it a little slower," Severus stated.

"You don't have to, I'm fine," Harry said, annoyed that Snape had not believed him.

"Even if you are feeling fine, you had a fever hours ago and I don't want to push you. We can't afford the time delay if your health declines. Tell me if you're feeling tired or hungry, or anything," the man instructed.

Harry's face contorted into a disgruntled glare. He didn't want to be babied. He was almost an adult and he wanted to be treated like one.

"Harry," Severus said in his deep, silky voice.

Harry looked up, taken aback that the man had used his first name. He had used it a few times before but when he had, Snape almost seemed like a different person. It seemed like the dark man actually cared about him as more than the savior of the wizarding world. He chided himself for thinking that. This was Snape, after all, and he knew that Snape hated him just as much as he had hated his father.

"Well, what do you expect?" Harry exclaimed in an irate voice. "We've been walking all night without stopping and we haven't eaten in days. Of course I'm tired and hungry!"

Severus looked stunned at this reaction and Harry felt a pang of guilt for exploding like that. It's not as if Sanpe wanted to be here any more than he did and the man had actually shown him more kindness during this journey than he had ever expected him to do so in a lifetime.

"I'm sorry," the adolescent said in a quiet voice. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just tired and hungry and I'm being ill-tempered because of it."

Severus' brows rose. He had never really imagined that someone by the last name of 'Potter' would apologize to him. The boy definitely had many of Lily's qualities.

"We should be coming to a creek soon. We can rest there for a bit and I'll do the best that I can about finding something to eat," he offered.

Harry gave him a nod, "Okay."

With that, Severus recommenced the journey with Harry close behind him.

* * * * *

Sirius, Remus, and McGonagall all sat in a room adjacent to Dumbledore's office. Narcissa had arrived and was discussing Lucius' death and her plans for Draco with Dumbledore. They were waiting for him to inform them of as much as possible after Narcissa left.

"How did she look?" Remus asked McGonagall, who had escorted the woman to Dumbledore's office.

The witch shook her head, her eyes plastered on Sirius who was pacing the room. "Distraught," she began. "She seemed very concerned about Draco and how he would handle this."

The werewolf nodded and leaned forward in his chair, propping his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands. "What about Lucius?" he continued.

McGonagall pulled her eyes off of Sirius and directed them toward Remus. "She didn't say anything to indicate how she felt about that, but if you could have seen her face…"

Remus looked down, his eyes full of sorrow. The Malfoys had never been kind to him, but their distress during this time did nothing to comfort him for past wrongs.

McGonagall's heart went out to Remus. He had always been the type of boy to put others before himself and as a man he hadn't changed a bit. "She was so pale and reserved," she went on. "I know that their marriage was arranged for them almost since they were born, but they did get along very well. And, after being married for so long, it would be difficult to not develop at least a bit of affinity toward the other person," she pointed out.

"I think those two cared more about each other than either of them let on," Remus agreed, his eyes now on Sirius. "Sirius, please sit down. Pacing a track into the floor will not help matters."

Sirius stopped. The man's gaunt face turned to his old friend. His eyes held a sadness of a parent who had lost a child. His eyes dropped and he shook his head. "He's out there with a man who hates him with ever fiber of his being as his only hope to escape someone who wants to kill him," he exclaimed.

McGonagall rolled her eyes. "Young man," she said in her best authoritative professor's tone, "Severus cares more about that boy than he let's on. And furthermore, do you actually think that he would sacrifice a child for any harbored feelings he has toward James Potter?"

Both men winced at the mention of their fallen companion.

"Look how he treats Harry," Sirius remarked, defending his statement. "It's almost as if he thinks that Harry is James."

McGonagall shook her head in exasperation. "Severus has had a very difficult life. I am not defending all of his actions, but you two should understand that he is not the evil, spiteful man that you think he is."

Sirius took a seat next to Remus. "Any sort of past that he possible could have had does not excuse his behavior. He made his choices and had the same options that everyone else had," he said, his dislike toward Severus obvious in his tone.

The old witch sighed in vexation. "Holding your feelings against him is no different than what he has done. Remus is the only one of you that has attempted to conquer the gap between himself and Severus," she remarked.

Remus looked down at the mention of his failed attempt to bridge the gap between himself and the Potions Master. "He is a difficult man to get to know," he commented, agreeing with Sirius.

"You all have your past demons and if you could look outside yourselves, you might just see that you could all help each other," McGonagall said, impatience weighing heavily in her voice.

Sirius sighed. "Snape's demons are of his own doing. No one forced him to take that mark," he stated.

McGonagall's eyebrows arched. "That is not was I was referring to."

* * * * *

Harry collapsed onto a nearby rock that was large enough to support his weight. He had just finished taking a generous amount of water from the stream. The water had tasted better than he had ever remembered water tasting before.

Severus had taken a few drinks from his cupped hands and had sat on the ground a few feet from the boy.

"So, how long do you think it will take us from here?" Harry questioned. The awkwardness of speaking to Snape was beginning to die down.

"It's difficult to say. From the castle, I think it's about a two week journey on foot. And, I'm assuming we've walked the equivalent of a day's hike," Severus answered.

"Where was the castle?"

"I'm not entirely sure. It's somewhere along the French/German border."

"And where are we going?"

"To a cabin that the order used to use as a safe point to floo escaped prisoners of Voldemort to a safe place once they had been rescued. It's safeguarded against muggles with the same sorts of spells that protect Hogwarts," Severus elongated.

"So Voldemort used to use that castle when he was in power before?" Harry asked.

Severus nodded. "It has many spells protecting it from anyone who doesn't bear the mark. Voldemort was very paranoid about who he let into the castle. So, he made it to where one could only get in if that were his doing," the man explained.

"So, you rescued a lot of people from him, then?" Harry said this as more of a statement than a question.

Again Severus nodded. He detected a note of hope in Harry's tone. Perhaps the boy felt better knowing that Severus had been on this journey before. "But," he began, not wanting Harry to fall into a false sense of security, "we had brooms, which made the journey doable in half a night."

Harry nodded in response. His hopes had been dashed a little, but Snape still seemed to know where they were and that made him feel much better about their predicament.

"Where's the cabin then?" he asked curiously.

"The Black Forest," Severus replied with a hint of foreboding in his words.

"Why did you say it like that?" Harry inquired, one brow rising at the tone of the words.

Severus exhaled deeply. "Trolls, giants, vampires, werewolves… Need I continue?"

Harry's hopes were again dashed a bit more. But, the man still couldn't shake the confidence that children hold in adults in these types of situations. As long as he had Snape with him, he felt relatively safe. It was an odd feeling, putting his life in this man's hands as it was something he never thought that he would do. But, he didn't have much of a choice anyhow.

"Does your scar hurt?" came the abrupt question.

Harry looked into the man's eyes. They seemed to actually hold some genuine concern despite Severus' best attempts to hide any emotion. Harry's eyes dropped. The look he was getting was too odd. Shaking his head, he answered, "No."

"Please tell me if it does."

Harry nodded. "All right."

* * * * *

"Well, then what were you referring to?" Sirius asked annoyed.

McGonagall looked away with the expression that told Sirius and Remus that she had thought she'd said too much.

"Please, Minerva, if you know anything about Severus' past that might give us some hope to know that he is how you say, tell us," Remus requested.

The woman sighed. "Severus is a very private man and he would not be happy to know that I told you about this. However, I believe that knowing this will give you a better understanding that he is not the fiend that he is sometimes made out to be."

Sirius glanced over to Remus who was giving him a look that told him that he should hear what the woman had to say.

Relenting, Sirius slouched in his seat, an indication for McGonagall to precede.

"What do you know about his childhood before he came to Hogwarts?" she began.

Both me shook their heads to indicate that they knew nothing.

"We just assumed that it was basically a normal childhood," Sirius spoke up.

McGonagall scoffed. "Hardly. That boy had one of the saddest that I've heard of." Her words were spoken with such emotion that both men sat up in their seats, giving her their full attention.

"His parents were taken away from him when he was only six. His mother and father had taken him on a camping trip to southern Germany and Severus and his mother had been out one day hiking and had gotten lost in the late afternoon. That night, there was a full moon and they were attacked by a werewolf. She fended it off for as long as she could but by the time Severus' father had found them, the beast had finished her and was turning its attention back to Severus. His father got in its way, trying to protect the poor boy and died in the process. Fortunately for Severus, a local hunter had heard the screams and shot the animal before it could kill anything else."

Remus' eyes were wide with a mixture of pity and anguish. He had never thought that Severus' childhood was the happiest, but he had never imagined this. Memories of their school days flooded back into his mind. He had no idea that this was the real reason that Severus could not bring himself to accept him.

Sirius' eyes were cast downward onto the floor with an unreadable expression.

Eying the two men, she went on. "He was taken in by his father's mother, his only living relative. She was a vain and vindictive woman. She had hated Severus' mother and made sure that Severus knew about it. He was practically a prisoner living with her. She died when he was twelve and after discovering the truth behind his home life, Dumbledore took over custody of him, saving him from the orphanage. He seemed happier for a while but during his seventh year, he attempted suicide and would've succeeding had Lucius not found him and brought him to the hospital wing in time. He still hasn't told anyone why he had done that," she concluded.

Both men were silent. Remus looked horrified but Sirius still held the same unreadable expression.

They were saved from responding to what they had just learned when Dumbledore entered the room. The three adults stood to hear what information he had.

He greeted them before beginning. "Narcissa and I have decided that it would be best, under the circumstances, if she and Draco stay here under our protection for the time being."

* * * * *

Harry could just make out the first rays of the morning sun making their appearance in a clearing ahead. They had been hiking for a few hours after their stop at the creek and he felt like his legs were going to fall off. He could see that his potions professor had already made it to the clearing. They were still in the mountains though and it appeared as if he was looking down into a valley.

When Harry caught up to him, he peered out and realized that he was correct. Looking up at Snape, he saw that the man was concentrating on something far off in the distance. His eyes searched for whatever it was that the man was looking at. It took him a few minutes of probing the landscape with his eyes, but finally he had discovered what was captivating Snape. There was a barely visible plume of smoke coming from the horizon.

"What is it?" he asked as he regarded the gray cloud.

"It might be giants," Severus guessed. "They've been known to inhabit this area. But if that is the case, it's a bit strange to find them in the valley. They prefer to be in the mountains."

Harry considered this for a moment but said nothing more on the subject. "Are we staying here?"

Severus nodded. He didn't want to get any closer to the camp today but it was directly in their path. They could go around, but there was something about the camp that he was interested in.

Harry found a spot in the clearing that was further away from the edge and relatively flat. He knelt down and swept some rocks away with his hands. Finally satisfied with the condition of his bed for the day, he settled down, wrapping his cloak tightly around himself.

Shortly afterward, Severus came away from the edge and adjusted himself in a sitting position, leaning against a tree. He folded his arms across his chest, trying to keep as much heat as possible and closed his eyes.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Harry cleared his throat.

Severus' eyes opened. He had been expecting this since he had told the boy who Pettigrew was referring to.

"Professor?"

Perhaps his was wrong and the youth only wanted to know something about the journey. "Yes?" he said a bit reluctantly.

"How well did you know my mother?"

It was a simple question but not one that Severus was prepared to answer.

"We dated for a while during our sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts," he said as nonchalantly as possible. He knew that he shouldn't feel so awkward telling this to Harry, but it didn't change the fact that he did. He had never told anyone that they had dated.

Harry rolled over so that he was facing the man. "What was she like?"

It was an open ended question, not the type that Severus was used to answering. It would have been an easy enough question for most to answer, but he was not comfortable being asked questions like this. Still, he was grateful that the boy wasn't horrified at the answer.

"Haven't Black and Lupin told you about her?" he asked in an attempt to dodge the bullet.

Harry pushed himself up into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around his knees and resting his chin on them. "They've told me a lot about my dad, but not my mom.

'Of course not,' he thought to himself. Taking in a deep breath he began to think about what he should say. "Well," he began, "for one thing, she had a temper on her."

Harry's lips cracked into a grin at the thought that the most feared professor at Hogwarts was once the victim of his mother's fury.

Ignoring the amused look on the boy's face, he continued. "Despite her temper, she was the loveliest person that I've ever known," he finished, his voice sounding as if he was in a far corner of his mind.

"Did my dad know that you dated?"

"Yes, but I believe he was the only other person who knew until now."

"You and Mom didn't tell anyone?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Several reasons."

"Like what?"

"For one, Voldemort was just beginning to become a feared name. Muggle-born wizards and witches were beginning to fear for their lives. They did not associate with Slytherins for that one reason. Tensions were running high between houses, especially Gryffindor and Slytherin. It would've made things difficult for both of us at school. And, Voldemort was beginning to establish allegiance among the Slytherins, myself included. If he had discovered that there was anything between Lily and I he might have had her killed," he explained.

As Harry watched his professor talk about his mother, he observed the sadness creeping into the man's eyes. A few days ago, he never would've guessed that he would've seen so many emotions exhibited by Snape.

When he had finished, Snape looked at the boy. "Get some sleep," he muttered before rolling over and closing his eyes though he knew that he wouldn't be getting much rest himself.

Harry's curiosity was not satisfied, but he thought that it would be best not to push the issue at the moment. It was obvious to him that Snape had cared deeply for his mother and it was possible that he still care, noting by the reaction that he had had.

Harry rolled over so that he was facing the spiraling cloud of smoke climbing into the sky and fell into an exhausted but somewhat satisfied slumber.

* * * * *

Harry woke several hours later to the crackling of a fire. He turned over on the ground to find a fire where Snape had been but found that the man was missing.

He quickly sat up, alarmed to find himself alone. He looked around in every direction but found that he really was alone. Getting to his feet, he walked over the edge of the clearing, looking for the spot where the smoke had come from. Snape had seemed very interested in that spot earlier that morning.

His stomach rumbled. Putting his hand over it, he turned back to the fire. Maybe Snape would be back soon. Just as he was beginning to rationalize the situation, his ears perked up as he heard something. It sounded like footsteps, steady, almost fluid footsteps. Just like Snape's graceful stride.

Turning in the direction that the noise was coming from, Harry saw Severus' form emerge out of the wood and into the clearing.

"Where were you?" he demanded, sounding angrier than he had intended.

Severus dropped the load that he was carrying that Harry hadn't noticed before. "I thought that you were hungry," he replied.

For the first time, Harry looked at the bag. Severus took out some of the contents. There were apples and bread and some slabs of raw meat were in another bag contained in the larger one.

"Where did you get all of this?" Harry exclaimed in awe.

"Remember the smoke we saw earlier?" He waited for Harry to nod. "I was correct in assuming it to be a giant settlement. They sleep during the day so I was able to pilfer a few items," he explained.

"I didn't know giants could make bread," Harry commented.

Severus cocked his head to the side and brought it back to its original position in a sort of half shrug. "Likely they got it off of some unfortunate hikers."

"And the meat?" Harry asked, sounding a bit hesitant.

"Lamb. It's what they mostly dine on," the man reassured before stabbing a piece with a stick and putting it over the fire.

* * * * *

Harry trudged along behind Snape. They had been hiking for a week to the day since they had escaped. In that short amount of time, he had managed to prod a few stories about his mother out of the man. Snape had been trapped into telling him one when all of the hairs that made up his developing beard had suddenly fallen out simultaneously. It turned out that it was a charm of his mother's doing that she hadn't intended on lasting so long. Apparently she didn't like facial hair on Snape.

To his great surprise, he was actually beginning to like the man, something that he wouldn't have bet a twig off his broom for days ago. But Snape was beginning to turn into more of a person than he had thought possible. He was still irritable, but he always made Harry as comfortable as possible.

His scar had seared a few times but his professor would recite the incantation that he had before and lull him to sleep which was the best sleep he'd had during their trip. And Snape had collected some herbs and made an ointment to put over his hands to keep the skin covering his knuckles from cracking and bleeding which made their exposure much more tolerable.

Something else unexpected had occurred to Harry. Snape had become so protective over him that he noticed himself finding comfort in the man's company. He felt safe around the wizard and it was wonderful to hear all of his stories about his mother and to have Snape point out what traits of his belonged to her. He hoped that things wouldn't change once they got back to Hogwarts. He wished that their new relationship would stay the same. It would be really nice to have someone at Hogwarts that he could talk to about his parents. Well, his mother anyway. He wasn't sure how Sirius would take the news, but he doubted that his godfather would oppose Snape being easier on him.

* * * * *

The next morning, they had made camp close to the foot of the mountain. Harry had eaten an apple and then fallen asleep soon thereafter. Severus took to making another fire. Though they had almost made it to the bottom of the mountain, they were getting further north and everyday was colder than the one before. His hands were chapped and bleeding in some places. He hadn't found enough herbs to make enough of the ointment for both he and Harry so he went without. It was only about another week anyway and they were making good time.

Once the fire was going, Severus stretched and yawned. He could feel his pants getting looser from their limited resources but it didn't really bother him. Most of the time, he was too apprehensive about the possibility of not making it to the cabin that he didn't feel up to eating. And, because of their extraneous activity, that left him with very little energy.

Laying down on the ground, he curled up near the boy and fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * * * *

Harry's eyes snapped open with the shock of the excruciating pain coursing through his scar. He gasped as another wave hit him. Bringing his hand up to his forehead, he sat up, looking around for his glasses but the pain made it so difficult to focus on anything that he was unable to find them.

Suddenly, he heard a grunt behind him.

Severus groaned. His forearm felt like it was on fire. He wrapped his right hand over the mark and cracked his eyes open, squinting in the direction that Harry had been. He found the boy kneeling on his knees, looking in his direction.

Pushing himself up, he took a few strides toward the boy and knelt by his side. "I'm sorry if I woke you," he said, trying to keep his pain from creeping into his voice.

Harry shook his head. "You didn't. Apparently, Voldemort wasn't very happy this morning," Harry corrected his professor through gritted teeth.

"You're scar?" Severus asked, taking his hand away from his arm and using it to brush back the hair covering the lightning bolt shaped disfigurement.

Harry nodded. "What about your arm?"

Severus ignored the question and to Harry's astonishment, actually picked him up. Harry, feeling awkward, but not really in a position to argue with his head beginning to pound, wrapped his arms around Severus' neck and rested his head against the man's shoulder. He screwed his eyes as tightly as he could, trying to shut out the pain with the light.

He felt the wizard sitting down and leaning against something, most likely a tree.

Severus kept one arm enclosed around the boy, supporting him and with the other arm, he used his fingers to soothingly stroke the scar. He began whispering the incantation once more, trying to lull the child back to sleep.

Harry, however, did not want to go to sleep. He felt awake. He just wanted the pain to go away.

"Professor?"

"Shh, relax and go to sleep," came the reply.

Harry shook his head slightly. "I don't want to sleep."

Severus continued the soft chant.

"What sort of magic is this?" Harry questioned, trying to stay awake. The pain was subsiding and he had become quite curious about it.

"It's an ancient form of magic," Severus explained, ceasing the incantation. "It was all but forgotten until Voldemort's first rise to power when the ministry began training aurors in its powers."

"You were an auror?" Harry asked a bit skeptically.

Severus let out a deep breath. "No, but I was trained as one when I became a spy," he answered.

"Did you train with my father?" the boy inquired timidly. He felt comfortable talking with his professor in most things now, but he didn't want to push his good luck by bringing up his father too often.

Severus shook his head. "Your father," he began, trying to sounds as neutral as possible, "commenced his training directly out of Hogwarts."

"Oh," Harry said, sounding as if Severus' answer had only made him more curious.

Severus wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to linger on the topic, but by the sound of Harry's response, he felt that the boy would question him further sooner or later and it might as well be sooner.

"Aurors continue their training throughout their career, so your father was well ad versed to this type of magic," he continued. "Your mother as well."

"Was she an auror?"

"No, but I believe that your father thought that it was important for her to know many of the things he knew and there wasn't anything magical that your mother couldn't master," he clarified.

Harry nodded, indicating that he wished for nothing more than for Severus to continue.

Severus hesitated for a moment. His next bit of information was a bit controversial. He felt that it was important for the child to know, but it would likely cause him some grief.

"That was what your mother used to protect you," he said finally.

Harry's heart skipped a beat and his gaze fell to his lap.

Severus felt Harry's spirits fall. He momentarily regretted spilling the information but he knew that, ultimately this was for the best. The boy would have to learn all of the gruesome details later.

After a few silent moments, Harry shifted in Severus' lap. "Professor?" he said without looking up.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I'm not tired anymore. Do you think we could get started early?" the inquiry held a dejected note that the boy had intended to hide, but had failed.

Severus thought this over for a moment. What he had just told the youth would have upset him and he probably wanted to start off so he would have some time to think about what he had just learned.

"All right," he said, helping Harry push himself up and then following suit. He put out the fire, covering it with dirt and with that, the two once again embarked on their journey.

* * * * *

The day had seemed short to Harry. For the time being, he didn't really want to think about what Severus had told him, so he busied himself with asking the man questions about his days at Hogwarts, and eventually his days as a spy. He was surprised to learn that Snape and his father had actually worked together on a number of occasions.

"So, you two eventually got along then?" he asked as the sun's final rays vanished over a mountain.

Severus let out a scoff. "No, we never had any sort of affinity toward each other," he stated.

"But you worked together so much," Harry said, a bit disappointed. But then again, if his father and Snape had gotten along eventually, his first four years at Hogwarts would probably have gone over more smoothly.

"Yes," Severus replied. "There was one point that we saw eye to eye on: the destruction of Voldemort."

"Oh," came Harry's short response.

Severus rolled his eyes but thought that it was high time to make an important point to the Gryffindor. "Harry, your father and I never liked each other. But when it came to matters of Voldemort, we swallowed our differences and worked together. We accomplished many things working together that would not have been possible otherwise."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"I think that you should give the same consideration to Draco," Severus suggested, expecting Harry to hastily decline the proposal.

But, to his surprise, Harry nodded, agreeing with him. Severus noticed that the boy's eyes dropped to the moonlit ground.

Severus' eyes narrowed at the level of illumination. Looking upward in the sky, his fears were affirmed.

"I hope that Draco-" Harry was cut off by Severus' hand covering his mouth.

"Full moon," the man whispered.

Harry looked up, seeing that his professor was correct and as if on cue, the unmistakable howl of a werewolf resounded of the sides of the mountains encompassing them.

Severus whipped around and cursed. "Shit! It's been tracking us!"

Harry's eyes widened. He instinctively moved closer to the man. "What do we do?"

Severus roughly took Harry by the wrist. "Run!"

* * * * *

Author's Note: That…was…so…long. Again, not much happened, but I needed a chapter for our two heroes to bond and develop their relationship more. Obviously, the next chapter will be much more exciting and fun to write :-) It should be up sometime this weekend.

Also, thank you to all those who reviewed! This isn't a challenge fic. I actually don't know where the challenges are listed. Draco will definitely make an appearance, but toward the end.

Hope no one fell asleep during that…. Didn't mean for it to be so long…. I tried to proof read it, but it was long, so I skimmed. Thanks for reading and please review!