Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Chapter 5: Snape's Agony

As Harry walked in the Dining Room he saw a long, almost black table. Matching chairs surrounded it. There was a crystal chandelier with candles in it hanging over it. The chandelier had small serpents through out it that seemed to be slithering around it. The floor was made of dark hardwood and there were dark green drapes over the windows. There were no pictures anywhere on the walls. There were two places set, but as Snape wasn't there yet he wasn't sure where to sit. He was trying to decide when Snape came out of the study.

"Potter, go sit down and quit lurking in the door!" Snape snapped irritably.

Harry went and sat down at what he hoped was the right place. Snape took the other chair. As they sat down the food appeared just like at Hogwarts. Harry sat there nervously as Snape started taking food; not sure of trusting anything that Snape offered him. Not after all the threats of using Veritaserum or poisoning him.

"I imagine even you know how to serve yourself. You can't be that dense." Severus said coldly. Harry glanced at Snape and noticed that he was watching him.

"Yes, sir." Harry muttered, trying not to let Snape get to him.

He reluctantly started putting food on his plate. Severus watched him for a moment, then went back to his own meal. Harry picked at his plate. He was hungry having not eating since the day before, but he really didn't trust Snape. As they ate, Harry started to wonder were Hedwig was. She hadn't came to the house yet and she normally could find him anywhere. Feeling a little nervous, he decided to ask if Snape had seen her.

"Err…. Professor?" he said tentatively, not really wanting Snape's attention on him but needing to know. Severus looked at him with a very annoyed look. That wasn't helping at all.

"I..I was wondering if you have seen my owl. I sent her on her own to meet us. She has never failed to find me before, sir."

Severus didn't say anything for awhile, he just watched Harry. That was only making Harry more nervous about Hedwig, he wondered if Snape had actually done something to her.

"What do you imagine I did to her, Potter?" Severus said with a smirk.

"Nothing, sir. I just haven't seen her since we got here and was worried that she got lost somewhere." Harry said, not wanting Snape to know what he really thought.

"She is probably outside. The wards won't recognize her unless I add her to them. If you had informed me, it could have been token care of when we got here." Severus said softly, obviously annoyed. He snapped his fingers and Tina appeared beside him. "Go outside and see if there is a snowy owl waiting and let me know."

"Yes, Master Snape." Tina said, bowing and leaving the room.

Severus sat glaring at Harry and waited for Tina to return. Harry went back to picking at his plate so he didn't have to look at Snape.

"There is an owl sitting in the tree out front, Master Snape." Tina said as soon as she returned.

"Thank you, Tina. That'll be all." Severus said, standing and heading for the front door.

Harry watched him leave, not sure if he should follow. He decided he didn't want to be near an obviously angry Snape. Not that he had ever seen Snape not angry when he was around. Snape came back after a few minutes and sat across from Harry.

"She will be in your room when you return." Severus said. "If you must send letters, as I know you will, you are not to tell anyone where you are. You are not to tell them that you are with me. To everyone else you are still at your muggle relatives. If any letters are intercepted it would be dangerous for everyone. If you can not refrain yourself, I will check all letters before they leave. Is that understood, Potter?"

"What about Ron and Hermione? They will worry about me. Even if I'm at my relatives, sir" Harry said in a stung tone. Did nobody trust him not to understand the importance of what was going on? Ron and Hermione never gave away any of his secrets before so why shouldn't he trust to tell them now?

"The people that need to know have been informed. The fewer people that know where you are, the better it is for you. As long as the Dark Lord believes you are at that muggle house you are not in any immediate danger." Severus said rather snidely. "It seems that some people still care about what happens to you. I for one do not see the necessity to keep wasting everybody's time to keep an eye on you, when you are so determined to do as you please regardless of the consequences." Severus added in a dangerously menacing tone.

Harry got angry but tried not to let what Snape said get to him. He knew he was waiting for a reason to punish him for some reason. Harry went back to trying to eat, but he had lost the little bit of an appetite he had. He just wanted to get away from Snape before he lost his temper. He could feel Snape watching him. Getting fed up with being around Snape, Harry pushed his plate away. He started to stand but was called back.

"Potter, sit down. I haven't said you could leave yet." Severus said sharply.

Harry reluctantly sank back into his seat. All he wanted at this moment was to get away. Seeing that he couldn't, he settled for staring at the table.

"Have you gotten any of your homework done yet?" Severus asked.

"No. How could I with my stuff locked away?" Harry said sarcastically, intentionally leaving the sir off. He looked up slowly at Snape, glaring. He was too angry to care what happened at this point.

Severus's eyes narrowed as he said in his most menacing voice, "Watch your tone, Potter. I will not be disrespected in my own home."

"Yes, sir." Harry said through clenched teeth.

"I want you to work on your homework when you are on your own. It should keep you out of trouble and out of my way. If you need any books for research, not that you've ever taken the time for that, ask for it. When you are finished with it all let me know and I'll find something to keep you…amused." Severus said with an evil looking grin. "Don't forget your Occlumency lessons will be every few days, after lunch, starting tomorrow. We don't have much time so you will start practicing tonight. Clear your mind before bed and be on you guard throughout the day. I may decide to test you at any given time. Understood, Potter?"

"Yes, sir!" Harry said angrily.

Severus surveyed him for a minute before speaking. "You may go." He said softly.

Harry got up and left as quickly as he could without running. He went up to his room and threw himself into the bed. He layed there staring at the ceiling. He was mad at Snape and Dumbledore. If it weren't for Dumbledore, he wouldn't be stuck here with Snape. What was the man thinking? Everyone knew that they couldn't stand to be in the same room together, let alone making them live together for any amount of time. If they made it through the summer it would be a miracle. Then there was Snape. The man made it his lives ambition to make Harry's life miserable. All that Harry had done was be born to the wrong people. Well, wrong in Snape's opinion anyway. His opinion didn't matter to Harry. It made him mad whenever Snape would put his father down or call him names. Snape never said anything about his mother. Harry had never thought about it before. Snape never said anything about Harry's mother. Nothing bad and nothing good. Harry knew that Snape had known her in school. He had seen her trying to stop his father from picking on Snape in the memory he had seen in Snape's pensieve. Was that why he never said anything bad about her? And why did his Aunt Patunia sound and look worried when Snape had left with Harry. Did she know him somehow? Trying to forget those thought's, Harry got up and went over to scratch Hedwig on the head. She gave him an affectionate nip on his finger. Then he went over to the desk to start on his homework. He decided to leave potions for last and started on History of Magic.

Snape sat at the table. He knew why Dumbledore had asked him to take the Potter brat, but he wondered about the old mans sanity at times. It would be a miracle if he made it through this summer intact. Between Potter, his work for the Order, and the Dark Lord he'd never get any peace.

"Master Snape? Are you alright?" Tina asked as she came in to clean up.

"I'm all right, Tina." Severus said. He got up and went into the study. When he entered the study he saw his raven was back. A letter was on his desk waiting for him. Sighing warily, he went over, sat down and picked up the letter to read it.

Good to know you made it okay. Never had a doubt that you wouldn't. I will be stopping over tonight to see how things are going with you both. I know it will be hard, but I know you will do well. I trust you to do as you see fit and I trust you to take good care of Harry. Albus.

Great! Now I have to answer more questions from the Headmaster. Will I never get a break? Severus thought. Getting up, he went over to the hidden door and headed down to his lab. It always help to take his mind off of other, unpleasant things when he worked on his potions.

Xoxoxo

Sorry this took so long to get out. I'll try to get another chapter out by Friday. It is hard to get time to type them up after work. There are just not enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done.

I want to thank everyone that reviewed. I'm glad that some of you think that they are in character. I'm really trying to keep them as J.K. has them in the books. I think she did a great job on them and don't want to ruin them. Of course, I'll never be able to write them as she does. I can at least try to do them justice. Thanx for all the suggestions. They have helped a lot. I will let you know how Severus and Petunia know each other soon. In a few more chapters maybe. I have to figure out how to get Harry to either find out or get up the nerve to ask Severus. Thanx again for the reviews.

Rhi