Chapter 9:

When Harry awoke the next morning, he realized right away that he felt much better. His neck and throat were no longer sore, and his wrists had completely lost the black and blue marks from where his uncle had tied him up to hang in the cupboard. His headache had finally completely dissipated as well, for which the young boy was immensely grateful. He also realized that he was extremely hungry, and his empty stomach told him so.

Harry carefully climbed out of his bed, and gingerly walked to the bathroom. He relieved himself, and washed his hands and face. Then he looked into the mirror, and gasped. His face was thin, and his eyes had dark circles under them, and were also slightly bloodshot. He really hoped his potions professor could take care of his appearance for him before he saw Hermione.

Hermione...just thinking her name gave Harry a safe, warm feeling in the depths of his soul. How or when he had started thinking about her in a more than friends way was beyond him, but he now knew he wanted to. He was truly excited to read her next letter to him.

It was then that Harry heard someone clear their throat, and he turned to see his godfather standing in the doorway of his room. The shaggy haired man motioned for the boy to come into the bedroom and then asked, "A knut for your thoughts?"

"I was just thinking about..." Harry hesitated for a moment, then continued. "It's Hermione. I was just thinking about her, and how much I'd like to see her. Do you think it would be all right if she could come here for a visit? She could help me with some of my homework, and, well, maybe she could help all of us. Perhaps, she could help figure out why Dumbledore did these things to you and Professor Snape, and to me." Harry's voice shook at the end of his statement, something that did not go unnoticed by the boy's godfather.

Sirius sat down on the bed and motioned Harry to come join him. The boy sat down next to the man, who wrapped an arm around the boy's now shaking shoulders.

"I tell you what, let's go to breakfast, and we'll talk to Severus and see what we can do about allowing Hermione to come for a visit. You're right about one thing: Hermione is the perfect person to do the research to figure out what Dumbledore did to us, and help us figure out what our next move will be."

Harry relaxed into his godfather's hug, but his face now had a huge smile on it. He nodded his head and together, the two walked downstairs into the kitchen. There they found Severus sitting at the table with the Daily Prophet in his hand, and a cup of coffee in the other.

"Good morning Professor Snape," greeted Harry.

"Good morning, Harry. And I've already told you, as long as we're here at this house, you may call me Severus. Now, how did you sleep? How are you feeling?"

Harry blushed slightly, and sat down near his new friend. "Um, I slept pretty well, thanks. I did have one nightmare, but I went right back to sleep. No big deal. And, I feel pretty good today. My headache is gone, my wrists don't hurt anymore, and I don't feel as tired. I did have something to ask you, though," and the boy stopped speaking and waited.

"I'm guessing you would like for those dark circles under your eyes to disappear? Am I correct?" The potions master smirked ever so slightly as Harry nodded, his eyes wide with astonishment.

"I believe I can brew up an ointment that will remove those circles. I also believe I may be able to do something about your eyesight. We can try to make your sight better, if not perfectly. Would that be all right with you?"

Harry looked ecstatic at the thought of seeing without his glasses, and quickly nodded his head yes. He was about to go hug the smiling professor when Dobby suddenly appeared and breakfast was served.

Harry looked at the table with wide eyes and laughed as he remarked, "I just love magic!"

Severus and Sirius both stared at the boy for a few seconds before laughing themselves. They quickly loaded their plates with eggs, bacon, pancakes, and many other items. Harry then dug into his plate with gusto, amusing his godfather immensely.

Soon enough, breakfast was over, with Harry draining his third glass of pumpkin juice. Sirius looked at his godson and shook his head before saying, "You know, Sev, if Harry keeps eating like this, he just might put some meat on his bones. Did you see how much food he just put away?"

Harry stilled for just a moment, afraid he was going to get in trouble for eating his fill, but after he stole a glance at his now chuckling guardian, he relaxed.

Harry decided to explain. "Well, I was never allowed to eat that much at the Dursleys. They would barely let me eat the scraps of what they were going to throw out. Heck, there were times that they did throw out perfectly good food instead of letting me eat it." Harry stopped talking, a sad, haunted look in his dark eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed by the Potions Master.

"Harry," Severus began, "You will never have to go back there, and you will always have food to eat as long as I am here to provide. No child should be starved for food when there is food in the cupboard. What they did to you is unacceptable and reprehensible. Mark my words, the Dursleys will pay for what they've done to you."

Harry sniffed, and giving into his earlier impulse, threw himself into the arms of his previously hated potions professor. The man looked startled at first, but after a moment of hesitation, he finally wrapped his arms around the youth, and gave the boy the much needed hug he was craving. Harry relaxed into the embrace and sighed deeply, breathing in the scent of his professor's robes. Sandalwood, spice, and other earthy scents filled his nostrils, and it made Harry feel safe and relaxed.

Releasing his hold on Severus, Harry looked up into his face, suddenly feeling rather silly. But seeing the real, genuine smile on the man's face relieved his fears. Then he heard a low chuckle from behind him. Sirius was standing across the room, his arms folded across his chest.

"Well, you got another one of those for me?" He asked his smirking godson.

Harry quickly ran across the room and leapt into the waiting arms of his godfather, who wrapped him in a tight embrace. After a moment, Sirius released him and the two men and teen walked into the study to plan out their day.

Severus left to get the necessary ingredients to make the oinment for Harry's face, and since Sirius was still on the run from the Ministry and unable to go with him, he decided he would work with Dobby on getting the rest of the house cleaned up. Then the man remembered something.

"Oh, Harry, remember Buckbeak?"

Harry quickly nodded his head, his face shining with love for the animal.

"Well, when you're up to it, climb the stairs all the way up to the last room on the left, before the attic. I modified the room for him, and he's living up there! I'm sure he'd love to see you, too. I just wish I could let him out to fly."

Harry was about to run up the stairs to see the animal that had saved his godfather's life in third year, then stopped.

"Sirius, Pro-, Severus, I have an idea. There are spells that are used to make humans invisible, right? Why can't we use one on Buckbeak, so he can go flying at night? As long as he knows to be back by sunrise, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Harry looked on as his potions professor looked like he had been slapped in the face. Then, a huge grin broke out on his face.

"Harry, I do believe you've got something there. A spell might wear off too soon, and it might not work at all on an animal, but a potion...I could create a potion for Buckbeak to drink every evening, and we could let him out to come and go as he wanted during the night. We'd still be able to see him, because we would know he was there, but no one else would. It could be sort of like a cross between an invisibility potion and the Fidelius Charm. That's a brilliant idea, Harry."

The boy nodded his thanks, his cheeks red with embarrassment, but secretly he was bursting with pride at being complimented so by his potions professor. Then he turned around and made his way to the top of the stairs and opened the door to Buckbeak's room.

Buckbeak heard the door opening and quickly got to his feet. He was hoping that the dog-man would let him out of the room so he could go flying and stretch his wings. However, when the man didn't come in, he almost laid back down, but he noticed a familiar form come in. It was the boy that had ridden him a while back, and the same one who had freed him while he was chained up in the pumpkin patch. He shook his head and squawked out a loud greeting.

Harry heard the loud squawk and hoped that Buckbeak was just saying hello. He quickly bowed low in front of the large animal, and waiting for Beaky to bow back, which he did very quickly. Then Beaky and boy rushed toward each other, the animal lowering his head and the boy raising his arms to throw around the hippogriff's neck. There they stood for several minutes, with Harry stroking the animal's soft feathers, offering as much touch and comfort as possible, and Buckbeak nuzzling the boy's hands and face, trying return that love.

After about five minutes of this, Harry looked around to find a trunk sitting in the corner of the room. He went over to it and opened it up, to find a stash of dead ferrets, with an apparent non-spoilage charm placed on them. Harry quickly grabbed out three of them and proceeded to throw them up in the air for the animal to catch, all the while explaining to him what he and Severus were going to do to help him go flying at night. It seemed as if Buckbeak could understand the conversation, because he was soon nodding his head at Harry, promising to hang on for a few more days until the potion could be made and tested. Harry then threw his arms around the hippogriff's neck once more, hugging him for dear life, before promising to visit again later on. Buckbeak squawked out a goodbye, and laid back down on his pallet for a rest.

Harry was quickly running back downstairs to find his godfather, when he noticed Hedwig flying in the downstairs window. She had a letter attached to her leg.

Hermione, Harry thought, with a huge smile breaking out on his face. Hedwig quickly flew over to his master's shoulder and stuck out her leg. She cooed to him softly and nipped his fingers lovingly and flew off to her perch to eat and drink and take a nap.

Harry quickly opened the letter and read it, his heart pounding with excitement.

Dearest Harry,

Of course I won't tell anyone I've heard from you. I'm glad I got your letter when I did, though. It wasn't even an hour later when Professor Dumbledore dropped by to ask me if I had heard from you yet this summer. I told him no, and then asked why. He seemed really upset about something, but all he would say was that it was really important to your safety that I let him know if I heard from you. I told him that I would, and he left. I was so nervous that he would see Hedwig upstairs, but she must have realized he was here, because she took off out the window, and then came back after he had left. She is one smart owl! I told her so, and she nipped my fingers!!

Anyway, I would love to come see you. My mum and dad even said that I could come stay with you the rest of the summer if I wanted to. They're planning to go on a special dentist convention in France the rest of the summer and they knew I wouldn't really enjoy that, so, let me know when to be there, and I'm all yours, until school starts that is.

There's some things I want to talk to you about as well, Harry. I'm glad that I will be able to come see you because I wouldn't want to write them in a letter. We can also get all of our homework done, and hopefully get our new books for next year later this summer. Please hurry and owl me back with your answer! Oh, I can't wait to see you!

Until then, all my love, Hermione

Harry read the letter three times, each time pausing at the those three words, all my love, making his heart flutter and his stomach feel like butterflies had invaded it. He laughed softly to himself before jumping out of the chair he had dropped into to read his letter, and taking off to find his godfather and friend to figure out how to get his friend her safely to Grimmauld Place.

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Dumbledore had just apparated back to his office when he found a note from the Weasleys on his desk. He quickly opened it up, hoping to find out that young Harry was there, but there was no such news in the letter. It did say that they hadn't heard from Harry, but it wasn't unusual for him not to send an owl so soon after school, mainly because of those horrid Dursleys. Molly again pleaded her case to the headmaster, begging him to allow them to go fetch the boy and bring him back to the Burrow, so he could at least be fed and clothed properly.

Dumbledore sighed deeply, mostly out of aggravation than boredom, and quickly penned a letter back to the matron, instructing her to contact him the moment that young Ronald heard from his friend. He also said it was of the utmost importance that he be contacted as soon as he had owled. He turned around to ask Fawkes to take the letter to the Weasleys, but one look at the empty perch told him that his phoenix hadn't returned. Where had that damned bird gone, he thought angrily, as he stomped off to the owlery. He failed to notice his transfiguration professor watching from behind a suit of armor. The woman shook her head sadly as she watched the man she had admired for so long charging down the hallway toward the owlery, hoping beyond hope that wherever Severus and Harry were, they were somewhere safe where Albus couldn't find them.

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It was later in the evening when Severus come back from his trip to obtain potions ingredients. He did not wear the face of a happy man when he was greeted by Sirius and Harry.

The boy took one look at his potions professor and said, "What happened? Did Dumbledore catch you in your office?"

Severus relaxed a bit, set down his box of supplies and replied, "No, he didn't. However, Minerva did. She said she had been waiting for me to return to my office for days now, hoping she would catch me. It seems that she has noticed that something is off with our headmaster these days." The man smirked an evil grin at this point, causing the teen to giggle.

Sirius then joined the conversation. "Well, what did she say? Does he know where we are? Oh, wait, of course he doesn't know where we are. This house is under the Fidelius and I'm the secret keeper. No one knows about this place, except the Mauraders, and the Blacks, who are all dead now, except me, you, Remus..." Sirius trailed off, his eyes opening wide with fear.

Harry quickly paled and rushed to his godfather's side, asking him what was wrong.

"I completely forgot about Peter. He knows about this place, too. Well, if he shows up, we can catch him and that will prove my innocence to the ministry. That is, if we can find someone to hand the rat over to..."

Severus thought for a moment and said, "Harry, doesn't your friend, Hermione, have a cat, a kneazle?"

"Yes, sir, she does. His name is Crookshanks. Why do you ask, sir?"

"If the rat shows up in 'rat' form, then, Crookshanks will be able to catch him for us, and then we will have our proof of your godfather's innocence."

For a second time that day, Harry launched himself into the potions master's arms, and this time, the boy did hang on for dear life, thanking his professor profusely for helping and having such great ideas. When the boy finally let go, they both had to wipe away a few tears, Harry more so than Severus. The older man quietly nodded his head and said that he needed to get that potion started for Harry's face. He quickly grabbed his box of supplies and exited the room.

Harry stared after him for a moment before feeling a hand fall gently on his shoulder. He turned to see his godfather standing beside him, his eyes suspiciously bright. Harry wrapped his arms around the man's neck, giving both of them some much needed comfort.

It was then that Harry remembered about the letter from Hermione.

"Sirius, I got a letter from Hermione today. She says she can come stay the rest of the summer with me. Isn't that great? She'll be able to help us figure out what's going on with Dumbledore, and loads of other stuff. Please say she can come stay, please?" Harry gave his best imitation of a puppy, and Sirius caved.

"Of course she can come stay. We'll have to find someone who will be willing to go get her and bring her here. I know, we'll get Remus to do it. Hermione knows him, and as far as we know, Dumbledore doesn't know he knows anything about where you are, so there's no reason to think he would be followed. Hm, are her parents going to be in town this summer?"

Harry quickly answered, "No, they're going to a convention in France for the rest of the summer. Hey, I get it! That means that Dumbledore won't be able to ask them who picked Hermione up and took her away. That's just brilliant!"

Sirius laughed at his godson and messed with his hair slightly. "Right on, pup. Hopefully, he won't think to go looking for them, either. However, if we time this right, we could go pick her up while they're not home, and they wouldn't see who picked her up, so even if Dumbledore did ask, they wouldn't be able to tell anything. Yes, I think that's exactly what we'll do. Here's what you need to write back to Hermione about the plans. Oh, and tell her to burn the letter once she reads it, just in case."

Harry quickly ran and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and ink well, before sitting down to write out the letter with the plans for her departure later that week. Sirius laughed again at his love struck godson before walking down to the potions lab to assist Severus in making the ointment for Harry's face.

"Hey, Harry? Once you send Hedwig out, why don't come help us in the lab? This will give you some practice in potions making, and if I remember correctly, it's not a difficult potion to make."

"Ok, Sirius. I'll be there in a few minutes. And please tell Severus, thanks for me."

Harry finished up the letter to his friend and walked upstairs to his bedroom. He found his faithful familiar on her perch, her eyes bright and shining. When she saw her master enter the room, she quickly flew to his shoulder and rubbed her head on his face. The boy reached up and touched the luxoriously soft feathers on the owl's neck, scratching ever so gently, trying not to pull any of those feathers, even on accident. After she had had enough loving, she stuck her leg obediently, for the letter to be attached.

Harry then told her, "Take this to Hermione, and try to make sure you're not being followed. Just be very careful, ok girl?"

Hedwig hooted softly and nuzzled Harry's face once more before taking off out the window, ready to deliver the letter. Harry watched her until she was out of sight, before quickly taking off downstairs to the potions lab to begin his education, his real education, in the fine art of potion making. He hoped that he would find out that he was actually good at it, and that the only problem was the way that Severus had been teaching the class due to Dumbledore's spell.

As it turned out, that was exactly how it was. Harry quickly caught on to almost everything that Severus asked him to do. He asked many questions, mostly about why something had to be a certain way. Once he knew that, it was easy for Harry to dice and mince and puree' everything he had to. He even managed to get the stirring clockwise and counterclockwise down. It wasn't long before the potion turned from the watery substance it was to a nice, thick, creamy ointment, with a pleasant odor. He looked down at his instructions, read them through a fourth time, checked the consistency, and then looked up at Severus, who was also checking the same thing.

Harry held his breath while the potions master stirred the concoction, and then ladled it into a jar. When the man broke out into a broad smile, Harry finally let the air out of his lungs. He grinned slightly at the man, and broke into a full smile as the man praised him for a job well done.

"Well, it seems you can correctly brew a potion. Somehow, I always knew you could do it. Lily was great at potions. I'm so sorry I was so hard on you during your first four years..."

Harry wouldn't let the man finish. "It's ok, Severus. It wasn't your fault. Dumbledore did this, and I don't blame you at all. But, I am happy to know that I really can do this the right way. Um, when can we start using that potion?" Harry began bouncing on his feet, eager to get his face looking somewhat normal again.

"How about right now? Now, sit down, close your eyes, and I'll apply the first dose. It may have a pleasant fragrance, but make sure you don't use too much at one time. A little goes a long way with this stuff, and too much will cause the opposite effect of what you want."

"Yes sir. Not too much," Harry repeated, and closed his eyes. He then felt strong yet gentle fingers messaging the ointment into his face and under his eyes. It was almost enough to lull the boy to sleep. Way too soon, it was over, and Harry opened his eyes.

"Well, want to the results?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, please," Harry answered, a little apprehensive about what he would see in the mirror. He took the offered glass and looked into it and gasped. There were no more dark circles under his eyes, his eyes had lost the redness and puffiness they had earlier, and the scars from his beating from his uncle were gone as well. His face actually looked normal and healthy for a change.

"Wow! Thanks Severus. I look great! Um, I mean..." the poor boy started stammering after he realized what he had just said. Both Sirius and Severus started chuckling at how red Harry's face was becoming, but Sirius quickly put his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"It's ok, pup. We know what you meant. And besides, you do look great. You look almost normal now. All we need is to get some meat on your bones. We're already giving you the nutrition potion, so I'm not sure if there is anything else we can do. Is there, Sev?"

"Let me research it and get back to you. I do believe I can brew something that's not necessarily in the healer's manuals that could help in this situation. The potion you're taking now is a strong nutritive potion that will increase your appetite. Considering how much food you ate at breakfast and lunch, it is obviously working, but I might be able to make it a bit stronger so you gain more muscle without the fiat that comes along with it. But first, I'm going to work on the potion for your eyesight. I'm not sure if I can get rid of your glasses, but I would at least like to improve your eyes enough that you won't be totally blind if you lose them. Perhaps I can improve them enough so that you only need glasses for reading and studying."

Sirius responded with a heartfelt thanks, and then announced that he was going to go see what Dobby had planned for dinner. Harry decided to stay with Severus and help with the brewing of the second potion. Soon, after dicing, slicing, mincing and crushing many herbs, and some rather nasty looking insects, the potion turned out perfect once again. Severus had just given the handwritten instructions to Harry and let him begin, hoping the boy would be able to get at least halfway though it without asking for help.

The man couldn't have been prouder when the boy made the final counter clockwise stir of the glass rod and raised it out of the potion and let the drop on the end fall into the cauldron. Just like Lily, he thought with a pain in his heart.

Once that drop had hit the surface of the potion, it turned from the clear liquid, to a pale blue color, just like the instructions had predicted. Harry looked over at his professor to find the man standing there with a vial in hand. Harry quickly ladled out a dose of the potion into the vial, noticing the beautiful light blue color of it. Severus quickly looked at the vial, holding it up to the light to examine the color and consistency. After a few tense moments, the man broke out into another broad smile and handed the vial to the teen standing in front of him.

"Perfect, Harry. I couldn't have done it better myself," Severus praised the boy. Harry blushed slightly as he said thanks, and then looked expectantly at the vial and then at the potions master. Severus nodded his head for him to drink the potion, so he did.

Harry almost spit it back out, the taste was so horrible, But, after his experience with the Skel-gro back in his second year, he had learned to not spit out the potions, no matter how awful they tasted. Once he had made sure it wasn't going to come back up, he grimaced and remarked, "Man, that was awful. It sure looked pretty in the vial, but it sure didn't taste pretty."

Severus smiled, with understanding showing on his face. Then he reached for an eyedropper and drew up a dropper full of the same potion.

"This is to by dropped into your eyes directly. I will drop three drops into both eyes, after which you will need to close them for exactly one minute. Then when you open them, you should notice a marked difference without your glasses. Go ahead and take them off now. Ok, sit back and open your eyes as wide as you can. Here we go."

Severus dropped the three drops of potion into both of Harry's eyes, and then the boy quickly closed them, waiting for the man to let him know when the time was up. It was the longest minute Harry had ever known. He told his professor about Hermione coming to spend the rest of the summer with them, and that Remus was going to go get her later in the week and bring her over.

Finally the minute was over, and Severus told the boy to open his eyes slowly. He handed the boy a handkerchief so he wipe the potion and a couple of tears off his face.

Harry slowly opened his eyes and then blinked a couple of times before staring at everything. He could see perfectly! So perfectly, in fact, he had to reach up to make sure he had indeed taken off his glasses. He jumped up and ran around the room, looking at books, and things both close up and far away. He turned around to see Severus sitting on the table across the room, his amused face clear as a bell.

Harry's face broke out into a wide grin and, and for a third time that day, Harry quickly leapt into the potion master's arms. This time, Severus was ready. He wrapped his arms around the teen and squeezed tightly, showing the boy the affection and love that he had craved his whole life.

Severus felt the boy's shoulders shaking slightly and pulled back to see what was wrong. He was met with Harry's tear stained face. He became alarmed and asked, "Whatever is wrong, Harry? Did I hurt you? Are you're eyes burning, can you still see ok?"

Harry took a deep breath to calm down and then explained, "I'm all right, sir. It's just...I never thought I'd ever be able to see this good without those horrid glasses. Especially with quidditch, I'm always afraid of them blowing off my face, or getting wet from the rain. Now, I won't have to worry about it! I'll be able to see the snitch with any problem. I'll be able to see the blackboard from the back of the room without having to ask someone what's there. And, if I ever get hit in the face again by Dudley, or Uncle Vernon, or Aunt Petunia, I won't have to deal with my glasses getting broken. Thank you so much for doing this for me! I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"Harry, first of all, I didn't do anything. You made the potion yourself. I didn't help you at all. I did get the ingredients, but that's it. You made this potion all by yourself. So, secondly, no thanks are necessary. However, you may assist me in cleaning up the lab, so we can go eat dinner. I don't know about you, but I'm starved!" Severus grinned at the boy who didn't need glasses any longer. They both quickly cleaned up the lab, and then walked back up to the kitchen for dinner.

The whole time the three men were eating, Harry couldn't help but think about how lucky he was. Lucky that Sirius and Severus had found him, and he could see without his glasses, and, in a few more days, he was going to spend the rest of the summer with a girl whom he wanted to get to know much better, and hopefully make his girlfriend. He couldn't stop the soft smile that flitted across his face, and it didn't go unnoticed by either of the two men. They just hoped that the boy would find the happiness he deserved and maybe just be able to have a normal summer before having to go back to Hogwarts in the fall, where he would have to deal with Dumbledore's manipulations again.

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Hello everyone!! Well, it's only been a couple of months, and I'm finally ready to post another chapter for you. I do hope you have enjoyed reading this one. Not a lot of action, but more bonding moments for Harry, Severus and Sirius. I think things will pick up a bit next chapter.

Now, for those who have been reading faithfully, I thank you so much!!!!!! And for those who have been reading and reviewing faithfully, I wish I could give you all a huge hug!!! Thanks to every one of you!!!!!! I really do appreciate every review I get. I know I'm terrible about not responding to my reviews...so I'm going to do my best to start doing that! If I've already responded, I may respond again, just so you know.

Also, thanks goes out to Kayla, who has taken over betaing for me. This will be her first beta job, so bear with her while she jumps in and gets the hang of things. Oh, Kayla is now posting her third story in the Hope series, called Living With Hope. Her penname is JesusFreak10110, and her story is on thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing...I can't thank you all enough!! It really makes my day to see those reviews in my inbox!!!

Thanks again, and I'll see you next chapter! Nita