Snape narrowed his eyes at him and Harry stared back with an equal amount of hatred. Just what the hell was Snape doing in his house?
"Professor Dumbledore has sent me to collect you from your residence. If you'll lead the way to the pig sty I'm sure you call your bedroom, I'll assist you in packing as I'd like to get out of here sometime in the next month."
It took a moment for Harry to snap out of it, having zoned out again. He turned and began walking up to his bedroom, not even bothering to check to see if the greasy old git was following him or not.
He swung open the door and walked across the room to sit on his bed, which was actually just a mattress on the floor. It had originally come with a frame, but his uncle had broken it in a fit of rage one evening last summer. "What in Salazar's name are you doing Potter? I said I'd assist you in packing your belongings, not do everything for you."
Harry would usually came up with some snippy retort, but he didn't find himself really up to arguing with anybody today. Instead he took a calm breath "I actually need to talk to somebody about my living arrangements."
Snape raised an eyebrow and stared at him for a long moment before pulling out his desk chair and sitting down, gazing around the room. His bedroom wasn't much, but he found that he didn't really need a lot. The only pieces of furniture were the mattress, the desk chair, a wobbly old desk, and a worn wardrobe that had belonged to his great great grandmother or something of the sort. Although his room was small, he kept it relatively clean. His school trunk was pushed up against the wall next to his bed and made for a convenient night stand in which he kept a neatly stacked pile of books, newspapers, and magazines on. His desk was nearly bare, except for an oil burner, a small radio, and the picture of his parents that he'd had framed. An acoustic guitar that he was currently trying to teach himself to play leaned up against a bare patch of wall, and his only decorations were a picture collage he'd made with memories from this summer and a poster of a Muggle band called Pink Floyd. It was simple, but that was the way he liked it.
"Um, sir?" He said, trying to sound polite "About my living situation- I was wondering if there was some way I could just stay here for the rest of the summer?"
He waited for Snape to tell him absolutely not and to order him to get started on packing his things, but he what he didn't expect was for him to gaze at him curiously for a long moment. "Why would you want to stay here, Potter?" Well, imagine that, it looked as if something had changed and Snape had realized that he wasn't the pampered little prince of the Wizarding world after all.
When Harry didn't answer, Snape stood up and held out his arm. Harry stayed where he was, unsure of whether he was supposed to take it or what. "Come on, Potter. You can deliver your request directly to the headmaster if you wish to...extend your stay." He stood and gripped Snape's arm. The familiar sensation of his entire body being forced through a millimeter sized tube filled his lungs and he came out gasping for air. He definitely preferred brooms.
They had landed at the gate of a tiny house that appeared to be located in the middle of nowhere. The grass was nearly as tall as himself, the paint was faded and beginning to peel, and the shutters looked like they'd seen many lives. It was weird to think that Dumbledore lived here even though he knew that teacher's had to have a life outside of school. He remembered back when he was in primary school and thought that his teacher slept inside of her classroom.
Before they could knock on the door, it creaked open to reveal an old house elf who positively beamed as she caught sight of him. "Hello Mr. Harry Potter sir!" The elf greeted him in excitement "If youza follow me to the sitting room, master Dumbledore sirs will be most pleased to see you!"
They crossed through a tiny kitchen and into a rather flamboyantly decorated sitting room. Dumbledore was sitting in a purple squashy armchair by the fireplace, reading a Muggle magazine on knitting and popping lemon drops into his mouth every few seconds.
"Harry, my boy, this is a surprise!" Said Dumbledore, laying his magazine to the side and sitting up a bit straighter in his chair "Please, have a seat, both of you."
Harry sat down on the love seat, but Snape remained standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, looking back and forth in between the two.
"So to what pleasure do I owe your visit?" Asked Dumbledore "I was under the impression that Severus was escorting you to Grimmauld Place to spend the rest of your summer."
"Err...well, I was kind of wondering if I could just stay with the Dursley's for the rest of the holiday's. They've been loads nicer this time and I've been able to focus more on my study's lately." He was totally bullshitting his way into getting what he wanted, but it wasn't like he could truthfully admit his real reasons for wanting to stay. He just hoped the headmaster would buy into it.
And buy into it he did. The longer Harry talked, the brighter the twinkle in his eye grew and he began popping lemon drops into his mouth once more. "That's excellent news, Harry." Dumbledore said with much enthusiasm "It will be excellent for strengthening the blood wards and I'm sure will be beneficial to your academic performance. You see, this does present a minor problem. Severus, have you told him anything yet?"
Snape shook his head "I planned to tell him upon arrival."
Harry had a gut feeling that he wasn't going to like whatever it was they were about to throw at him.
"Ah, well you see, Harry, I think that this is a fantastic idea, but the only problem is that it will interfere with your training schedule." Dumbledore explained
"Training schedule? What training schedule?"
"A few times a week, Professor Snape was going to travel to the Burrow to give you lessons, but he very well cannot do the same at Privet Drive." The old man was silent for several long seconds. He appeared to be pondering possible solutions at the problem. "I will allow you to remain at Privet Drive until the first of August if you will agree to spend the last month of your summer training five times a week with Severus. That is, if he will kindly agree to stay at Grimmauld Place for four weeks time." He said in a way that implied that he was giving Snape more of an order than a choice.
"Five times a week!" This outburst came not from himself, but surprisingly from Snape "Albus, we will murder each other before the month is over."
The headmaster merely chuckled in response and while Harry wasn't happy at being forced to spend the end of his summer with a greasy git like Snape, he wasn't going to complain if this was what he had to do to get another month in Little Whingington. "Alright, it appears to be settled then! Severus, I trust that you will be there to collect him on the appropriate day."
"Yes." Snape replied, though Harry was sure that he wanted to hex the older man into oblivion.
Dumbledore showed them to the door, wishing him a good summer and telling Snape that he'd be in touch. Harry grabbed Snape's arm as they apparated for the second time, landing right back in his bedroom.
"Are you sure that you're not supposed to be a Slytherin, Potter? Tell many more successful lies like that and people may begin to wonder."
Harry actually had to pause for a moment to process what he had just said. He was pretty sure that was the nicest thing that Snape had ever said to him.
"I don't know what you're-"
"I'm assuming your reason for staying has less to do with your studies and more to do with the group of heathen looking teenagers in all of your photographs." Harry shrugged and he thought that Snape actually looked a bit put off that he hadn't said anything in response so he had no motive to further torment him. "Well, Potter, if you would kindly escort me out of this thing you call a house. I think I've been forced to be in your presence enough."
Harry rolled his eyes into the back of his head, leading the way down the stairs, eager for the Potions Master to leave as soon as possible so he could go back to bed. As they reached the bottom, Aunt Petunia came flying out of the kitchen to see what was going on.
"What are you still doing here?" She asked nastily. He opened his mouth to explain, but closed it again upon realizing her gaze wasn't directed on him, but instead upon Snape.
For a long moment, there was a silence about the room. Never before had he heard his aunt speak directly to a fellow witch or wizard. She preferred to shrivel back in fear and try to pretend that they weren't there.
"The boy is staying, Petunia." Snape snarled, spatting her name as if it were a dirty word. Harry wanted to think that Snape simply knew her name from checking with Dumbledore before entering the house, but he could tell by the way they both looked at each other in unspoken dislike that there was more to it then that.
"I don't want him to say, Snape. He's rude, disrespectful, and thinks he has the right to do whatever he pleases. He's also turned into a drunk, but you know all about that with your father being what he was and all. But then again, he was the normal one of the family, wasn't he?" She hissed at him
He wasn't surprised to see that Snape was on the verge of exploding. The one thing he knew, and secretly respected, about the man was that he didn't tolerate shit from anybody. His lips had turned thinner than he had ever seen them and he appeared to be shaking a little. While he didn't understand how his Muggle aunt would know things about Snape's personal life, he could tell that whatever she was taunting him about had affected the man rather deeply. The usual passive expression that Snape wore at all times had fallen for just a few seconds to reveal a look of pain before falling back into place once more. While he may not like Snape very much, he decided in that moment that he disliked his aunt even more and without even thinking about it, proceeded to tell her "I suggest you shut the hell up right now."
He glanced away for a split second and was met by a hard slap across his face that was actually more like a punch. He stumbled backward, expecting to fall, but surprisingly, Snape caught him. It took a second for him to get over the initial shock of what had just happened before he realized that Snape still had a hold of him. That he had just seen his aunt's abuse first hand. And most importantly, that Harry had been defending him of all people.
Harry shoved past the both of them and made a beeline for the front door. Once outside, he began walking down the sidewalk, cursing underneath his breath and lighting a cigarette. He had no idea where he was going and he didn't care. Anywhere was better than that hell hole. His feet unconsciously carried him to the small park four blocks away from Privet Drive. He lay down on the merry-go-round and looked up at the clouds above, taking deep breaths to try to calm himself down.
It was there that he stayed until the late afternoon sun began sinking down into the sky, unaware of a pair of onyx eyes watching him from the distance.