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Chapter Six

Oh boy was Harry right when he assumed that his day was just going to get weirder. His return to Snape manor had landed him in the entrance hall where a House Elf named Cheni had quickly taken charge of his trunk and cage, popping them up to 'his' bedroom with a snap of her fingers. She then informed him that the family was awaiting his presence to enjoy a leisurely lunch on the back patio. Following her he was lead through the dining room he had been in earlier that morning, out the doors he had seen at breakfast onto a small floating deck. From there he could see a grassy field which lead down to a rather large lake, a forest bordered the property on the left and across the back, to the right there seemed to be a large garden, what appeared to be a hedge maze and if Harry wasn't too confused, a Quidditch pitch.

Snape and Cassi were sitting at a small outdoor oak table set on the deck, under a large blue sun umbrella, while Tainen played nearby in the grass with a large blue ball. When Harry arrived food appeared on the table. It appeared lunch today was several types of salad with cold chicken. The second Tainen had seen Harry he had run toward him, quickly repeating that morning's exercise of seeing if he could knock his big brother down by running full pelt into his legs. Harry supposed this was one of those things he was going to have to learn to get used too.

He still hadn't quite learned the language he was beginning to called Tainenese, but as he was being dragged toward the table he did manage to pick out that the boy was hungry, that he had been waiting simply forever for Harry to arrive, was he really his brother, and did he like Tainen's blue ball. At least he thought the last bit was about his blue ball, Tainen seemed to become distracted by the food at this point.

Sitting down to lunch Harry offered a quick hello, more of a tight smile and halfhearted nod of his head really. He had already had lunch, and was really not hungry but they had waited lunch for him and he really didn't think that's saying thanks but no-thanks was the best way to begin this little, well what he had started calling 'adventure in torture'. So he quietly filled a plate with a fresh garden salad, sprinkled the smallest amount of Italian dressing over it, and then added a small piece of chicken as well. Cassi and Snape were doing the same, Cassi first filling Tainen's and chopping everything into child bite sized pieces.

Severus decided that this silence really needed to be filled, and besides he really wanted to know, so between bites he looked at Harry across the table. "How were your relatives? Did you get everything?"

"They were fine, a little annoyed that I stayed out all night without even leaving a note but fine. Yes, I got everything, no problem. Hedwig was out hunting but she'll show up soon enough. She's done it before. She always know just where to find me, sometimes she even shows up at places waiting for me before I know I'm even going to be there."

Harry was trying to keep things light, a friendly chat over a meal. He was working very hard not to cringe at the 'how was your day, son' atmosphere of the question, and trying even harder not to notice the Twilight Zone theme music he would swear he could almost hear in the background. Trying to prevent any more silences, which someone may try to make him fill by asking him more questions, he decided it was better to be the one asking the questions.

"So, what has everyone else been up to today?" he almost cringed at the question and hoped no one else noticed the slightly sarcastic tone he hadn't managed to keep from his voice.

"Oh, Tainen and I took a bit of a walk and then played with his ball for a while, nothing to exciting. Severus had some things he needed to pick up down in the village so we were on our own most the morning."

"Village?" Harry figured it was as good a topic as any, and hey, maybe he'd actually find out where the hell he was.

"Griblery, it's about a 20 minute walk from here. It's not all that large, maybe a little bigger then Hogsmeade. Maybe tomorrow afternoon we can head down there and I'll show you around?"

"Umm, actually, tomorrow afternoon I have plans," Harry cringed, could that sound more like a blow-off? "I mean, I'd love to some other time, but a friend of mine got me some concert tickets for my birthday and it's tomorrow night, but we're meeting up earlier in the day, and then afterwards we're staying at a hotel in London, you know, making a real night of it?" And oh Gods, he really wishes someone would do something to stop him when he starts to babble like that.

"Oh, well, sure, another time, no problem," at least he wasn't the only one who felt the need to babble. "So, a concert, that sounds like a great birthday present, who are you going to see?"

"Linkin Park. They're a muggle band that I really love, my favorite. I would probably have sold my soul for the tickets so I'm very excited, can't wait. I hope they play some of their older stuff as well, a really good mix ya know?" And what happened to the plan about avoiding questions? Now he was volunteering information! Luckily everyone seemed to be finishing up their lunch so he could beg off soon, tell them that he really needed to write to some people and let them know he wasn't at the Dursley's anymore.

He saw Snape and Cassi exchanging looks and he braced himself automatically, knowing something was coming. Snape seemed almost nervous as he pulled something out of his pocket, a quick spell re-enlarged the thing and Harry saw that it was a simply wrapped square shaped box about 4 inches each side and an inch thick.

"I know it was your birthday a few days ago, and well, you needed something that could be a permanent portkey and so, well…" Snape couldn't seem to figure out how to say this, so he kind of shoved the box into Harry's hands, hoping he got the idea.

And I thought getting a preset from Charlie was weird? But a present from Snape beats that hands down. He decided that hesitating would only draw this exceedingly awkward moment out so he quickly unwrapped the box. Taking off the lid he saw a simple, slightly chunky chain with a pentacle done in some type of earthy colored stone hanging from it. The shinny chain against the dull stone made an interesting contrast and he decided he really quite liked it.

"Thank-you." He wasn't very good at gushing, it always seemed so fake when he did it but he saw Snape relax, especially when Harry took the necklace out of the box, running his fingers over it. "How does it work?"

"At the moment the passwords are set so that if you say 'Park' it will take you to the same park this mornings portkey did, say 'Snape Manor' and it will return you to the entrance hall. I put in a few other things, say 'Help' and it will take you to Hogwart's Hospital Wing. To reset the passwords, because those words are a little too every day, say reset password 'Park' and then say the new password, etc. The charm is designed for protection against evil, and as such the series of protective charms I placed on it are quite strong. Also, it is charmed to only come off if you take it off, no one else can take that off you."

Holding the necklace Harry proceeded to reset the passwords into Parseltongue so that he couldn't accidentally activate it. He then put the necklace on. If he had have been looking up at that point he would have seen the look of sheer joy flash through Severus' eyes as his son excepted, and seemed to honestly like, the first ever gift Severus had given him. Cassi did see the look though and couldn't help her own grin from spreading across her face at her husband's happiness. It was perhaps a good thing when Tainen decided he had been ignored long enough and demanded everyone's attention by squealing at the arrival of Hedwig, the three older diners definitely needed the distraction.

Remembering his own fascination with Hedwig when he first met her and taking in the boy's obvious delight at seeing the bird Harry decided it was time to try his hand at the art of big brothering, and maybe get to know the little man too. Holding out his arm for Hedwig, who had alighted briefly on the back of his chair, he stood up and took the bird around to Tainen, who's mother had just released him from that evil contraption that is a high chair. Kneeling down in the grass so he was on the same level as his baby brother Harry spoke very quietly to him, almost like he was sharing some great secret with him that only they were privy to.

"This is Hedwig. She is one of my very best friends and the smartest bird in the world. I bet if you were gentle she wouldn't mind if you petted her." Harry kept talking, telling Tainen about what type of owl Hedwig was, even though he knew the little boy would never remember, and telling him about some of Hedwig's adventures, which were perhaps somewhat made up.

Harry didn't seem to notice the amount of time that passed as he told Tainen tales of Hedwig's great adventures while they gently petted her. He didn't even notice the warm look on Severus' and Cassi's faces as they watched their sons play together. Harry stories kept Tainen in awe. He had just finished a story about the time Hedwig had been caught in a sudden, harsh summer storm while out delivering a letter, which he didn't think had ever actually happened, when he realized how late in the afternoon it was getting, going on 5 o'clock. He still had to contact Ron, Hermione and Charlie about tomorrow and Alex was having a party tonight, which Harry had been planning to show up at. With the lack of sleep Harry had had the night before he really needed to grab some Z's before tonight.

He had Tainen say goodbye to Hedwig and sent her off to the balcony that was outside the room he had woken up in that morning, outside his room. Now that just sounded weird, to this day he tended to refer to his room at the Dursley's as Dudley's second bedroom, forgetting often that it was supposed to be his. And he really was no more comfortable calling his new room 'his' either. He sometimes wondered if maybe his flighty nature had to do with a lack of stability growing up but he tended to disregard that thought whenever he had it, preferring not to psycho analyze himself.

Standing up he turned to Snape and Cassi and enquired as to what time dinner would be. When he was told 6:30 he requested that they not bother calling him down for dinner, he was going to take a bit of a nap.

"Well, I suppose if you're tired but why don't you just wait until after dinner and head up to bed early?" Cassi seemed genuinely confused and concerned for her stepson. Maybe he wasn't feeling well?

"A friend of mine is having some people over and he is expecting me to be there. I have to send a few letters, and then I thought I'd get some sleep before heading off. I'll try not to make too much noise when I come back. Oh and thank-you again for the portkey, it's really nice"

With that Harry was gone, headed back inside. There was little that Cassi and Severus could do other then sit there in shock. Realistically they knew that Harry would be going back and forth between Little Whinging and their home but they somehow didn't think it would happen so soon, or if they were honest, they somehow didn't think it would happen at all. And yet they had agreed to this, there was nothing they could do.

Watching Harry and Tainen spend the afternoon together had alleviated some of Cassi's concerns about having her young son exposed to her rowdy stepson but with the all to soon reminder that he was into all sorts of things other then telling stories under the summer sun Cassi felt that she really needed to have a chat with him, and soon. She told her husband as much, and waved him off when he offered to speak to Harry instead.

Following the path Harry had taken not 15 minutes earlier brought Cassi to a closed door which she knocked on quietly. When that got no response she tried knocking louder. The door opened and Cassi found herself staring at a topless, tattooed 15 year old. He invited her in, seeming unconcerned with his state of undress.

"Sorry if you knocked more then once, I was listening to some music" he said, indicating a small device in a red cover with a wire coming out of it, splitting into two and ending in strange little nubs. Having no idea how he could have been listening to music with this device but assuming that it was a muggle thing Cassi merely nodded. Looking around she noticed that aside from the writing equipment out on the desk, and the owl cage sitting on the dresser you would never know that someone occupied this room.

"Haven't had a chance to unpack yet?" She knew she was stalling but there was nothing wrong with small talk.

"Umm, I'm not much for unpacking really. I tend to take what I need out of my trunk when I need it and then replace it later. No point making a mess. Was there something I could do for you?"

She wasn't sure that she liked the fact that he didn't unpack, like he was always ready to go at a moments notice. Had he always lived like this or was it just in this new situation that he didn't feel secure enough to unpack? But that was a question for a time when they had actually gotten to know each other.

"Umm, I just wanted to talk to you for a moment. Look, I know I have no right to comment on what you may or may not do outside of this house but I just wanted to talk to you about bringing that sort of stuff into this house. Tainen is just a little boy, and he gets into everything, and"- Harry cut her off at this point. Truth is he had been surprised that he hadn't had this conversation already and, while at the Dursley's he may have kept a stash on him, he had decided earlier that he wouldn't keep that kind of thing around Tainen. He'd heard stories of little kids OD'ing really badly because they swallowed something they shouldn't have.

"Relax, I have no intention of bringing anything home with me. You're right, kids do get into everything, and I would hate it if Tainen found something he wasn't supposed to and got hurt. I already ditched my stash before I left the Dursley's and I won't bring anything here with me."

Cassi was relieved that Harry seemed to have thought about such things on his own. As she got up to leave she said "Thank-you. I was just concerned. I hope you weren't offended, I just don't know you very well, didn't know if you would have thought about such things."

"It's no problem, I wasn't offended." With a slightly sarcastic twist of his lips Harry told her, "You know what they say- Drink, Drug and Fuck with your brain." He nodded his goodbye and shut the door. Leaving a very relieved, and extremely confused Cassi. She had the distinct impression that her stepson was going to be an adventure in and of himself, the only problem was that she wasn't sure she appreciated being signed on to this adventure without warning, and especially without a guide book.

In his room Harry put his ear phones back in and turned his IPod up. He had originally planned to meet the others is London at 6pm tomorrow, time enough to go out for dinner before the concert but now he really needed to talk to them, and that was likely to take far longer then dinner and drinks. With that in mind he set about writing a letter which would instill in them the right amount of urgency without making them panic, and would ensure their presence at 3pm. After writing a note which he hoped conveyed the importance of the situation without actually giving any facts he sent the letters off, got changed and went to bed, setting the alarm on his watch to wake him at 9 o'clock.

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