Co-written with Stormypup
Beta'd by Rakina
Chapter Five
Harry awoke to the strange sight of Snape looming over his bed. "What the hell have you done?" Snape hissed, before Harry could even process that he was there.
"What?" Harry asked stupidly.
Snape held a crumpled up copy of the Prophet in Harry's face. "As if you didn't have enough problems, now the whole world knows of your heritage!"
Harry groaned and rolled over. "I'm still asleep."
A moment later, Harry realized what had just happened.
Snape. At the Burrow. In Ron's bedroom.
He sat bolt upright. Ron was staring at him wide-eyed from the next bed, and Molly was standing in the doorway, scowling at Snape.
"Really, Severus, this could have waited," she scolded.
"No, Molly, it could not. The boy is about to be descended upon," Snape growled, tossing the paper into Harry's lap.
Harry stared down at the paper; his picture frowned up at him. The headline was...predictable, Harry decided after staring at it for what felt like minutes. "So, what do we do?"
"Gather your things, we're going to the castle to decide what to do next," Snape growled. "Excuse me," he said, brushing past Molly. "I'll be downstairs."
And just like that, Snape was gone.
Harry swung his feet off the bed and without being asked, tossed the paper over to Ron so he could read it. He reached under the bed for his bag and said one word as he flicked his wand. "Pack."
His clothing flew from the drawer he had been keeping it in and rushed at his bag all at once, cramming into it without regard. Harry supposed he'd have to practice that to make it better.
"This can't be good," Ron muttered as he read through the paper.
"Sorry dear, but Severus didn't want to wait," Molly said, still frowning.
"It's okay," Harry assured her. "It's probably best I go before things get ugly."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than there was a loud pounding on the door downstairs. Ron scrambled to the window and looked outside. "Blimey! There's half a dozen people out there."
"Do we know any of them?" Harry asked as he shrugged out of the shirt he had worn to bed.
"Rita Skeeter is leading the pack," Ron said, shaking his head.
"Potter!"
Snape's voice carried all too well up the stairwell, causing Harry to cringe.
"You shouldn't let him yell at you like that."
Harry looked up from his buttoning to see Ron scowling at the door. It was funny in a totally misguided sort of way. "I'd rather he yell at me then write me love sonnets."
"Ew," Ron cried, flopping onto the bed and covering his head with a pillow.
"Prat," Harry said fondly. "I guess I'll see you later then."
"You'll still come to the wedding, right?" Ron asked, rolling from the bed to his feet.
"Hope so," Harry said, glancing toward the window. He wouldn't come if it was going to make a spectacle of things.
"Things'll settle down and you can come back," Ron assured him.
"Yeah," Harry said, smiling weakly.
"Potter!"
"I'm coming!"
Harry shook his head, hitching his bag high on his shoulder. He had no idea how long he'd be gone.
"Better go before he drags you out of here," Ron warned.
Harry sighed, nodded and made his way downstairs.
Snape was pacing in agitation in front of the fireplace when Harry entered the room. "About time," Snape growled, reaching for the Floo powder.
"Hang on a minute," Harry told him scowling. He turned to Molly and smiled. "Thanks for letting me stay, and I'm sorry about the trouble," he said, motioning toward the assembled crowd outside.
"Don't you worry about it, dear," Molly said, hugging Harry tightly. "You know you're always welcome."
"Tell Arthur thanks for me too."
"Potter!"
"I'm coming!" Harry snapped at Snape.
"Of course you're coming, get in the Floo." Snape shoved some of the grainy powder into his hands.
Harry rolled his eyes but took the Floo powder and tossed it into the fire. "Hogwarts!" he cried, stepping into the flame.
"Idiot boy, he'll come out in the kitchen," Snape grumbled, nodding stiffly to Molly, before he too disappeared into the Floo system.
Snape indeed found Harry in the kitchens, sitting at a table calmly eating a muffin.
"I'm glad to see you're taking this seriously," he groused, scowling at Harry.
"I'm hungry. That happens when one is rudely woken at the break of dawn then forced to take the Floo."
"Dawn was hours ago, you twit," Snape informed him, sitting across the table from Harry.
"Can Inky get you something, Professor Snape, sir?" a House Elf asked, appearing at Snape's elbow.
"Tea."
A moment later, a tea tray appeared before him.
"Will that be all, si-"
"Yes, go," Snape snapped.
Harry frowned. "You don't have to be so rude to them."
Snape looked at Harry, curiously.
Harry stared down at his half eaten muffin, embarrassed. "What?" he mumbled, picking at his breakfast.
"Champion of house elves now? I thought that was Granger's job," Snape said, an amused quirk to his lip.
"She sort of has a way of making you do things you don't want to..."
"How did the Prophet learn of your inheritance?" Snape asked, changing gears quickly.
"Not from me, that's for sure." Harry eyed him across the table and dismissed the notion right away. "And it wasn't you either."
"Don't be ridiculous. If I had my way, you wouldn't even know about your inheritance."
"I did say not you either."
"Regardless, the secret is out. Do you know what this means?" Snape asked, leaning forward and looking at Harry intently.
"I'm fucked?"
Snape snorted. "That sums it up, if rather crudely. You've got decisions to make."
"Do I have to?" Harry popped a bit of the blueberry muffin into his mouth. "Wasn't saving the world enough?"
"No, because now they're afraid you're going to want to run the world, and with your current popularity it is a valid fear."
"Why would I want to rule the world?"
"Because you can," Snape said simply.
"Daft reason," Harry muttered, finishing off the muffin.
"Then I take it you have no desire to reinstate yourself as King and overthrow the Ministry of Magic?"
Harry's eyes widened. Was Snape serious? "No! I rather want to go and live in a cottage in the woods, maybe plant a vegetable garden and stay there until everyone forgets about me."
"At least you have some sense," Snape told him, smirking. "There are going to be those who will want you to take your position as King, and there are no doubt any number of women who wish to be your Queen. Any number of men, for that matter."
"But I don't want the bloody throne! They can take it! Let Malfoy be the bloody ponce he is and take over. Maybe he'll make it a mandate that we all dress to a certain code only he knows about!"
Snape frowned. "I'm sure you'll be getting a summons from the Ministry soon, wishing to know your intentions. You need to be prepared, and unfortunately, the task of preparing you falls to me."
"Is it too early in the morning to get pissed?"
"You're actually amusing me this morning, Potter. Will wonders never cease," Snape deadpanned, his face expressionless.
"Maybe the elves laced the muffin with something," Harry supplied helpfully.
Snape merely arched his brow in response.
"Inky!" he shouted, and the house elf appeared at his elbow.
"Yes, Professor Snape, sir?" the elf asked, cowering slightly.
"I need parchment, quill and an inkwell." He looked at Harry, who was scowling at him. "Please," he added, a look of disdain on his face.
Harry grinned. "And get me another one of these muffins, and get him one of these muffins too, please."
The elf bobbed its head quickly and then scurried away.
Snape rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You're going to draft a letter to the Ministry assuring them that you have no plans to assert your claim as king. It won't matter; there will be others pressing you to do so, but at least you'll be on the record. Hopefully it will allow you to stay out of the Ministry, and the public eye, until things settle down."
"If things settle down," Harry mumbled, thinking about the crowd that had been gathering outside the Burrow. No one was supposed to know he was there.
"Perhaps by the time you graduate," Snape said, smirking.
"Wouldn't people get more worried once I am free of the restrictions of the school?"
"Possibly," Snape agreed. "But they'll have a year of getting used to the idea that there is a member of the old monarchy still alive."
The house elf appeared with muffins and parchment, setting them on the table before summoning a quill and ink. Bowing to Snape, he disappeared.
"I'm warning you, I'm absolute shit at letter writing; ask anyone." Harry toyed with the muffin in front of him rolling it back and forth on the table. "Anytime I try and write a reassuring letter I just get more people riled up."
"Which is why I'll dictate the letter to you," Snape replied.
"That seems sincere." Harry picked up the quill and pulled the parchment towards him. He dipped the nib of the quill into the inkwell, and then poised the quill over the parchment. "All right, Professor, dictate away."
Ten minutes later, they had written a letter to the Ministry and to the press, both saying the same thing. Harry wasn't interested. He groaned softly. "Are you sure it's too early to get pissed?"
"You're too young to be getting pissed," Snape admonished. "Though there is nothing to say I cannot."
"I am not!" Harry stated feeling mulish.
"Inky!"
The house elf reappeared with a pop and Snape handed him the two parchments. "Send these off immediately."
Harry didn't even ask for the firewhisky he sorely wanted.
"In the meantime, don't leave the castle. The only other place you'll be left alone is your manor, but I doubt it's fit for human habitation."
"So I do have a manor?" Harry wasn't sure why he was even asking any more.
"Yes. I'm sure the Headmaster would allow you to send some of the house elves to have it cleaned."
"Do you know where it is?"
"Don't you?" Snape asked.
"Should I?"
Snape frowned. "I suppose not."
Harry grinned. "Does that mean you do or don't know where it is?"
"Yes, I learned of its location earlier this week." Snape had to actually search through the family documents to find the location of the house. It had never mattered before now.
"So tell me, Professor. Do I happen to own an entire county?"
"Yes and no. The original boundaries of the county have drastically changed, so it's more accurate to say you own several estates."
Harry scratched his chin as he stared across the crowded kitchen. "And they're all in disrepair?"
"For the most part. Your residence was, of course, hidden to the Muggles, so it's done nothing but gather dust."
"I've faced worse things than dust before, unless dust bunnies are real and vicious." He wrinkled his nose. "Would you take me?"
"I have things to do today. Perhaps this afternoon I'll have the time," Snape said, pushing back from the table and getting to his feet.
Harry nodded, picking up one of the muffins. He held it between two fingers for a moment before he tossed it to Snape. "Here, Dumbledore told me last time you don't take breaks."
Snape caught the muffin and scowled at Harry. "My eating habits are no one's business but my own," he said, setting the muffin back on the table.
Harry said nothing in reply.
"Find me this afternoon," Snape said, nodding curtly and leaving the kitchens.
Harry waited until the painting slid shut. "Inky?"
"Yes sir, Mr Potter, sir?" The Elf asked, appearing at his elbow.
"Take the muffin down to Professor Snape along with a tea service, please."