The second week of term had passed fairly smoothly and the beginning of the third week of school came quickly. It was a nice day even though it was a bit chilly outdoors. Harry knew that the third week of term was when the Professors really started piling on the homework since typically any homework given during the first two weeks was either poorly done or not done at all except for Hermione of course since she lived for academics. Snape of course did not follow this unwritten tradition and had given an essay on the first day of class by proxy and after Harry woke up and he resumed his teaching he had given another one just to make sure that the students weren't getting lazy. Harry was just happy that he, unlike the other victims of Snape homework would be able to turn it in a bit later. It was the same with some of his summer homework due to his circumstances.

All of the Professors knew that he wasn't treated very nicely during the summer break and although they weren't told to what extent the abuse had reached; they all gave him an extension without too much hassle. All except for Snape that is, but that was just to keep some measure of dignity but it didn't matter much since he got help after class and when he came down to the dungeons to study in Snape's room.

The day had gone really well. Snape had appreciated his lame joke. (Why is it a good thing snakes don't have legs? Because if they did they wouldn't be Slytherin.) Seamus didn't blow anything or anyone up in charms to Flitwick's utter relief and everyone including Neville was able to turn the button into a teacup in Transfiguration.

The next class was DADA. Nobody really had thought that Umbridge would be any good since that seemed to be the trend in a DADA teacher that had been hired. But it was worse than anyone could have possibly thought. The first day had only been book work and a warning that there would be a test, not a quiz but a full blown test, on next week it would cover the reading that was assigned in the new text that most of them hadn't got around to purchasing yet. It was obvious to everyone in the class that they wouldn't be learning to defend against the dark arts though. Even Hermione who loved reading like most students loved sweets thought that it was a bit stupid. Defense was supposed to be an active class hence the name of the course not being history of the dark arts.

Privately Harry was thinking that they should start a club so that they could get in some practice with some simple spells so that they wouldn't be too far behind when Umbridge was, inevitably, replaced by the end of the year with a teacher that would actually be teaching them something.

The days came really and went really fast with all the things that were going on and the highlights of Harry's days had been Severus's reactions to his lame jokes over the last couple of days. Some of his favorites were:

Q: Why did the griffin cross the hall?

A: To get to the other door.

He received a roll of the eyes at the breakfast table for that one.

Q: What should the mascot be for Hufflepuff?

A: The Big Bad Wolf

*Get it? It's 'cause it huffs and it puffs.

That garnered a note that cursed muggle fairytale. But between the lines Harry could read that the professor found this joke funny.

'Couldn't come up with one for Ravenclaw. *shrug*'

The note that morning said 'thanks for not forcing me to suffer for the sake of your questionable sense of humor. But what it really said was 'that was a surprise but I prefer the humor'

Other than that bit of happiness though, life in the castle was kind of boring and that was mainly because Quidditch hadn't really started up yet since they were just practicing and there was just so much homework to get done and they weren't even one month into the year. It also might have had something to do with the fact that Snape only allowed him to stay in the dungeons on the weekend. Harry knew that it was so that he didn't damage his relationships with his Housemates but he still wanted to spend time with his Guardian. It wasn't to be though because he had to spend both of the weekends doing his summer homework along with the newly given assignments although Snape did help a bit the insane amount of potions work he had to do.

In DADA the tests were handed back. To everyone's shock Hermione didn't get the top score. "Professor," Hermione said, her voice shaking a bit, "I think you may have made a mistake in grading mine."

"No I didn't Miss Granger. You cheated on the test so you got a zero just as you deserved."

"Professor, Hermione doesn't cheat. She doesn't need to. She helped me and Ron study so I know she knew the answers." Harry said keeping his voice leveled and calm even though he felt outraged that his friend had been accused of cheating. If anyone should be accused of cheating it would be that one Slytherin everyone had seen him peeking at his notes during the test. He heard others murmur in agreement since they knew that Hermione would die before she would cheat on a test.

"That earns you a detention Mr. Potter and five points from Gryffindor."

"May I ask why Professor?" Harry asked as calmly as he possibly could under the circumstances.

"For lying to a teacher and blatant disrespect of said teacher. Five more point from Gryffindor."

"But-" Harry started.

"Another detention."

Steaming with anger Harry clutched at the desk and said nothing else.

The next class was potions and Harry was still very angry from the fiasco DADA with Umbridge. Snape was a bit surprised when Harry entered the classroom with a look of fury on his features, the last time that he had seen Harry this worked up it was his fault since he had taken thirty points from Gryffindor just to be a bastard to the boy. He regretted that now that he knew the reason that the boy had disobeyed him. He was even trying be a bit more civil to the Gryffindor's' by taking less House points during class than he usually did.

"What's the matter?" Snape asked him after class was finally dismissed.

"I got two detentions and ten points deducted from Gryffindor." Harry growled still upset.

"For what?" Snape asked sensing that it was a bit more complicated then losing a few House points and two detentions. If Potter had got mad every time that happened…

"Umbridge gave Hermione a zero on the test because she said that Hermione had cheated on it. I told her that Hermione didn't need to cheat so she gave me a detention and took points. I politely asked why and she took more points and told me that it was because I was lying and disrespecting her by contradicting her by saying that my friend doesn't need to cheat on a test. I went to say that was unfair so she gave me another detention."

Snape had to admit that it was a trifle bit unfair and coming from him, a man that would be called the King of Unfairness, that was saying something considering that he was accused of unfairness all of that all the time, he would be an excellent judge of what is unfair. He would have to step up his game if he wanted to retain his title of the most hated professor in the school it seemed.

Harry wasn't the only student in the school that was having trouble with the Ministry's lackey though. Just yesterday he had overheard some of his snakes complaining about her. But that wasn't even the craziest part a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor that were walking behind them had over heard and agreed with them. But to hear that the woman had given Granger a zero was a surprise as well. Even he had never done that sure he had given her E's just to upset her but he had never failed one of her papers. Well before McGonagall threated him with being strung up by his… never mind.

"Do you want me to talk to her for you?" He asked Harry.

"No sir, I'll just serve the detentions. I wont have her saying that I'm calling in favors and wrapping Professors around my finger to get what I want any more than she does already."

"Is the detention tonight?"

"Yes sir. I have one tonight and one on Friday."

"Well come down after the one on Friday. You can sleep in my room."

"Okay sir but why?"

"We are going to Diagon Alley to get you some clothes that fit. I can't very well have my charge running around in clothes that are three sizes to big under his robes."

Harry blushed a bit embarrassed that his professor knew about that and hurried of to dinner so that he could eat something before he went to Umbridge so that he could serve his first detention.

When he sat at his usual place, beside Ron and across from Hermione, Hermione said,

"I'm sorry Harry."

"For what?" asked the raven-haired wizard as he put some food on his plate.

"I got you in trouble in Umbridge's class," she said.

"That wasn't your fault 'Mione. I don't blame you."

Hermione startled at the nickname but decided that she liked it and smiled at him happy that he didn't blame her.

"Well I'll see you two later." He said as he got up so that he could drop his stuff off in the tower before he went to detention.

He showed up five minutes early to the detention wanting to be cautious so that he didn't get into more trouble with the old toad that was a million times worse than Snape ever was.

"Ah Mr. Potter," she said as he walked in. "You will write 'I will not tell lies' six hundred times. I have already have set up a spot for you over there."

Harry balled his hands into fists. He knew that doing six hundred lines would take so long that he would be out after curfew.

Nevertheless, Harry sat at the desk and picked up the quill. Then he noticed that there was no inkwell. "I think you forgot to set out the ink." He told the professor in a soft voice hoping that she wouldn't use him speaking as a reason to dish out another detention to him.

"No I didn't," she said with a gleeful grin that was almost wolfish in nature. "Just write and see what happens."

Harry decided that it must be one of those self-inking quill. He had seen some of the teachers with them.

'I will-'he wrote and then he noticed the slight stinging on his hand. Thinking it was nothing more than mere coincidence he finished the sentence. When the pain became more pronounced than before he looked at the back of his hand and saw the words on his skin before they faded.

He was instantly horrified. He was writing in his own blood! For a moment he considered protesting but then he remembered that protesting would cause more trouble. If he told anyone the toad would certainly say that he was lying and that he had gouged the words into his own hand with a quill in an effort to get her in trouble and because she was an adult they would believe her.

So he continued to write the lines in his blood. The pain was bad when he reached one hundred and tears were building by two hundred. By three hundred the lines were so shaky that it was barely decipherable and that was in part because of the tears that were freely running down his face at this point. He quickly wiped the tears away not wanting to get any of those on the parchment. By the time it wrote the sentence for the last time it was past midnight and he felt incredibly dizzy and nauseous.

After leaving Umbridge he went to the loo to wrap his bloody hand nearly passing out at the pain of washing it. Then, somehow, he made his way to Gryffindor tower collapsing once he was inside the portrait and just barely managing to pick himself up about an hour later to get into bed.

The next detention with her was a repeat of the first. It was even harder this time because the skin still ached and he was so tired because he had put in so much effort this week making sure that no one, not even Ron or Hermione and especially not Snape found out about the injury. After the detention was so awful that this time that instead of only wrapping his hand when he visited the loo he threw up the little that he had eaten during dinner and he was relatively certain that he had hit his head by passing out at some point while he was making his way to the dungeons.

When he got to the portrait that covered the professor quarters he mumbled the password.

Seeing that the couch was empty he dropped onto it and fell into an exhausted sleep.

In the morning his professor awakened him. He still felt awful but he remembered that they had planned the outing for today and he didn't want to mess that up because not only would he be getting things from the shops he would get to spend some time alone with his guardian in a non-academic setting.

After a quick shower and a breakfast of cereal which he made an effort to at even though it upset his stomach, though he was careful not to let that show because if he did Snape would find out about him being sick and then they wouldn't go to the alley. Even worse Snape would get tired of him constantly being hurt and make him go away. Not back to the Dursley's he knew the potions master wouldn't send him back there seeing as he had gone mental the last time he had brought them up but that didn't mean that once whatever reason the man had for taking him in was gone that he would not be forced onto another caretaker and that would just happen quicker if he needed constant care all the time.

The alley was just as he remembered it from first year. It was even better now because this time he didn't have to put up with random people that knew more about everything than he did. Also he didn't have to worry that people would recognize him since he had a hat on to cover his scar.

For an hour the two wandered the alley purchasing casual robes, dress robes, muggle attire, some books, and a few other odds and ends before deciding on getting lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. The two of them sat in an isolated corner of the room and ordered some food.

"Harry what's wrong," Snape asked in concern as Harry pushed his plate away, after consuming less than a bite, and put his head down on the table.

Harry couldn't speak. He knew that the moment that he opened his mouth he would be sick. He had put the fatigue to the back of his mind so that he could enjoy the day but now it had come back to him and he couldn't even move if he had wanted to.

Snape looked worriedly at the child. He had noticed, despite Harry's best efforts of concealment, that the boy was a bit withdrawn today. Even when they had stopped by the Quidditch supplies shop the boy's enthusiasm had been lacking.

At first he had assumed that the boy's subdued actions were because he was with him.

Not many people felt comfortable when he was around and he realized that the thought that his presence alienated the boy was a little more hurtful than it had any right to be. It also made him realize that if Harry's trust in him was strictly limited to being in private

Harry would outright leave him once he knew of his involvement in the death of his parents. But then he had noticed that they boy had stayed close to him and he obviously had been excited about this outing. So he hoped that Harry would be able to forgive the folly of his youth that he himself had been trying to atone for, for so many years.

Severus put a hand to the back of the boy's neck and recoiled immediately. The boy was burning up! Could it be that somehow the weakness from the trauma had come back? Was it a complication with the thing that had taken energy from his magical core a couple of weeks ago? Snape tried to make the boy sit up but Harry feebly smacked the hand away moaning in pain when he realized that he had done it with the injured hand.

It was then that professor noticed the wrapping on the hand. Gently he pulled off the wrapping only to find that the wound was infected and bloody. Gently he wiped away the blood and then he saw it. 'I will not tell lies' was carved into the Harry's hand. For a moment he feared the boy had turned to self-harm as some abused children do. That fear made him want to push into the boy's mind to see what had made him feel that he had to do something like this. But he realized at the last moment that using Legilimency on the boy would not only erode any the trust that the boy had for him, and he knew that he would need all of that when he revealed that he was a Death Eater, he also thought that it might aggravate Harry's condition.

Snape tried to heal the wound with his magic only to have the spells nullified before they could reach the wound. Severus's eyes blazed with fury. The only way spells reacted that particular way was either that there was a restriction spell, which was unlikely in this case as Harry was only a second year or that the wound had been made by a dark object. It was equally unlikely that the boy had been exposed to such an object but more likely than the other scenario.

Snape looked closer at the wound. If he had to guess he would say that it had been a blood quill. But nobody would use one of them at Hogwarts. He thought back to the morning when he saw Harry. The wound was recent so with the last week. But it seemed to have healed a bit and then been opened again last night if he had to guess. The only place that Harry had been after his class yesterday until he woke up in the morning to finding the child asleep on his sofa was to the Great Hall for dinner and then to Umbridge to serve his detention. But she wouldn't have made the child use a blood quill would she? The fury spread. If she had she would feel his wrath. Nobody had the right to hurt a child in that fashion and he or she sure as hell had no right to hurt his with a blood quill.

A groan brought him out of his internal thoughts and back to the fact that Potter was injured and that he needed to get him back to the school now so that he could be treated by Poppy. He himself would hunt out Umbridge and if she had used a blood quill on his charge she was going to pay dearly.

When Harry awoke again he was surprised to find that he was once again in the Hospital Wing. Silver was tucked in with him and by that he surmised that Snape had been there since he was careful to always leave Silver in the Professor's rooms.

"Harry" Silver said happily letting his tongue touch his human.

Harry hugged the snake tighter than he had before. For a moment he paused he knew that he was forgetting something. Then he realized that his hand didn't hurt as much as it had.

Before he could puzzle over this phenomenon for too long though, he heard footsteps approaching. It turned out to be both Snape and Dumbledore.

Snape looked very, very mad. Harry shivered a bit and wondered what he had done to deserve that kind of look.

"Now Severus, there is no need to scare the poor boy right after he has just woken up." Dumbledore chided .

"She used a blood quill on him and he did not tell me!" Snape retorted outraged the old man couldn't see how wrong that was.

Harry startled at that. How did Snape find out about that? "I was scared you wouldn't believe me." Harry said whispered before he realized that he was even speaking.

Both heads turned to look at him.

"She's an adult and she would say I was lying and that I had done this to myself so that she would get in trouble. She's always talking about how I have all the staff doing my bidding and that I shouldn't expect the same from her just because I'm famous. I had just ignored it because it was the same speech that I had gotten from the old you Professor. I never thought that she would hurt me though."

"So in order to not be accused of lying you allowed her to do this to you and didn't say anything?" Snape asked in a dangerously calm tone.

"Yes sir." Harry mumbled.

"I'm going to kill her." Snape growled his mane of hair moving a bit with the magic that was pouring out of him. Dumbledore placed his hand on the man's shoulder to calm him down.

"Now Severus I know that you care for the boy but I hardly-"

Snape turned on the Headmaster before he could finish his sentence. "it's because I care for him that I will do it!"

"You care about me?" Harry whispered.

Snape rolled his eyes. "I know that stupidity is in your genes but surely you realized that Potter." Snape bit sarcastically.

Harry smiled, coming from Snape that was basically a declaration of love.

Before the boy could speak however, Madame Pomfrey came in and ushered the two older wizards out for causing such a ruckus in her domain while the boy still needed to rest.

The two wizards relocated to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore allowed Severus to vent for a moment until the potions master had calmed down enough so that the two of them could have a civil conversation.

"So what will we be doing about her?"

"Well I have it on good authority that there will be a conference down in the dungeons tomorrow but sadly I don't think that anyone can make it. Would you be able to inform Professor Umbridge of this development?"

Snape smiled. Dumbledore was such a sly old fox and if he didn't know better he would have thought the man was a Slytherin.

"Of course." Snape said solemnly.

"Good now that that's taken care of you said that you had something that you needed to talk with me about?" Dumbledore asked as he stroked Fawkes's head when the bird came over to him.

"Yes," Snape nodded. "I don't think that I can do the role of a spy anymore."

"What's wrong?" Dumbledore asked concerned.

"When the Dark Lord returns to a corporal state I would be forced to place myself in danger when I played my part. But I don't think that I can do that now."

"Harry," Dumbledore said.

"Yes. I have found that I care a lot for the boy and I know that he trusts me and I don't want him to be in state of constant worry every time that I have to respond to the Dark Lord's call."

"Have you told him that you wish to adopt him?" Dumbledore asked.

"I – I never… how did you…"

"It's obvious Severus."

"When you say it like that it sounds absurd. He'll never go for it. Never mind, Albus when I tell him what I'm guilty of he'll hate me and curse me and I won't blame him not one little bit. Seriously who would want me as their parent? Who would want me for anything?" Severus said with a bitter laugh. "Forget it Albus I'll just leave."

"My office?" Dumbledore questioned a little shocked at Severus's abnormal behavior.

"The castle, Albus. I'm useless to you if I am not a spy. If Potter wishes to join me, which he won't, I will find a way to work it out."

"Severus I should let Fawkes eat you for being stupid enough to say thing like that." With that the phoenix flew onto the dark-haired man's shoulder. Fawkes opened his beak and took a lick as a taste test and flew back to Dumbledore and gave a nod that could have been saying 'he tastes well enough to eat. Perhaps a little bit of sugar?'.

Severus gulped and shivered suddenly unsure of the phoenix.

"I value you for more than your abilities as a spy Severus." The old man said as rustled in his drawer and pulled out an old piece of parchment. "I had this drawn up a long time ago but I never thought that I would ever show it to you."

Snape took a step closer to see the documents. They were adoption papers! For him!

"You want to… to… adopt… me?" He asked dazed.

"Yes. I have viewed you as a son in many ways for a great many years."

"But I …"

"Severus," Dumbledore whispered embracing the younger man "I know that you didn't have the best father and I am will to make up for that as much as I can if you want me to."

For a moment Severus was blissfully happy but then he remembered all thew things that his own father had said about him and he wondered how a wizard as kind and as gentle as Dumbledore would ever want to share any part of himself with someone like Severus Snape.

Dumbledore could feel the moment that Severus started to pull away from him both figuratively and literally. Well he had just the thing to nip that in the bud right here and right now.

In a quick maneuver that belied his age Dumbledore was sitting in the chair that Severus had vacated during his rant. Then he pulled the large lanky wizard over his knee, added a wandless featherlight charm to the man and delivered several fierce swats to the thirty-two year old.

Snape blushed fiercely. This was easily the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to him in his whole life and that included all the humiliations from the Mauraders and those that were cause by the Dark Lord and he just knew that it couldn't possibly get any worse.

"Albus I was wondering- "Minerva McGonagall called out as she entered the office. Her sentence was cutoff when she saw her former student and current colleague laid over top of her boss and long-time friend in a manner that befitted a child.

"Hello Minerva," Albus said as though he were just leisurely sitting. "I'd offer you a Lemon Drop but as you can see I'm a bit occupied at the moment. What can I help you with my dear?"

"I'll... I'll just wait out there…" She said pointing and then she hastily fled the office.

With one final swat Dumbledore let Severus up and watched in amusement as his face grew redder and redder.

"You…" Snape squeaked unsure of what to say which did nothing but caused Albus to laugh harder and harder.

It took a while but after time the document was signed by Snape, and if it took more than an hour because Severus couldn't stop shaking long enough to sign his name then neither of the two men would mention it. Afterwards he was able to leave the office. Even when he did leave, he was still blushing madly unable to forget what had happened and the embarrassment but he was really happy. Of course he would have to wait until the Dark Lord was truly dead before they can make it officially official for many reasons but it was still nothing short of a miracle that Albus had adopted him.

Slowly, still smiling, he made his way to the Hospital wing to visit Harry. He would tell the boy everything tomorrow. But for now he would sit with the boy for a while, or perhaps stand as his bottom still stung just a bit because for an old man, Al- no his father had a lot of strength.

When he got to the room he went over to the bed where Harry was mere hours before. When it was empty of a certain twelve year old he grabbed up Silver and he went to ask Poppy if she had sent the boy off.

"Severus there you are Harry was waiting to see you." She said when he entered the office.

"Where is he then?" the wizard asked.

"He's in bed. I just checked on him a moment ago."

Suddenly Snape paled. "He wasn't there," He whispered to the Medi-Witch.

"What!" She shrieked checking for herself and then she ran to floo the Headmaster and inform him of the emergency.

Whoa five thousand words. I know it took a while but it was tough to set all this up the next update will take a while because I just came up with what I want to do here so yeah. oh and i do have a plan for old Voldy that works without Sevy as a spy. also i do have a punishment in mind for Umbridge feel free to offer up suggestions though.

Sorry bout the cliffe. We all know where Harry is though, cause he is missing, as least you should. If you need a hint it's the second year and that's all I'm saying.

I want to thank all my reviewers I love you guys for that and they are very much appreciated. And I thank all the people for favoring and for following and I hope you all stick with me.