A/N: So, shorter chapter than last time, but I just tend to write until it feels right, so that's how it ends up working. As always, PLEASE REVIEW! I looove reviews. I live for them. I especially live for ADVICE-I want to know what you guys want from me, for situations. Which of my characters do you like? Who do you not care about? Are you reading the other stories in this universe, or do you just like this one in particular. LET ME KNOW! And, of course, please enjoy :)

The windows to the sub shop were boarded up, but Liam led Harry and Dudley to a basement window on the side where the boards were loose and moveable. Harry slipped easily through the window, landing in a damp, dank basement with patchwork lighting. A moment later, Liam landed beside him.

"Guys?" Dudley's pudgy face appeared in the window. "I… I don't think I'm gonna fit."

"We'll getcha in," Liam said. "Just sit your fat ass down. We'll tug on your legs from down here."

It was a tight squeeze. By the time they'd managed to tug Dudley in through the window, the boy's stomach and arms were scraped to pieces. He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes.

"Don't be a baby," Liam said, rolling his eyes.

Dudley said, "I can't do that every time I have to come in here."

"Don't worry about that," Liam said. "You'll skinny up soon enough and slip through just as easy as Harry and me."

Harry ignored the two of them in lieu of looking around. The basement they were in had, at one point, been a storage unit for the sub shop above. Boxes were piled up in the corner.

"Mostly bags and wrappers in there," Liam said, following Harry's gaze. "C'mon, I'll show you guys around."

Harry and Dudley followed Liam up a set of rickety stairs. The third step up was missing, and Harry jumped it nimbly. Dudley, on the other hand, hesitated when he saw it and said, "Maybe I'd better stay down here."

"Don't be a ninny," Liam said. "The rest of the stairs are fine, as is the floor. 'Sides, it's gross down here. All my stuff's upstairs."

Harry frowned. "How much stuff do you have?"

"Enough," Liam said.

At the top of the stairs, Liam showed Harry and Dudley the loo, a single, one-stall bathroom that had been open for the public.

"It still works," Liam said. "I think probably whoever owns the building pays the bill without much looking at it. I used to worry they'd catch on, but I been here three an' a half years and they aint never come by or nothin'."

Dudley said, "You've been here three and a half years? You look like you're about five, mate."

"I'm nine and a half," Liam said. "I ran away from the orphanage I was in just before my sixth birthday. Hopped a train to Langley and then took a bus here."

"You did all that when you were six years old?" Dudley asked.

Harry said, "Yeah, Dud. Right about the same time you were learning the alphabet."

Dudley scowled.

Liam said, "C'mon. I'll show you guys the fridge."

The fridge was a back room, heavily insulated. Liam had food stored back there—most of what Harry had brought him that afternoon, along with some other things Harry didn't recognize.

"There's no electricity running to it, so it doesn't really keep things cold," Liam said, "but no bugs ever manage to get back there, and it's insulated enough that it's not as effected by whatever weather we're getting out here."

"And the rest of this place?" Harry asked.

"It's a sub shop," Liam said. "It might not be warm, but its dry, and it's a safe enough place to store my things."

A greedy glint entered Dudley's eyes then. "What've you got for things?"

"Just stuff I've acquired over the years," Liam said. "Blankets. Clothes. A knife. A couple of books."

Harry said, "Do you have any money?"

Liam frowned. "A bit. Not much."

"We brought some," Harry said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the fistful of bills Dudley had given him earlier. "We should probably combine our funds, yeah?"

Liam nodded. "Yeah. And we'll decide as a group how to spend them."

"What do you mean?" Dudley asked. "Won't we just be spending them on food?"

Liam snorted. "Mate, if we spent money on food every time we wanted to eat, we'd be out of both money and food inside a month."

"So then what will we spend it on?" Dudley asked.

"Clothes, maybe, when winter comes," Liam said. "I buy batteries, sometimes, for my radio."

"Books?" Harry suggested.

"Nah," Liam said. "You can get coverless ones in the dumpsters behind Blackwell's. And you can always hit up the library if you're really desperate."

Harry smiled weakly. "It's quite a life, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Liam said. "It is."

Severus paused in the doorway to Zach's room and observed the two boys for a moment. Brinley had the controller, and though he was composed, his eyes on the screen were focused and interested. Zach was leaning forward on his toes, pointing at something on the screen and shouting instructions. Looking at them, Severus thought, you wouldn't have known have different their pasts were. You'd just think they were two boys playing video games together.

He sighed and cleared his throat.

Brinley paused the game and turned his head. "Severus. Is it time to leave already?"

"Already?" Severus repeated, his lips twitching. "It's been two hours. Usually you're more than ready to return to your potions journals by now."

Zach laughed. "You're one to talk, Uncle Sev."

"Indeed," Severus said. "Nevertheless, Brinley, it is time to go. Tumnus will be having supper ready."

"Yes, sir," Brinley said. He handed the video game controller to Zach. "Thanks for showing me Skyrim, Zach. It was fun."

Zach grinned. "Maybe your dad'll get you one for your birthday or something."

Severus said, "I'm sure he'll get plenty of electronic stimulation here, Zachary."

Brinley stood. He grabbed his jacket from the foot of Zach's bed and yanked it on. "What do you suppose we'll have for supper?"

Severus lay a hand on Brinley's shoulder and steered him out of the room. "We'll have to see when we get there."

"Beans!" Liam announced proudly, pulling two cans out of the fridge. "And Jello, I think, to celebrate new friends."

"Oh, goody," Dudley drawled. "And here I thought we'd go hungry."

"Stuff it, Dud," Harry said. He took a can from Liam, hitched his thumb under the tab, and yanked the top off. He tipped the can back and poured a third of the beans into his mouth before passing the can to Dudley.

"We'll have to get food more frequently, with three of us," Liam said, slurping some beans out of his own can before passing it to Harry.

"Where do we get food from?" Dudley asked.

"Usually go dumpster diving after dark," Liam said. "Places that have a lot of people during the day and not so many at night. The park, for example. Can sometimes get okay snack food that way—half a bag of cheetos, maybe, or the tail end of a PB&J. The rest of the stuff you go behind restaurants and grocery stores for. They're required by law to throw out all their expired food, and while I wouldn't recommend the day-old Sushi, for the most part expired food really isn't all that bad."

"Sure," Dudley said sullenly. "Sounds like we'll eat like kings."

"Don't be a prat," Harry said. "You didn't have to come. You could have stayed behind."

"Sure I could have," Dudley said. "I've lost my mum and my dad, and now you want me to lose the closest thing I have to a brother?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked. "We're not brothers. We barely even qualify as cousins."

Dudley's face paled. "What do you mean? Of course we are… we were raised together and everything."

"Raised together?" Harry asked. "Did you take a blow to the head? You were raised like a little prince, and I was raised to be your whipping boy. Do you really think that's how it is in a normal family?"

"Why'd you bring me with you, then?" Dudley asked. "If you don't think we're family."

"You asked to come," Harry said. "What the hell was I supposed to do? I know how much it sucks not to have a family. That's how I've lived my whole life. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy—not even on you, Dudley."

Dudley swiped the back of his hand across his eyes, and, without another word, turned towards the basement door. "I'm sleeping downstairs tonight."

Liam said, "You haven't even touched your Jello."

"No hungry," Dudley whispered.

The basement door creaked closed behind Dudley.

Liam gave Harry a disapproving look. "That was harsh, mate."

"Yeah," Harry said, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know."