AN: Wow! Thanks for all the positive feedback! And by positive feedback I mean follows and favorites.

I have yet to get a single comment.

But that's cool yo! Just the fact that you liked this story enough to favorite it is enough in my book!

So without further ado, here's the next chapter! Diagon Alley here we come!

"Normal Speak"

"Parsletongue"

"Della"

'Thoughts'

Deduction 3:

Snape POV:

Severus Snape was cross.

Why was Severus Snape cross? Well there were many reasons as to why, he was forced to teach a bunch of snot-nosed brats who couldn't appreciate the fine art of potion-making. There was Dumbledore and the fact that he had been getting increasingly more… odd, as the days counted down to the new school year.

And then there was the main reason.

He was being forced to go pick up the bane of his existence.

Harry Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Potter nee Evans, his school yard crush.

Dumbledore had told him that Harry was a spoiled little brat that had never worked in his life, and he was sending Severus to get him.

Though Severus had never met the boy, he trusted Dumbledore, the man had never led him astray after all. So if he said that Harry Potter was spoiled and disrespectful, he would believe him.

Sending Severus to get him well…

It was just a disaster waiting to happen.

Three harsh knocks and there was a shrill voice screaming from inside.

"Coming!" Came the voice of Petunia Dursley.

The horse like woman answered the door, jerking backwards in surprise at the sight of him.

"YOU!" She screeched, forcing Severus to suppress a grin.

"Yes Petunia, me. I've come for Potter." He said, sneering down at the woman.

She scoffed and crossed her arms, leaning slightly against the door way to block his view into the house.

"Well you're too late. He doesn't live with us anymore, hasn't for the past 6 years!"

"Excuse me? Well where is he?" He asked, trying not to show his surprise at the statement.

"He lives with Nila and Ray Lopez, we weren't told anything else."

"Why was he removed from your household?"

"I'm not telling you that. Now go away!" She screeched, slamming the door in Severus's face.

Severus sighed, turning and moving down the street, sneering and glaring at anyone who looked at him. He went to the end of the road and then took a right, going to an abandoned lot and pulling his wand out.

"Point me to Nila Lopez." He said, watching as his wand spun and pointed west. "Ah. London."

He spun on his heel and Apparated.

Normal POV:

The Lopez's house was a quaint place. With 5 rooms and two bathrooms, the place was not too big and not too small, perfect for a family of three.

The outside was done in cream and white and there were beds of flowers surrounding it.

It was oddly comforting. Even for a guy like Severus Snape.

Who was currently on the doorstep.

He raised his hand, knocked three times and waited.

"Coming!" A feminine voice called out.

The door opened and Severus felt like he had been smacked across the face and thrown into the past. There in the doorway was someone who looked like Lily Potter had come back from the dead.

But, after his initial shock wore off, he noticed that Nila Lopez actually looked nothing like Lily Potter.

For one her hair was blonde and not red, her eyes weren't the same shade of green, her nose, face structure, nothing looked the same. At first glance Nila looked like Lily, but with a closer look they could be distant cousins.

"Who might you be?" She asked.

Severus pulled himself out of his musings and cleared his throat.

"Severus Snape. I'm here to pick up Harry Potter." He said, internally wincing at how much loathing came out at the child's name.

Nila stared at him.

He stared back.

There was a beat.

"Oh thank goodness!" She said, sagging slightly in relief and rushing him inside. "I thought you weren't coming! Harry would have been so disappointed, or angry… Not sure to be honest."

Severus was confused to say the least, and it was his confusion that had allowed the cheery woman to usher him inside and plop him on the couch whilst she called her son down.

"Angel! There's a visitor for you!"

She then joined him on the couch and waited.

There was another beat.

Then frantic footfalls flew overhead and down the stairs and the boy had barely been able to grab the banister as he stepped wrong and almost fell. He raced in front of Severus and grinned.

Severus was reminded of Lily. This hurt more than he let on.

"You're a wizard right?!" Harry exclaimed, excitement and surprise written on his face.

He had been tending to Cain upstairs when his mom had called him. Harry would have been down sooner but… well Cain wanted to come along. So Harry spent a little time getting the snake comfortable around his neck before racing downstairs.

He had taken one look at the black clad man and knew that there was something magical about him.

"He smellsss odd." Said Cain.

"Does he?"

"He doesss, like magic."

"Are you… are you speaking to the snake?" Asked the man, seeming surprised.

"Uh yeah… this is Cain! He says you smell odd." Said Harry.

The man simply stared and said nothing.

"He doesssn't ssseem to be disssturbed."

Harry shushed Cain quietly, gently rubbing his finger on the smooth black scaled head.

"So, um, are you? A wizard I mean?"

"I am. My name is Severus Snape and I'm a teacher at Hogwarts." Said the man, looking at Harry through narrowed eyes.

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed, bouncing on his heels. "What do you teach? Why're you here?"

"I teach potions," Severus said, with no small amount of pride, "and I was sent to retrieve you and accompany you to Diagon Alley to buy your supplies, but I was held up. Tell me, why aren't you a resident at the Dursley household anymore?"

"Ah, Mr. Snape I think that's a personal que-" Nila began, only to be cut off by her son.

"It's okay mum… I lived there for a while, 6 years, they beat me, starved me and neglected me. I could give you a detailed account of what happened if you want, though I don't think you want to know that much." Harry said with a shrug.

If the professor was surprised by this information he didn't show it, instead he asked:

"You remember all of it?"

"Yeah. I have an eidetic memory."

"Eidetic… this means you remember-"

"The night my parents died? Yeah, yeah I do. I remember everything, well everything except for this one week. The gap starts on June 5th, 1985. Aunt Petunia had sent me out to do some weeding in her garden and to tend to the hedges, I had been trimming the hedges when this man appeared… he was very handsome and he asked me what I was doing, where my parents were. He then asked if I could find… his… dog… ow!" Harry exclaimed, grabbing his head.

"Pott- Harry, are you all right?" Severus asked, whilst Nila began to chant 'no' under her breath, wringing her hands on her lap.

"Yes I'm fine, just a… headache… ohhh, I feel a little strange." He slurred, collapsing backwards into the loveseat behind him and falling unconscious.

Severus took a look at Nila, who was shaking and muttering what seemed to be the Lord's Prayer under her breath.

When he turned back to Harry he understood why.

The thing looking back at him was most definitely not Harry Potter.

Harry Potter did not have a face that seemed to be permanently set into a frown. Harry Potter did not have black demonic eyes, with a single ring of white in them.

Harry Potter most definitely did not grin like that.

Severus jumped to his feet, whipping out his wand and pointing it at the child.

"Who are you? WHAT are you?"

"I'm a grudge! And put that down, honestly I'm not going to attack you. I just want to… chat a bit, that's all." It said.

Through the distortion, Severus could tell that it sounded suspiciously feminine.

"Leave that boy's body."

"I won't! Now sit down before I MAKE you." It snarled.

"Stupi-"

Severus never got to finish his spell before an unforgiving force wrenched his wand from his hand and forced him into the couch.

Nila continued to shake and pointedly not look at the demon.

"I warned you. Honest I did! I didn't even want to do that! You seem like a reasonable guy! I just want to talk… well more like warn you."

He looked warily at the child and straightened up, motioning for it to talk.

"Thank you. My name is Della. I'm possessing Harry in case you couldn't already tell." The thing, Della, began, "Anyway, back to the story. I don't remember the day as well as Harry would, but well that's for the best.

"The Man Harry talked about was a serial killer, who abducted children and brutally killed them… you see where I'm going with this right? I'm gonna spare you the gritty details and just say this. There were six of us, me, Flora, Aether, Geoff, Edgar and Harry. One by one we were violently mutilated. I was the first and the only one to turn into a grudge. When it was Aether's turn, she seemed to have had a six sense and ordered me to protect Harry.

"I had asked her why should I, and she told me that she sensed that Harry had a lot of power, she continued to ask me to protect him… even after she died. So I agreed. When I possessed him I found he was a wizard and found that his eidetic memory would never let him forget what happened, because of that I decided to beat The Man into unconsciousness and then go to the police. Once it was all said and done I locked up his memories of that week and went into a hibernation mode. I will resurface whenever he tries to remember. I will also resurface whenever he's in any kind of danger that he can't handle himself or will force him to remember that week." She finished.

"You are a child ghost, grudge correct?"

"Weird question, yeah."

"How are you so eloquent?"

"Even weirder question. While I can't actually grow up with Harry, I can learn from him."

"Fair enough, why isn't Harry allowed to remember that week? He now has a loving family, one that will protect him and help him through it."

"Please tell me you're joking."

Severus gave Della a deadpan look.

"Wow for a professor of magic you sure are dumb."

Severus spluttered but Della kept going.

"If he remembers, the trauma will literally drive him insane. He was tortured and then forced to hear other people his age die. His psyche just wouldn't be able to handle it, so I'm keeping that locked up until he's ready to see it. And you better not force him to remember if you know what's good for you."

"No offense, but you don't seem very powerful, grudge or not."

Della stared at him, she continued to stare at him for a long period of time.

Then she opened her mouth and screamed.

The house shook with the force of her hatred and Nila sobbed openly, looking with horrified eyes at her child.

Della closed her mouth and tilted her head at Snape,

"If you want another demonstration I can make all the furniture in this room levitate… though I think that's the extent of my power."

Severus was visibly shaken and when he turned to look at the blonde woman, the look she was giving him could have killed him three times over.

"Do not." Nila spat, turning to Della. "Della, it's been nice to see you, but I want my angel back."

"Don't worry Mrs. Lopez, I'm gonna leave in a minute." She turned to Severus, and glowered, the effect striking home with her unnatural eyes. "Don't make him remember, or I will make you regret it with every fiber of your being."

And just like that Della was gone.

No more unnatural black and white eyes, no screams that could cause earthquakes, no deadpan stare.

Just a visibly distraught boy and his emerald green eyes,

Severus had never been so happy to see that color.

"Professor Snape. A word." Nila said, motioning for him to come into the kitchen.

"Mum? Did something happen?" Harry asked, shakily standing up.

"No angel, you just had another blackout, please go upstairs and put Cain back, the adults have to talk."

"Please don't make him remember." She begged, desperation in her features.

"Why not?"

"Do you honestly need a reason!?"

Severus nodded.

"Because Della would come back, and she'd stay longer while she tried to fix the damage done to his mind, and GOD. I don't want her here, I hate her, and I've tried so hard to get rid of her, but everything I do fails and she loves to tell me that and UGH."

Nila set her face in her hands and rubbed at her temples.

"She is a poison, not to him, but everyone around him. So please, don't make him remember, don't make me lose my little boy."

He could see how desperate she was, and how much she loved Harry. He'd also witnessed Della first hand and decided that the world didn't need that much hate unleased into it just yet.

"I won't, I swear."

"Thank you."

The smile Nila gave him was enough to cement his decision.

But something told him he shouldn't tell the headmaster about this.

"Are you ready Harry?" Nila asked, fretting over her son.

After an hour of preparation (and a glass of brandy for the adults), Harry Potter was finally ready for his departure.

"Are you sure you want to go? I'm sure Professor Snape wouldn't mind waiting a day or two." Nila said.

That was an exaggeration, after the incident with the grudge, Severus was prepared to go straight home and drink himself to sleep.

"I'm sure mum! It was just a blackout! I'm fine!" Harry chirped.

"Well, all right. Stay safe." She said, getting up and turning to Severus. "Please protect him."

"I will." Severus promised.

Nila gave him a small smile and ushered the two of them out the door.

"Be back soon angel! We'll be going out tonight!"

"I will mum!" Harry called, waving at Nila until the door shut.

The two males walked in amiable silence along the London streets, well mostly silence, Severus was listening to Harry hiss to his snake.

It had taken a lot of begging, bargaining and one giant temper tantrum (that Harry had apologized for the minute they left the house) to allow Nila to let Harry take Cain on the trip.

They were a couple blocks from their location (thank goodness for the Lopez house being so conveniently located) when Severus broke the silence.

"Mr. Potter-" Severus began.

"Aw come on Professor Snape! Please call me Harry!" Said child chirped.

"… Harry, do you… have blackouts often?"

"Err, no not really. They'll happen every once in a while and I really hate them."

"Why?"

"Other than the obvious? I pride myself on my memory, and when I blackout, I can't remember anything that happened about ehh, 10 or so minutes prior to the blackout. It sucks."

Severus chuckled, making Harry puff out his cheeks and blush.

"Its not funny!"

"I know, I know. Im sure that one day you'll be able to remember everything." Snape said.

Harry was content with that answer and turned back to talk to his snake.

A couple more minutes of walking found the two wizards in front of an old and rickety bar in London.

Harry scrunched his nose.

"Uhhh, Professor Snape? My mum said I shouldn't go in to places like these." He said.

"And she would be right. But this time Im with you, and so its okay." He said, before crouching down to the child's level with a half smirk (as close to a smile as he would get), "but seriously? Never come here by yourself. There are some weird types in there."

Harry giggled.

"Sounds good to me!" He chirped, "lets go!"

Severus braved himself for the inevitable, someone was bound to recognize Harry, and then he'd have to tell the boy his story.

Wonderful.

The two walked inside, Harry blinking at the oddly comforting aroma of cheap alcohol and the lingering smell of smoke.

Severus led the boy through the bar, hoping to get through without anybody recognizing him.

No such luck.

"Severus! You don't usually come here." The bartender, Tom, said. "Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you Tom, I am already behind schedule and I cant afford to be any later." He said, taking Harry's shoulders and trying to steer the boy out of the bar before Tom saw him.

Once again, no such luck.

"My word! You're Harry Potter!" Tom exclaimed.

'God could he be any louder?' Snape thought with a groan.

And suddenly every patron in the bar was swarming the alarmed eleven year old, shaking his hand and moving his hair, trying to get a good look at the scar.

This of course caused Harry to go into a panic (claustrophobia will do that to you) and he tried to shove his way out of the crowd, his breathing becoming labored and his vision swimming.

"Help! Professor Snape help!" He croaked, gasping for breath.

Severus, realizing what was happening to the poor boy, quickly pulled him out of the crowd and planted him behind him. Where Harry proceeded to slump to the floor, head between his knees, trying desperately to regain control of his breathing.

"You lot should be ashamed of yourselves." Severus sneered, voice like poison. "Couldn't you see that your precious Savior was claustrophobic?"

Most of the patrons looked ashamed by that statement, though a few continued to try to get around Severus, with no success.

"All right you cretins! Go on, get away." Tom shouted, coming out from behind the bar and pushing patrons away from the distraught boy. "Sorry about that Severus. I shouldn't have yelled so loud."

"No, you shouldn't have." Said man snapped, turning and crouching to look at Harry, "are you all right?"

Harry had gotten his breathing under control and was taking deep breaths to calm himself.

"Im fine. Im fine." He said, shakily getting up. "I honestly thought I had gotten over my claustrophobia, but apparently not."

"Its not something easy to get over. How do you have it anyway?" He asked, leading the boy out of the bar.

"Well you see, when I lived with the Dursleys, my room was the broom cupboard under the stairs, and they would stuff me in there whenever I did something wrong. I guess I must have just developed a fear of small places and crowds over the years." Said Harry, giving another shrug.

"How can you act so nonchalant about that? What they did to you was horrible."

"It was, but! I don't I have to go back there ever again so Im not worried. Its all in the past now… even if the memories are still fresh in my brain. Besides, if I held a grudge against them forever, then I wouldn't be as happy as I am now!"

Severus shook his head. He couldn't understand how a boy who had gone through so much, could end up so sweet and forgiving. In his case, the abuse that happened to him left him jaded and cruel.

He was glad Harry wasn't going to end up like him.

"Professor Snape?"

"Severus or Sev is fine."

"Ok. Sev… this is a wall."

"Yes."

"This is a wall."

"We've established that."

"What are we doing at a wall?"

Severus shot Harry an exasperated look that said boy grinned cheekily at.

"You'll see."

Taking a step forward, Severus raised his wand and tapped the bricks in a certain order, then he took a step back and observed Harry's face.

He wasn't disappointed.

Harry's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock as the bricks rearranged themselves to form an archway into a completely different world.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley." Severus said, striding through the arch. "Come along… and close your mouth, you don't want to be catching flies do you?"

Harry snapped his mouth shut, puffed out his cheeks and blushed, quickly following Severus inside.

"Coulda warned me." He grumbled.

Severus was once more forced to suppress a grin.

"So what is this place?" Harry asked as they stopped in front of their first destination.

"This is Gringotts, the wizard bank. Its run by goblins." Severus explained.

"Woah! What really?"

Severus nodded and Harry practically pulled him inside, he was going to have to get used to being dragged around.

The inside was as grand (if not more grand) than the outside. Marble columns spread across the large marble hall and Harry was having a difficult time seeing, the place was so bright! However he had no trouble seeing-

"Hagrid!" The boy exclaimed, making the half giant turn in surprise and stumble a bit when a green eyed blur crashed into him.

Severus huffed and followed the boy.

"'Arry?!" Hagrid exclaimed in confusion, looking at the tiny boy. "You… you remember me?"

"Of course I do! Sirius gave me to you after what happened with Voldemort!" He said, making the two adults wince. "What? Am I not supposed to say his name?"

"Its taboo Harry." Severus explained.

Harry made a noise of acknowledgement and then turned back to Hagrid.

"You know, speaking of Padfoot, where is he? You'd think I'd have been given to him after my parents died."

The two adults winced again.

"What? What happened?" He asked, glaring when he didn't get an answer. "What happened to Sirius?!"

"'Arry… Yer godfathers in Azkaban." Said Hagrid.

"Wh- whats Azkaban?"

This time Severus piped up.

"It's a wizard prison on a far off island, its guarded by Dementors, which quite literally suck the happiness out of you." He said.

"Why is he in there?!"

"He betrayed your parents Harry, don't you remember?"

"He didn't betray my parents! Peter did!"

The two adults were taken back.

"An… An how do ye know this?" Hagrid asked.

"Because! I was there! My parents said that they switched the Secret Keeper of the house, whatever that is, to Peter because they knew everyone would think it was Sirius! But no one expected Peter to be a Death Eater!" Harry said, taking a big gulp of air. "Padfoot is innocent! We need to get him out!"

"I… I don't know if we can 'Arry." Hagrid.

"Was he even given a fair trial!?"

"That would be a no, he wasn't given a trial period." That was Severus.

"Well then! We'll go to where ever we need to and demand that they give him a fair trial!"

Harry looked so determined and passionate about it that Severus knew he didn't stand a chance if the boy asked him to help.

So he sighed in defeat and looked at him.

"All right, Ill help, but you realize that if Black gets out, you will most likely be put in his care right? You'll be taken away from your adopted parents."

"Wait 'Arry's adopted?"

"Yes I am Hagrid, and yes I understand Sev, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now I wanna get what we came here for and then do a little research into getting an innocent man out of Azkaban."

After saying goodbye to Hagrid; Harry and Snape went to the trust vault that Harry's parents left him. It was there that Severus explained the currency in the wizarding world and they filled a bag with the various coins.

"I didn't know they left me this much!" Harry had said.

"Once you're sixteen you'll receive the Potter vaults as well." Severus had said.

"Woah! What really?"

"The Potters are a long line of purebloods Harry."

"Cool!"

Then they left and their shopping trip began.

They started in Flourish and Blotts, going through and picking out the books he needed for his school year, as well as different books on the wizarding world that Harry had wanted.

He didn't want to walk into Hogwarts not knowing anything after all.

After his books were paid and done, they walked out and Harry asked if they could go Eeylops Owl Emporium because he wanted to be able to talk to his parents when it was time to go.

Cain was very against this idea.

"The thing will kill me hatchling! Pleassse don't do it!" The snake hissed frantically, making Harry snicker.

"Whats he saying?" Severus asked.

"He says that I shouldn't get an owl because it'll eat him, but Ill be looking for one that's good with snakes!"

"Id rather you jussst not get one!"

"Aww come on Cain! I want to be able to tell my mum and dad whats going on in Hogwarts!" Harry hissed back, making Severus wince. "What'd I do this time?"

"I suggest you don't speak in Parsletongue in public."

"Why?"

"Parsletongue is considered a dark trait since You-Know-Who was able to speak it."

"That's dumb."

"I agree, and I'd tell you that you shouldn't care, but you should, you don't want to be alienated when you're the Savior of the Wizarding world."

"Mmph. Well fine."

"Haha! That meansss you cant tell me to be quiet!" Cain crowed.

"Shut up Cain, just cause I cant tell you to be quiet in your language doesn't mean I cant in English."

"Rude."

Harry cackled and then pulled Severus by his sleeve to the Owl Emporium.

After a bit of searching, Harry had been able to find a pretty snowy white owl with black spots on her feathers.

The kicker? Cain actually liked her.

"She wont eat me. I can tell." The snake had said.

And that was enough for Harry, he purchased the owl immediately along with other supplies and a little booklet on how to take care of her.

They'd been leaving when Severus spoke up.

"What will you name her?"

"Hmm…" Harry mumbled, looking at the owl from all angles. "Hedwig! Do you like that name girl?"

The owl, now named Hedwig, hooted her appraisal.

"So mote it be!" He said, snickering.

They walked to the middle of the plaza and then Severus turned to Harry.

"You go into Madam Malkin's and get your robes. Get your standard robes and at least two sets of dress robes all right?" He said,

"Err… Okay? What about you?" Asked Harry.

"Im going to go to the Apothecary and get you your potions supplies."

"Oh yeah! You teach potions! Im gonna memorize my potions book just for you Sev!"

"You're going to memorize all your text books brat." He said fondly, barely resisting the urge to ruffle the boy's hair.

Dammit. He wasn't supposed to get attached.

"Im not a brat!"

"Sure you aren't. Go."

Harry grumbled a fine and handed Hedwig to Severus, running off to enter the store.

The owl hooted at him and Snape glared at it.

"I feel as if you are mocking me. Stop it."

Hedwig gave him a look and Severus shook his head.

"Im loosing it." He grumbled, walking towards the Apothecary.

Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions was run by none other than Madam Malkin herself, who was a short stout witch with a kind smile.

"Hogwarts dear?" She had kindly asked him when he walked in and Harry had nodded. "Got the lot here – another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

She led him to the back of the shop, where a pale boy with a pointed face was standing on a second stool being fitted by another witch. Harry stood on the stool and listened as Madam Malkin asked him what he needed, he repeated what Severus had told him and then just stood still.

"Hello," said the boy, startling Harry a bit, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Err, yes." Said Harry.

"My dad's next door buying my books and my mum is down the street looking at wands." The boy said in such a bored drawling tone that it made Harry want to yawn. "After Im done here Im going to drag them to look at racing brooms. Can't believe first years aren't allowed brooms, perhaps Ill bully father into buying me one and Ill smuggle it in somehow."

Harry just stared.

"Have you got a broom?"

"Nope!" Harry said cheerfully, popping the 'p'.

The boy raised an eyebrow.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"I have no clue what that is!"

The boy sneered.

"Oh are you a mud – muggleborn?" He asked, barely catching himself from saying something else.

Oh that was something he just barely learned in one of the books Sev got for him.

"Halfblood actually!"

"So one of your parents is a muggle?"

"Nope again! Mum was a muggleborn and my dad was a pureblood!"

"Was?"

"They're dead."

"Oh… sorry." He said, though Harry didn't think he sounded very sorry at all.

But that was fine! It was the thought that counted.

The two boys sat in (what Harry thought was) amiable silence. Well again, only half silence, what with Harry quietly talking to Cain. Who, by the way, thought that the pale boy was 'hella rude'.

Then the door in the front dinged and Severus Snape walked in.

"Uncle Sev!" "Sev!"

The two boys froze and looked at each other, one hostile and the other curious.

"How do you know my godfather?" The pale boy groused.

"Oh hey I didn't know he was your godfather! He's accompanying me in my shopping and helping me learn more about the wizarding world!" Chirped Harry.

The black clad man joined the two boys in the back and took a seat.

"Oh Draco. I didn't know you were going to be here today."

Harry's smile grew to an almost feral looking grin.

"Your name is Draco?" He asked.

"Yes, Draco Malfoy." The boy, Draco, said, "and yourself?"

"Im Harry Potter!"

He had honestly forgotten (ha) that his name was famous here. He was brutally reminded (HA) that it was when Draco's eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

"Are you trying to catch flies Draco?" Harry asked, gently patting Cain's head when the snake's uncontrollable laughter had begun to tickle his collarbone.

"Y-You're Harry Potter?"

"Mmhmm!"

"I was really mean to Harry Potter." He seemed worried.

"Yup!"

"You're okay with that?" Desperate now.

"Of course!"

"Oh I kn– wait what?"

"I said I was okay with it." He said, smile returning to grin at Draco's look. "Im pretty forgiving, I mean, whats the point of holding a grudge you know?"

"Ah… yeah, yeah I know what you mean." He said, relief washing over his pale features.

"However! If you make friends with me and then I find out you were only friends with me because of my name," Harry tilted his head, grin becoming malicious, "then we're gonna have a problem."

A collective shudder ran through the room, and Severus figured that Della's little 'blackouts' did more to Harry's psyche than the boy let on.

Harry hopped off the stool at Madam Malkin's insistence and waved to Draco.

"See you later Draco!" He chirped, taking Severus's sleeve and pulling him to the counter, where he arranged for the robes to be sent to his house and then paid.

"Oh yeah Sev, where are the potion supplies anyway?" He asked as they left the store.

"I took the liberty of buying you a trunk and storing your supplies in there." Said Severus, taking out a candy bar sized trunk. "I also took the liberty of shrinking it."

"Thanks! What else do we need?" Harry said, skipping.

"All that's left is your wand."

Harry whooped and motioned for Severus to lead the way.

"Hurry!" He chirped, bouncing up and down as they walked.

Ollivander's wand shop was a small, cluttered and oddly musky smelling place. You'd expect the place to smell like wood or glaze, but nope. Musk.

"Mr. Potter, I've been expecting you for some time." Said a gravelly voice.

Harry jumped and looked at Ollivander.

Ollivander looked like a typical old man, lean and spindly, hobbling over as if he couldn't support himself. What made him different was his eyes, they were wide and pale, as if he had seen all the secrets the universe had to offer.

"Er um… You have?" Harry questioned quietly, those pale eyes unnerving him and making him feel as if Ollivander was seeing into his very soul.

"I have. You have your mother's eyes, ah it seems like only yesterday that she was here, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow, good for charm work."

Harry stayed silent, inching back when Ollivander came closer.

"Your father on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches, pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. It's the wand that chooses the wizard of course."

Ollivander had come so close to Harry that the poor boy was starting to feel closed in, and as a result, his breathing became shallower.

"And that's where…" He mumbled, reaching up to touch Harry's forehead.

Harry intervened however, and moved to the side, taking deep breaths of air. He officially did not want to be in the store longer than necessary if the owner was going to be that close to him.

Ollivander looked a trifle upset, but luckily noticed Severus.

"Ah! Severus Snape! Its been a while hasn't it? E–" He began, Severus cutting him off.

"We are not here for me. Please help Harry with his wand."

"Of course, of course…"

At this point Harry was sure that Ollivander was mad. Super-duper-off-his-rocker mad.

The old man snapped his fingers, and a tape measure whipped up and began measuring every nook and cranny of Harry's body, which of course made the boy very uncomfortable.

"What is your want hand Mr. Potter?" He asked.

"Oh er… Im right handed?" Offered Harry.

Ollivander nodded and went to search his many shelves.

"Here, try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible." He said when he came back, offering the box to Harry.

Harry had barely pulled it out of the box before it was snatched up by Ollivander.

"No no." He mumbled, picking another box. "Try this one. Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy."

The process was repeated and once again, Ollivander pulled the wand away before Harry could so much as wave it.

"No no – here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches. Springy. Go on, try it."

This time Harry waved it and a nearby flower pot exploded. Ollivander shook his head and kept urging Harry to try different wands.

And he tried. And tried. And tried some more, and soon there was a small pile of wands on the counter and Harry was feeling more frustrated by the minute. Mr. Ollivander however was ecstatic.

"Tricky customer eh? No worries, we'll find the perfect match." He said, before looking thoughtful. "I wonder – well it couldn't hurt to try?"

The man wandered into the back and came back a couple seconds later.

"Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." He said.

Before Harry picked it up, he looked at Ollivander and Severus. Ollivander was full of glee and Sev looked… nervous? He shrugged it off and picked up the wand.

It physically exploded.

Harry jumped a foot in the air, Ollivander looked confused, and Severus checked on Harry's arm.

"How… odd." Ollivander said.

"Whats odd?"

"The phoenix feather that resided in that wand, had given another feather… that feather was in You-Know-Who's wand."

"What does THAT mean?"

"It meant that your wand and His wand were brothers. It meant that, if You-Know-Who came back, you both would not be able to fight with those wands… but I suppose I was wrong. Next!"

A couple more wands and eventually Ollivander thought of another wand.

"It could be." He mumbled, disappearing behind the shelves and coming back with another box. "Ghost gum, basilisk venom core. Eleven inches. Springy and good for potions."

Harry raised an eyebrow but took the wand anyway.

Warmth spread up his arm and the wand spew silver and gold sparks into the air, the store lighting up like the 4th of July.

"Oh bravo! Never thought I'd see the day that wand left this store." Ollivander said.

"Its been here long?" Harry asked.

"Ever since its been made. It never seemed to like people, oh but it adores you Mr. Potter! That'll be 7 Galleons."

Harry gave the wand a look, but shrugged, slinking forwards and paying the old man seven gold coins and heading out.

"Ill be there in a minute Harry." Severus called, making Harry frown.

"But why? I wann – oh hey look it's Draco!" The boy chirped, racing outside to show his new friend his wand.

Once Severus' business had been dealt with and the two of them had said goodbye to the Malfoys ("They're really nice!" "Are they?"), Severus and Harry headed back to the Lopez home.

"Mum! Look at my new wand!" Harry said,

waving his wand around when Nila had opened the door, sparkles and streamers decorating the room.

"Oh that's wonderful! Now come in the kitchen! We have a birthday to celebrate!" Nila said, clear relief written over her face. It was obvious that the woman had thought that it was all an elaborate prank, but now she had proof and relaxed.

"Woo hoo! Sev! Come in!"

The dour professor chuckled warily and took a step back.

"I'd rather not." He said.

"Oh come now! We're all friends here!" A new voice said.

A squeal of 'dad!' let Severus know that the 6'3 man in the doorway was Ray Lopez, the Hispanic male held his hand out, waiting for Severus to shake it.

"Thank you for taking care of my son." He said, firmly shaking Severus's hand when he had it.

"It was my pleasure." And it was surprisingly true. He had fun with the brat today.

"At least stay for cake! Please Sev?" Harry pleaded, shooting Severus the best puppy dog eyes he had.

Snape didn't even stand a chance.

He had huffed and griped when he was pulled into the festivities, but he had fun nonetheless and when it was time to open the presents, Harry had been rather happy at what Severus got him.

With a new wand holster and an advanced potions book in hand, Harry swore to him that he would memorize every word in that book by the time the new school year started.

Then the party was over, and Severus was heading home.

He was surprised though, when Harry bid him goodbye by giving him a big hug.

"Thanks for taking me out today. I had fun!" The boy said, yawning widely and sleepily waving goodbye as Severus left.

The Lopez's gave him their thanks and bid him good night.

He would never admit it but that night?

Severus Snape fell asleep with a smile on his face.

AN: Dear gods in the heavens that was a long ass chapter.

I apologize in advance with the late chapter, but well, it was super long and took a while to write.

Plus, my beta had work so I had to wait for her. Hail to the great God Kiwi.

I just didn't want to drag the Diagon Alley chapter out any more than it needed.

I hope I did Severus justice!

Also wand thing will be explained if asked.

What else…

Oh right! I know its too early for pairings, but who should Harry end up with? Im thinking the Weasley twins (yes both of them) or Draco. Dunno yet.

Also Ron, good or bad? Or like, starts out bad and then gets good? What should I do with Ginny? Hermione's set so don't worry about her. So is Dumbles so don't ask.

Mmph, think that's it! Hope you guys enjoyed!