Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Cross-posted at AO3

This chapter fought back. Still not really happy with it but I'm trying to stick to a posting schedule.

Thank you for all the reviews, favs & alerts. They're really encouraging. They're also giving me plot bunnies (the first of which has snuck into Chapter 5)

Chapter 3: A-Shopping we will go

"Right, Mr. Potter. Welcome to my humble home. I'm here four days a year, so the spiders have more invested in this place than I do." Snape is sneering but he is painfully aware of how run down the place is, inside and out. He does keep it clean and vermin free but that's about it. The fittings are worn and dated, the wallpaper faded and starting to peel where damp has come in around the back door.

Harry, who was trying (and failing) to be subtle as he glanced around, nodded. "I like spiders. I used to have to share the cupboard with them but they never bit me or anything, so that was OK."

Snape's eyebrow lifted. Share the cupboard. File that away for later. There was something worse ahead today, so the past would have to wait. "We are men, Mr. Potter and therefore we hate shopping, am I right?"

Painful memories of trailing after Aunt Petunia as she shopped for "Dudders" and carrying too-heavy bags of groceries back to the car meant that he couldn't disagree with the Professor.

"Do you have your supply list for Hogwarts?"

Harry pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it over awkwardly.

Snape glanced down the list. "Is this all they are sending out these days, Mr. Potter?"

"It's all I have but my Uncle threw so many of the letters away, perhaps something went missing?"

Severus reached into the messenger bag that was still strung across his body. Among the papers Minerva had given him, was there anything else that related to school supplies for muggleborns? If the boy turned up with just what was on this list he would never survive.

Eventually, he unearthed a supplementary reading list, a suggested clothing list and a list of forbidden items. "Why on earth aren't these sent to everyone," he grumbled under his breath. "I can't believe we're that short of parchment."

He spread the documents out across the kitchen counter and studied them intently.

"Don't hover, lad. Sit down and help me draw up a battle plan."

"Sir?" Harry had tentatively perched on the kitchen chair and squinted at the lists.

His teaching instincts kicking in instantly, Snape frowned at him. "Mr. Potter, when did you last have your eyes tested?"

Harry looked up at him blinking. "Four or five years ago, sir."

"We'll add a visit to the optician to the list for today, then. Right. We need to get all the things on two of these lists today. Plus, a visit to Gringotts – that's the wizarding bank – so you can pay for everything. There are also other items you will need that are not here at all." He tapped one long finger against the parchment. "You are famous in the wizarding world, so we will have to be prepared to stop and make introductions to any number of people, hopefully a few of them will be too scared of me to approach you… How would you recommend we do this?"

"Me?"

"You, Mr. Potter. Consider this your second test."

Harry screwed up his face in thought. Tapping one foot nervously as he tried to get his ideas in order.

"There's a lot to do, isn't there. Aunt Petunia sometimes buys this "mail order", she rings someone up and the stuff is delivered a few days later. Can we do any of that this was?"

"Good thinking. Yes, some things can be done that way. However, I do not think your Aunt would be keen on lots of delivery owls showing up, so that might not be our best option. Try again."

Harry struggled to come up with anything else and was starting to get anxious about taking too long to answer. "I don't know, sir."

"Well, we have magic." Snape said. "One of the biggest delays will be getting you through crowds of well-wishers, so we do as much of your shopping as possible without people realising it is you."

"I don't like crowds much, sir. Do we have to go?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter. Everyone has to do things they do not want to and the sooner you start dealing with the idiocy that is the wizarding world, the sooner you will become proficient at it."

"So, for which of these purchases do you need to be Harry Potter? You will have to be yourself going to Gringotts, the goblins would take a very dim view of any attempted deception. Your wand is personal to you and robes are made to measure, so it will not help if you are not yourself in every detail. The same applies to the optician but I think we will use a muggle one this time. Otherwise, your identity is irrelevant to the shopkeepers of Diagon Alley. They are only interested in your money. We will also need to visit muggle London to get you some ordinary clothes." He mused.

If Harry was honest he would rather have stayed in this tatty little house and talked but apparently shopping had to be done.

"In the two minutes we can spare before we leave, I must try to prepare you for meeting wizards en masse for the first time. I confess I am struggling to know how to do this. Think of it as an alternate reality. Wizards and muggles occupy the same space at the same time but are almost completely detached from each other. Now and then the two meet and the results are seldom good." He genuinely looked uncertain.

"We will need to alter our clothes before we leave so that we are dressed in a suitable manner for wizards. Younger wizards wear shirts and trousers with an open robe over the top unless they are very wealthy. Any child wearing a full robe, be polite they will be wealthy and self-important. Boots or shoes but not trainers. Older wizards might wear full or formal robes and both wizards and witches wear hats. Everyone will no doubt look very strange to you, please remember not to stare."

While he had been speaking, Snape had stood up in the middle of the kitchen and demonstrated a variety of outfits for Harry, who had initially looked startled and intrigued but had eventually fallen to giggling at the rapidly shifting wardrobe, none of which really suited the tall man, although the expensive looking formal robes did look nice.

"You need to get that out of your system, Mr. Potter."

"Sorry, Sir, it's just, they really didn't suit you. What do you normally wear?"

One more flick of the wand and he was clad in his normal teaching robes.

"Now that seems more you."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. My life would not be complete without your approbation of my sartorial choices."

Harry took a few seconds to work out what the Professor meant. He grinned. "Do all wizards talk like you, sir?"

"And how do I talk, Mr. Potter?" The tone was silky and dangerous.

"Like someone from a history book, sir."

Severus paused. How much more could the boy absorb before he became overwhelmed? They really did need to go shopping but the temptation to try to influence this child was great. There were risks and rewards, but more than that there were dangers if someone else started whispering in his ears first. He could also see the potential for a great deal of cheek and spirit once the boy recovered from his relatives' poor treatment.

"Words are tools and weapons, Mr. Potter. I believe you have also heard me swear and use slang today. All those words are part of who I am. We are back to masks and public personae again." He chuckled. "There comes a time in every teenager's life when their vocabulary consists solely of "no", "I don't wanna" and "ugh" but the more you read and learn, the more power you will have at your disposal when you outgrow that despicable phase."

Unfortunately, Harry could imagine the Professor as a surly teenager only too well and it showed on his face.

"Watch that cheek, mister. Now, we do need to go shopping. I will disguise you so that you can have your first experience of Diagon Alley in peace, then we will brave the muggle world and then finally you will need to face your adoring public." The shudder that accompanied the last statement was not feigned.

Severus transfigured a tea tray into a mirror and leant it up against the kitchen wall so that Harry could see what he was doing.

"Sit still, Mr. Potter. I wouldn't want to turn you into a frog by mistake!"

Harry couldn't quite suppress a gulp and gave up trying to examine the tea tray turned mirror and sat up straight.

"Hmm. Lighten the hair, I think. Hazel eyes. That will be less noticeable. Cover the scar of course. How does that look?"

"Nothing like me, Professor."

One final flick of his wand and Harry was dressed in plain but new-looking black trousers, a long-sleeved T-shirt, a lightweight jacket and soft, black leather shoes.

"Good, it should do then. Off we go."

Snape led the way out of the house showed Harry to a sheltered spot at the back of the row. "We mustn't let people who do not know about magic see us doing it, so when we need to apparate we have to find a concealed location to leave from and know a concealed location to arrive at."

"Wouldn't it be easier to leave from inside the house?"

"Yes, but then anyone who knew the house could arrive without permission or warning."

"Oh."

"Indeed. I am over-simplifying that, Harry, but for security reasons, most wizards do not allow apparation inside their own home. Hold on tight."

They pop back into existence in the grubby alley next to The Leaky Cauldron.

"Will that always make me feel sick?" Harry had gone rather green.

"You will adapt in time. It is no different to the fact that some people get sick in buses or cars."

Severus Snape would be the first to admit that ten years of relative peace had made him softer than he would like but he had already taken a good look at who was in the vicinity. He made another more obvious sweep, making sure Harry understood, and then bent down until he was on the boy's level.

"We did not arrange a name for me to call you before we left. I would apologise but I'm afraid it is deliberate. If I need to get your attention, I will call you 'boy'."

Harry flinched.

"I'm sorry, I understand it is what your uncle calls you, but until I know how good you are at maintaining a cover, I need to use a 'name' you will respond to."

Harry nodded reluctantly.

"For as long as it takes to get your shopping, you will be dealing with Professor Snape. Again, I would apologise but you need to get used to my public face. Remember, that is all it is, one of the masks I wear."

Another nod.

"Keep your eyes and wits about you but keep your questions until we are away from here. Understand?"

Severus stood. Harry's eyes widened as he watched his friend from the café transform into a dour, stiff, formal adult who seemed at least a decade older than he had previously. The sneer on his lips, the set of his shoulders, the sharp hand gestures that fell into place within seconds.

"Ready, boy?"

"Yes, sir."

"First, luggage. We have lots of things to buy, so we need something to put our purchases in."

The tiny shop was stacked high with cabin trunks. The shopkeeper, a kind-looking, portly, middle-aged wizard, looked up as they entered.

"Snape." His voice was not warm. Professional but guarded. Harry wondered if that was what the professor had meant when he said people avoided him.

"New student for Hogwarts. Need a trunk. High security, blood-keyed. Just three chambers, I think. He's too young to be brewing alone but one room needs proper venting. Library, gym and storage for now. One of the models that can be reconfigured and added to if required. Need a book-bag too, same security, locator-spell, anti-cutting charms. Featherweight and bottomless. Seven-year guarantee on the charms. Something plain that will take decoration when he's decided what he wants."

Harry blinked. The shopkeeper had just nodded, so apparently the extremely rapid string of words did mean something. He took out his wand and summoned a light-blue leather trunk with metal corners. It re-sized as it floated towards them until it fitted neatly on the counter.

"Certainly, Professor. I just need a few drops of your blood, young man, to activate the trunk and link it to you. Press your thumb on the rim, here." A test-tube with a jagged edge is held under Harry's nose.

Harry didn't feel particularly eager to be stabbed with broken glass and looked up at Snape.

"Well done, boy. Your caution is admirable. For the record, never give blood, spit or any other bodily fluid or body part willingly. Where it is required make sure that you know why and that it is used immediately and in front of you. Magic done with such things is both common and dangerous. Most wizards are unbelievably careless in these matters."

The glint in his eye as he turned to the shopkeeper caused the man to pale and remove the test-tube. "And pray tell, does the blood only affect the lock on this trunk or have you keyed it to the rest of the charms?"

"One for everything, sir. If you want blood-locking only, you'll need the more expensive model."

"We need blood-locking only. Thank you. Did you not hear me tell the boy he could chose how to decorate his possessions later?"

The blue trunk was banished back to the shelf and replaced by a sturdier looking model in chestnut leather with polished wooden corners, raised struts top and bottom for protection and retractable legs at each corner.

"Where is the lock?" Snape bit out at the shopkeeper.

"Front left corner, sir."

Severus drew his wand and held out his hand. Harry obediently mirrored him only to squeak, "ouch." When Severus tapped his wand against his thumb and drew blood. Severus gently pressed the thumb into the corner of the trunk, which glowed, shifted and settled, acknowledging its new owner.

Severus healed the cut and looked at Harry. "Don't worry, you won't need to bleed all over it every time you want to open it. There are leaflets with it that will show you all the features but essentially when you gave it a bit of blood, you gave it a bit of your magic and that it what it will use to recognise you."

The trunk was shrunk to the size of a pencil case and placed inside the messenger bag, which Harry slung across his body in imitation of Snape. Snape paid the bill and they made their way to the next shop. The telescope and scales and glass phials are quickly acquired. Snape explains that crystal ones are not needed before fourth year. He is very picky over the cauldrons, grumbling about the standard of manufacture but spends longest over the potions kit.

"You don't need ingredients, as a first year everything you use will come from stores. However, your kit will last you at least five years, so as with your trunk and book-bag, you need quality." He chose a leather, Gladstone bag-style kit, explaining that more phials, tools and ingredients jars could be added later. "The most important things are your knives. The way you prepare ingredients has a massive impact on how well your potions will work."

He gestures sharply to the young shop assistant. "I need a cutting mat, a selection of knives and some bay, lavender and ginger, please."

Severus sets up on the counter, ignoring the stares of other customers. He demonstrates cutting the lavender stalks. "You try."

The blades don't resemble the kitchen knives Harry is used to and feeling unexpectedly clumsy, he chooses a light scalpel and imitates the professor.

Snape watches intently. "No. Try this one." He hands over a heavier blade with a straight handle.

Harry is surprised at how much difference the knife makes. Snape is still watching.

"Not quite. Try this one."

Harry tries again, this is a lighter blade with the balance further back into the hilt. He cuts the stalks evenly and briskly almost without thinking.

"Good." Snape replaces the lavender with the ginger and hands Harry the heavier version of the same knife. "Just to confirm it, try to slice that thinly."

Again, the knife does the job effortlessly. "We'll take the Italian knives. Add the cost of the ingredients to the bill."

They have drawn quite a crowd. "Excuse me, please?" A woman interrupted. "How do we know which knives to buy for our children?" She is well-dressed and confident but obviously a muggle. Her son, equally smart in appearance, stands beside her wide-eyed.

"Madam, Mr. Jiggers will be delighted to help you I'm sure." The apothecary owner who had come from the backroom to see what his best (and worst) customer was doing, nodded happily.

Snape firmly took hold of Harry's shoulder and hustled him out of the shop. The boy looks up at him with gratitude. "If you think that was bad be glad you weren't doing that as 'Harry'." He hissed.

Snape looked at his watch and groaned, it was nearly two p.m. already. "Just the bookshop, then we'll duck back to muggle London for a quick lunch followed by muggle clothes and your glasses."

Harry grinned. The professor was on the warpath now. He marched straight up to the register and handed the supply list to the clerk. "One set of first year books and one set of supplementary books, please. I have a few more titles to add. Have these ready in five minutes."

"Over here, boy." Snape pulled Harry into an alcove. "Extra reading. You need to do it. You also need to read critically. Not all books have the same value. He is scanning down a section on wizarding Britain pulling volume after volume. Harry is amused by the fact that as a copy is removed, another pops into its place. "Basic stock management charm," Snape murmurs.

"Law, etiquette, history, Harry Potter – look you need to know what other people assume they know about you, other wizarding cultures, hmm, the Fogg is out of date, we'll ask the clerk. I suppose you better have a copy of this wretched "Wizarding Britain" text. The ministry keeps pushing it but it is utter rubbish."

They ask the clerk about world wizarding cultures. He tries to sell them the Fogg. Eventually, a young woman in auror robes interrupts. "Try the new Palin, "Global Wand-errings". It's a lightweight but well-written overview."

Snape cocks an eyebrow at the clerk, who summons a copy. He flicks through, checking a few paragraphs here and there before adding it to the pile. "Thank you, Madam."

Books paid for they are almost back to The Leaky Cauldron when Snape snarls an obscenity and does a one-eighty. "You need parchment, quills and ink, journals and goodness knows what else. Back to Scribbulus'."

Harry follows hard on his heels, trying to ignore the rumbling in his stomach. They'd nearly made it to the promised lunch. He doesn't mind quite so much when he takes in the exotic feathers and coloured ink and delicately scrolling parchment in the shop window.

Snape piles up a basket of quills, ink and parchment, then calls Harry over to look as some bound notebooks. "Journals are very useful. When you are older, it may be for research projects or revision. For now, I would recommend you choose two, one to keep as a diary and one whatever else you wish to keep secure. Journals have privacy spells which most pieces of parchment do not."

Harry picks a plain black diary. It has useful built-in charms to expand and contract date headings as required. For his second book, he hesitates for a while before choosing a neat brown leather notebook. It alternates lined with plain pages. He has always liked drawing. Maybe it would be good to do more.

"Thank you, sir."

On the way back to The Leaky Cauldron, Harry gazes longingly at the Quidditch Supplies Shop. Growling under his breath, Snape promises he will be able to visit it when they return.

Finally, finally, they escape to muggle London.