Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

After saying goodbye to everyone Harry left with his Dad to go to the Leaky Cauldron so they could access muggle London. As his Dad led him to a large clothing shop Harry noticed a bookstore next door and wanted to check in there for some comic books. He knew Ron had some wizarding ones and thought he would get a kick out of some of the muggle ones. However, his Dad seemed to want to keep their time in the muggle world short. He had transfigured his clothes to black jeans and a dark gray sweater.

Once in the store Severus began holding up shirts to see if they would fit his son.

"Dad!" Harry hissed in embarrassment. He didn't need his Dad picking out his clothes, he was thirteen for Merlin's sake!

Severus held his hands up in surrender. "I apologize. Go ahead, choose what you want." He eyed Harry in amusement.

Harry spent fifteen minutes choosing several pairs of shirts and jeans. He was bored and wanted to check out but his Dad had decided that he needed new shoes. Harry sighed and stayed looking through the coats while his Dad was busy talking to one of the store clerks in the shoe department. Biting his lip, Harry made the rash decision to go next door to the bookstore. It would take him only a minute to see if they had the comic books he was looking for. His Dad wouldn't even know he was gone. Harry smiled when his Dad looked his way and made like he was still looking through the coats. Once his Dad had looked back to the store clerk Harry made his escape. He hurried next door and was about to enter when he caught sight of something that made him freeze in his steps. The Dursley's!

Out of curiosity he followed them as they rounded the corner. He was close enough to hear them talking.

"I still think we should move Vernon." Aunt Petunia was saying.

"Mummy, I want to get some candy!" Dudley complained.

"Duddykins, we just had lunch." Aunt Petunia said.

Dudley stamped his foot. "I want candy!"

"Let's get him some. I'm still hungry too." Vernon said in an annoyed voice.

"You're always hungry." Petunia sighed.

"Candy!" Dudley practically yelled.

Harry rolled his eyes and turned to leave. They certainly hadn't changed.

"Mum, it's the freak!"

Harry spun back around and glared at his oversized cousin.

"You! What are you doing here?" Petunia sneered at her nephew.

"Shopping. Obviously."

Vernon's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare get cheeky with us boy! Because of you, I'm always hungry, Petunia wants to move because our neighbors now think we are freaks and Dudley has nightmares!"

"How is that my fault?" Harry demanded.

"Your freaky father did this to us!" Petunia snapped. "Tell him to undo it. It's the least you can do after we put a roof over your head!"

"You put a cupboard over my head!" Harry snapped back.

Petunia looked at him in disgust. "You are just as horrible as your mother!"

"Shut up about my Mum!" Harry was furious that once again she was putting down his mother.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" Petunia glared hatefully at Harry.

"He always was an ungrateful brat." Vernon stepped closer and looked menacingly at his nephew.

Harry stepped back a step, feeling the familiar fear he used to get anytime his Uncle looked at him that way. It usually was followed by yelling, threats, and being shoved into his cupboard.

"As I said, he is just like his mother was before she got herself blown up." She stared at Harry. "For no good reason." Petunia added nastily.

Harry felt anger welling up inside of him as well as guilt that his mother and James had died for him. The feeling grew and before he knew it his Aunt was starting to expand.

"What in the world?" Petunia looked down at her hands which were swelling up, as well as the rest of her body. She was beginning to look like a self-inflating balloon.

Harry watched in shock and fascination as his Aunt began to lift off of the ground. She began to scream.

"What did you do? Fix her!" Vernon roared, grabbing Harry roughly by the arm. He yelped when a sharp pain hit his shoulder and caused him to drop Harry's arm.

"Touch my son again and it will be the last thing you ever do!" Severus said dangerously as he got in front of his son.

"Look what he did to my wife!" Vernon complained, pointing to where Petunia was floating in the sky.

Severus looked up and smirked. If only she could be allowed to stay that way. "Personally, I think it is an improvement."

Harry tugged on his Dad's arm. "Dad, I didn't mean to do it! I don't even know how I did it in the first place!"

Severus patted Harry on his shoulder. "Relax. It will be okay." He said calmly. He saw a ministry official pop into the alley they were standing in and knew the situation would be taken care of. He turned back to Vernon Dursley. "I see the lesson I left you and your family has had no effect. Of course, I'm not surprised in the least."

"You undo your magic on us!" Vernon hissed.

Severus shook his head in disgust. "I told you the effects of the potions would fade once you felt true remorse. Sadly, you still have not. You are still among the foulest muggles I have ever come in contact with." He quickly herded Harry out of the alleyway as the ministry official began to set Petunia to rights.

Once they were back in Diagon Alley Severus crossed his arms across his chest and looked sternly at his son. "What were you thinking? Do you have any idea what you put me through?"

Harry hung his head. "I'm sorry but I honestly don't know how I did that to her."

"What? No Harry, I don't care about your accidental magic right now." Severus shook his head. "You left the shop and I had no idea where you were!"

Harry shifted from foot to foot. "I'm sorry. I had planned to go to the bookstore real quick. I thought I would be back before you knew I was gone."

"What was the rule for today Harry?" Severus asked impatiently. He had almost had a heart attack when he noticed his son was missing. All he could think was that Sirius Black had followed them. Thankfully unbeknownst to Harry, he had placed a tracking spell on him for the day and therefore was able to locate him quickly.

"Not to wander off." Harry answered softly. He felt awful. His Dad was mad at him and rightly so, his relatives had once again made him feel horrible and he had done magic when he wasn't supposed to. "I'm really sorry Dad."

"You should be." Severus said shortly. He took a deep breath when he saw how pale and upset Harry looked. Harry had done wrong but he had also had to face his horrid relatives which Severus had hoped would never happen. He could just imagine the vile things they had said to his son. "Let's go home and we will talk more."

Harry nodded miserably and followed his father, wondering if his Dad would ever be able to forgive him.

HPHPHPHP

Once they were back at their cottage, Severus sat in his armchair and pulled Harry to stand right in front of him. "All right, now tell why you disobeyed my instructions."

Harry wanted to look away but his Dad was holding his chin gently yet firmly so that Harry had no choice but to look in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I did not ask you if you were sorry." Severus said in a hard voice.

"I just wanted to go the bookstore. I don't understand why you won't let me go anywhere by myself. I'm thirteen!" Harry said despondently.

Severus sighed and let go of Harry's chin. He leaned back in his chair and regarded his son thoughtfully. Perhaps he should have told him about the threat of Sirius Black sooner. "There is something going on that I have not told you. It is the reason I have kept a closer eye on you this summer and why I am adamant that you not go off on your own." He began slowly. "I was going to tell you before school started but I wanted you to have a fun and carefree summer which is why I have not told you yet."

"What's going on?" Harry asked curiously.

"You have read about Sirius Black in the Prophet correct?" Severus continued when Harry nodded. "He was a follower of Voldemort, much to everyone's surprise. He was friends with James Potter and was the one who betrayed their location to Voldemort. After the curse backfired, Black killed thirteen people including another friend of James, Peter Pettigrew." Severus looked at his son seriously. "There is reason to believe he is after you."

Harry paled slightly. "Me? Why in the world would he be after me?"

"He would blame you for what happened to his Master. He wants revenge." Severus answered. "That is why I am being so protective of you. That is why I don't want you wandering off on your own. As I said, I probably should have told you sooner but I really wanted you to have a relaxing summer. I wanted to put off worrying you for as long as possible."

"Oh." Harry was silent for a moment. Now he understood why his Dad had been acting like he had. "Wait, Sirius Black was friends with James?"

"They were like brothers supposedly." Severus said. "The betrayal was a surprise to everyone." Despite the loathing he felt for Sirius Black for how he had treated him in school, even he had been surprised that Black had betrayed James and Lily.

Harry couldn't imagine how James must have felt. He would be devastated if Ron or Hermione ever betrayed him like that. Not that they would, Harry trusted them completely. "So what's going to happen?"

"The ministry is sending the guards that are at Azkaban to guard Hogwarts until Black is caught. As for you, it will be much like last year. I do not want you walking the castle alone and you are absolutely not allowed to use your cloak to wander about the castle. If you do, I will take your cloak away again." Severus warned. He had given the cloak back to Harry at the beginning of summer after confiscating it when he found Harry about to go into the forbidden forest last year. "You are also not allowed out of the castle with my express permission except for Quidditch and your Care of Magical Creatures class. If you break any of these rules or if the situation becomes more serious, I will move you into our quarters until Black is caught."

Harry threw up his hands. "It's like I'm being punished or something."

"No. I want to keep you safe. Sirius Black is not a game Harry. He will hurt you, do you understand?" Severus leaned forward. "I will not survive if something happens to you." He said in a low voice. "If having you follow these restrictions makes you hate me, then I'll have to live with that."

"I could never hate you." Harry frowned. He sighed. "It's just annoying that once again I have to look over my shoulder."

"I know. I know it is not fair but this is the way it's going to be." Severus looked at his son sternly. "Sneaking off will not be tolerated. What you did today was sheer disobedience and I am very disappointed in you."

Harry flushed. He hated disappointing his Dad. Why did he sneak off like that? "I shouldn't have done it. I'm really sorry. I was angry and confused as to why you had to keep me in your sight all the time." Harry shrugged. "I don't know why I did it. I saw Malfoy at the bookstore and he said he was on his own and insinuated that you didn't trust me."

"Ah, teenage rebellion. I remember it well." Instead of looking angry, Severus's dark eyes were lit in amusement. "First of all, I highly doubt that Mr. Malfoy was by himself in Diagon Alley. Despite whatever he told you, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy do not let him go off on his own. They are actually quite protective of their son. And second of all, I do trust you. But what you need to understand is that while you are thirteen years old, you are still a child. It is my job to protect you but to do that I need you to work with me. No more wandering off, do you hear me?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, I hear you."

Severus nodded. "By the way, you're grounded for the rest of summer. Lucky for you there is only a few days left. No flying and perhaps some lines would be a good idea." He said thoughtfully.

Harry made a face. He hated writing lines. "Am I in trouble for what I did to Aunt Petunia too?"

Severus looked surprised. "No, of course not. That was accidental magic Harry. A ministry official was there to set her back and if any muggles saw her he will erase it from their memories. You are not in trouble for that."

Harry relaxed. "Oh, okay good."

Severus looked at his son in concern. "What happened between you and them?"

"I followed them because I was so surprised to see them. I guess I wondered if they had changed but then Dudley saw me and once again I was called a freak. Then they blamed for some bad stuff going on in their lives. Actually, they said you did it." Harry looked at his Dad curiously.

Severus nodded. "I did. I gave them potions that will give them a taste of how you felt in their house. It will wear off when they feel true remorse at how they treated you. What else did they say?" He asked.

"Aunt Petunia said horrible stuff about Mum. She said…" Harry's voice trailed off.

"What did she say Harry?"

Harry blinked back the tears he felt starting in frustration. Wanting to cry at thirteen, honestly. "Aunt Petunia said Mum got herself blown up for nothing." Harry whispered.

Severus pulled Harry towards him and wrapped in a tight hug. "No Harry. Your Mother died protecting you, just as I would have. She did not die for nothing, she died for love. For the love of her child."

Harry buried his face in his Dad's shoulder and despite being thirteen; just let himself be held and comforted. Emotionally and physically exhausted, Harry fell asleep in his Dad's arms.

Severus carefully laid his son on the couch and summoned a blanket to cover him with. He was furious at himself and at the Dursley's. If he had told Harry about Sirius Black sooner, then Harry wouldn't have wandered off and run into the Dursley's. Oh, how Severus was tempted to make another visit to those horrible muggles. He absolutely despised them and hated that Harry had lived with them for so long. He didn't regret using those potions on them and it would appear they would suffer the effects for quite awhile. How dare Petunia spew that filth to his son? How she and Lily could possibly be related escaped him. He glanced at Harry who was still sleeping. He wanted his child to have a normal, happy childhood and with all of these threats that kept coming it was impossible for him to.

In Severus's mind there was only one thing to do. They needed to find Voldemort while he was still weak. The only way for his son to have a happy and normal childhood was to eliminate the threat once and for all. One thing he had not told Harry was that Lucius Malfoy had contacted him. He wanted to meet to discuss what could be done with stopping Voldemort's return. Despite his attitude and even his act with the diary of Tom Riddle, the last thing that Lucius wanted was to have to grovel at Voldemort's feet once again. Lucius would be ideal as a spy but Severus would first test him with Legilimency and Veritaserum. It was something he planned to discuss with Dumbledore once school started again. He knew the Headmaster would have his doubts but even though Lucius was the vilest of wizards, he hated having to bow to anyone. Being a Death Eater a not been all he had hoped it would be and Severus was sure he would do whatever it took to not be one again.

TBC: Pretty please review! =)