June 1992

What was he thinking bringing the Boy-Who-Lived home to Spinner's End with him? Somehow it made perfect sense to Severus when he demanded that Albus not send Harry back to his relatives' house on Privet Drive, that he would take over Harry's care by becoming his guardian. At the time he wasn't even positive the Ministry would allow him to become anyone's guardian, let alone Harry Potter's, and he'll never know what Albus had to do to push the paperwork through so quickly, but in less than the week it took to clear out his classroom, he was given temporary guardianship and they left for Cokeworth. What had he been thinking again?

Severus could try to convince himself that he had been thinking of Lily; of how disappointed she would have been with him for not stepping in sooner. It wasn't as if he'd known how Harry had been living all of these years. Sure, he could have probably guessed - based on his history with Petunia alone - had he not been wallowing in the loss of the only woman he'd ever loved; the woman who had every right to leave him. Now somehow her son, and the son of his nemesis, was upstairs asleep in the bedroom Severus had grown up in.

However, he knew that was a lie. Ultimately, deep down he had been thinking of his own miserable childhood and how much he had wished someone would have done for him what he was now doing for Harry. How often had he sat in that same bedroom Harry was now sleeping in wishing someone would have stepped in and taken him away from his drunk, abusive father and from his mother who - even though he knew she loved him - resented him more? If he were being honest, he saw too many similarities between himself and Harry to ignore. Someone had to speak up and help the child.

Things had seemed easier back at Hogwarts where they had lived together for the first week after the term ended. Once the Fidelius was in place - with Albus as the secret keeper - and his classroom was cleaned out, they came to Spinner's End where they would live for the remainder of the summer. This was only their second night here and it felt much too personal to have the almost 12-year old in his childhood home. Severus was not the type of person to share his personal life with anyone and now he had James Potter's son here.

The Potions Master was down in the sitting room - which Harry called a library - attempting to catch up on the latest potions journal with those thoughts running rampant through his mind. They had a busy day getting Harry settled, or at least as much as he could given the worn down condition of the house. Most of the day consisted of cleaning out his old bedroom from the layers of dust, Slytherin decor, worn out clothing, and books on the dark arts. The room was small and right now in disrepair, yet Harry seemed extremely grateful to be there. After the Gryffindor had gone off to bed tonight, Severus created a list of all the things that needed to be addressed in the house to make it suitable for a child to live in - even if only for a couple of months out of the year - and tomorrow they would start tackling it. Harry insisted that he wanted to help as much as he could on the renovations and the professor was more than a little nervous how they would work together given their complicated history thus far.

In addition to the work to do on the house, Severus did not hesitate to add "clothes shopping" to his list of things to do. Watching Harry unpack his trunk today, he had gotten the impression that Harry's clothing was in dire need of replacing. The Gryffindor had not said a word about them as he placed the oversized clothing into the wardrobe, most of which had either holes or were so worn he could almost see through them. It was easy to tell that Harry's aunt and uncle had never purchased any clothing specifically for their nephew. Understanding how embarrassing it would be for Harry when they finally discussed this, the professor was preemptively trying to prepare for how to address the issue as sensitively as possible; something that was out of character for him.

It was almost midnight when he was finally checking the security wards and heading off to sleep. Severus took an extra couple of steps towards Harry's room to make sure the light was out - which it was - when he heard rustling and talking through the door. Brandishing his wand, just in case, the former spy approached the door both cautiously and silently. Listening carefully, he could hear Harry on the other side sounding like he was in a struggle. His mind immediately flew to the worst case scenario; somehow Albus had been compromised as their secret keeper and a Death Eater managed to get past his wards and into the house.

Turning the door knob slowly, so he could keep his element of surprise to the intruder, Severus peered through the cracked door. He quickly released the breath he was holding when he realized there was no one in the room besides Harry, who was still in bed but thrashing around in his bedcovers, having what appeared to be a nightmare. As Severus approached the bed, the small boy was tangled all up in his bed sheets moaning almost indecipherable words. Severus managed to make out two of them and they were "Vernon" and "Voldemort"; neither of which could be a good sign for his nightmare.

"Harry," the professor called out, shaking the young wizard's shoulder. "Harry, wake up, you're having a nightmare."

At first Harry did not respond, so Severus sat down onto the edge of the bed and called for him again. This time the young wizard awoke in a panicked fright.

"Ahhhh," Harry yelled, bolting upright in his bed.

"You're safe," Severus said standing up from the bed, completely unsure how to handle this type of situation.

"M'sorry professor," the Gryffindor said embarrassed, "did I wake you up?"

"Not at all," the professor replied, "I was simply on my way to bed and heard you struggling. It appears as if your bedcovers might have won."

Awkwardly, Severus helped Harry untangle himself from his sheets and bedspread. Once he was freed, an uncomfortable silence fell over the two as neither knew what to do next.

"Erm," Harry started, "Thank you sir. I think I'm ok now."

Taking a close look at the boy in front of him, Severus could see how tired he appeared. How long had he been plagued with nightmares? Between his childhood and the whole Voldemort encounter less than a month ago, it didn't take a mind healer to guess why he was having them.

"Do you want to talk about your nightmares?" He asked Harry quietly, questioning yet again why he thought he was qualified to take care of a child. He hadn't the slightest idea of what to do.

"No, not really sir," Harry said in an equally quiet voice giving Severus the impression that he didn't know how to act around an adult who actually asked him how he was doing or feeling; especially when that adult was his hated Potions professor.

Sighing in frustration with himself, Severus thought back to one of the few times his mother had actually acted like a mother. Pulling his wand out, he summoned a glass of milk from the kitchen and using a heating charm, he warmed it up before handing it to Harry.

"This will help settle you back to sleep," the professor said as Harry took a small sip followed by another larger one.

"Thank you professor," the Gryffindor said, giving a smile that told Severus somehow the two of them would be alright together after all.