Two hours later, Harry had read every single story in Tales of Beedle the Bard. He closed the book with a pensive look upon his young face. The stories had been fantastic, but he sort of sensed they had some other meaning. They were obviously children's stories, but some elements of them confused him… He shook his head and put the book down on the table; suddenly realising he must have been sitting there for a while. His back was hurting from sitting for so long, and he stretched his arms out to his sides to get his body back to speed. Where is Snape? he wondered, looking around as if expecting to find him lurking behind a bookshelf.

Harry stood up and winced at the pain shooting through his body. He must've been sitting still for ages. Ignoring the sensation, he frowned as he wondered what to do now. He didn't at all fancy reading anything else: he'd been reading plenty, and surely it must be enough! Remembering that Madame Pince would be around the corner, he grimaced. Of course, he should go and ask her for something to do. But on the other hand, she'd either tell him to read another book or stop bothering her. Harry was sure she didn't much like him, which he thought to be completely unfair, considering she didn't even know him. Biting his lower lip, he looked in the direction where the librarian had disappeared earlier. What should he do…? Or rather, what would he do? He was well aware of what he should do. But… She seemed like such a vile woman! Completely awful.

Sighing, he made his decision. With quiet, small footsteps on the floor, he padded over to where the witch had said she'd be. He hated being sensible, but Snape's reprimand earlier made him unwilling to do something stupid. He felt embarrassed by the memory, and quickly pushed it out of his mind.

Rounding a corner, he spotted a desk ahead of him. It was covered in various books and pieces of parchment, but he noted they were all in some kind of order. Thinking of how Madame Pince had acted, Harry wasn't surprised. There was only one problem: The woman herself was nowhere to be seen. He frowned a tad, and stopped dead in his tracks. Now what should he do? Hadn't she said she would be sitting here? Surely she wouldn't have just left Harry in a completely foreign room without telling him! Harry thought it to be exceedingly strange, and he felt a bit annoyed by the whole situation. Despite his not wanting to irate the Potions Master by disobeying in any way, he dropped all rationality. If she wasn't there, they could hardly blame him for not staying put.

His previous idea about exploring the castle came back and brightened up his mood. It seemed like an excellent thing to do. There must, naturally, be hundreds of places he could discover within the castle. He could hardly contain himself with anticipation at all the things he might find, and so he whipped around and half ran back to where he'd come from. Walking straight past the large round table, he continued through the library until he reached the large doors leading out into the corridor. Hesitating nervously for one moment, he left one hand hovering over the handle. He knew he wasn't supposed to. But Snape would most likely not be back for ages. And if Madame Pince hadn't checked on him so far, he was sure she wouldn't in the near future. Besides, the school was obviously huge. It wasn't very likely that he would run into either of them. And also, he was small. He could easily hide should he spot them somewhere.

Making up his mind, he pushed open the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Snape was in his personal lab, working intently on a rather complicated potion. It needed to brew for exactly four hours before being stirred anti-clockwise thirteen times. He was watching his pocket watch carefully. Forty more seconds…

It was vital that the stirring began at the precise moment of the fourth hour's end, or the whole concoction could be ruined. These kinds of potions he rarely had the time to make during the school year, as there would always be some interruption. So, in the summer, he made sure he had a large supply of all the kinds.

The fact that he would now have an addition even during the breaks was a bit nerve-racking, in more than one way. Of course, he'd have a lot more authority over this particular miscreant, which made him feel just a tad safer. If the Potter boy was to become his… ward, he would have to learn a thing or two.

Snape snorted, and started stirring as the clock ticked the last second of the four hours. Yes, it was wonderful being alone, able to work in complete silence. He stirred thirteen times, then stopped, added a phial of dried spider eggs before checking the time. Eight minutes of brewing before the next step. With the watch still tightly in his hand, he sat down on the stool by his work bench and rubbed his eyes. Everything really was rather messed up. He sighed. Just then, a small roll of parchment appeared before him. Frowning, he unrolled it and quickly read through the contents. Grinding his teeth in anger, he threw an annoyed glance at the brew. With a flick of his wand, the fire under it died out and the potion was ruined. He then proceeded at quite a speed out of the lab and towards the corridor.

His eyes full of wonder, Harry walked slowly through the corridor, watching in amazement as the people in the portraits waved and smiled at him.

"Look who it is," one old man said pompously. "Little Harry Potter. A bit early for you to be here, is it not?" Harry blushed, and nodded before walking on. For such a small boy, all aspects of the castle were positively overwhelming. Everywhere he looked there was some interesting detail, and his head felt completely crammed with new information. He also felt a tad nervous, yet excited about the fact that he was disobeying the rules. Well, maybe not the rules. But Professor Snape had told him to sit and read. Which was not at all what he was doing. In all fairness, though, he had a lot of reading, and he could hardly expect Harry to sit still all day, could he? Especially not when he was in the most amazing place ever.

While he was walking, Harry wondered what the place looked like from the outside. They'd Apparated straight into Snape's quarters, so all he'd seen was the inside. It was all stone walls and floors, and it seemed to be pretty big. Enormous, more like. He couldn't at all fathom what the exterior might look like, and his curiosity once again got the best of him. He decided to go and look for a way out, so that he'd be able to look at the building. Of course, this would prove to be rather challenging. He'd been walking for a while, aimlessly, and would never find his way back to the library. Also, he had no idea on what floor he was. Considering the large amount of staircases he'd seen, he guessed the house had several storeys. So if he wanted to get outside, he'd need to get to ground level. Determined to find a window, he kept walking along the corridor.

It didn't take long before he spotted a row of them along a hallway, and he hurried over. He looked out over hills and a dark forest. The landscape was breathtaking, but he didn't have eyes for it. He was rather high up. Maybe, say, five flours? Yes, that seemed right. Encouraged by this success, he ran along, trying to find staircases that would lead him to lower floors. Continuing at quite a speed, he didn't even notice the portraits and such around him. He simply kept going, choosing his way at random, hoping he would eventually get to wherever it was he was going.

Feeling exceedingly pleased with himself, he spotted a flight of stairs leading down. Not being able to stop himself, he giggled slightly and bounded down the stairs. He wondered fleetingly why there was no one about, but then realised this was a school, and it was summer. The students must all have gone home.

Content with this, he kept going, and it didn't take long until he found several more staircases, all leading further down. After he'd descended three, the look of the hallways changed. The corridors were suddenly wider and had higher ceiling. Walking more slowly, he frowned. What was… Those doors like very large, he thought as he spotted two enormous, heavy wooden doors. Maybe… Walking up to them, he tried opening one. Unfortunately, it was locked. And in any case, it would have been far too heavy for such a little boy to be able to open them. Disgruntled, he backed up a few steps and stared menacingly up at them. Let me OUT! His mental demand seemed almost to reverberate off the walls, and miraculously, the left door clicked and opened a crack. Gasping in astonishment, he was frozen in place for a moment. What had just happened? Had… Had the door opened for him? Harry could find no other explanation, and seeing as he now knew magic was real, it didn't seem too strange. Very pleased indeed, Harry slid through the crack and wandered out into the mild midday.

Severus Snape could be a rather intimidating man. More than once when he was billowing through the hallways of Hogwarts, students had scurried out of the way, not wanting to irate the always dour man. At the moment, he was anything but pleased. He might even stretch to saying he was seriously displeased. And this was never a good sign.

With brisk and quick strides, he headed up the stairs from the dungeons and made his way toward the library. The place where his ward should be sitting quietly with his nose in a book. However, as Madame Pince had informed him, he was doing anything but. Making haste, he was soon at the desired room, and opened the doors with a flick of his wand. He immediately spotted the librarian, who for once in her life looked something other than miserable: she looked worried. At least she has some kind of conscious, Snape thought ironically as he made his way to stand in front of her.

"Well?" he demanded firmly, staring at Irma.

"This is an outrage!" she said haughtily. "I was gone for two minutes, fetching a new bottle of ink, and when I came back he was gone!" She seemed almost upset, but Snape had other things to worry about.

"Didn't you lock the doors or anything?"

"I can't just lock the doors," she replied matter-of-factly. If there are emergencies, the doors need to be easy to open." Snape forced the urge to roll his eyes, and disregarded her explanation.

"When did you notice this?"

"About ten minutes before I sent you the scroll," she admitted. "To begin with, I searched the library and all the nooks and crannies around here. I am positive he has left the room." Snape ground his teeth together. It wouldn't take too long to find the child, but it was a useless waste of time, and he had effectively ruined his potion. Oh, when I get hold of him… He shook his head, and made a quick decision.

"I shall go and speak to the Headmaster. He will have the most… efficient ways of locating the boy, I am certain." The librarian nodded in agreement and he left the room as hastily as he had arrived.

As soon as Harry had got down the stairs, he turned around and his mouth fell open. He'd figured the school would be big, but… The castle that was standing before him was so high; he almost fell over as he bent back to try and see the top. He couldn't really see a lot of it from where he was standing, but he felt a completely new kind of awe towards the place. I can't wait until I'm a student here, he thought, certain that studying magic wouldn't be at all like the dreary maths and English classes he'd had in school.

Realising he'd been staring blankly at a stone wall for a while; he shrugged off the dreamy feeling and started walking across the grass, around the castle. The building was so big, it was sure to have a lot of gardens and stuff around it, Harry reasoned, and he would love to see if a magical castle and its surroundings would be different toward what a Muggle place might be like.

Once he rounded the corner, large lawns spread out ahead of him, and in the distance, a large, dark and gloomy forest stretched along the edge. Near the trees was a small hut with what looked like flowerbeds around it. I wonder who lives there, he wondered. Deciding he would find out, he strolled contently along the slightly damp grass towards the small house.

Halfway across the massive hill of grass, he could feel someone looking at him. It was an eerie kind of sensation, feeling someone's eyes boring into your neck. It became even more frightening when Harry realised who it would most likely be. This was the point when he realised he should have stayed in the library. Surely Snape would have let him go outside later if he'd just been good. Of course, now, he didn't want to turn around, scared of he might see. He slowed down considerably, but kept walking, his small hands clenched into tight fists as he waited for the professor to call his name. After twenty metres or so, he became a bit suspicious. Gathering up all his courage, he whipped around, expecting to see Professor Snape looming over him. To his surprise, there was no one in sight. He looked around him in befuddlement, trying hard to see if there was anyone nearby. But there wasn't, and he began to feel uneasy. Maybe he should just go back inside. Turning away from the small house, all his previous curiosity vanished; he began his trek back towards the front doors. He couldn't help but imagine those eyes were still watching him. In all honesty, he hadn't actually seen anyone staring at him, but the feeling had been so profound, he was sure it had to be real. He'd felt the same way sometimes in the playground in school, and caught people staring at him in disgust. It was all Dudley's doing, of course, but he now had a way of knowing when he was being watched.

Arriving at the doors, he noticed they were shut once again. Frowning, he supposed he could try the same thing again. Thinking hard, wishing them to open, he stared intently. The doors didn't move. Huffing in indignation, he tried again. Still nothing. Growing irritated, he stamped his foot and glared menacingly at the wall. Miraculously, they both swung open. However, Harry's joy was short lived. Standing in the doorway, was Professor Severus Snape.

"Severus, my boy." Snape didn't reply, but simple strode into the Headmaster's officer and closed the door smartly behind him.

"That child," he began with annoyance, "is more trouble than he is worth."

"I presume you are referring to Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. Snape began pacing in front of the Headmaster's desk, his hands on his back and his head bowed.

"He has some nerve," Snape went on.

"What is it now then?" The younger of the two stopped long enough to cast Dumbledore a sharp look before he continued his pacing.

"He is not in the library, where I left him for a bit of peace and quiet."

"Really? Well, a young boy would find it rather tedious to read for too long-"

"I don't care how he found it," Snape interrupted. "He is now gone, and I don't know where to." Dumbledore didn't look at all worried, which unnerved Severus slightly. "What?"

"I've found," the Headmaster began, standing up, "that the best place to start looking, is right before your eyes." He walked over to the window and peered out. In the distance, he could see a small fellow in raven hair strolling across the grass. Snape came up behind him and stared over his shoulder.

"Why the little…"

"I suggest you go and get him," Dumbledore said, resuming his seat.

"I most certainly will," he growled and started for the door. Just as he was about to open the door, Dumbledore said:

"Oh, and Severus?" The Potions Master turned, leaving his hand on the door handle. "Don't be too hard on him." Albus smiled serenely, and Snape nodded curtly before leaving the room.

Becoming very apprehensive, Harry stared at the professor's shoes.

"Well," the man started, his voice low. "Took a little stroll, did we?"

"I'm sorry," harry began in a haste. "I'd been reading for ages and I was bored and the librarian lady wasn't there so I thought I would just take a walk in the castle and then-"

"Enough," Snape interrupted him firmly. "I don't want to hear your pathetic excuses." Then, to Harry's mortification, the professor stepped forward and pinched the boy's ear between his fingers before matching him into the castle and towards the stairs. Harry, having never been treated like this before, whimpered a bit.

"That huuuurts," he whinged, tilting his head to try and relieve some of the strain on the ear. Snape didn't pay him any mind, but simply strode along the corridors and then down the stairs. Harry bit his lip, dreading their arrival at Snape's quarters. Once again, he felt very little and was genuinely scared of what the professor might do to him. He didn't think he would actually hurt him, Harry, but keeping in mind his earlier reprimand…

Stopping outside Snape's quarters, the man opened the door swiftly, and pushed the boy in first, letting go of his ear. Immediately Harry's hand trailed up to his head, carefully rubbing at the throbbing ear. Turning around, he couldn't help but send Snape a seething glare. Not saying anything, Snape, with surprising speed and accuracy, reached around and smacked the boy smartly on his behind. Harry let out a yelp in protest, feeling exceedingly sorry for himself.

"Wipe that look off your face right now," Snape said sternly. "You deserve a lot more than what you're about to get, sneaking off like that. I thought I told you I would accept no disobedience, did I not?" Harry nodded mutely, trying to ignore his throbbing ear and slightly stinging backside.

"I was bored," Harry complained despite himself.

"That is no excuse, young man, and you know it," Snape chided. "This will never happen again. Understood?" Harry nodded vigorously. "I thought so. Now, go stand in that corner for fifteen minutes. Give me some peace."

"What?" Harry demanded, looking up at the man in disbelief. Snape raised an eyebrow.

"You heard me. Off you go." Turning the boy around and shoving him in the direction of said corner, Snape watched the boy trudge solemnly over there, placing his nose in the corner.

"This is so unfair," Harry muttered in a low voice.

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

"Very well. Be quiet now." Harry stood quietly, scowling at the two walls meeting. The horrid thing about standing in a corner is that you can't see anything else. The walls efficiently cut off the view in every way. The only way he'd be able to see anything would be if he turned around, and he was sure Snape wouldn't be too pleased about that. He didn't really know what he was supposed to be doing. To him, it seemed like a complete waste of time. Snape could let him have some lunch, or maybe let him explore the castle some more. After all, he hadn't gone that far away, and had come back inside of his own accord. This brought back to mind the strange feeling of being watched. He wondered who it might have been. At this point, he was sure he hadn't imagined it. Maybe it had been Professor Snape after all, looking at him from inside the school. This was rather likely, actually, but completely ruined the excitement of it all. Harry quickly pushed the thought away, and decided it would have been someone a lot more interesting. And a lot less scary. Really, what was with all his black robes and lanky hair? Harry snorted a bit with suppressed laughter.

"Shush," Snape said immediately from his chair, where he was sitting with a book. Harry huffed and squirmed.

"Can I come out soon?" he asked, feeling rather reckless.

"I told you to be quiet," Snape said ominously. "You had better heed me." Resisting the urge to huff again, Harry bit his lip and stared resolutely into the corner. It was mind-numbing. After what felt like an eternity, the Professor told him to turn around, and Harry did so happily, feeling as though he hadn't seen the room for absolutely ages. Snape eyed him for a while, and eventually shook his head.

"Mr Potter, we need to have a little talk." Harry frowned.

"What about?" Snape looked at him pensively for a bit longer, and ran a hand down his face.

"Sit down," he eventually said, contemplating how on Earth he was supposed to go about this.

There.
Sorry for the... excessive POV-changing, or whatever. This chapter was a tad tricky, I'll confess. And it's a bit short, for which I apologise as well. I just wanted to get it up here, really. I'm so anxious to see what you all think of it. You've been so nice and supportive so far. Your reviews are positively intoxicating :')
Only three more weeks of school now, and then holiday! Hopefully, I can update a bit more regularly during the summer.
Please review, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Ivy