Hi everyone! I'm sorry about the crazy long wait for an update. Work sucks up all of my time, energy, and creativity. But I promise I haven't abandoned this story. I'm on maternity leave right now, so hopefully, I'll be able to get a chapter or two up before I go back to work. As to what happened previously, please refer back to the last chapter for a summary. Please review and have a great week!

Hermione frowned at the letter from Ron that landed next to her plate at breakfast a few days later. Not that she didn't appreciate his letters, but she still hadn't heard from Harry, despite writing him several times over the summer, both before and after her parents had died.

"What's the frown for, Hermione?" Snape sneered. "Don't care to hear from Mr. Weasley?"

Hermione rolled her eyes; there was no bite to his words. "No, I'm happy to hear from Ron. I just haven't heard from Harry all summer."

Snape's expression darkened at the mention of Harry Potter. His lip curled back as he replied, "I expect that the arrogant twit is lounging around and can't be bothered to pick up a quill this summer."

Hermione's eyes flashed. "He's not an 'arrogant twit'," she snapped back. "And if you gave him a chance instead of constantly calling him names, you might find that he's a good person."

"Watch your tone, young lady!" he hissed. "He's just like his father!"

Her eyebrows shot up. "You knew his father?"

"It doesn't matter now." He dismissed the subject with a wave of his hand. "Are you finished eating?"

"Yes. But it does matter if it's why you treat him so badly. He tries so hard in your class, but you still put down everythi..."

"Enough!" Snape slammed his hand down on the table, causing the dishes to rattle and Hermione to shrink back in her chair. "There will be no more discussion of Harry Potter. Am I clear?" Hermione nodded, afraid to speak. His face softened a bit. "What are your plans for today?"

Hermione blinked, taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor. "I was going to go spend some time with Aunt Min."

"Have you finished your summer homework?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right. I guess I will see you at dinner then?"

"Yes, sir."

Snape nodded. "I'll do the dishes this morning. Go ahead and head out."

"Thanks, Uncle Sev."

oOo

As the next few days went by, Hermione became more and more concerned that she still hadn't heard from Harry. Professor McGonagall had told her not to worry, but Hermione saw the concern behind the nonchalant attitude, which only made the gnawing in her stomach worse.

"Hermione," Snape said while she was reading in the living room one evening, "put your book down, please. I need to talk to you about something." Hermione obediently put her book down and sat up normally in the easy chair. "Before the school year starts, there are some things that need to be taken care of in Kent."

Hermione's throat went dry. "What do you mean?"

"We need to pack up your house. Aunt Min and I have asked for your vault in Gringotts to be expanded to hold your things until you come of age. But we still need to sort through everything. It'll be much easier if we get it done before the school year starts."

Hermione nodded, a lump welling up in her throat. "Do we have to sell the house?" she whispered.

"What? No, of course not. That house is yours now. I was going to suggest that you rent it out for the time being, but that's up to you. If you want, we can even bring your bedroom set here."

Relief washed over her face. "That sounds okay. But what will we do with the set here?"

"I'm not sure yet." He shrugged. "We'll figure it out. What do you think about renting out your house?"

"Will I be able to use it again someday?"

"Yes. While you're still underage, you'll live with me. When you're an adult you can use the house again."

"Do I have to do anything to rent it out?"

"No. Aunt Min and I will take care of it. We'll put the profit from the rent in a trust account for you. The rest of it will pay the mortgage. When you get a bit older, we'll explain the details of everything we've been doing, so you can decide how to move forward."

"Okay."

"Do you think you can be ready to go tomorrow morning? We'll stay a few days so we can meet with a realtor about renting it."

"I thought you just put a sign up?"

"It's a little more complicated than that. I'll explain it as we go through it."

"Oh. All right."

He glanced at the clock. "Why don't you go ahead and pack for the next few days now so we can leave after breakfast?"

"All right."

oOo

Over the next couple of days, Hermione and Snape sorted through her parents' things. He thought he had gotten to know her relatively well over the past weeks, but soon found that he had hardly scratched the surface. With tears and laughter, she took him through photo albums and the stories behind them, and he found himself learning more about the waif who had come to live with him than he had imagined existed. They also found Hermione's photo album from her first year at Hogwarts. He patiently looked through the pictures of her with her roommates and Harry and Ron, despite the school year only ending six weeks before.

"Uncle Sev?" she said hesitantly as she closed the album.

"What is it?"

"I know you don't like Harry," she began as Snape's expression darkened, "but could we please check up on him? I'm really worried about him. It doesn's make sense that he wouldn't write me back all summer, especially with my parents. His relatives are only an hour from here."

Snape gave a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. But when we see that he is just lazy, will you stop worrying?"

"Yes, sir."

"There's no need to take a car. I'll apparate you over there tomorrow morning, and you'll see that he's just arrogant and lazy."

oOo

A loud crack brought Snape and Hermione to an abandoned lot in Surrey, a few blocks from Privet Drive.

"Why are there bars on only one window?" Hermione wondered out loud as Number Four came into view.

Snape looked up at the house and saw the single set of bars on one of the second floor windows. He looked around the neighborhood. No one else has bars on their windows, he noted silently. And why only one window on the second floor? If anything, bars should be on the first floor. "Maybe Potter has a habit of sneaking out," he sneered.

Ignoring him, Hermione walked up to the front door, and knocked smartly on it.

A pudgy, blond boy with chocolate on his face opened the door. He looked her up and down as his fudgsicle dripped down his hand. "What do you want?" he asked her by way of greeting.

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "I was wondering if Harry was home?" she asked. "I'm Hermione Granger. I'm a friend from school and I haven't heard from him all summer and I wanted to make sure he's all right."

The boy paled. He turned toward the interior of the house, bellowing, "Dad!"

A portly man appeared in the foyer. "What is it, Dudley?"

"These people...they're...they're asking about Harry," he stuttered.

The man turned purple and he walked over to the door. "Get off my property!" he roared. "There is no Harry here!" He slammed the door.

Hermione turned to Snape with wide eyes. "Uncle Sev..."

Snape cut her off with a shake of his head. Looking over his shoulder, he surreptitiously pulled his wand out of his pocket and cast a silent charm. They could hear the man yelling at someone inside the house.

"How dare you give our address to freaks like you!" the man's voice yelled.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon," a boy's voice came, much softer. "I didn't think..."

"That's Harry," Hermione whispered to Snape, a horrified look on her face.

"Liar!" the man, Vernon, continued. "That's it, boy! No meals for two weeks!"

Snape canceled the charm, having heard all that he needed to. He stepped in front of Hermione and banged on the door. When no one answered it immediately, he banged again. Vernon opened the door. "I thought I told you to leave," he shouted at Snape. Vernon moved to slam the door in Snape's face, but Snape held it open.

"Mr. Dursley, I presume?" Snape drawled. "I'm Severus Snape, the potions' master at Hogwarts. May I come in?" He waved his wand around. Vernon paled, but stood out of his way. They went into the living room just off the foyer. Dudley was sitting on the sofa, watching the television.

"Dudley, turn off the telly," Vernon said tersely.

"But Da-ad," Dudley whined, "it's just getting to the good part."

"Now, Dudley!" Grumbling, Dudley turned the television off.

"Sit down there, Hermione," Snape said calmly, gesturing to the opposite end of the sofa from where Dudley was sitting. Hermione sat down as Snape took one of the chairs, gesturing for Vernon to sit as well. "Now, Mr. Dursley, would you like to explain to me why you told one of my students that he would be starved for the next two weeks?"

I promise I won't abandon you here-or make you wait over a year for an update with this ending. Please review!