#Onyx Thanatos Theodore Lerins:
Them feels indeed.
#navieblue + #emthereble:
I'm glad you're loving the story. Thanks for the support.
It was another bright clear day and Harry was standing just inside the entrance to Diagon Ally with Hagrid by his side. Dumbledore had mentioned that it would be best to go with Hagrid as it looked less suspicious and he was going there anyway to get fertilizers and food for the gardens and his creatures. Hagrid had started planning out what they were going to do but Harry interrupted him in his excitement.
"Hagrid, come on, I'll be fine. Look, we'll get our jobs done a lot faster if we split up. It's Diagon Ally, what do you think is going to happen?" Harry tried to convince his giant friend into letting him go around by himself.
"Oh I don' know 'Arry. I could get inta a lot o' trouble ya know."
"Know one will know, it'll be fine. Please?" He begged and finally the giant agreed and they planned to meet in two hours back in the Leaky Cauldron.
When Hagrid walked off Harry sprinted towards Gringotts, he had to get some cash and fast, he had places to be and if he were caught he would be in some serious trouble. He calmed himself as he walked into the bank and within minutes he had his pockets bulging with money. He went over to the Foreign Exchange goblin and had half of his money transferred into Muggle Pounds so he could purchase some clothes he was intending on buying in London. Thanking the goblin he went outside and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron and once there he had a quick look round seeing that the coast was clear and bolted out the door and onto the street.
It was so much different in the day time, last time he was here in London he had arrived on the knight bus and it was pitch black. Looking both ways, he found his way and ran off in that direction. He was able to find a shopping center not too far from the Leaky Cauldron and he scoured the shops for some trendy and fitting clothing. He walked into one shop, it looked like an emo/goth shop with the tight jeans and tees which appealed to him greatly. He knew from the people at the parties he'd been to with Peter and Tony that this was the type of Muggle clothing they wore so he walked in and started grabbing everything he could get his hands on.
In the end, he paid for tight green, red, black, white and grey tees; black, navy and grey tight jeans; A couple of hoodies; two pairs of converse sneakers one red and one black and a couple of black belts. There was a reason for these clothes, he wanted a change, something different that he could experiment with. He walked out of the shop and a couple of stores down there was another store that had more professional looking outfits. He decided, just on a whim that he would grab a couple of dress shirts. A white, a black and a green shirt later with black dress shoes he walked out of the store and decided to head back to Diagon Ally. There were his school books to buy and he knew he'd used a lot of time trying to pick out some new clothes.
Without incident he found himself standing in the book store and gave the store clerk his book list so he could put it together. As the man was doing this he had a look around and happened to look out the window as he saw a mob of red heads coming towards the store. Shit, shit, shit, he thought as he saw Ginny and Ron at the front. Turning back to look at the store clerk, the man had almost finished his order so he went to the counter to pay. Not being able to use magic frustrated him immensely because he had so many bags from his clothes shopping before and now he had all of his books to carry.
The store owner came over and Harry paid for his books, smiling as he said thanks and was just about to turn around when the door opened and the crowd of Weasley's bustled in all at once. Ginny was the first to see him and she ran up to him and gave him a hug.
"Harry!" She said as she flung her arms around him.
"Mate, didn't know you were going to be here." Ron said marching over to Harry and giving him a brotherly hug.
"Why didn't you tell us, you could have come with us?" Mrs. Weasley chipped in and also gave Harry a hug.
Once they had finished and Harry was put back on his feet he gave them a fake smile and muttered an apology.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I would have owled, but I can't seem to find Hedwig." He lied, shrugging.
"Oh, Harry. You should have seen her, she left the Burrow a few days ago." Mrs. Weasley said and he feigned being upset and frowned at her words.
"I'm sure she'll turn up mate." Ron said giving him a slap on the back. "So how's things? Dursley's causing you shit? Ow."
"That's enough Ronald." Mrs. Weasley clucked at her son's words but the motherly smile came back when she looked to Harry.
"Yeah, no everything is fine. Great actually." He smiled and noted Ginny standing rather close to him.
"That's good, Harry." She cooed in his ear and he physically shivered. "So, what are you doing until school starts? You going to be staying with us this year?"
"Oh yes, Harry. You must stay with us before school. Hermione's coming a few days before hand isn't she Ron?" Mrs. Weasley piped up.
Harry was cringing, he hated the fact that he was lying to his best friend but he really didn't have time for this. Luckily, he spotted Hagrid walking past on his way to the Leaky Cauldron and Harry used that as a quick excuse to get out of there.
"Hey look, I'm really sorry but I have to go. I'm here with Hagrid see and he just walked past." He said brushing past them all. "See you at school." He yelled over his shoulder and bolted out of the shop.
"Odd." Ginny sighed as she turned to her mother and they went about sorting out their books for the year.
Harry darted around the corner and caught his breath. There was one more thing he had to do before seeing Hagrid and it was just across from where he was standing.
Hagrid waved to him as he came through the door into the pub and Harry went over to him.
"Blimey 'Arry. A little bit of shoppin' huh?"
"Oh, yeah." He blushed a little. "Yeah, I didn't think I'd be back here for a while." He shrugged and Hagrid chuckled.
"Did ya wanna grab some lunch 'ere, 'Arry?"
"Sure." Harry beamed and they ordered a light meal before heading back to the castle.
Harry trudged down the endless stairs to the dungeon and found himself outside Snape's quarters.
"Enlightment." He said to the portrait and it swung open.
Snape walked out of his lab when he heard Harry coming in to make sure he was okay and he looked at the many bags he had. Some, if he wasn't mistaken didn't look like they came from Diagon Ally and he was suspicious.
"Afternoon, Potter. Successful trip was it?" He said coolly eyeing the bags Harry had in his hands.
"Oh uh, yeah." Harry said lowering his head and blushing.
He made a quick exit to his room and dumped the bags on his bed before turning round to see Snape leaning in the doorway. He frowned at the man and he received a raised eyebrow that made him a little breathless and he had to look away and he turned around so he wasn't looking at Snape as he unpacked his school books.
"If I'm not mistaken, they are Muggle bags, are they not?" Snape enquired, not leaving his spot by the door.
"No, sir." Harry said not looking at him.
"Hmm." Was all Harry got in response and Harry turned to look at him as he stood in front of his desk, placing the books on it.
"Ok, so they might be Muggle bags." Harry confessed and heard Snape chuckle.
"I know. I'm interested to know how you came across these when you were supposed to be in Diagon Ally." There was a lightness in Snape's voice and it caused Harry to look up at him but didn't answer.
"Why did you go into London? You know that it's dangerous. Especially for you. Did Hagrid go with you?" Snape finally asked, his voice slightly more serious.
"No, he didn't." Harry sighed.
"And why not?"
Harry hesitated and had to look away.
"Because I told him to do his own thing. He thinks I stayed in the Ally the whole time." Harry let his shoulders sag at this. He was going to be in trouble for sure, and what was worse was that Hagrid was going to get into trouble as well.
Harry risked a glance at Snape and he had his arms folded across his chest, not scowling or sneering though. He just looked like he was enjoying Harry with this torturous admission.
"Please, it's not Hagrid's fault."
"I know." Snape said simply before he walked off and Harry shot after him.
"Wait, where are you going?" Harry's voice sounded desperate. He didn't want the man to go and tell Dumbledore, he wouldn't be let out ever again if he found out.
Snape stopped and turned around, looking at Harry curiously then angled his body sideways, throwing his hand towards his private potions lab.
"My lab." He said simply.
"Oh." Harry said quietly and turned to go back to his room when Snape's words stopped him and he turned round.
"I'm not going to tell anyone, Harry. But I must urge you to be cautious the next time you want to venture somewhere without protection." His voice authoritative and commanding, but not spiteful and Harry nodded.
"Yes, sir." He turned around again, blushing as he stomach did a back flip at Snape calling him Harry.
He shut the door to his bedroom and slid down till he was sitting on the floor. He wanted to cry as he was beginning to realize what his reactions to the man's presence was starting to mean. Snape was starting to make Harry feel more comfortable around him by the way that he was talking to him but then Harry's reactions meant that the one thing he wanted to talk about with him, he couldn't. He didn't want anything to slip and he didn't know how the man would react to Harry's new thoughts of him. He was fairly certain the man would shun him, ridicule him and push him away. Wait, am I even close with him? A confusing thought, and it made Harry sigh.
Harry stayed in his room for the rest of the day and unpacked his purchases, stowing them away in his trunk. He was going to reveal his new clothing sometime when he went up for breakfast and hopefully no one asked him any questions about it. They were clearly Muggle clothes that he hadn't worn the whole time he'd been there, only the fitting ones that Mags had given him or his rags. His new clothes were definitely a step up and he feared he would be caught. He didn't really care though, he wanted to recreate himself this year because he knew that his life was changing. No, I don't want to think about the future just yet, he scolded himself. He wanted to enjoy each day as it came, even though he knew it was a stretch and would probably never happen, but in terms of where he was going to live now, he didn't want to think about it, it was too depressing.
He picked up the magical comb he'd brought just before meeting back up with Hagrid and debated whether or not he experiment with it tonight or in the morning. He didn't really know how they worked and if he had something embarrassing he wanted to have time to fix it before anyone saw it. The knock at the door decided for him and he put it down before going over to the door and opening it.
"Yes, sir?"
"It's dinner time and you are coming." Snape said stiffly.
"Excuse me?"
"I will not have you living here and not eating properly. Do not make me force feed you, Potter."
Back to 'Potter' now I see, Harry thought bitterly and looked away frowning at his thought.
"Uh." Harry didn't really know what to say, and why does he care?
"I have been lenient on you because I thought you were still struggling with your emotions and settling in. However, seeing you today, you seem fine and I refuse to see you wasting away. You need energy, Potter. I dare say you look rather skinny as of late."
Harry thought he heard concern woven into those words the Potions master just spoke and he looked at Snape curiously before nodding mutely and walking forwards and out of his room. Snape seemed pleased with this and once he was satisfied that Harry was going to follow him he stalked out of the portrait. A caring Snape, feels weird and… oddly comforting. He groaned, he was falling for the man hook, line and sinker. This just made living with him ten times harder.
Walking into the hall behind Snape, he looked up and spotted Hagrid sitting at the head table and he felt rather guilty. He hoped like hell that he didn't get his friend into trouble. He was starting to care too much about people lately and he thought it rather exhausting. He broke away from Snape and sat down at the Gryffindor table looking down at the food that presented it self. He didn't really feel like eating and he'd just had a huge meal at the Leaky Cauldron, even though it said 'light meal' on the menu, it was huge for Harry's small body and Hagrid had to finish it off for him.
He sat there for a few minutes not touching anything and happened to look up at Snape. Snape must have sensed Harry looking at him because he looked up and raised an eyebrow after looking down at Harry's empty plate. He saw Snape mouth 'eat' and his stomach knotted at the gesture and he could feel himself blushing. There is no way I can eat whilst he's watching me, he thought but he picked up a carrot and ate it before looking at Snape again and the man shook his head to signal he wasn't happy and he took another carrot before piling a heap of mash potato onto his plate and roughly shoving it in his mouth. Harry was not happy.
Snape on the other hand was trying hard not to smirk at Harry's actions.