Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.
It was Snape, who had appeared in the doorway. His hated potions professor stood tall in the doorway, clad in black, one hand on the door handle and his wand held securely in the other. Threateningly he pointed the wand forward, towards Harry and did a quick scan of the room.
'Get your trunk, Potter', Snape sneered at him, 'Hurry up, boy!' Absently Harry did as he was told, he dragged his trunk to the middle of the room, where Snape motioned for him to stop. A quick wave of the man's wand, shrunk the trunk to the size of a matchbox, before Harry picked it up and put it in his pocket. Snape also shrunk down Hedwig's empty cage, before he hastily turned around and waited for Harry to follow him.
Harry locked the door behind him, before taking a sprint to catch up with his professor, who with his hasty strut had reached the street by now. Not once looking back, Snape made his way to the , for Harry very familiar, playground, where he finally stopped and somewhat nervously looked around.
'This will do', Snape mumbled before addressing Harry, 'We will be apparating, Potter, so give me your hand.' To Harry it sounded like something akin to a growl and even though he loathed to just comply with Snape's demands he knew that he would soon be with his friends. He just had to endure Snape a little bit longer.
Before he knew it, Harry felt like he was pushed through a small tube. His body protesting heavily, but it was over quickly. He had hardly any time to catch his breath, before Snape went back to his relentless pace and started walking away from Harry.
It looked like an ordinary neighborhood. The streets were dead straight and lined with ordinary brick houses. Some of the lightposts were broken, making it hard for Harry to keep up with his teacher's pace. Even though the cobbled stones did not seem to slow Snape down, it certainly make Harry mind his steps.
Within minutes of their arrival in the strange and dark neighborhood, they had arrived at one of the plain houses in a street called Spinner's end. From the outside it couldn't be distinguished from the others at all, but since Snape decided to stop here, this must be their destination.
Harry was about to ask his professor where they were and what business they had here, but one look from the man was enough to shut him up. A quick flick of the man's wand opened the wooden door after which he hastily pulled his student inside.
They stepped directly into a tiny sitting room. It made Harry feel as though he had arrived in a bookstore, though late at night. The walls were completely covered in books, looking magical in nature because of their black and brown leather bindings. The room was lit by candlelight, the candles though almost burned up.
Harry stood uncomfortably in the small room, not daring to touch anything or even sit on the old sofa or armchair. Meanwhile Snape took the shrunken trunk and cage from his pocket and set them on the floor before he cast a spell to transform them back to their normal size. Another flick of the wand had them pushed against one of the book-filled walls, before Snape turned his attention to his student.
"Potter, take a seat", while Snape said so, he motioned for Harry to take place on the sofa, so he could take the armchair. Still somewhat in awe of his surroundings, Harry tried to keep quiet and not agitate his professor by asking question, that would undoubtedly be labeled as stupid.
"I understand that you have questions, I must ask you to save them for after my explanation", at this a frown began to overtake Harry's face, but Severus paid it no heed. "I also understand that you didn't expect nor want me to be the one to move you to a secure location, however it has come to my attention that your security is no longer guaranteed in the headmasters however capable hands."
This of course made Harry want to protest and so he did, "Then why have you taken me here on Dumbledore's orders?!" A small smile of rather sneer began to form on Severus' face, but it was quickly replaced with a mask of indifference.
"I never said nor implied I took you from your family on the Headmaster's orders. You are no longer safe at Hogwarts. The Headmaster only sees the greater good, that is his one great imperfection. His age, has made him somewhat inhumane, he can no longer see the individual, he can only see the cause."
Harry's expression made it clear to Snape that he was not willing to listen, at least not yet. "Think on it, Potter." A flick of the teacher's wand, made the trunk and cage slide to the center of the room. "Take your things upstairs, the stairs is there to the right. Upstairs, the second room to the left is yours. Tomorrow, breakfast is at seven. I expect you clean and dressed and on time"
As Harry made his way up the stairs with his heavy trunk, the old stairs creaked under the weight. It almost felt like the stairs were about the fail under the weight, but thankfully they hold up. He found his small and dark room at the end of the hallway.
It was a room decorated with dark woods and crème whites. It hadn't been dusted off in a while and like the other room Harry had seen, it's walls were covered in books. A bed and wardrobe were neatly placed against the one wall that was left bookless.
Not sure how long he was supposed to stay here, he didn't unpack his trunk. He placed Hedwig's cage on his bedside table and shoved his trunk to the side. The light wasn't really bright, but it was just enough for Harry to read some of the titles of the books.
It was a wide range of subjects from many potions related books to muggle poets and greek philosophers. Harry was somewhat surprised by the variety. He was too tired however to think much about it or even about the conversation he had just had with Snape. So he tried to forget his worries and catch some sleep.
Downstairs Severus was looking for a way to convince his new charge of his current position. He poured himself a glass of absinthe, a drink he learned to enjoy during his apprenticeship. His master had been particularly fond of it and it had almost caused his death, luckily the man was a skilled master and had carried a bezoar nearly everywhere.
He took another sip and took the book from the side table and began to read it. It was one of the potions journals of his teacher. That man had been working on separating the mind from the body via a potion. Snape was currently rereading the book in the hopes of finding a solution to separating the horcrux and a living being.
Two hours and one glass of absinthe later, Snape too decided to head off to bed. He laid his book back on the side table and downed the last drops of liquor before heading off to his room and falling into a somewhat peaceful sleep.
The next morning came quickly for both residents of the house. The curtains of the guest bedroom couldn't keep the light out completely and thus Harry awoke early, woken by a wonderful summer sunrise. When rubbing his eyes in an attempt to fully awaken, he noticed his eye still felt sore due to the bruise given to him by his cousin, but he discarded that thought quickly when he noticed the time.
It was a quarter to seven and Harry hurried to freshen himself up and be down in time for breakfast. He wouldn't put it past Snape to forbid him from having breakfast just because he was late. Fortunately he was on time and Snape invited him into the kitchen.
"Morning, Potter", apparently Snape was as sour in the morning as he was any part of the day. "Good morning, sir", he replied as gently as he could. "Help yourself", he sneered. Deciding he didn't need to further anger the man, he quickly took some toast with cheese and a cup of tea, it was the best breakfast he had in weeks.
After breakfast he helped his teacher clean up the dishes, not a foul word was spoken. Actually nothing was said at all. Until Harry dismissed himself and turned his black eye towards his professor, whom suddenly raised his hand and grabbed his student's chin to keep the face from turning away from him.
"Where did you get this, Potter?", care shone through into his voice , "Fought with your pillow have we?" Snape made an attempt to cover up his care for the boy by ridiculing him, but even to his own ears it sounded like a failure.
"Ehh… I was just playing around with my cousin", or rather he was playing with me. Harry tried to laugh it off, but Snape was unconvinced. "I know, your family is… strict with you, they sometimes take it too far. This is undoubtedly one of those times", Snape walked away to one of his cupboards and took a jar.
"Here, apply this generously, it will help", Severus was amazed by his own actions, he knew what it felt like to be the black sheep of the family and he had noticed the same signs in Lily's boy, this was his chance to help him, but he was amazed that he actually felt for the boy and not only for what he represented.
"Why do you help me now? When all you have ever done is ridicule me and hate me?", Harry asked honestly surprised by Snape's behavior. "You will suffer enough soon", Severus said, "There is no need to make you suffer more. Now tend to your injury and join me in the living room shortly."