Harry immediately lowered the hood of his emerald green sweater and pulled off his converses before hesitantly stepping inside. Well, it would have been hesitant if Nick hadn't shoved him, marching in and plunging himself into a comfy looking brown couch.
Looking around the plain, narrow hallways, Harry soon encountered a thin, rather pale, looking woman with deep grey eyes, and high set cheek bones. She had her messy brown hair clipped up into a bun and the smile lines of someone who seemed to make the best of any situation. She held him tightly in a hug that immediately took Harry's thoughts to Mrs. Weasley. He missed her.
"Ooh, look at you! Quite the handsome young man you are! So nice to meet you in person, dear! I didn't think you would be able to make it..."
Harry looked himself over quickly, still very self conscious about his new wardrobe. Compared to some of the things Jake had helped pick out for him, Harry's current clothing was calm, being simple skinny black jeans and a green sweater... but it still wasn't something he was used to.
"A pleasure to meet you Mrs...", he swallowed heavily as he realized that he hadn't even bothered to ask what he was to call her.
Naturally, Dylan's mom only smiled at him. "Douglas. But you can call me Suzie, dear."
Harry smiled, unsure of what to say. A slightly awkward silence followed this, before they were all bustled to a well-worn table, set in the middle of a rather cluttered kitchen. Seated there was a heavy-set man, who was currently reading the newspaper.
"Mason, we have company," she said.
When his only response was an unconcerned grunt, she continued.
"It's Nathan, dear. Snape's charge." That got his attention.
Harry was slightly unnerved by the man's uncanny likeness to Vernon Dursley. However, the freely given smile and the genuine look in his grey eyes put Harry somewhat at ease. His uncle's looks always seemed to smack of deception. He never did understand how people could fall for it.
Then, looking at Harry, she said, "Nathan, this is my husband, Mason.", her hand gesturing towards her husband.
"Good afternoon, sir" Harry said, sticking his hand out for a shake.
Eyebrows rose at this greeting. Apparently such manners weren't common around the area.
"A pleasure Mr..." the man looked at Harry expectantly.
"Flint" Harry responded quickly, inwardly flinching at his choice of name.
"But please,sir, call me H..Nathan" Harry continued, clearing his throat and praying no one would notice the slip. Looking around, it seemed as though no one had.
"Of course, and call me Mason, or Mr. Douglas if you prefer. There's no need for this 'sir' business, we're not in the army here." he grinned.
Harry replied with a hesitant nod and smile when Suzie decide to excuse herself.
"I'll just go see what Sara's up to then." she said.
At Harry's questioning look, Nick decided to fill him in.
With a bored tone, he said, "Sarina's our sister. A little brat, she is. Never listens and doesn't shutup..."
Nick only shrugged off his father's glare and sharp response, and Harry looked on cautiously, tense and carefully observing the older man's reaction.
"She does talk quite a bit, Sarina, but she's also quite an added bit of sunshine to your day and Nick's always been slightly jealous of her." Mr. Douglas said jokingly.
The responding snort from somewhere beside them was ignore as Harry forced himself to relax a bit.
"Well then, Nathan, have a seat.", Mr Douglas continued.
Harry did so and, finally able to look around, he saw that there were many magazines and books taking up the area. The fridge was covered in pictures and the only window was dimmed, though not because of the weather. A brick building had been placed directly in front of it. Nevertheless, the home was quite inviting.
Outside, the slow drizzle quickly became a heavy downfall, and the thunder made itself known.
Just then Suzie returned with a young girl in tow. She was quite adorable. She had Dylan's grey eyes, and wavy brown hair up to her waist. She openly stared at Harry, much too aware of the newcomer.
"Hello there!", Harry said with a slight smile and false cheerfulness.
"Hi! Who're youuu?" she said, letting her of her mother hands in favor of standing next to the strange new boy.
"I'm Nathan. What's your name?"
"I'm Sarina. I'm gonna be 11 in two weeks, on August 2nd!" she said proudly.
Harry continued to hold her interest for quite of bit throughout dinner. She was excited that someone was listening to her talk and made her frustration known with pouting when her father decide to interrupt.
"So, Nathan, how are things going over by old Snape's?"
Harry inwardly squirmed at the man's piercing stare. He concentrated on his fork as he replied vaguely.
"Everything's good!" Harry said, with the same false cheer. He had yet to look up at what he knew to be expectant faces. But what more could he say? There was nothing more to it.
Nevertheless, Mason pushed forward, "So he's treating you alright then?", he asked blantantly.
"Yeah! It's great. I mean, I'd stay there for years rather then a day at St Brutus..."
Then Suzie decided to add her two cents at this point.
"You know, Nathan, you'll always be welcomed here if anything were to happen at home..."
Everyone nodded encouragingly at this, including the guys that didn't even live there.
"Erm.. thank you? I mean I'm sure I have nothing to worry about though and...yeah..." The awkwardness was creeping in again.
Harry wasn't sure exactly what Dylan told his parents, but he definitely told them something. And Harry was left unsure as to how to alleviate the situation.
He was openly grateful when Sara decided that the conversation had veered away from her for long enough.
They soon got to eating an amazing sort of cheesy pasta with chicken and marinara sauce. The only problem was that Harry was already much too full. There was no way he could believe that the family ate this much on a daily basis, considering how thin most of them were. He received a few incredulous stares as he announced that he had had his fill. Harry expected this, and he wasn't about to budge. However, he did not wish to make the same mistake twice and take more then he could handle. Harry shuddered as he recalled the incident that occurred during his first night with Snape.
"Are you sure you don't want any more Nathan?", Dylan's mom asked, a concerned look on her face.
"You should really eat some more, you're much to skinny.."
Harry swore to himself that he would be rich if he got a dollar for every-time someone told him that. "No thank you, mam"
"It's Suzie, dear", she reminded him. This mam you speak of is my mother."
Dylan noticeably rolled his eyes from his place besides her. "She still likes to believe she's young" he said cheekily and with a smirk.
Suzie's response was to glare at her son, and Harry was about to force a smile when her sudden hand movement startled him.
Although they were on opposite sides of the table Harry's hands automatically moved to shield himself, and in the process flipped over the ceramic bowl that had been placed above them.
This same second, his mind flashed back years into the past.
Across the street, Snape wasn't fairing much better. After quite an amount of thought, the Professor decided to place the Occlumency books on the boy's desk so that he could avoid the awkwardness that handing them directly to him would entail.
The library was now completely rid of anything remotely dark but he now had plenty to return to order. Again he angered himself because he had yet to place stronger anti-detection barriers on this particular house. He knew it was just being paranoid, but there was simply too much at risk for them to be discovered.
His mind was telling him to leave the clean up for Potter, as it would be a suitable punishment for whatever foolishness the boy chooses to do in the near future. But there was a lot to be done and even with the boy's help it would take a while to put everything to rights.
A rather loud bout of thunder echoed when Snape dropped the large pile of books from his arms, his right hand immediately grabbing at his left forearm. He payed no attention to the cloud of dust he created and swore continuously about the bloody dark lord's bloody horrible timing.
Thinking swiftly, he swooped out of the house and into the pouring rain.
Heart pounding at a shattering pace, the loud clatter of broken glass resounding in his mind.
Short, painful breaths.
A fast, sudden blurr.
Crack! Pain. burning... Pain..
Someone's screams piercing his ears from somewhere nearby.
Black. Darkness. Relief.
Freezing blanket of icy water pitching at him.
Coughing, Harry struggled for breath. His new found headache was bordering unbearable. Someone was still shouting, only the voice... voices... were different.
"Nate? Nathan? Come on dude, snap out of it!"
Who was Nathan?... He was.
Oh, damn.
Harry blinked, praying fruitlessly that the entire thing was just another nightmare, that he was still in bed at Snape's. That Snape would be yelling at him to get up at any moment.
But as he forcibly uncurled himself from the ball he was in, his eyes met directly with the faces of several people, none of them Snape. And they were much too close for his liking.
Apparently they realized this, because they all backed off at once. Harry really had no clue what to say. What do you say after something like that?
"Oh, dearie! Oh my poor boy! Honey, it's ok, it's fine. You're here, you're with us now. No one's going to hurt you here. No one's going to hurt you..." Suzie continued to repeat herself as she grabbed him into another hug, and Harry simply didn't have the resolve to move away until another sharp pain ripped through his head. He couldn't hide his grimace at that.
The sound of the doorbell ripped everyone from their thoughts, and Mr. Douglas moved to answer it.
"Mr. Snape!" he said, with no little surprise.
Everyone in the room visibly tensed and moved to observe the man standing at the door, looking all the bit dangerous, and the lightning only served to further emphasize his darkly powerful look.
"Afternoon, Mr. Douglas, is P... Nathan here?" Snape said, stoically.
Unfazed but the lack of emotion, Mason began to reply. "Yes, but he's..." Snape quickly interrupted whatever is was the man was about to say.
"He shall be coming with me, now. It is important, though I apologize for interrupting your meal."
Harry, coherent enough to finally realize what was happening, quickly pulled himself up from the floor and all but ran to the door. Belatedly, he called out behind him.
"I'm sorry, I have to go. I'm really sorry for ruining dinner, it was great, really. Thank you, but I really must go now."
Snape dipped his head in acknowledgment before grabbing hold of Potter's arm as they hurried through the pouring rain and into their own building, the Douglas family long forgotten. Snape wasted no time, grabbing what he needed and shoving a dreamless sleep potion into the boy's hands.
"Relax, Potter... and clear your mind as best as you can." Snape said, before he took off through the closet to Merlin knew where.
So honestly guys, what do you think of it? Progressing too slowly? Too fast?
Review! Please? Suggestions are welcomed. =]