Harry woke up in a frenzy several hours later. Unaware of where he was, or why he felt like absolute crap, he fumbled out of bed and fumbled towards the direction he suspected the door to be in, wand in hand. Dim light filtered in from the corridor and his memories began to fog up before him as he recollected the events that occurred at Dylan's house the night before.
He gingerly touched his forehead to feel the rawness of his scar. He movement was sluggish from the dreamless sleep as he made his way to across the hall to Snape's bedroom door. It was somewhere between 4 and 5 am, he was bound to be back by now, right?
Nervousness overcome by curiosity, Harry cautiously knocked on the door. After three attempts, he reached for the handle. He knew he was breaking one of Snape's few rules, but after the sheer terror that radiated from his vision, he had to know.
The light from the corridor did nothing to illuminate the walls within. "Professor Snape", Harry called out, loud and clear. He wasn't sure he'd be able to do it more than once. There was no audible response, and Harry began to feel along the walls for a switch.
With a click, the room was now visible, but Harry wasn't prepared for the sight he was about to see. The professor was in bed with a woman. Not only that, but he was awake, and looking right at Harry.
The thing was, Harry wasn't sure Snape had actually noticed him at all. His breaths were coming out in quick, short breaths, and his arms were wound tightly around the women next to him. She was even paler than he was, Harry couldn't be sure if she was breathing at all. He was about to check when Snape's sudden exclamation had him backed up against the wall.
"Don't touch her!" he said, his voice strained and far away. His arms wound more tightly around her.
"Get out." Snape continued, sounding a little bit more coherent in a dangerous way. Harry didn't need to be told twice and, dumfounded, returned to bed. This was all much too bizarre for him.
xxxxx
The next time Harry woke up, it was to a brisk knock on his door. Quickly getting out of bed, he knew nothing could prepare himself for what Snape had in store for him today.
His instructions were quick, breakfast was in 30 minutes. That went a lot more painless than expected, but only served to make Harry more nervous of the events to come.
xxxxx
They spent the first ten minutes eating in silence, Harry knew better than to bring up the woman. Eventually, Snape asks Harry about the events of his dinner from the night before.
"Well, you don't need to worry about me being out and about much anymore, I don't think I could ever face them again." Harry said grimly.
Snape seemed genuinely curious.
"I don't know what it is exactly, but it just feels like someone really has it out for me." Harry hears a snort from the other side of the table and rethinks his statement.
"Well, other than the ones we already know about. It's just that everything happens at such a bad time." he hesitates before continuing "Professor, I think you've done more for me than anyone else in my entire life. And, don't get me wrong, I'm not getting sentimental or anything, I'm just grateful, you know. And the way things have been going, all of the guys seem to think that you've been torturing me."
This earns an actual snicker from Snape.
"But seriously, I don't know how to defend you when you act the way you do!" Harry immediately stops talking, aware of the insult in what he just said but also frustrated by the truth in it. He braced himself and waited for Snape's response.
It turned out that he would have to wait for quite a bit, as Snape only picked up his fork and continued to work through his food for several minutes. Only after he cleaned his plate did he look up at Harry.
"I will speak to Dylan's parents. They have known the Snapes for longer than I'd like to admit, and I do suppose that this is long overdue. I will let you know when I have refined the story. Is this acceptable?"
Harry was surprised to say the least. He could not comprehend why Snape would go to such a lengths for him. His confusion was apparent on his face as he nodded his acceptance. With that said, Snape got up and left, leaving no indication of where he was going. Harry returned to his room, he had a lot to think about.
Physically, Snape had looked completely fine. But the raw distress that Harry had seen the night before was not something he had ever expected to see coming from Snape. Whatever happened last night had hurt him emotionally, perhaps even intentionally so. Either way, it was none of Harry's business. And he could accept that for now.
xxxxx
Harry didn't see Snape again until later afternoon, for dinner. He had eaten lunch alone, arriving to the kitchen to see an empty table. If anything, Snape looked even more exhausted than he did that morning. His forehead was furrowed in thought and he made no attempt at conversation. When they are finished eating, Snape instructs Harry to follow him, and Harry soon finds himself staring at the closet that Snape had showed him when they first moved in.
The magical half of the house. Had he finished cleaning it? Harry was excited to see it.
Casting the spell to reveal the lock at the back of the closet, Snape began to speak.
"From now on the door will only be hidden with a simple glamour. Feel for the knob and say the password and it will open for you. The password is currently 'chestnut'.
Harry nodded in acknowledgement as they stepped into the house. Again, Harry marveled at how large it was, and beautiful. There was an elegant color scheme of greens and beiges. The large dining room table could probably fit the entire Weasley family.
"Will we be staying here from now on?" Harry asks.
"Yes" Snape smirks. "I will give you a tour of the rooms that are relevant to you."
As they walked down the halls and up and down the staircases, Snape had already located to Harry the massive library, the (even more massive) training room, a bathroom that could rival the Prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts, and the entrance to a very off limits attic.
"I expect there may come a time when your friends will expect to be invited over. Should that happen, you may make use of the muggle house. However, you will also be allowed to invite them here. Should that occur, they would be placed under a spell to make them oblivious to everything magical. I'm assuming this is below the Gryffindor's moral standards?"
Harry was too busy being surprised to be disrupted by Snape's jibe. Snape would actually allow muggles into his household? And Harry's friends of all people! Dumbledore must have the guy under some kind of spell.
"I said do you UNDERSTAND Potter?" Snape repeated, annoyed.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Harry quickly agreed.
"This door leads to a gen lab. On occasion you will be studying in here, supervised, of course. If you are going to be staying with me, you will become adept at Potions. I will accept nothing less." Snape says strictly.
They turn into a corridor that looks exactly like the one in the muggle house. Both his and Snape's doors were in the exact same positions on the walls, and his room was exactly the same. This was all so bizarre.
Turning around to ask about it, Harry noticed that the entrance they came through had turned into a wall. Noticing this, Snape turns around and walks back through the wall, eyebrows raised.
Magic is wonderful, Harry thought, and followed.
"Was that always there?" he asks Snape.
"Not really, it had to be activated, the same way the front door was earlier." Snape continues.
"But it will be there from now on. A muggle would be unable to walk through it."
Harry nods in acceptance. Snape stops walking and turns around to face him.
I will give you an hour to settle in. After that, we will meet in the new training room for occlumency lessons.
Harry swallows stiffly, nodding in acceptance.