Severus titled his face to the mirror to see where he needed to shave, he took a certain pleasure in the smooth skin left after shaving. He felt it made his face look softer and for some strange reason he enjoyed it despite his countenance as a professor being so strict and harsh.

He thought it must have been just one of those strange things he clung onto, maybe in the memory of his mother. But he found that his preference for the soft and dare he say, feminine, was probably something other than a relic of his mother. But he didn't want to dwell on that too much.

He had business to attend to in Diagon Alley and had reluctantly forced himself out of bed at the egregious time of 8 am in the morning to see a supposedly revolutionary new way of harvesting monkshood. It was probably some nonsense, but if the old quack reallyhappened to be onto something this time, it would indeed be something revolutionary. So Severus thought it best to drag himself there anyway; a broken clock does occasionally chime right once in a while after all.

It turned out that Master Grimshank had actually managed to rub his two brain cells togather this time and Severus had made sure to diligently take notes on the old man's lecture. Although it had taken until the late hours of the night for the old man to finally get to the point.

For some reason, the older potions master took a liking to Severus and regularly invited him over to many such lectures, and while Severus would often roll his eyes at some of the drivel the other man would say, he felt some sort of kinship with the strange old man. And out of a sense of duty to repay the kindness he so rarely received from other people, Severus always made sure to attend.

As Severus was about to leave Grimshank's lab, the old man reached out to grab Severus' arm.

"Severus, as you know, I appreciate your coming here and all that," the old man said in his lighthearted way.

Severus looked down, feeling awkward at the man's thanks, but Grimshank continued, " But you must know child, I am much older than you, and I should say that I know you're hiding something in your heart," and the man winked at him.

Severus for his part was confused and so Grimshank continued, "There are things you don't want to dwell on, and I'm sure you have your reasons, but you've got to come to terms with those parts of yourself. You may not understand, But I assure you that it will become clear soon,"

And with that Severus politely thanked the man and left. Just as Grimshank said, he had no idea what the old geezer was on about and yet he still felt uncomfortable as if the man really did know something about him. Best not to dwell on it too much.

As he exited from the Leaky Cauldron, he was pushed into a small child as he entered the London foot traffic. Looking down, he was taken aback as he looked into shockingly green eyes. By Merlin's beard, he was no face to face with Harry Potter, he would recognise the face anywhere, the boy still resembled his younger self at one.

"Sorry Sir, hey sir, you don't happen to know where the nearest train station is , do you sir?"

"And why Mr Potter, would you need to be travelling around London all by yourself?" he asked sardonically, slipping back into his professor persona with ease.

"You know my name sir? How?"

Oh yes, Severus forgot, the boy had no chance of remembering his face, but surely Potter was used to people recognising him all the time.

"Considering you are one of the most famous figures in the Wizarding World, I would think that I would know your name even if I hadn't already met you,"

"Excuse me, sir, no offense, but are you feeling alright?" the boy asked innocently. Severus' blood boiled at the implication that he should not have control of his own sanity, but he then realised that Potter genuinely thought he was barmy.

"Tell me Potter, where are your aunt and uncle?"

"How did you know I live with- oh well nevermind sir, they seem to have left me here, must've forgot about me but it's alright, I have five quid," he declared proudly as it was bunched up in his fist.

Severus felt an unnerving sense of deja vu as he remembered the eerie naivety that this boy had possessed when he had last talked to him. It left Severus feeling a little off kilter and he suddenly had the mad thought to just send the child off and forget they had ever met today.

But no, he had made his vow to Lily and besides, the boy probably needed as much help as he could get and Severus did like to feel useful.

"Well Potter I'm not sure if it's crossed your little mind yet, but 5 quid is probably not enough to buy a train ticket, and if it was enough do you even know where you need to go?"

Harry seemed stumped at that. He knew his family lived in Surrey but this was London and while he was sure he could find something from the tube map he was only 8 and he wasn't quite sure he really did know what he was doing.

"Oh I guess I didn't think about that sir," No I guess you didn't you little nitwit, Severus thought with some irritation. It was late at night and he was well and truly tired already.

"Well Potter, I suppose it would be irresponsible of me to leave you here, come with me." Snape ordered snappishly.

Severus thought it was a bit odd the boy was so complacent, he was young but surely not that naive. Looks like nothing has changed much in 7 years, but Severus didn't want to think too hard about the implications of that.

Severus honestly had no idea where they were going, after all he had had no intentions of babysitting a young child tonight and it wasn't as if he was the most suitable guardian for a child.

Harry for his part, was just glad to no longer be in the middle of a loud, scary bustling city. He thought he should be more scared of the dour severe man who towered over him, but somehow just from looking into his eyes, he felt a sense of calm as if he had known this man his whole life.

After a few minutes, they both found themselves in front of a Macdonalds and as if he was being led against his will, Severus entered the shop with Harry trailing behind. Once his mind had caught up with him, he immediately cringed at the bright neon lights of the restaurant but he decided it wasn't the worst place to take a child after all. So he led the little boy to a table and they sat down, looking at the menu.

"So Potter, care to explain why you were in London all by yourself?"

"I already told you sir." Harry said petulantly, not understanding why the man was asking such strange questions.

"Well, still it was awfully irresponsible of your aunt and uncle, do they really not care for your safety?"

"Uh- you know I don't think so," Harry answered quite earnestly. Oh no, and Severus began to rub his temples as he felt a headache oncoming.

"Well nevermind that Potter, order something quickly, the waiter is coming." he snapped out as he saw the gangly teen approaching their table.

Despite Severus' hatred for the decor, he secretly loved these sorts of places. As a young child eating bland boiled potatoes every day, he always looked forward to the days when Lily's parents would take them both into town to the local fish and chips. Perhaps the food was greasy and salty and sticky, but it was oh so better than boiled potatoes and in the eyes of the young Severus, that was enough to make it perfect. Even as he had become older and had the privilege of tasting the wider array of food that existed in the world, greasy fried food and chips always remained his guilty pleasure.

It seemed Harry was of the same mind as around fifteen minutes later a plate with a burger piled with chips was placed in front of the boy. By comparison, Severus' portion was moderate. Harry immediately started shovelling the large burger into his mouth despite the fact it barely fit into his small hands and Severus had to resist cringing at the almost animalistic way the boy devoured his food. After all Severus was fairly sure he used to eat in a very similar fashion when he had been younger.

When they were both finished, Severus had surprised himself that he had not asked Harry any of the questions that had been whizzing through his mind and Harry likewise was just about to open his mouth to unleash the flood of questions that had been building up as he had been eating. But as they exited the store, they were accosted by a very old man with a very long beard. Who was wearing perhaps the most garish suit the either of them had ever seen. Severus groaned when he recognised the all too familiar Dumbledore.

"Well my boys, have you had a good time. I too do enjoy this place, what was it again, MacDougals'? No Mac-"

"MacDonald's, sir," Severus replied testily.

"Oh yes that was it, well I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure must have been a fun night, but Harry you'll have to come back with me. It seems your aunt and uncle have been very worried about you. Come along now," he said genialy in his traditional grandfatherly fashion.

"But-"

"Ah now come on Mr Potter time to go. I assure you, you will see our dear Severus very soon," And with that, Dumbledore apparated away with the boy, leaving Severus speechless.

So he stood there for a while, watching the reflections of the puddles on the floor be disrupted by every passing car. The dyign chatter of the street as people retreated away back to their homes. And as Severus stood thinking, he failed to really understand what the hell had happened that day.