Chapter 5

In the cauldron, an orange concoction was gently bubbling away. This was the last one on Pomfrey's list of healing potions that needed to be brewed for the infirmary. While the potion boiled, Severus perched on a stool beside his workstation.

Severus couldn't help his thoughts from straying to the boy. Potter had been very quiet, diligently doing his homework. He had even inquired as to Severus's comfort level in having him here. Not something he would have expected from a teenager.

Potter didn't act so much like a teenager as a tiny adult. Running off to save friends from trolls, stopping the Dark Lord's rise, fighting basilisks. Did he never trust an adult? Did he feel like he couldn't trust one? Where was Dumbledore in all these instances? The old man always boasted about how there was very little happening in the school that he didn't know about. These weren't insignificant things, the child almost died at the Dark Lord's hands. Twice.

He didn't think the boy had ever had an adult to rely on. Why Petunia? Did you never think that you've been neglecting your own sister's blood?

And there was also the matter of the child's own godfather being after him. Severus muttered an oath. How much more would the child have to suffer through in his life?

His thoughts went back to the Dursleys. He had never once seen Petunia or her husband look like they cared for the boy's well being in all the snippets he'd seen of his life with them. Not even when he had a dog set on him.

How had Severus not seen this before? Every time he mocked the boy for being spoiled and taking things for granted. The boy didn't even look healthy enough to be spoiled. Severus cursed himself for being so ignorant.

It seemed like eons ago that Severus himself had been in that position, suffering neglect and abuse at the hands of his father. He wouldn't ever wish something like that on anyone else. Least of all on Lily's own son.

Lily's son deserved better. He would have the world on his fingertips in other circumstances. Lily and James Potter would have made sure of it. The child deserved better than Petunia's negligence.

Severus had always branded the boy as arrogant, spoiled and defiant. He'd seen him as an image of Potter Sr. Or his own past mistakes come back to haunt him in the form of Lily's eyes.

'You see what you expect to see, Severus.' Dumbledore's words came back to him at the moment.

He regretted every single decision he'd made. He hated the part he had played in making Harry Potter an orphan. He hated every bit of it. Most of all, he hated losing his best friend. There wasn't a single day he didn't regret his actions.

Severus had wanted to ask Potter a lot of questions while they sat down for lunch. He knew now that there was more to it than what little he'd seen while replenishing the wards. He just didn't know where to start, or how to get the boy talking. Would he even talk? To Severus of all people? What should I do? What would you do, Lily?

He realised now that he'd been projecting his hatred on a child. A blameless child. A child who wasn't arrogant and spoiled. He saw things for what they were now, self-reliance and independence. The child didn't complain or throw tantrums like everyone his age was entitled to.

Crashing into the Whomping Willow wasn't a cry for attention. Now that Severus thought about it, he probably hadn't even let the boys explain when it happened the previous year. But how was he to protect the child if he got himself mangled and killed by that blasted tree?

He'd always seen the child's protection as an obligation. A way to overcome his past mistakes. A way to atone to his sins. He never saw him as a person.

Now, he found himself wishing he'd been better. He found himself not wanting to be the child's hated professor anymore. He found himself caring about what would happen next summer if the child was sent back to Petunia again. He did not want the boy there. What changed?

Why did he care now? After 12 years. Severus had never given a second thought about the boy other than keeping him from physical harm. He had promised Dumbledore that the boy would come to no harm in his presence. He never thought about emotional harm. In fact he himself had inflicted a lot of it on the child.

Perhaps he didn't want to see himself in the child. He did not want the child to grow up with vengeance and hate in his heart. Potter probably wouldn't, he was a much better person now than Severus had been at his age, loathe as Severus was to admit it.

Dumbledore was sure of The Dark Lord's return. How sure, Severus didn't know. He hadn't felt his mark so much as twinge in the past 12 years. Even with Quirrell playing the definitive host, his mark had still been the same faded grey.

Could he let himself care? Even knowing the Dark Lord's impending return? Would that put the child in more danger than he already was? If war was something that was sure to come, what would that mean for his role?

Severus didn't want to think about what any of this would mean in the long run. He didn't want to think about the war. The role he'd played in the first war essentially robbed Potter of his parents. How was he to tell the boy that?

Severus wished none of this ever happened. But wishing would not make it true. He knew that. He had started this. His actions were the one that started the ball rolling. He would have to do something.

Severus didn't know where to go from here. He'd never felt this out of depth in a very long time. He sighed as he doused the fire, packed the potion away and trudged upstairs.

—--

"Find something interesting?" Severus found the boy in the sitting room, looking intently at some of the books on the wall.

This jerked the boy out of his thoughts. "Oh, just looking. I got tired of sitting at the desk."

"You're free to help yourself to them, if you so wish." There wasn't much else to do in this place, besides.

"Oh, thankyou sir," he gave a small smile.

"Are you done with your homework?"

"Transfiguration, yes." He brought over a roll of parchment as he said that.

All of Potter's essays so far had been more than adequate, Severus realised as he read through this one. "This is good enough," He said, handing it back.

Potter stared at him in surprise before taking the parchment back. When Severus raised a questioning eyebrow, he just shrugged.

Severus sighed inwardly thinking about many things before finally turning towards the kitchen. As he was leaving, the boy went back to peruse the shelf.

—--

"Need some help?"

Severus looked up to find the boy at the doorway. "No," he said, " but you're welcome to sit at the table and wait. I wouldn't mind some company." He saw an odd emotion in the child's eyes that was masked quickly.

"If you're sure," the boy said as he sat down after a moment.

"I think I saw you making breakfast a few times," Severus started, gauging the boy's reaction. He had a guarded look. "How often do you cook?"

"Everyday, I'd say," he said, the guarded look still not leaving. "I don't mind it so much."

"You don't?"

"It's nice to have something to concentrate entirely on. Having something to do keeps my mind from straying."

"Hmm."

"You don't use cooking spells?"

"Having something to do keeps my mind from straying," he repeated the boy's words back to him.

"You told me you were around the house for a week," he said, after a moment. When Severus turned to face him, the guarded look was replaced by something much more intense. "How much did you see?"

"Enough to know they didn't treat you right."

Potter gave a noncommittal grunt and didn't ask to elaborate. "So where is this place?"

"A nondescript muggle town called Cokeworth."

"Cokeworth?"

"Yes."

"We're in Cokeworth?" He asked again.

"I believe that's what I said."

"Where do I know this place from?" The boy was muttering to himself looking thoughtful.

"You recognise the place?" That wouldn't be too far of a stretch.

"No, not the place. Just the name." The boy went back to muttering, his eyes widened in sudden realisation."The letters. Railview Hotel, Cokeworth."

Severus furrowed his brows. Railview Hotel? Did Potter not know that the Evans' grew up here?

"The letters?" He asked, still wondering how much the boy didn't know.

"My Hogwarts acceptance letters." He said absently. He was still lost in thought.

"Letters? Plural?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, coming back to himself. "Uncle Vernon thought he could stop me from going if I didn't get the letter. When he couldn't intercept any more at the house, he drove us to a hotel where there were about a hundred letters waiting the next morning - which he destroyed, I think," he explained, scratching his neck.

Severus was annoyed. What was with that ignorant muggle? "He tried to stop you from going to Hogwarts?"

The boy snorted. "Yes, when that didn't work he took us to an abandoned shack on an island in the middle of a storm. And then Hagrid showed up with the letter."

"I assume Hagrid took you to Diagon Alley, not your relatives."

"You assume correctly." The boy said in a playful tone of voice. "I think I'll set the table." He waited for Severus to point at the right cabinets and took out plates to the table.

—--

"I'd like to make a proposition," Severus said as they sat down to eat.

"A proposition?" The boy asked as he put down his juice.

"A truce, of sorts." Severus waited, and continued when the boy didn't interrupt, "since you're going to be living here at least until school starts, it won't do the both of us any good if we don't try and get along."

"That sounds fair, I guess." The boy observed. "What happens when school starts? Would the truce hold then too?" he added doubtfully.

"We could work on that, I suppose."

Potter looked thoughtful for a minute. He then put down his fork and extended his hand across the table, eyes gleaming. "I don't think we were ever formally introduced, I'm Harry Potter."

Severus' lips twitched as he shook the boy's hand. "Severus Snape. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Potter."

"Harry," the boy chimed. "Mr. Potter sounds a lot like I'm in detention, especially when it comes from you." He sounded like he was holding back laughter.

"Okay Harry, I think it's only fair that you should address me as Severus as well."

He snickered at that. "That wouldn't be very easy to say with a straight face, sir. But I'll try."

—--

When the boy left, Severus thought as far as evenings went, this one was better than many. He had discovered today that the boy wasn't like either of his parents. He was vibrant with energy while being in quiet contentment. Complete opposites coexisting in effective harmony.