Severus splashed water on his face several times in the infirmary bathroom. He leaned heavily over the sink counter, taking deep breaths. His conversation with Harry had amped up his anxiety, though why? He wasn't sure. Harry wasn't a werewolf now, but perhaps knowing he had been mere moments ago was not helping his mental state. For the twentieth time in a twelve-hour span, Severus questioned whether he really could follow through with even a temporary guardianship over a werewolf child. He reminded his brain that he wasn't being prejudiced, just wary and conscientious of his own sanity.

While Severus did not want to be so affected by werewolves for the rest of his life, he wasn't entirely sure what might ease some of his post-traumatic stress symptoms. Regardless, it was not something to tackle today. Right now, he had a ward waiting to discuss the terms of their arrangement and what the future will hold as far as his monthly shifting goes. Severus dried his face with a towel before stepping out of the bathroom, looking through the one-way mirror at Harry.

The teenager had managed to devour the entire plate of food and was staring down at the dishware as of contemplating licking the dish clean. Instead, Harry set it aside and looked around the room, his eyes straying to meet Severus's, though Severus knew Harry couldn't see him. Somehow, with the instincts of a predator, Harry knew he was being watched. It must be an eerie sensation, along with all his other senses heightened to max input, the child must find himself overwhelmed often. How he endured the last month through all the changes alone was an incredible feat in Severus's book.

As he stood there contemplating how to go about the guardianship, Poppy stepped out of her office and stood next to Severus, checking on Harry before smiling at Severus.

"He's a good lad," she said. "But what he needs the most right now is someone he can trust to help guide him through these next few years as he adapts to the harsh world of the werewolf."

Severus closed his eyes with a heavy sigh.

"I don't know if I can be that person for him."

"Don't try to be that person," Poppy said, and when Severus frowned at her, her smile grew as she turned her eyes on Harry. "Just be there. That's all you have to do."

Severus nodded, then watched as Poppy stepped into the room and gave Harry a look over, making sure every inch of skin was healed save for the jagged scars from his bite. When Poppy seemed satisfied, she began discussing several potions that she pulled out of her robe, and Severus stepped into the room as well to hear what was being discussed.

"These potions are essential to correct many of the nutritional deficiencies you have, so you must take them twice daily for the next three months. We will see where you are at before you head home for the summer. The potions should also help you put on some weight, and honestly your condition may assist with that now as well."

"Really?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Werewolves have very advanced and accelerated healing." Poppy examined Harry's right wrist, tilting it this way and that before performing a small spell on it. "Your wrist was fractured at some point during your childhood, and it's put your hand out of alignment. When I examined it last night, it was only about thirty-five percent healed. Today, it is nearly fifty percent healed. With time, your wrist will heal completely on its own with no other interventions."

Harry studied his right wrist, rubbing a hand over it thoughtfully.

"Which brings up the question," Severus said, "how did you fracture it to begin with?"

Harry looked up at Severus, holding his gaze for a few minutes, then shrugged his shoulder.

"One more potion for you, dearie," Poppy said, pulling out one last vial. "It's a health restorative potion. Not good for any long-term deficiencies that need slow corrections like minerals and vitamins, but it will help restore tissue and muscle to their fullest potential. This should reverse any damage that may remain from any concussions you may have had."

"Thanks," Harry muttered softly.

"You are free to head out once you are dressed in your uniform and robe," Poppy said, waving her hand to summon the needed items a house elf had delivered to her earlier. Poppy turned and stepped out of the room, leaving Harry with Severus.

"Take your potions," Severus said, nodding at the vials in question.

Harry hesitated, then reached over for the three vials sitting on the nightstand. One by one, he quickly downed them, then grabbed his glass of juice and chugged the rest of it down. Then, he looked at Severus expectantly.

"Once you are dressed, you will follow me to my quarters. I will show you where you will stay during the full moons from now on. We will also discuss the week leading up to the full moon and you will follow those instructions to the letter. There will be no repeat of last night, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said.

Severus sighed through his nose before nodding once and stepping out of the room to give Harry privacy, canceling the one-way mirror charm so the room was completely enclosed. He leaned against the wall, dragging his hand down his face as he thought over what he wanted to say to Harry. He tried not to think about how he was the guardian of a young werewolf and reminded himself that Harry was an innocent victim in all of this. This was a mistake that could have been prevented had the foolish headmaster learned from his past mistakes the first time.

When Harry stepped out of the room, Severus pushed off the wall immediately and gestured for Harry to follow him. The quicker they finished this discussion the better. There was silence on the walk down to Severus's quarters, and Severus was thankful for that as he put together a small speech in his head, rehearsing the words he wanted to use to make sure Harry understood every order clearly. As they arrived to his door in the dungeons, Severus paused, resting his hand on the knob before he turned and gave Harry a stern look.

"The door will be spelled to open for you," Severus said. "Besides the week of the full moon, you are . . . welcome to come down to these quarters should you . . . deem it necessary. Do not abuse that privilege by bringing your fellow Gryffindor friends into these rooms whenever you please."

"Like I'd want to," Harry muttered at the top of his shoes.

"Potter," Severus growled in a low warning tone.

"Yes, sir," Harry said, looking up at Severus. "I won't abuse the privilege."

"Indeed," he said. He opened the door to his quarters and held it open for Harry, waiting for the child to step in.

Harry hesitated, then slowly stepped through the doorway and scanned the new scenery. The room was decorated in warm and earthy colors, with a brown sofa and matching armchair seated in front of a cold fireplace. Just past the seating area was the small kitchenette with an island and bar stools pushed just underneath the countertop. To his right was a door ajar, revealing what looked like a spacious room and the edge of a queen-sized bed. Bookshelves surrounded a nook with a window revealing the bright sunny day outside, which must have been a spell. Beneath the window was a desk littered with stacks of parchment and several quills and ink stands. There was a door in the back of the room, and Harry froze.

Severus closed the door behind him, leaning back against it as he watched Harry take everything in. He noticed Harry freeze up when he saw the closed door in the back of his quarters, the latest addition to his living space. Even now, Severus was always amazed at how willing the castle was to expand and provide more room for its occupants.

"I believe," Severus began slowly, "that everything is rather self-explanatory. The living space, kitchen, that is my desk, do not let me catch you snooping around it—and this is my bedroom, another place I better never catch you snooping in. However, the rest of the space is fair game, and you are allowed to borrow any book from the bookshelves as long as you return them to their proper place and take care of them."

Harry nodded.

Severus stepped around him and led the way over to the closed door. Harry swallowed dryly before following Severus.
"This will be your room," Severus said, then he opened the door.

Harry sucked in a breath as he stepped inside. There was a full, four-poster bed in the bedroom, along with a desk just to the left of the bed and a dark, ornate wardrobe across from it on the opposite wall. There was a door to the left, Harry opened it to find an attached bathroom, a small thing with a loo, sink, and a deep bathtub with an overhead shower and curtain.

"This is all for me?" Harry asked.

A sarcastic reply was Severus's first instinct, but he held his tongue for a second and instead said, "Yes. The headmaster spelled the castle to build an additional space for you."

"This is where I will stay on full moon nights?"

"Unfortunately, no," Severus said. Harry spun around looking at him with a confused face. "We needed something secure—magically and physically."

"A locked bedroom isn't secure enough?" Harry glared at Severus.

"A locked office wasn't," Severus shot back.

Harry blushed and looked down at his shoes.

"While the headmaster may be a tad slower at it, we do try to learn from our mistakes. This is for the protection of the students and staff in this school, yes, but it is also for your protection as well, Potter. The world of the werewolf is not kind nor forgiving, no matter how docile you are with the Wolfsbane on board. If anyone gets a sneaking suspicion of what you are, they may try to track you down and kill you."

"I was in a room in the infirmary," Harry said.

"Yes, with two very capable wizards on guard nearby to make sure you stayed contained and that no one found out what lay hidden behind the wall. Speaking of which." Severus moved to the right side of the bedroom and tapped on the wall with three knocks high and two knocks low.

There was a low rumble as a crack split itself down the middle of the wall, then slowly parted ways to reveal a spacious opening behind the wall. Harry stepped closer and leaned against the wall to peer into the room. It reminded him of a cold dungeon, a simple space about twice the size of his new bedroom with cold stone floors, a window spelled to reveal the outside sky, and then a whole lot of nothing. It was a cage.

"No," Harry said, backing away from it. "No, I don't want to be locked away. I don't want to be caged."

Severus was surprised by Harry's reaction as he watched the child back away, stumbling into the chair at his desk and tripping over it, falling to the floor.

"It's not a cage," he tried to reason, stepping after Harry slowly as the child back crawled away and panted heavily, staring wide eyed at the room specially made for him. Severus frowned in concern. "It's just another room. Highly secured and warded and very well hidden, but not a cage."

"It's empty," Harry muttered, stumbling to stand up and falling down again, his eyes never leaving the room. "It's cold. I don't want to go in there, please don't put me in there."

"Calm down. You're working yourself up into a panic." Severus reached out a hand toward Harry, then decided against it and instead kneeled in front of Harry, placing himself directly in Harry's field of vision to block the sight of the room behind him. He placed a finger on his lips. "Shh. Quiet down. Look at me."

Harry's eyes flickered to Severus's before shooting back to stare at the room.

"Hey!" Severus snapped his fingers, gaining Harry's attention once more. "Don't look at that. Look at me."

Harry forced his eyes to stay on Severus, but he still gasped for air.

"Good," Severus praised. "Let's take some deep breaths now. Copy what I do. Breathe in." Severus slowly breathed in through his mouth, watching as Harry struggled to copy him. "Now breathe out." Severus slowly let out a breath, Harry following along.

"Again. Breathe in. Breathe out. Through your nose now. As I do. Breathe in. Now out. Breathe in. Out. In. And out. Good job."

Harry closed his eyes as he kept slowly breathing on his own for a few minutes. Severus waited, allowing Harry to regain his composure. When Harry opened his eyes, Severus quirked a brow.

"I'm sorry, I'm better, now," Harry said. "Thank you, sir."

"Quite a strong reaction. This is not a cage, Potter. It is simply another room no different than this one."

"I know. I guess, my first impression of it . . . it's so empty and not as warm and inviting as the rest of your quarters and . . ."

"Glad to hear my quarters are warm and inviting, as you put it," Severus said. He stood up, then offered a hand to pull Harry to his feet, and the child accepted the help. "The room is not complete. The headmaster wanted to fill in the space with Merlin knows what, but it will not look like this come the full moon. Hopefully, it will seem like less of a cage and more like a nice place to sleep by then."

"Will I have to go in alone?"

Severus narrowed his eyes at Harry. The question was whispered, and he had nearly missed it had he not been so focused on the panicked child in front of him.

"That would be ideal. Who would you want in there with you? You know how risky that is to have any guests near a transformed werewolf."

"I know, I just . . . I don't really want to be alone and with the wolfsbane on board, I shouldn't be a threat, right?"

"Theoretically," Severus agreed. "But I do not think it's been tested with humans in the immediate vicinity. I do not think it wise to push one's luck and try to fix something that is not broken. You will be in the room alone yes, but I will be right on the other side. This is all with your safety in mind, it's not to torment you or bring out your fears."

Harry stared down at his shoes, refusing to look up and risk a glance at the room.

"What if I can't do it?"

Severus sighed.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, as the room is fixed up for you, I'll have you come down and check it out now and then so you can get used to it. I promise you it will be better. And so you are informed, the week of the full moon, you will live down here for the week. I want to ensure that you take every dose this time. If you obey and do as you are told, perhaps the following month, we'll try having you come to me to get your dose as we did before. Right now, I do not have the trust nor faith in you that you will comply."

"I'm sorry, sir," Harry said, sounding a bit more like himself. "But I understand."

"Yes, well," Severus said, pausing awkwardly for a moment as he struggled internally with where to take the conversation next. "As your temporary guardian, I assume all . . . hmm, parental responsibilities, and that includes your overall wellbeing. I will make sure your potions are brewed to the highest standards, including your nutritional potions and especially your Wolfsbane, and I will make sure you are up to Madam Pomfrey's standards health-wise. As for school, only the heads of houses, Madam Pomfrey, and the headmaster know of the change in guardianship. It will be best to keep this quiet for now. If word gets to the Ministry about this change, they will look into it, and we do not want them to find out about your turning. Their intervention would prove . . . unhelpful."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"You will be expected to keep your grades up," Severus said. "I know this is a lot of change to go through, so you've had some leeway for this last month, but that ends now. You have the help you need; you have a plan in action, you have people you can go to should you need help with anything, myself and Madam Pomfrey especially."

Severus paused and watched Harry for moment, but the child was not looking at him.

"I understand that this can be overwhelming. Your life has been flipped upside down then ravaged like a tornado's gone through it all. I cannot fix what has been done, but I can help get you back on the right path and help you through this trauma. I know I am not your first choice in a guardian, and I know we've had our differences, but we must put those aside and work together to get past this."

Harry's face was tight, and he chewed his lips as if trying hard to prevent himself from crying, his eyes red and wet but no tears fell. He nodded his head but didn't say anything. Severus sighed, then decided it was time to break from his discussion.

"Here's what I'd like you to do. You missed two days of classes in your little excursion. Go to your professors, pick up your missed homework, and come back here to work on it. I will help you wherever you need it and make sure you are caught up with your classmates. After that, you may return to your dorm."

"Yes, sir."

"Return within the hour. You are dismissed."

Severus watched Harry leave the bedroom quickly, and he took several moments to practice slowly breathing himself. He was not cut out for this. Teaching students was one thing. Maintaining order in his house was one thing. This? Taking care of a child every need full time? This was way out of his league.