kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Snape nodded stiffly. "Thank you. Please inform both that I plan to hold the ceremony this Friday, on the last day of classes before the holiday." He rose to his feet, nodded once, and left in a swirl of robes.

Albus looked sadly down at the paper on his desk. Black Slams Britain! the headline screamed. Vows Never to Return to Land that Wrongly Imprisoned Him. Poor Sirius. It appeared he was very bitter тАУ and who could blame him? But Albus worried what having a godfather with such a grudge would do to Harry. It certainly sounded likely that Sirius would do his best to remove Harry from Hogwarts, if only to make it easier for him to visit the boy, and what would that mean for the prophecy? Or the child? Or the Potion Master?

Albus sighed again. He suspected that great pain lay ahead for his poor boys, and there was тАУ for all his power тАУ very little he could do to protect them. Well, at least he would do what he could to bring some pleasure to Severus in the short term. He picked up a quill and began to write.

Snape stalked down the halls, hard pressed not to rub his hands in glee. That had gone even better than he had hoped! He hadn't dared to suggest inviting the press, but Skeeter's presence would ensure that the Ministry would have no hope of hushing matters up.

Back at his quarters, he found Harry happily ensconced in his room, reading one of the books Albus had selected for him. "Hi, Da!" the boy called out, spotting the man in the doorway. "Have you read this one? It's really good."

Snape frowned at the brat. He knew better than to read for pleasure before finishing his assigned work. "Have you completed your lines?" he asked forbiddingly.

Harry grinned. "Yeah!" he answered cheekily, pulling the scroll out of his bookbag and handing it to the man. "And I've got the sore fingers to prove it!" he added, shaking out his writing hand.

"You should have thought of that before earning the punishment with your foolish behavior," Snape huffed, but he wasted no time in taking the boy's hand and gently examining it for any signs of inflammation.

"Da! I was just kidding. I'm okay," Harry protested, trying тАУ and failing тАУ to hide his delight at his guardian's solicitude.

Snape paid no attention. He was well aware of Harry's tendency to minimize any physical discomfort. He accio'd a jar of salve and rubbed it into the boy's hand. "There was no need to complete all three hundred lines in one sitting," he scolded. "Naturally your fingers are stiff."

"Well, I may have sorta hinted to everyone that you said you'd wallop me again if I didn't get them done," Harry admitted.

Snape mentally bade farewell to the thought of his morning coffee. "Do not overdo it," he warned.

"Me?" Harry asked in surprise. "After the way you looked yesterday, everyone was surprised that I didn't end up as a pile of potion ingredients!" He paused, a grin stealing over his face.

"What?" Snape asked, apprehensive at what was making the brat smirk like that.

"Professors Flitwick an' Sprout even gave me an extension on all my essays," Harry told him smugly. "They said they figured I 'might not be able to concentrate' right now."

Snape rolled his eyes. It was a good thing the little monster hadn't genuinely pulled a prank. He could see that if he ever had geniune cause to punish the wretch, he would be thwarted at every turn by his fellow faculty.

Harry was still snickering at how gullible some of the teachers were. Imagine! Thinking his professor would really hurt him тАУ how silly was that? "See? So it was you, not me, who got everyone so worried."

Snape pressed his lips together. "Hmmmmmmm. Well, I suspect Pettigrew is more than willing to believe the worst of me, so it would seem our plan has been successful thus far. Your godfather appears to have done his part as well тАУ he held a press conference either last night or this morning, promising never to return."

"Cool!" Harry chirped. "Did he get his picture in the paper? He really likes that."

"Of course he would, the exhibitionist," Snape said sourly. "Very well, Mr Potter тАУ enough chatter. To bed with you."

Harry's jaw dropped in amazement. "What!" he yelped. "It's practic'lly the middle of the afternoon!"

"And you are taking a nap," Snape retorted, inexorably pushing the boy towards his bed.

"Naps are for babies!" Harry whined, sounding rather like a four year old. "Why do I need to take a nap? What did I do?"

"It is not punishment, Potter," Snape said in exasperation, pushing him onto the bed and reaching down to pull off the brat's shoes.

"But then why?" Harry said, almost tearful at the indignity of a nap.

Snape regarded the boy in vexation. He would never understand children. He would kill for the chance to take a nap, but no, he had to correct papers and supervise his snakes' study time. All the little brat had to do was enjoy some blissful rest, and yet he was more upset at the mere prospect of a nap than he had been after being spanked in front of the entire school. "Potter, have you forgotten that we are engaged in a campaign to capture the rat?" he demanded. "You and I will be busy with a covert operation late tonight, and it is therefore important that you rest now so as not to be exhausted later, when it will be vital that you have your wits about you."

Harry's eyes grew huge. "Really?" he breathed. "A secret mission?"

"Yes. In the Forbidden Forest. And if you think I will take along a cranky, sleepy child, who will attract every acromantula in the forest with his noisy yawns тАУ" But Harry had already turned and dived under the covers.

"I'm restin'! I'm restin'!" Harry yelled, screwing his eyes shut. "Just don't go without me!"

Snape rolled his eyes. Changeable little sod. "I will wake you in a few hours for dinner," he informed the brat.

TBCтАж

*Chapter 38*: Chapter 38

"Harry, it's time to get up." Pause. "Harry." Pause. "Potter." Pause. "POTTER!"

"Mmmrglph." Harry burrowed deeper into his soft pillow, wishing the annoying voice would go away and leave him in peace.

"Potter, get up this instant!" A smack fell on his backside, but the thick comforter attenuated all force, and Harry merely wiggled his bum in sleepy protest.

"Harry, if you do not get up right now, I will go to the Forbidden Forest without you," a soft, silky voice spoke directly into his ear, and Harry grumbled back.

"Fine," he slurred. "G'wan without тАУ" then his brain actually processed what was happening, and he sat bolt upright with a yell. "NO! WAIT! I'M UP!" he shrieked, scrabbling about wildly for his glasses. His professor hadn't gone without him, had he?

No. Whew! Professor Snape was still there, glaring furiously as he braced himself against Harry's night table with one hand pressed against his heart.

"There is no need to emulate a banshee, Potter!" Snape said severely, willing his hammering heart to slow. Who expected the brat to go from an apparent deep coma to full screaming hysteria in the blink of an eye?

Harry blushed. "I just din' want you to leave me behind," he explained, hopping out of bed. He tried his best to flatten his hair which was, of course, sticking up in all directions.

"Put on your shoes and wash up," Snape instructed. "Dinner is already on the table."

"Cool!" Harry stuffed his feet into his shoes and bolted down the corridor, oblivious to Snape's scowl.

Honestly! Pre-teen boys were a mass of contradictions тАУ protesting naps with a vehemence most adults reserved for active torture, then falling deeply asleep even as they insisted they'd never be able to so much as doze.

"So what's our secret mission?" Harry asked eagerly after they were seated in Snape's small kitchen.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Snape admonished automatically.