kbinnz - Harry's New Home

"Of course I saw everything, you foolish child. I was right there, was I not?" Snape huffed, but he couldn't bring himself to give the boy the sharp rebuke his unseemly behavior deserved. After all, he was the first person to actually compliment Snape on his cunning plan. "Sit down."

Harry obediently seated himself on the couch, but he was too excited to sit still. He began to bounce in place. "Did you see how s'prised Ron an' Hermione were? Ron's still pretty upset about Scabbers an' Percy's really upset. Th' Headmaster came an' got Ron out of Charms this afternoon t'talk to the Aurors some more. Did you know that? And they're gonna talk to the rest of the Weasleys too. They're not going to get into any trouble, are they? What will the Aurors ask them? Do you think -"

"Potter!" Snape had seated himself next to the brat and the constant bouncing was making him seasick. One Sticking hex later and Harry jerked to a halt with a comical expression of surprise. "Oi!" he yelped, finding his posterior immovably adhered to the heavy couch. He squirmed around, but couldn't work loose.

"Stop that infernal fidgeting," Snape said sternly. "I need to speak with you and I cannot do it while you are acting as though you are sitting on a nest of fire hornets. You know perfectly well the hex does not cause you any pain."

"I didn't say it did," Harry protested, his surprise at Snape's words successfully distracting him from his efforts to pry his bum off the sofa. "I know you won't hurt me."

Snape cleared his throat, doing his best to ignore the lump that the boy's trust-filled expression had caused. "Yes, well, then you need not wiggle around like that. I will release the hex when you demonstrate you can sit properly like a young gentleman and carry on a civilized conversation."

"Y'sir." Harry obediently settled down and even folded his hands in his lap.

"That's bet-" Snape began, only to have Harry interrupt, his eyes once again shining with excitement.

"But you did see what happened, right? I mean, with Pettigrew tryin' to grab me an' all? It was awf'ly brave of Neville to grab me out of the way, wasn't it?"

Snape sighed. He was beginning to have a certain sympathy for Lucius Malfoy's draconic methods for teaching his son pureblood etiquette. "Yes, I saw what Longbottom did. It was quiteтАж helpful."

"Are you gonna award him points?" Harry asked, a glint of mischief in his eye. He knew his father's reputation for not awarding points to non-Slytherin Houses.

"No," Snape said, cutting off that line of inquiry before it could progress any further. "I am however going to reward you."

Harry's excited chatter broke off with a gasp of surprise. "Me? What for?" he asked.

Snape scowled at him. Stupid books, insisting on positive reinforcement. "You followed my instructions, did you not? And resisted any absurd Gryffindorish feats of bravado? You did not attempt to capture Pettigrew yourself nor interfere in any way with the adults in the room."

Harry nodded, eyes wide. "You told me not to."

"Quite right." Snape did not add how surprised he had been at the boy's obedience. James Potter would never have been able to resist jumping in once the apparent chaos had erupted, nor would that idiot Black. That was why тАУ despite the mutt's loud protests тАУ only Remus had participated in the plot. Snape had had no faith in Black's ability to remain on the sidelines and step in only if the plan had failed and Harry was in immediate jeopardy.

"And because you did as you were told, you have earned a reward." He ignored the incredulous joy breaking over the boy's face and accio'd a small box. "Here."

Harry eagerly ripped off the wrapping paper. "Wow!" he yelled. "A whole box of chocolate frogs! Thanks, Da!" He hurled himself at the man, somewhat hampered by the still-active Sticking hex.

"Yes, yes, you're welcome," Snape muttered, embarrassed. The brat was acting as if he'd been given some priceless treasure, not just a few sweets. He hastily patted the boy's shoulder before sitting him up again.

Harry stared at the box of frogs with a mixture of disbelief and delight. He had never before received any kind of present for behaving properly. In his experience, doing as he was told was the only way to avoid a smarting bottom or an angry diatribe. He had never heard of getting rewarded for it!

Harry gulped back happy tears. His da was amazingly nice to him. Not only did he provide him with gifts for no particular reason тАУ like his broomstick тАУ and assign only the lightest of punishments when Harry was bad, but his professor was now also giving him presents just for following orders? How many other kids were lucky enough to get treats for that?

Snape watched as the boy wonderingly stroked the box as if it were some fragile blossom and struggled not to let the pity he felt show on his face. It was all too apparent that the child had received precious few rewards in his life to date. "Your adherence to our plan permitted me to focus my attention on Pettigrew's capture, rather than on having to protect you from the consequences of any foolish actions," he told the boy. "I amтАж pleasedтАж with you."

Harry looked up at that, a huge smile on his face. "You are?" He felt like his heart would burst out of his chest, he was so happy. His da was pleased with him! He had even said so. There and then, Harry vowed to do whatever he could to get his da to be pleased with him again. This feeling was just too wonderful.

"Mmf." Snape cleared his throat again. "And your instructions to the snakes were similarly appropriate. They did their work extremely well. Had it not been for their actions, Pettigrew would surely have escaped."

Harry beamed.

Later Snape would decide that those green eyes had temporarily unhinged him, for he had had no intention of saying the words that next came out of his mouth, but of course once he had, there was no hope of taking them back. "And so you have earned a second treat for yourself. What would you like?"

Harry's jaw dropped. TWO treats? He was getting TWO? All because he had done what his professor told him to do? This was brilliant. Sure, he'd known that Ron had gotten an extra galleon of pocket money from Uncle Arthur after doing so well on his Transfiguration essay, and Hermione had said that her folks usually rewarded her for good grades with a trip to the bookstore, but he'd never imagined that he might receive similar treatment тАУ especially not when his guardian hadn't even been entirely convinced that Harry's identification of Scabbers was correct! It was just that Professor Snape hadn't been willing to risk the consequences, so he'd argued Moony and Padfoot around and then set up his wicked plan to trap the ratтАж And then, when it worked out and Harry's claim had been verified, his professor actually thought Harry deserved more rewards?

Harry was just relieved he'd been right. What if he'd been mistaken, the way Remus and Sirius had thought? All day long, he'd fretted about it. What if he'd just gotten confused over two similar rats? His professor would be furious at all the wasted effort. And if the Headmaster found out тАУ Harry shivered. He'd likely send Harry back to the Dursleys for being such a stupid, troublesome idiot and causing so much uproar.

Even if Professor Dumbledore never learned of the issue, Harry still figured that if Scabbers turned out to be just a rat who bore a striking resemblance to Sirius and Remus' old classmate, he was going to have a very uncomfortable time of it. His godfather and Remus would probably be too nice to say "We told you so" to Harry, but Harry had a sneaking suspicion that Padfoot, at least, would likely tease Snape about it. And he knew his professor didn't like to be wrong тАУ let alone have his errors pointed out to him.