kbinnz - Harry's New Home

"N-no. But if I couldn't live here anymore, then I figured Professor Dumbledore would take me back to the Dursleys," Harry's voice trembled at the name, "an' I'd rather live in the Forbidden Forest than with them."

"Idiot child." Snape scolded, tugging Harry out of his Weasley jumper. The boy's face was flushed and at this rate he'd end up with heat stroke. All those layers of clothing were much too warm to wear inside the castle. "Even if you were expelled тАУ which is about as likely as my taking up ballet and dancing the lead to Swan Lake in a white tutu," he added acidly, managing to surprise a giggle out of Harry, "what on earth made you assume you'd be returned to the Dursleys? Do you not live with me?"

Harry stared at him. "But you live here. An' if I had t' leave Hogwarts then the Headmaster wouldn't let me stay here. An' I din't want to make you lose your job or get the Headmaster mad at you."

"You foolish little boy," Snape snapped, gesturing a chair over and sinking into it. This had all happened because Harry didn't want to cause trouble for him? "Do you imagine that having Albus Dumbledore angry with me is the worst thing that has ever happened in my life? First off, even if you were expelled, you would merely live with me here while I arranged for private tutoring. If the Headmaster objected," he continued, raising a finger to stop Harry's protests, "then we would move to one of my family homes."

Harry stared at him. "You mean, you have a house? Of your own?"

"Several," Snape retorted. "Foolish child."

Harry blinked. "Y' mean you'd be willing to leave? But тАУ but what about your job?"

"I am a Potion Master, you ridiculous brat. Do you really imagine I need this job? That I cannot support myself тАУ and you тАУ in perfectly acceptable style through my work with potions?"

Harry was nearly speechless. "R-really?"

Snape used one finger to shut the boy's dropped jaw. "Yes. And if for whatever reason I had a problem тАУ which I would not тАУ then you could stay temporarily with the Weasleys or your godfather orтАж Do you see how nonsensically you have behaved, you foolish, foolish child?"

Harry gulped. "B-but I din't want to get anyone else in trouble with the Headmaster."

Snape frowned. He had, he admitted to himself, utilized Albus as a bit of a bogeyman in the past, using Harry's obvious wariness of the man's past actions to help inspire good behavior, and now the ruse had backfired spectacularly. It was one thing for Harry not to follow the Headmaster blindly. It was another thing for him to fear the wizard more than Voldemort.

Though, to be fair, Dumbledore had тАУ unwittingly or not тАУ harmed Harry at least as much as the Dark Lord. Voldemort had murdered Harry's parents and unsuccessfully attempted to kill him as well. It had been Albus Dumbledore who had placed Harry into the abusive hands of the Dursleys, prevented any and all attempts to check on him for a decade, and (at best) did nothing when his godfather was unjustly imprisoned. Perhaps Harry's concern wasn't all that far-fetched. Still, it could not be allowed to continue.

"Potter, the Headmaster hasтАж made mistakes, but he is not an evil or uncaring man," he said slowly. "He loves you dearly, that much I know, even if he has made disastrous decisions with regards to your welfare. You need not fear him."

Harry looked unconvinced, but his panicked expression was slowly dying. He stepped closer to his da. "Are you sure he won't send me back?" he asked nervously.

"To the Durselys?" Snape inquired. He managed not to smirk as he thought of the shuddering wrecks currently inhabiting Privet Drive. He almost wished he could see their reaction if Harry abruptly returned. They'd probably shriek and hide under the beds. They did that rather a lot these days. "No. Under no circumstance will you be returned to Privet Drive. It is no longer even a remote possibility. You will be fostered with the Longbottoms or Grangers before that would happen, and as I have already indicated, there is a long line of people who would take you before even that became necessary. But you will not, under any circumstances, return to the care of the Dursleys."

"Or Aunt Marge?" Harry pressed.

"Any of the Durselys," Snape amended. "I give you my word."

Harry shuddered as an enormous weight of fear and tension left his body. His da had promised, and his da didn't lie. Sometimes he told Harry things that he wished weren't true, like how Volauvent had killed his parents, but he had never, ever lied to Harry. For the first time since that awful DADA class, Harry began to feel safe.

So of course he burst into tears.

Several minutes later, he managed to get himself under control. He was sitting on his da's knee and he was тАУ again тАУ getting snot and tears all over his da's robes, but his da didn't seem to mind. Harry tried to mop up some of the mess, and a handkerchief was pressed into his hands. "Do you need my help to blow?" his da asked, rather snarkily.

Harry honked and blew. He couldn't really blame his da. He was nearly 12, for Merlin's sake! And look at him, bawling like a toddler. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Snape stifled a sigh at the miserable child in his lap. He needed to curb that sharp tongue of his, even if his best robes were now liberally smeared with disgusting body fluids. It was hardly Harry's fault тАУ he had been terrorized by that Pink Toad Bitch Witch From Hell. "It is all right, Mr Potter. You have had an atrocious day. Marcus Flint would have been reduced to tears in your place."

Harry had to giggle at the mental image of big, burly Flint blubbering on Professor Snape's lap. For one thing, he was as tall as the professor, so his da would practically disappear underneath the muscular student.

Snape noted the watery smile with satisfaction. Ha. I've still got it. "Are you feeling better?"

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm not gonna be sent to the Dursleys," he said firmly, though his eyes quickly sought Snape's for reassurance.

"That is correct. You need never worry about that again."

Harry nodded his understanding, and Snape felt his body relax even further. A moment of silence passed, then, "Da?"

"Yes?"

"I was kinda stupid today, yeah?"

"Yes. Perhaps you can enumerate the examples for me?"

Harry looked up at him sheepishly. "Well, I believed Umbitch тАУ erm, I mean Professor UmbridgeтАж An' I tried to run awayтАж An' тАУ uh тАУ I was gonna hide in the Forbidden Forest."

"And?" Snape demanded.

Harry thought hard. "ErmтАж I lied to the elves to get food?"

Snape scowled at him. "No, you dunderheaded brat. Your biggest mistake today was that you were in trouble and you did not come to me. You thought that you were supposed to protect me, when it is the parent who protects the child, not the other way around. You forgot all the many adults who love you and who will protect and take care of you. You tried to take care of everything all by yourself, which is both unnecessary and ill-advised. At eleven, you do not have the necessary resources to look after yourself properly. Did you not ask me to assume that role? How am I supposed to safeguard your welfare if you do not tell me when something is wrong, silly child?"

Oh. Harry squirmed at the recitation. It was both awful and wonderful at the same time. Awful because it made Harry seem like such a nitwit. Wonderful because he had never, ever, in his whole life felt as safe as he did just then.

" "M sorry," he said, snuggling closer to his dad and trying to prevent the grin of sheer happiness from spreading all over his face.

Another few moments of quiet passed, and Harry thought some more about what his da had said. "Da?" he said, rather more tentatively.

"Yes?" Snape sighed. All this emotion was going to give him a migraine. Wasn't the boy recovered yet?