kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Harry felt the tears gathering. "I messed it all up," he choked out. "I just didn't want to ruin the day for you, and I tried an' tried to be sure that I wouldn't but in the end I just ruined it all anyway!"

Snape sighed noisily. Why were children such emotional little creatures? He pulled Harry over to the couch and sat down, keeping one hand around the boy's shoulders тАУ just to ensure that the monster couldn't bolt, he assured himself. "What are you talking about?" he demanded crossly. "Just because you agreed to accompany Miss Granger to the library when she didn't want to attend the Feast, doesn't mean тАУ"

"It wasn't like that!" Harry blurted. "She came with me. It was all my idea. She didn't want me to be all by myself, an' since she didn't really want to go to the Feast, it wasn't hard for her."

Snape's glare was fearsome indeed. "You lied?"

Harry wilted. "Uh huh," he whispered. "I mean, I didn't exactly lie, I just didn't say anything when Hermione, erm, gave you the wrong impression."

"Do you imagine that is a distinction I will accept?" Snape demanded.

"No, sir." Harry stared at his bare toes.

Snape followed his gaze and let out a wordless huff of exasperation, then accio'd Harry's new sheepskin slippers. "Foolish child! Are you hoping to catch your death of cold? You must wear your slippers in these dungeons!"

Harry hid his smile. Yup, that was his professor. Even when Harry had just been caught in a big whopping lie, Professor Snape was still more worried about his health than angry with his behavior. "Sorry."

"You will be, Potter," his professor snapped. "I will not tolerate falsehoods. In this case, Miss Granger is perhaps more at fault and will therefore receive the more severe punishment, but you тАУ"

Harry interrupted with a gasp of pure horror. "No! Don't! Please, Pr'fessor! It wasn't her fault тАУ she was just trying to help me. Please don't punish her! It was all my fault, honest!"

Snape eyed the distraught youngster, his mind working busily. "Hmmmm. Very well, Mr Potter. I will make a bargain with you. I will not punish Miss Granger for this transgression at this time." Harry sagged in relief. "However, if I ever again find you have lied to me тАУ about anything тАУ I will not only punish you for the falsehood, but I will also punish Miss Granger, and I promise you that the severity of her punishment will be unequalled in the history of Hogwarts." See? It's not only the little brats who can be melodramatic.

Harry's eyes widened, but he nodded in relief. "Yes, sir. Thank you." He hesitated. "Does тАУ does this mean I have to tell you everything?"

Snape debated with himself for a moment, but in the end decided to be reasonable. "No. You may politely decline to answer my questions, but you cannot lie. Do you understand?"

"Y'sir."

"Then we will consider this matter closed тАУ for now."

Harry's head came up sharply. What about his punishment? His professor had promised not to discipline Hermione for her lie, but what about his lie? Harry chewed his lip for a moment, wondering if he should point out the man's omission, but finally decided to keep schtum. It wasn't just that he wanted to escape a well-deserved punishment, but he knew his professor hated assigning them. Maybe it was better for both of them if he ignored the omission?

Snape exhaled silently. The brat's face was disgustingly easy to read, but it appeared that he was at last developing a sense of self-preservation and wasn't going to bring up the still-owed punishment. Pleased at this evidence of a Slytherin trait, he absently tightened his grip on the boy's shoulders.

Harry leaned gratefully into the hug. He was so lucky. How many other kids got a guardian who was so lenient?

"All right, Mr Potter," Snape said finally. "Just why did you want to avoid the Feast? We have now established that it was you who chose to absent yourself. I want to know why тАУ the truth, mind!"

Harry burrowed closer to the man. "I just didn't want to go to a big party. Not tonight."

Snape looked at him, curious. "Why not? You can't expect me to believe that Miss Granger has convinced you to give up lollies and chocolate, delightful though that notion might be."

Harry made a face at him. "No! But, wellтАж"

"Truth, Potter," Snape cautioned.

"Hermione gave me a book about Vold- Him. And it said that my parents had died on Halloween. So I тАУ I just didn't think it was right to go to a party tonight." Harry risked a look at his professor, misinterpreted the man's frozen expression, and promptly panicked. "I didn't want to ruin it for anyone else though! I know that everyone loves the Feast an' you have to watch over the Slytherins and so I didn't say anything, 'cause I didn't want to get anyone upset or make a fuss." Harry drooped. "But that's just what happened 'cause I can't do anything right. I'm sorry."

"Do not be so foolish!" Snape scolded automatically, but internally he was reeling in shock. He had just smacked and lectured and punished a child for wanting to respect the date of his parents' deaths. Because he was too inattentive a guardian to connect the day with the anniversary of the Potters' murders, he had put this tortured little child into the impossible position of having to lie and sneak away rather than be forced to attend a celebration. Severus had even planned to engage in his annual ritual of lighting a candle in Lily's memory before going to bed tonight, yet it had never occurred to him to speak of the day with Lily's child.

"I'm sorry," Harry repeated, tears once again spilling over. "I should've just gone to the Feast. It's not like I even remember my parents, an' you've been brilliant. But I just thought that this year I could think about what тАУ what it might have been likeтАж" he broke off, sobbing. Now Professor Snape would really hate him for being an ungrateful little freak but he had just felt so safe here at Hogwarts, and being in wizarding society and learning about how his parents had been students here and having his mum's sweaterтАж For the first time they had felt real to him, and he had thought it would be nice to spend some time thinking about them. But instead he had lied and gotten everyone into trouble and nearly been killed and now his professor would assume that because Harry missed his parents, he didn't like Snape as his guardian.

Snape roused himself from his mental self-flagellation. As usual, he had to ignore his own needs and focus on someone else's тАУ in this case, a hysterical child. "All right, Potter. Hush. Hush now." He awkwardly patted the boy's skinny shoulders, causing even more tears and snot to pour forth.

It took several minutes before Harry could be persuaded that Snape wasn't furious with him, didn't hate him, wasn't sad, didn't want to revoke the guardianship, and understood Harry's reluctance to attend the Feast. Only then could Harry be calmed down enough to be reasonably coherent.

Snape banished the soggy handkerchief and accio'd a fresh one. "What did you envision as a way of honoring your parents?" he inquired quietly.

Harry sniffled into the new cloth. "I wasn't sure. I don't really know much about them, and Hermione's book didn't say a lot either."

"Hm." Snape would hate to be considered thoughtful, but he was far from heartless. He untangled himself from Harry тАУ how exactly did the brat come to be sitting on me? тАУ and went to the floo. "Minerva, come through immediately, please," he commanded as soon as the elderly witch blinked sleepily at him.

An instant later, the witch was standing on his hearth, tightening the sash on her tartan robe and examining the wizards with tightly pressed lips. "What is the meaning of this, Severus? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Harry watched with dread. Why had his professor summoned his Head of House? Was he going to throw Harry out? Insist she take him off to the Tower immediately, explaining that ungrateful wards didn't get to sleep in his quarters?