Fic: An Accident in Time (Harry/Snape)

[ciraarana]

Day Two

Harry was woken by his alarm as usual. He rolled over and blearily groped for his wand, as usual. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, yawned and stretched. As usual.

Still more asleep than awake, Harry frowned as he stumbled to the bathroom. He had a feeling. Something was different. But it wasn't until he stepped out of the bathroom again, showered and ready for a cup of tea, and saw the closed door to his library-slash-guest room that things clicked. Closed door. Not usual. And then he remembered.

Right. Snape. Snape as a boy. Was sleeping in Harry's guest bedroom.

Harry scratched his head.

What was he supposed to do with the boy?

No thinking before tea, though, so Harry got dressed and wandered into the kitchen, where he soon had his breakfast ready. As he sat down with tea, toast, and bacon, he wondered whether he ought to wake up Snape. On the other hand, Harry had never been able to think with Snape staring at him, and Harry rather thought he needed to do some thinking. Besides, what with the shock yesterday, the boy needed rest. Harry would wake him up later.

While he absently made his way through his breakfast, Harry pondered what he should do now. What to do with the boy. The letter had said Harry was responsible for him, until the "youth flash" ended and Snape became himself again. But what did being responsible for Snape entail? Keep him safe. Sure, Harry could do that. Get food into him. No problem. But what else?

Harry sipped his tea, frowning. He had no idea how to take care of a teenaged boy. He knew perfectly well that his own home life with the Dursleys was not how it was done. Perhaps he ought to Floo Mrs Weasley. After seven children, she'd know. But if he asked her, then she'd tell Mr Weasley, and then it would get around the Ministry in no time.

And hadn't Snape said that the Department of Mysteries was after him? Harry wasn't all that wild about having to deal with the Unspeakables if he could prevent it.

So, not telling the Ministry about Snape was probably part of taking care of him. But what else? And how old was Snape, anyway?

The second alarm - the one that told Harry it was high time to get a move on and Floo in to work - dinged and jerked Harry out of his musings. He looked at the clock. He glanced towards the stairs and listened. No sound of Snape. Well.

Harry went over to the fireplace and Flooed his boss. Robertson frowned fiercely when Harry told him he wouldn't be in today, and probably not tomorrow, either, and he couldn’t really tell how long until he would be able to come in again.

'If you're ill, I want to see you at St Mungo's,' the man growled.

'Sorry, Rob, not ill.' Harry gave his superior a small smile. 'I have a Life Debt situation on my hands, though. I can't tell how long it will take until I get things sorted.'

The Head Auror still didn't look pleased but told Harry they'd manage a couple of days without him. Harry thanked the man and ended the Floo call before Robertson could change his mind. Not that he would. Life Debts were taken very seriously in the wizarding world, and even more seriously by the DMLE, and most seriously when an Auror was the one who owed the Debt.

And most likely even more seriously when it was Harry Potter how owed it, Harry thought with a grimace and pulled his head out of the fire.

He found Snape standing behind him when he turned. The boy looked sullen.

'You don't have to stay home because I'm here, you know,' he said before Harry could do more than open his mouth for a good morning. 'I'm old enough to take care of myself.'

Harry blinked. 'Well, yes, I'm sure you can. But we didn't talk about what you'd do last night, and I'd like to get things sorted out before I leave you alone for most of the day.'

'I'll stay in your guest room and read. There's really no need for you to hang around and watch me,' Snape said sulkily, wrapping his too large robes around him.

'We'll still need to get things settled,' Harry insisted.

Snape scowled at him. 'I'm not a baby!'

Harry sighed. 'No, you aren't, but you're in unfamiliar surroundings. My wards don't know you yet, so they might decide you're dangerous if you so much as open a window. Or you might get hungry some time during the day and wander down into the kitchen, but everything in there works magically, and you aren't allowed yet to do magic yet. So you'd have no way to get something to eat. See, things we need to talk about.' He pointed the boy towards the kitchen door. 'By the way, how old are you?'

Snape looked even more sullen. 'Fifteen.'

'How far at Hogwarts?'

'Finished fourth year,' Snape replied shortly and plopped onto a chair, scowling. Harry shook his head. 'Okay, thanks. Um, anyway, good morning. I hope you slept well. Would you like breakfast?'

Snape slumped over the table and poked moodily at a few scratches in the surface. 'Yeah.'

Harry waited for more, but realised there wouldn't be. So he took that to mean Snape wanted breakfast and got to work again. He'd need to go grocery shopping again soon, he noted. And buy more. Two people needed more than one, especially if one of them was a teenager. Snape could need some feeding.

Harry flushed as he caught himself at that thought. He was turning into Mrs Weasley. Uh. He hurried to get done. Shortly afterwards, he placed a plate with bacon and eggs in front of Snape. 'Here. Do you want tea or juice?'

Snape scowled at the plate and poked the eggs with his fork. 'Tea.'

'Okay.' Harry got him a cup.

'You've a real bad taste in reading matters,' Snape informed him.

Harry blinked. 'Oh? Last night you looked rather pleased.'

Snape flushed a little and glowered. 'The books on magic are good. Interesting. Some really old ones. The rest is trash.'

'The rest? Oh, the novels.' Harry grinned. 'Yeah, they're trash, but I like them.'

Snape shot him a look that said something along the lines of 'of course a dunderhead like you would like them'. Harry grinned unrepentantly back. He'd had this discussion with Hermione before. It drove her mad that he would read bad novels when he had so many interesting books on magic and magical theory.

'They're relaxing,' he told the boy what he always told Hermione. 'I don't have to think when I read that stuff. Plus, they're kind of funny.'

'Funny.' Snape forked eggs into his mouth and looked at Harry as if he'd grown a second head.

'Yep. Especially the wizarding novels.' Harry chuckled. 'Man, the Aurors in those books are a bunch of idiots! And the writers …! Honestly, as if things would work that way. A dark wizard every day, terrorizing the wizarding world, taking hostages left, right, and centre. Thinking up terrible rituals. And one lone, brave Auror Apparates in to save the day. It's hilarious, really.'

Snape looked offended. Harry bit his tongue not to burst out laughing. Hermione looked like that, too. She couldn't bear Harry talking badly about a book - even if the book was a trashy novel.

'So, what do you do that you can just take off a day or two?' Snape finally asked.

Harry grinned and tilted his chair back. 'Auror.' He laughed at Snape's stunned expression. 'Which is why the books are so entertaining. Especially those by Abraham Wright. He's an ex-Auror who was demoted to Hit Wizard in the post-Voldemort purge. He's been writing Auror novels ever since. Kind of rewriting his own history. Making himself look like a hero. The really funny thing is how much he gets wrong about Auror procedures.' Harry sniggered.

Snape gave him a strange look.

'What?'

'Somehow you don't strike me as someone who would laugh about something like Auror incompetence,' the boy said slowly, and then his expression became completely bewildered, as though he didn't know why he was of that opinion.

'Oh.' Harry's grin vanished. 'Well, not usually, no. But Wright, he's just so pathetic. Gets so much wrong. And … and it's better to laugh about his books, and tell everyone how stupid you think it is than get angry about it.'

Snape was still frowning. 'But why did I…? Oh. A memory of my older self?'

Harry nodded. 'Yeah, must've been.'

Deep in thought, Snape finished his breakfast. Harry sat back, sipping on his cup of tea and watching the boy. When Snape finally pushed his empty plate aside, Harry leant forwards.

'Okay, let's think about what to do about you until this youth flash stops.'

Snape immediately hunched his shoulders, fingers wrapped tightly around his cup, and scowled at Harry. 'I'll stay here, you go to work, we wait. What else is there?'

'Well, your letter told me I'm to take care of your well-being.'

'Yeah, and so?'

'Oh, we need to talk about how you can get something to eat while I'm at work and you're not allowed to do magic.' Harry looked the boy over. 'And clothes. You'll need something that fits. We'll need to change my wards to include you. And exclude people who would mean harm to you. And, I don't know, perhaps you'd like to have something else? I mean, something to do besides reading books? You tell me.'

Snape looked uncomfortable. He pulled his robes closer around his thin body. 'I've got something to wear,' he said stiffly. 'I don't need charity.'

Harry rolled his eyes, but insisted. He remembered all too well how much he hated Dudley's hand-me-downs - and the flashes he'd seen of a weirdly dressed Snape in the man's memories. 'Nonsense. You need clothes that fit. I know a neat little shop that sells Muggle-style clothes; we'll find you something there. Oh, you can pay me back once you've returned to your older self, if you insist.'

The boy blinked at him, seeming surprised, but Harry didn't pay much attention to him. He was already thinking about how to change his wards to accommodate Snape and his special needs.

'Hey, you wouldn't accidentally remember who those people are that want you for the tests, do you?'

The boy sneered at him. It gave Harry pause. Somehow, it looked a lot different than the adult Snape's sneer.

'Of course I don't remember.'

'Oh, well.' Harry got up and wandered over to the living room, trying to remember where he had put the ward stone. 'You haven't found anything in your house that would give us some clues?'

Snape followed him, trailing a black train behind him. 'Contrary to what you seem to believe, I did not ransack the house.'

At Snape's awfully formal tone, Harry looked up from digging through a chest. One glance at Snape's rigid back and blank face, and Harry knew he'd insulted him. He opened his mouth to apologise, but Snape beat him to it.

'What are you doing, anyway?'

'Oh. I'm looking for my ward stone.' Harry smiled. 'Sorry. I didn't mean to imply you'd go around snooping. Just thought you might have seen something when looking around. I can't imagine your older self would have put a letter addressed to himself somewhere open on the off chance he'd turn into a child. Sorry. Underaged wizard.'

Snape shrugged, uncomfortable. 'Why do you have a ward stone?' he asked, completely ignoring the apology. 'No single wizard needs one. Only the large places, like Hogwarts and the Ministry, need stones to anchor the wards. Every wizard or witch is capable of carrying the wards on their homes themselves.'

Harry suppressed a grin. Snape really reminded him of Hermione. 'I need strong wards,' he explained. 'You know, me being the one to vanquish the Dark Lord, and all that. My wards need to keep a lot of people out. And being an Auror, I can't carry those wards myself. They'd collapse every time I needed to use a lot of magic and that would leave my home unprotected.'

'If you say so.' Snape sniffed contemptuously. 'And you keep the ward stone hidden in your living room?'

'Aha!' Harry dove under a large, fern-like plant - a present from Neville - that was enthroned on a stool, and dragged a small box made of dark, polished wood out from underneath it. 'There you are! Yes,' he added, turning towards Snape. 'I always hide it here. Last place people look for it.'

He grinned at Snape's expression and carried the box over to the fireplace where they had sat last night. Sitting down, he tapped the box with his wand to open it. The lid dissolved, revealing the ward stone, a facetted, dark green stone that seemed to vibrate ever so slightly. Snape edged closer, eyes intent on the stone.

'Okay.' Harry put the open box onto the small table and waved Snape over. 'Come here. Let's try to figure out how to add you to the wards.'

Adding Snape to his wards turned out to be easy, though it took a lot of time since Harry had to proceed carefully. However, changing the wards so that they would keep away wizards and witches who meant harm to the boy was a lot more difficult. More than once the wards began to tangle, making the stone throb warningly, as they struggled to reconcile some of Harry's friends with the person Snape was and with what "harm" actually meant. Harry cursed when a ward line that allowed Ron access to Harry's house once more snagged around the "harm" line in Snape's pattern.

'You have some very interesting friends,' Snape, who was very pale, commented.

Harry snorted. 'No, you're a paranoid bastard. Ron's not dangerous to you, but he's working with his brother at their joke shop and … well, people at Hogwarts generally thought that George and Fred, who founded the shop, were even more trouble than my dad and Sirius had been.' He looked at Snape out of the corner of his eye and saw the boy flinch a little.

'Ah,' was all Snape said.

The wards kept tangling.

Finally, Harry gave up. Sweat-soaked and panting, he put the stone back into its hiding place. 'We'll need to find out who, exactly, could be a danger to you and add them individually to the wards,' he huffed.

'That would be a good idea, if we knew who those people are,' Snape said patronisingly.

Harry scowled at him. 'Yeah, which is why we need to find out. We'll go to your place and have a look around. Your letter said you'd been writing to these people. There ought to be some names around for us to find. Um. That is.' Harry hesitated, looked at Snape. 'If that's all right with you? To go through your stuff?'

The boy once more looked surprised. 'I,' he began, then shook his head. He seemed to think about it and finally gave a short nod. 'I would like to go to my house,' he said. 'I … I must have made notes about the "youth flashes". Perhaps I can find out more.'

Harry nodded. 'Okay, good.' He wiped his brow. 'Hey, let me get changed and we'll be on our way.'

'To my house?'

Harry wondered why it was that he apparently kept surprising Snape. 'Well, yes, that too, though later. First we'll go to that shop near Bristol and get some clothes for you. Something you can move in easily,' he went on when Snape opened his mouth to protest. 'You're a walking fire hazard like that.'

Snape glowered at him.

Harry got changed and then dragged a very reluctant Snape with him to Patty's. Patricia McCaull was a Squib who specialised in designing Muggle-style clothes for wizards and witches. Her jeans might look like ordinary jeans, but they had special pockets for wands or potions phials, and some shirts came with specially reinforced sleeves to protect the wearer during ingredients gathering. Plus, since she wasn't actually part of the wizarding world, she didn't much care about who and what Harry was. She was happy to accept his Galleons (which her brother would change into Muggle money for her) and never considered trying to earn more by selling stories about what "The Boy Who Lived Wears This Summer". Harry almost loved shopping there.

Thankfully, the shop was nearly empty when Harry and Snape showed up. Patty was busy advising two witches when they entered and only nodded and smiled at them. Harry waved, signalling that she could take her time with her other customers, and pushed Snape through an arched doorway into the wizard's section. Snape at first showed even less interest in clothes than Harry usually did, but once he discovered Patty's clever additions, he not only became interested, he actually went looking for his own clothes.

There was a brief discussion when he finally saw a price tag - Patty was expensive - and he wouldn't allow Harry to pay for him. Harry reminded the boy that, if he wanted, he could pay the money back once he'd returned to being an adult, or consider it part of the Life Debt. Snape stopped arguing and only glowered.

At one point, Patty showed up, and she actually managed to talk Snape into buying more clothes than the single set he had insisted on. Harry withdrew and watched the battle from the distance, not at all surprised when Patty emerged victorious. But when Snape emerged wearing black jeans and a dark-red jumper over a black t-shirt, Harry was stunned.

Wow. The boy looked … nice. Thin and pale and his nose was still too big, but overall he looked much better than Harry had thought possible. Wow.

Snape glowered at Harry and marched to the cash desk, a bag with his old robes in one hand, and several more clothes hung over his other arm. He dumped everything on the counter for Patty to ring up the amount, his glower getting darker when he heard the final sum.

'I'll settle it with Gringotts directly, Mr Potter, shall I?'

Harry nodded and went over to sign the slip that permitted her to withdraw the correct amount of Galleons from his vault. Patty packed Snape's new clothes into self-shrinking bags and handed them to Harry, who handed them to Snape, who looked at them suspiciously before putting them into the pocket of his new jeans.

'I'll pay you back as soon as I've re-aged,' he informed Harry stiffly.

Harry shrugged. 'Okay.'

Then he dragged Snape with him to a Muggle grocery shop to buy a few more supplies, badgering the boy about what foods he liked. Snape kept insisting that he didn't need anything special, until a small girl gave him a wide-eyed look and squeaked, 'Don't be stupid, you could make him buy you lots of sweets!'

Snape flushed but relented and shyly pointed out some fruit and sweets he liked. Harry winked at the girl and dumped double of everything Snape told him into the shopping cart. Snape followed him to the checkout with wide eyes.

'I … thank you,' he said a bit breathlessly as he followed Harry into an alley near the store where Harry could shrink the bags and Apparate them. 'You didn't have to buy me things I liked at all. I'm sure my older self wouldn't think you careless about fulfilling the Life Debt if you hadn't.'

Harry smiled at him, a small ache in his chest. 'Of course I didn't have to. But I remember being your age, and since taking you to Honeyduke's wouldn't be a good idea, Muggle sweets will have to do.' He flicked his wand at the bags, and they shrunk obediently. 'Okay, ready to Apparate to your home?'

Snape blinked and slowly reached out to take Harry's arm for Side-Along Apparation. Harry checked the mouth of the alley to make sure no Muggle could see them.

'You know where I live?' Snape asked as Harry raised his wand.

'Yeah, and I hope you haven't changed your wards to keep me out.'

He hadn't, and only seconds later, Harry and Snape found themselves at the dead end of a narrow alley that ran towards a lively street. The alley was bordered by gardens on both sides.

Harry led Snape to the first gate on the left. It opened into a small garden at the back of a red-brick house.

'Here, you'd better go first,' he said. 'I don't know how your wards might react if I barged through without you being home.'

Snape eyed him curiously, but then did as Harry told him. The wards flared for a moment but settled, and they remained quiet when Harry followed him through the gate.

'You've come to visit me?' Snape asked curiously.

Harry grimaced. 'No, not visited. But after the war, there were some people who wanted to see you in Azkaban. The DMLE thought it would calm people down when they knew that you were under regular Auror observation, and-'

'I can't believe I agreed to that!' Snape stopped and glared at Harry.

'You didn't. Not at first.' Harry prodded the boy up the back stairs towards the door. 'You need to open the door. I know I can't.'

'Open how? I'm not allowed to do magic, remember?' Snape sneered.

'Just touch your wand to the lock.'

'That's magic, too.'

'You want me to give you a written permit to open your own fucking door?' Harry growled.

Snape huffed, but he dug his wand out and touched it to the lock. The door glowed green and opened. Instead of entering, however, he turned to stare at Harry.

'So, if I didn't agree to Auror observation, why do you know you can get through wards set by my older self?'

Harry wondered if Snape was stalling. It probably wasn't easy for him to enter this house, his own house, and be faced with a life he couldn't remember.

'Well, the Head Auror pointed out to you that, if the public knew you were under observation, they were less likely to do something stupid. And if they did, there would be someone to help you and arrest your attacker.'

Snape's thin lips twisted into an ugly smile that Harry remembered only too well. 'And you won that questionable privilege, oh Chosen One?'

Harry gaped, and then actually laughed. 'Gosh, no! I was only an Auror trainee, after all! You had three different Aurors during the first five years, and then Robertson, the Head Auror, decided that I'd be the best for the job. I think the last Auror complained about you threatening him. And then you all but killed an attacker and Shipley, the Auror on duty, almost couldn't stop you. He refused to come back after he was released from St Mungo's, and Robertson assigned me. He probably assumed that after Voldemort, I could deal with you.'

Snape had cocked his head. 'Did I threaten you?' he asked, almost gleeful.

Harry huffed. 'Of course you did. And I threatened you right back. We then had what the report later termed "an argument" and got our differences settled. Off the record, we both hexed the other, and you healed me if I promised not to write about the duel in my report, and I promised not to be a nuisance if you cooperated. You've set your wards so that I can enter your house when you're in, and we've only had to meet three or four times when some idiot tried to break in and kill you.'

The boy gaped at him. 'K-kill me?'

'Mmhmm. At least one of them carried a knife and made it as far as your bedroom door. Another one managed to break into your lab and fiddle with your potions before you took her down, and I arrived just in time to throw up a Shield before whatever that witch had done set off an explosion that was meant to kill you.'

'But,' the boy shook his head, eyes wide, 'if you've done that, I mean, saved my life in that explosion, why would I invoke the Life Debt now? Wouldn't it already be fulfilled?'

'Because you're a paranoid bastard and don't want to ask me for help.' Harry shrugged. 'I don't know. You probably convinced yourself that those times before didn't fulfil the Debt since I was only doing my job, and that I would never help you with this if I didn't have that Debt dangling over my head.'

Snape looked thoughtful, a little doubtful. 'Hmm.'

Harry shrugged again. 'Never mind that now. Are you going to enter?'

Snape hesitated, then took a deep breath, straightened, and shot Harry a quick look as if to gauge whether Harry had seen him preparing himself. Harry made sure to look at the door, and finally Snape turned and pushed it open.

They entered into a small, tiled room that led to the kitchen. Lights sprang on each time Snape went into a room, making him twitch every time. Harry thought it best to ignore that, too. Instead, he said, 'Okay, let's go looking for clues. I know you have one bedroom made up as an office, and that there are lots of things down in your lab. Probably your journals are down there. Letters more likely in the office. So, do we split or look together?'

Snape looked around, a little helpless. 'I'm … not sure. Splitting would be faster but if there are wards …'

'Um, I could come with you to the lab and look around for wards, if you'd like,' Harry offered, unsure of his reception.

But to his surprise, Snape nodded. 'Yes. Thank you.'

Harry nodded back and preceded him down the stairs to the lab in the basement, thinking how different the boy was to the man. The adult Snape Harry knew would never, ever have admitted he couldn't see wards, or accepted Harry's help, and he definitely wouldn't have let Harry be alone in any room of his house if he could help it.

Harry wondered what the adult Snape would think about his younger self's actions once he'd re-aged. The letter had mentioned that Snape remembered what happened during the youth flash.

There was a simple locking spell on the door to the lab that Harry was able to dismantle easily. The lab itself was free of wards, but most of the cupboards and cabinets were locked and warded. In a corner, there was another desk, its drawers warded even more heavily than some of the ingredient cupboards. Harry pointed out where the wards were and what he thought they hid. Snape nodded, twisting his wand between his fingers. Harry eyed the wand and came to a decision.

'Listen, Snape. This is your house. And, underaged or not, your magic won't be noticeable here. So, if you need to use magic to get through wards, use it. No need to come and get me. Most likely I won't be able to get through your wards, anyway. You might, though.'

The boy's head snapped up and he looked at Harry out of narrowed eyes. 'Permitting underaged magic, Mr Potter? And you being an Auror. Does the Ministry know you're breaking the rules?'

Harry snorted. 'Snape, I'm famous for breaking rules. You spent six years trying to get me expelled from Hogwarts for that reason. The Ministry has its reasons for not allowing underaged wizards to perform magic. I think most of them are ridiculous. Besides, there are exceptions to the rules, and you know it. So. If it helps you, wait until I have left the room, then you can pretend that you're a sneaky Slytherin going behind the dunderheaded Gryffindor's back.' He flashed a wide grin at Snape, who was looking mildly stunned, and left the lab.

A little later, he felt the ripple of magic as wards were tested and then lifted. Harry smiled and set to working his way through the office.

It didn't take him long. Snape was a very neat person, and he had his letters sorted in files. The files were in turn sorted on the shelves by topic in "Business", "Research", and "Special Project". There was a fourth stack, labelled "Hands off, Potter!", which made Harry think that this was private. He laughed a little, and felt a little guilty, and resisted the temptation to take a peek. Snape wouldn't forgive him if he snooped again. Thinking the "Special Project" files were the most likely ones, Harry concentrated on those.

He was right, and again Snape's neat streak helped, for each file was labelled with the other person's name and reason for writing. After thumbing through the first few files to make sure that these were indeed letters about the botched curse, Harry simply began noting down the names on the files. There were three Unspeakables, two of whom Harry had never heard of, and a surprisingly large number of Healers from St Mungo's. At a glance, it seemed as though Snape was in contact with every Healer on the Spell Damage ward, and then some. Harry simply took down the names. It was a depressingly long list.

Harry sighed and put everything back where he'd got it from, and then went down to the lab.

At first, he didn't see Snape at all. And then he saw a very nice arse raised invitingly up into the air.

Harry's cock took an interest before Harry's brain caught on and he realised who that pert bottom belonged to.

Good god, who'd ever have thought Snape had an arse like that?

Harry shifted to give his erection some room to grow, and then realised, horrified, what he was doing and who he was staring at. He flushed and withdrew, needing privacy to subdue his body, silently cursing himself. It hadn't been that long that the mere sight of a shapely arse should be able to get him that hot and bothered. Besides, it was Snape!

Not to mention that, right now, Snape was a minor and under Harry's care.

There probably was a special place reserved in hell for people who lusted after underaged wizards.

Harry felt a little sick. Thankfully, that helped getting his stupid cock down. Taking several deep, calming breaths, Harry got himself under control. Then he went in search of the rest of Snape.

When he entered the lab again, he found the boy kneeling next to a trunk he'd been digging through. There was a pile of slender books on the floor next to him, and Snape was browsing through another one.

'Found something useful?' Harry asked as he stepped closer.

Snape looked up, eyes distant. He blinked, and they snapped back into focus. It was oddly adorable. Harry fought a smile.

'Oh. Yes.' The boy pointed to the books. 'These are my journals. I have apparently prepared for this to happen. For me to become an underaged wizard. There was another letter with those journals that explained some things, and the journals are really helpful, too. I.' He paused and looked hesitantly at Harry. 'That is, I'd like to take them with me.'

'Oh, sure,' Harry nodded. 'That'd probably be best. Would you like to take the whole trunk or only some of the journals?'

Snape stared, surprised. It was getting very weird, Harry thought. 'What? Did you think I'd tell you no?'

Snape blushed and looked away. He put the journals back in the trunk and closed the lid. 'I'd like to take the whole trunk, please'

Well, that would be a yes, then. Harry began to wonder about Snape's experiences if simply saying yes to a small request surprised the boy like that.

Unfortunately, he couldn't shrink the trunk, so they had to Floo back to Harry's place. Harry hated Flooing, but Flooing with luggage was even worse. He sent Snape through first, hoping the wards would accept the boy, and locked Snape's place up as best as he could. He set some additional wards that would warn him if someone tried to break into Snape's house. Then he reluctantly grabbed the trunk and Flooed home.

Bruised and dizzy, he stumbled out of his fireplace - to find Ron there, his wand drawn and pointing at Snape.

It took a moment for Ron's yells to register. Harry blinked, looked from his best friend to Snape (wand drawn, perfect duelling position, great, and he'd have to scold the boy later), and shook his head.

'What the fuck is going on here?'

Ron's yelling stopped the moment he saw Harry. 'That's what I could ask you, mate. Who's that and what's he doing here? He looks like Snape. Is he moving in?'

Harry rubbed the scar on his forehead and sighed. 'Ron, he doesn't look like Snape, that is Snape. And before you get any funny ideas into your head, I'm bound by the Life Debt I owe him to take care of his well-being. That includes you hexing him. Don't even think about it. I'd be forced to do something I don't like.'

Ron gaped at him. 'What? You? Snape? That?'

The boy sneered, and Harry noted absently that this time, it looked very much like Professor Snape at his best. Worst. Whatever.

'Um, Ron, do you think we could take this somewhere that is not in front of my Floo? And put your wand away, please. That goes for you as well, Snape. Underaged magic, and all that. Hexing my best friend doesn't count as an emergency, you know.'

Snape bared his teeth at Harry, glared at Ron, and ostentatiously put his wand into his pocket. Ron blinked at the boy, then at Harry, and sighed. 'Okay, okay. You come in properly and make tea, and I'll call Hermione over, then you can tell us both at the same time. How's that?'

'Sure, whatever. Hey, Floo to that place in Diagon that delivers and get us something to eat, will you? We haven't had anything since breakfast, and I could eat a Hippogriff.'

'Don't let Buckbeak hear that.' Ron grinned, and Harry herded Snape and his trunk out of the small room.

Harry directed both trunk and Snape into his living room. 'Sorry about that,' he said as he put the trunk down. 'Was Ron here when you arrived?'

'Yes, and he didn't let me say anything before he started yelling at me,' Snape said indignantly. 'Is he really your best friend?'

'Yup. Never mind him, he's a bit overprotective sometimes.' Harry smiled weakly.

'He's an idiot,' the boy said crushingly.

'He's my best friend and he doesn't like you, well, your older self, much,' Harry tried to explain as he went to the kitchen. 'He probably took one look at you, jumped to conclusions, and decided he needed to rescue me.'

The boy followed him, snorting. 'Jumps to conclusions and decides he needs to rescue you? Do you need rescuing often? Wonderful, I entrusted my life to a thoughtless thrill-seeker. Besides, he'd get a lot more answers if he yelled less and gave others a chance to explain.'

'Hey, Harry's not a thoughtless thrill-seeker!' Ron exclaimed from the kitchen door. He glared at Snape, who glared right back at him. Harry leant against the counter and laughed helplessly. Ron and Snape turned to glare at him. Harry laughed harder. Hermione pushed into the kitchen next to Ron and looked at the three guys.

'Anyone interested in telling me what is going on?' she said, sounding annoyed. 'Ron Flooed to tell me someone impersonating Snape was encroaching upon Harry, and here I find him in a tussle with a child and Harry laughing his head off.'

'I am not a child!' Snape snarled at Hermione. There was his wand again.

Hermione straightened, about to deliver a lecture, from her expression. Harry was laughing so hard his knees gave out and he sank to the floor. Now all three of them gave him disgusted looks.

'What the hell is so funny?' Ron sulked.

Harry waved a hand. 'You guys,' he wheezed. 'Oh, man, some things just never change.'

'Harry, would you please-' Hermione began. Harry waved his other hand, shushing her.

'Yes, yes, Hermione, I will. Okay.' He bit back another howl of laughter and pointed to his friends. 'You guys go to the living room and sit down. Snape and I will get the tea ready and follow you. No, Hermione, explanations later. Shoo.'

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes before leaving and dragging Ron with her. As the door closed behind them, he could hear her starting to grill Ron. Snape gave him a sullen look.

'I'm not a child,' he mumbled.

Harry grinned. 'I know. That was just Hermione being confused. She probably was ready to be all worried about me until she found a situation that was very different to the one she expected. She tends to become more and more like Professor McGonagall in situations like that. Oh, I ought to mention you'd best get that wand out of sight, or she'll lecture first you and then me. And you don't want a Hermione-lecture.'

Snape stared at him and seemed to be about to say something nasty, but he closed his mouth again and put his wand away. Harry nodded, getting to his feet. With a wave of his own wand, he set the kettle to boiling and got the tea tray out.

'Incidentally, perfect duelling position. If you were a bit older, I'd take you to Auror Headquarters and let you give our trainees a run for their money.'

Snape made a funny, choked noise and busied himself with arranging teacups on the tray. When Harry looked over at him, his pale cheeks were flushed a deep red. Harry smiled, and when the kettle sang, he took take care of the tea. He was about to lead the way back to the living room when he thought of something.

'Uh, Snape, I … Er, say, do you mind if I call you Severus? Seems weird, somehow, to call you Snape.'

The boy blinked. 'Ah? Oh. N-no.'

'Okay. Hey, you can call me Harry, too. Anyway, Severus, I just wondered … Do you want to be there when I tell my friends about you? I mean, they'll probably say things that you don't want to hear. So if you'd rather stay away, you can. You know, if you'd rather go and put your clothes away or oh! The groceries!'

Harry dug the shrunk bags out of his pockets and re-sized them, putting them on the kitchen table. Snape immediately stepped forwards and took them.

'I think I'll put these away,' he said, not looking at Harry. His face was still rather flushed.

Harry nodded sympathetically. 'Okay. Take your time. I'll keep a cup of tea for you, though, okay?'

Snape grunted something from inside a bag, which Harry took as assent. Leaving him to putter around in his kitchen, Harry gathered the tray and went to the living room.

Ron and Hermione were sitting on the sofa. They'd obviously been talking to each other but looked up when Harry came in. He gave them a small smile. 'So, let me sit down and get a cup of tea, and then we can talk.'

Hermione nodded and took over pouring each of them a cup of tea. 'Is Snape not coming?' she asked.

'Thanks, Hermione. No, he's putting groceries away. I thought it would be better if he wasn't around while I told you. Especially considering the first thing Ron did when he saw him was start yelling.'

'Hey, mate, I came to look for you because Grant says you haven't been in to HQ today. But you weren't home, and then the fireplace spat him out! He sneered just like Snape. What was I supposed to do?' Ron protested.

'Stop yelling long enough for him to explain?' Harry suggested but grinned.

Ron grabbed a biscuit from the tray. 'Well, if you can stay calm in the face of that sneer then you're a better man than me.'

Harry laughed. 'Actually, I've never been able to stay calm in the face of that sneer, have I?'

Ron winked at him. Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Okay, so that boy really is Snape, Harry?'

Harry nodded, and then quickly told his friends what had happened, the boy showing up with the letter, Snape explaining the botched curse, and the Life Debt. He ended with asking them both to promise that they wouldn't talk to anybody else about Snape.

'The longer I can keep it secret, the safer he is,' he said, looking at both of his friends.

Hermione nodded emphatically. 'Of course I promise, Harry.' Her eyes glowed and there were pink spots on her cheeks. She was clearly already pondering Snape's plight and how to help him. Ron, on the other hand, only gaped.

'Wait, that means you're saddled with Snape? A teenage Snape? Until Merlin knows when?'

Harry shrugged. 'Looks like.'

'Damn. That's awful. I'm sorry, mate.'

'What for? He hasn't been that bad, so far.'

'So far.'

'Ron.' Hermione's tone was disapproving. Harry grinned into his teacup.

'What?'

'He's a boy, now. Not the man who was our professor. If you're nasty to him, you're treating him the same way he treated us.'

'Yeah, serves him right,' Ron agreed.

'But did you like him being nasty to us? Did you think it was fair?' Hermione sat up, eyes flashing. 'Do you think he was right to act the way he did?'

'Whoa, hey, Hermione! Of course not!'

'Then you shouldn't do the same thing!'

'Wha-?' Ron wrinkled his brow. 'But … I'm not. Hermione, I'm not! I'm not a nasty git like Snape!'

'Then be nice to the boy.' Hermione gave him a hard look before she turned to Harry. 'What do you plan to do about him, Harry?'

'What can I do?' Harry shrugged. 'He said in his letter he doesn't want me to help him find a way to stop the flashes or lift the curse. He just wants me to take care of him while he can't do so himself. What else is there to do but wait?'

'But there has to be something we can do.' Hermione frowned.

We? Ron mouthed, eyes wide.

'Thank you, but that is not necessary,' Snape said from the door. He came over to stand next to Harry's armchair, meeting Hermione's eyes but without anger or condescension. 'I have my journals. I'll work through them and see what can be done.'

Hermione blinked. 'Journals? Harry only mentioned a letter.'

'We went to his house for information,' Harry explained. 'Which reminds me. Hermione, I need to get some people added as dangerous to my wards. I tried before in general terms, but that didn't work. I've got some names, though, now. Think you can help me with that?'

'Oh, yes, of course, that is easy,' Hermione readily agreed.

'Dangerous?' Ron asked suspiciously.

'To Severus.' Harry nodded, ignoring his friends' surprise at hearing him use the name. 'I told you how the letter said … Oh, heck, where is the damn thing, anyway?'

Snape - Severus - gave him an incredulous look. 'Are you always this careless with important things?' Then he pointed to the fireplace. 'I put it on the mantelpiece.'

Hermione gave Harry a stern look. 'Yes, Harry has been known to be careless on occasion.' She got the letter, ignoring Harry's spluttering. Snape - Severus - grinned a little uncertainly.

'Hey, two against one is unfair,' Harry mock-complained. Severus's grin tickled him pink. 'Ron, a little support here, mate?'

Ron looked from one to the other, wide-eyed. 'Uh …'

Hermione slapped him over the head with the letter. 'Don't say anything wrong if you can avoid it, Ron.' She sat down, letter open in her lap. 'Okay, let's have a look at the wards then.'

For the next hour, Harry and Hermione, with occasional help from Severus, added the names of the Healers and Unspeakables Snape had corresponded with as potential threats to Harry's wards. Hermione suggested some minor changes to the general wards, so that they could warn against people meaning Snape harm in a way that threatened the terms of the Life Debt. It was too theoretical for Harry, so he just nodded. Severus, though, was interested, and he and Hermione got into a heated discussion, first on theory and wards, then on Severus's condition.

Ron just watched, stunned, and got the food when the delivery came. Later, he and Harry played wizard chess, while Hermione and Severus fought over what seemed to Harry minor details of potion brewing. He lost big time to Ron because he spent more time watching Severus than the chess board.

It was an odd but relaxing evening, Harry thought later when he lay in bed. He had enjoyed watching Severus, lively and animated, talking to Hermione. Watching them talk and argue without contempt on either side.

It really was no trouble at all, having Snape - Severus - here.

Day Four

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