FIC: A Unique Guest, Snape/Harry, PG

Title: A Unique Guest
Author: mimbulus
Characters: Snape, Harry
Rating: PG
Summary: Harry plays host to a young guest.
Warning: None
Word Count: 9358
A/N: Many, many thanks to the wonderful tresa_cho who did a great job betaing and editing this fic. Written for the hp_friendships ficathon.


Severus huddled deeper under the covers to try and keep out the noises of his parents fighting again in the living-room.

Not that Severus wasn't used to them fighting, Eileen and Tobias fought constantly. It's just that he'd just returned home for Christmas and during his first few months at Hogwarts he managed to forget how loud these fights could get.

"I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Severus started shivering. He hated when his father started threatening his mother like that.

When he couldn't take it any more, he climbed out of bed and went, angry and shaking, to the living-room.

"STOP IT!" he cried. His parents didn't pay him attention so he tried again.

"Sev, go back to your room, love. I'll be allright," Eileen said to him.

Tobias didn't bother putting down the vase that he was still gripping solidly in his hand - Grandmother's vase! - as he growled at Severus. "Go back to your room, you little shit!"

Eileen looked Severus in the eyes and suddenly the only thing he wanted was to return to his room.

Severus closed the door behind him, went to sit on the bed and looked at the bird that had decided to build a nest at his window. He hoped his father would never find out about it.

A long while later, Eileen and Tobias stopped fighting. The front door creaked open and then slammed shut, making the door and window of Severus' room rattle in their frames. A minute or so passed and then the door to his parents' room opened and closed.

After that, it was all quiet. When Severus stopped shaking, as quietly as possible he left his own room and went into his parents'.

The room was almost completely dark but still Severus could make out his mother lying on her side on the bed. He heard her harsh, pained breathing.

"Mum?"

"What is it, love?"

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm all right, I just need to sleep a bit and I'll be as good as new. Maybe you would like to bring me a glass of water?"

"All right."

Severus went to the kitchen, grabbed one of the glasses from the drying rack and poured water from the tap in it.

When he returned to his mother's side, she was already asleep. Severus put the glass on the bedside table carefully so as not to wake her and went to the wardrobe, where he knew her wand was hidden. Maybe his spell-casting go undetected if he used her wand instead of his own. Severus thought that was a stupid rule, but still, he would like to avoid getting punished for helping his mum if he could.

Severus opened the wardrobe and pushed aside the pile of towels. There was the wand. But next to it, was a tiny hourglass that radiated warmth and illuminated the inside of the wardrobe.

Severus had an idea that if he used that thing together with the wand, his mother would heal faster. Severus had read somewhere about time-turners and how one could use them to go back in time, so maybe if he put it against his mother's injuries and cast a healing charm, she would get better more quickly. He pointed her wand at the object and suddenly felt the world grow dark. He felt a strange tugging feeling in his navel, as if someone had attached a hook to it and was using it to pull him forward.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Snape added the dried, ground wings of three dragonflies into the cauldron full of what will become Wolfsbane in three hours. Now it needed to simmer for an hour before he stirred seven times counter-clockwise. He was just about to check on the Sleeping Draught when he heard feet stomping up and down the corridor outside the room. Snape shrugged. He would be paid twenty Galleons for the Sleeping Draught. Whatever it was could definitely wait until the draught was ready.

When he saw the door rattle with the force of someone banging against it, Snape cast locking and silencing charms on the door.

Two hours and seventeen minutes later, after the Sleeping Draught had cooled down and had been bottled, Snape removed the charms he cast on the door. There was no-one there. But now there was a scuffling sound coming from the bedroom that used to be his parents', the one he nowadays used to sleep in.

He opened the door. It was pitch dark.

"Lumos!"

The light coming from Snape's wand illuminated a small boy huddled in the corner. Snape would find out who it is and punish him as severely as his name implied. "Stand up," he commanded.

The boy stayed perfectly still and tried to hide the fact that he was wiping his eyes and nose on his shirt.

Eventually he stood up and glared angrily at Snape.

All of Snape's experiences couldn't prepare him for the fact that he saw himself, aged eleven, standing in front of himself and looking at himself through angry, narrowed eyes. He felt the beginnings of a headache.

"Do not move from that corner," he ordered and left the room, locking it with a charm.

He went to the bathroom and after drinking a mouthful of headache potion and feeling slightly light-headed because of it, he returned to the bedroom.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The door opened a second time and the strange man stepped in again. Well, no, he wasn't so strange. He had Severus' own large nose, which Tobias also had, but that man wasn't Tobias.

"State your name and age," the man said.

"Severus Snape, eleven years old."

"That's a clever use of Polyjuice. Whoever you are, you will suffer immensely for your impertinence."

Severus didn't understand. What was this Polyjuice the man talked about? And who was he and what was he doing in his home?

"Who are you? Where is my mother?"

The man smirked unpleasantly. "Your mother is not here."

Not that Severus accepted what the older man said, but his stomach chose that moment to grumble in protest of him having eaten only a slice of dry bread since last night.

The man scowled. "Stay there," he ordered and vanished again.

A few minutes later he reappeared with a glass of milk and a plate piled high with sandwiches. He pushed them at Severus. "Eat."

Without hesitation, Severus dived at the sandwiches and downed the milk in large gulps. When he paused to take a breath, he looked at the older man and noticed him sneering unpleasantly at him.

"You may do what you like, but do not leave this room. Oh, and I'll need the object you're failing to hide," the man said. Severus handed him the hourglass. The man grabbed it and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

"What is it, boy?"

"You really don't know where my mum is?"

"No. Stay."

It was a long time before the older man returned and in the meanwhile, Severus did some thinking. Obviously he was in Spinner's End, but it wasn't the same Spinner's End he had been in only a few hours earlier. First, where was Mum? Second, the room he was in - his parents' room - even though it had a bed and the sort of clutter that means someone lives here, it still had an air of neglect about it. He walked to the window and looked outside. Every other house in the street looked like it had been abandoned for years. Mrs. Painswick's clothesline, that had bed linen hanging eternally on it, was gone. Mr. Fern's front yard was overgrown with weeds. What was going on here?

"Look at me," said the older man suddenly. Severus started. He didn't even hear when the door opened.

"What's your name?" Severus tried.

"My name is unimportant," came the curt reply.

"Why does everything look like this?"

"Like what?"

"Old, neglected."

"Because it is."

"Am I in the future?" he ventured and could swear he heard the older man murmur, 'Ten points to Slytherin' before ordering Severus to look at him again.

Severus looked away. This man was obviously a wizard, a Prince, maybe? He certainly looked like it. Severus knew some of the sort of things that could happen if he looked in another wizard's eyes.

The older man suddenly snatched Severus' chin in a tight grip and turned his head so he would face him.

"Look. At. Me. Legilimens!"

Severus saw his memory of that last fight. He didn't like this. Was that man looking at his memories?

"I'm Apparating us to Hogwarts, now. Hold my hand and do not move," he said. After a moment he added, "Unless you want to have less limbs when you get there."

"I don't want to go to Hogwarts," Severus said in a petulant voice.

"You don't have a say in this matter," the older man said and took a hold of Severus' arm. In his other arm, the older man took a crate full of what appeared to be potions. He wondered what would happen if he kicked the crate.

"Don't even think about it," came the warning. And then they Apparated to just outside Hogwarts grounds.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It was a warm, sunny Saturday, one of the last such sunny days before winter, and it was the first Quidditch match of the season - Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. Harry and Ron sat in the stands halfway between the Gryffindor crowd and the Hufflepuff one. Ron was fiddling with his Omniocculars and Harry was stealing Ron's popcorn. The fifth and sixth years around them occasionally craned their necks to look at them - the war heroes - but other than that, Harry felt as if he was watching a match from his own days at school. The colourful banners, the jingles, Professor McGonagall telling the commentator to get on with commenting instead of pointing out the pretty clouds or how attractive a particular player was.

"Five Sickles that Gryffindor wins?" Ron asked.

"Are you betting against my daughter, Ron?"

"Hey, money is money, mate. Nothing personal." Harry laughed and stole more of Ron's popcorn.

Gryffindor lost in the end and Ron grudgingly gave Harry five Sickles. Hufflepuff's seeker's talent, some people said, was second only to Harry's.

Harry climbed down and went to congratulate his daughter. When he got there, however, he saw that the team was surrounded by a sea of Hufflepuffs celebrating their first win in five years.

Harry felt Ron's hand settle on his shoulder. "C'mon, mate, we'll have a pint at the Three Broomsticks."

The whole pack of Hufflepuffs slowed down, and from the thick of it emerged Lily and ran towards Harry.

"DAD! WE WON!"

He picked her up and gave her a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

"I wish mum could've been here to see me."

Harry grimaced and Ron gave him a sympathetic look, tightening his hand around Harry's shoulder. One day, a few years ago, Harry had returned home to find Ginny's side of the wardrobe empty and a note explaining how she couldn't live like this anymore and she needed a break. Sometimes Harry saw her in Diagon Alley, but mostly they avoided each other.

After a few moments, Harry put Lily down. "Your friends are waiting."

Lily grinned and said, "Nah, it's ok. They all think I'm so cool because my dad's Harry Potter," she said, rolling her eyes. Because of the Weasley red hair and Harry's green eyes, she looked almost like an exact copy of her grandmother - Lily. Except that the namesake's hair was a few shades brighter than her grandmother's.

Ron laughed. "You'll never get rid of that, Harry."

"I guess not," he mused.

Harry watched his daughter join the rest of her house-mates and then he allowed himself to be pulled away by Ron. "Come on, you'll see her at Christmas."

They were just getting away when they heard Professor McGonagall call after them, so they walked back until they met her.

She looked at them over her glasses and Harry squirmed under her scrutiny, feeling as if he she was lecturing him on midnight duels again.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. I have a problem that I would like you to assist me with," she said. With Professor McGonagall there was none of that twinkling and offering of Lemon Sherbets. With her, it was always getting straight to the point.

"Of course," they said in unison and followed her to the castle.

"I will explain more in my office."

They reached the gargoyles, stepped on the stairs and waited for them to reach the entrance to her office. She opened the door and told them to sit, which they did.

Harry noticed that the door to the adjoining room was closed.

"About an hour ago, Mr. Snape showed up with the monthly batch of Wolfsbane. Ronald, will you please take it to the Center?"

"Of course," Ron answered. He stood up, picked up the crates and left the room. He would now take the Wolfsbane to Remus, who would distribute it amongst the Werewolves who came to the W.H.E.R.E. Center.

"Mr. Potter, Severus brought with him a unique guest."

Harry nodded. So far so good.

"The guest is a child, he is eleven years old and he is sitting back there," she pointed at the closed door. "He claims that his name is Severus Snape. Our own Severus confirmed the fact and I tend to believe him."

"How did he get here?"

"He showed up at Spinner's End approximately four hours ago, but we don't know how."

"A time-turner, maybe?"

"He had a time-turner with him, but time-turners can only go back a number of hours, a day at most. We need to find out how he arrived here and how to send him back. Obviously he cannot stay here. The fact that the adult Severus exists means that we managed to send the boy back successfully, but that doesn't mean we know how we will have managed to have done it."

"What does this have to do with me, Headmistress?"

"I contacted Mrs. Weasley. She's our topmost expert on time-travel, she's already doing some research."

Harry smiled. That was so typically Hermione - When in doubt, hit the books.

"I will need you to take young Severus with you until we solve this."

"Headmistress, why can't he stay here and attend some classes?"

"Severus is too infamous as an adult. Everyone knows his name and either fears him or hates him. As a child with the same name, he would be in an extremely vulnerable position here."

Harry wanted to disagree. After all, it was Sirius and Remus who had said to him that even back in first year, Snape had vast knowledge of the Dark Arts and knew any number of curses and hexes. "Headmistress, you're talking about the boy who invented Sectumsempra."

"He is an eleven year old boy who has quite a disturbing future that is known to everyone in Wizarding Britain and there are a fair number of people who would gladly harm him at the first chance they got."

"Minerva, at his age I had already taken on a mountain troll," he pleaded.

McGonagall smiled. "And because you and your friends had more luck than brains, you're standing here talking to me today."

She stood up and walked to the door.

Harry groaned. "Headmistress, isn't there somewhere else the kid could go?"

McGonagall shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Your condition is ideal for the task. You live in a house that's kept under the Fidelius charm, you don't have any smaller children to look after and you're not responsible for the wellbeing of countless of children or patients under your roof."

"Headmistress, you don't realize that -"

"I do realize," she cut him off, "That this boy is in a place and time he doesn't know, he's already encountered his older self and you know what our Severus is like." Harry rolled his eyes.

"What if we send him to Remus? He'd know how to deal with him."

"Mr. Lupin is recovering from the latest full-moon. He's in no condition to look after a child."

"Headmistress, I don't want mini-Snape in my house."

"You're not even trying, Mr. Potter," she said.

Professor McGonagall reached for the handle.

"Yes, but-"

"No but, Mr. Potter, don't make me take out the Sherbet Lemons jar."

Harry laughed and raised his hands in resignation. "OK, I'll do it."

"Good lad," she said, turned the handle and marched through the door. Harry followed dejectedly. Great. Now he'd be staying in the same house as Snape. An eleven year-old Snape. Could things get any worse?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Severus?"

Severus was reading a book and it took him a few moments to realize that Professor McGonagall was standing at the door. He looked up.

"Severus, this is Harry Potter, you will stay with him until we figure out how to take you back."

Severus looked at the man standing next to Professor McGonagall. She looked older than he remembered her, but that was nothing compared to the stranger. He was James Potter, except that Potter never had those green eyes - they looked like Lily Evans' eyes - nor did he have that stupid-looking scar on his forehead.

"Who is he?" Severus adressed his question to McGonagall.

"Severus, I'm Harry Potter. I'm the son of Lily and James Potter."

Severus gaped at the man. "What do you mean you're their son? They hate each other!"

The man laughed and said, "Eventually they stopped hating each other."

"Ugh. Next you'll tell me that Potter and I have become friends."

The man laughed even harder. "Of course not."

"Because that would have been really disgusting," Severus frowned. He didn't understand what was so funny anyway. It was well known that Evans couldn't stand Potter and his cronies.

"They got married a year after they got out of Hogwarts."

Severus started thinking that perhaps his father had hit him on the head and he was now hallucinating. "I think you're lying," he declared.

"Believe me, Mr. Snape," said Professor McGonagall. "We're not lying."

Severus didn't hesitate before asking Professor McGonagall if he could stay in Hogwarts. At least he knew this place.

The look she gave him was one full of compassion. "I'm afraid not, Severus. You're going with Mr. Potter until we find a solution to this situation. People have already started working trying to find how you arrived here in the first place."

"But Professor -"

"Mr. Snape, one more comment out of you and I will be forced to take five points from Slytherin for disobeying the Headmistress' direct order. You will go with Mr. Potter until it is time to return you to your proper time and place, is that clear?"

"Fine, take the points. I'm not going with him."

"Five points, Mr. Snape, I'm not asking you. You will go with Mr. Potter and that's the end of that discussion."

"Why can't I stay here?"

Professor McGonagall sighed. "As I've explained to Mr. Potter earlier, you wouldn't be safe here if someone were to find out who you are. Mr. Snape has done certain things that made him rather unpopular with the wizarding world. Mr. Potter's house is as safe as it gets for you."

"Fine, whatever."

In a slightly softer tone she added, "Would you like to take that book with you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Sherbet lemon, anyone?"

Potter snickered and Severus felt his hatred for anyone called Potter grow deeper.

"Minerva, I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Of course."

Potter left and Severus turned to the Headmistress. "Where's he going?"

"I assume that to have a few last words with his daughter in person before leaving with you."

Severus couldn't wait to get back to his own time and tell that vain idiot that he's going to have grandchildren. He wondered if he'd be allowed to take photographic proof.

Ten minutes later, Potter returned. He tossed some Floo powder into the fireplace and said, "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place."

Reluctantly and unwillingly, but feeling the Headmistress' eyes drill a scowling hole in his back, Severus stepped into the fireplace.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Did you actually take those points from Slytherin?"

Professor McGonagall chuckled. "Of course I did. I'll give them back, though. Let's see... Five points to Slytherin for not cheating in today's match."

Harry laughed and stepped into the fireplace.

Severus was already stomping around the room, spreading soot and grime everywhere he walked.

"I would like to cast a cleaning charm on you. I like my house clean," he said and watched Severus turn to face him.

Severus spread his arms to his sides and glared at Harry. Harry was really beginning to dislike his current predicament. Couldn't they have sent the little brat someplace else? He was sure that Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place wasn't the only wizarding residence under the Fidelius charm in Britain. couldn't McGonagall have shipped the kid to the Malfoys? Harry pointed his wand at Severus and cast one of the more stinging cleaning charms he knew.

Harry did some math in his head. No, Severus at this point wouldn't have known who Regulus was, so he probably didn't know this house either. The boy wasn't comparing what he knew to what he saw, he was only looking around, examining the place.

"You're here because this house is under a Fidelius charm. Come, I'll show you to your room."

"What's a Fidelius charm?" Severus asked as they climbed up the stairs.

"It means that this house, where it is, every bit of information about it is kept as a secret within a living soul. No one other than that person - the Secret Keeper - can give that secret away."

"Who is the Secret Keeper?"

They got to the room and Harry opened the door. "This is where you'll be sleeping. The toilet and the bathroom are that last door down the hall. If you touch that box that sticks out from the wall, I will Petrify you. Supper will be served in three hours. If you need anything, just say my name or call for the house-elf, his name is Dobby. Do not leave the house."

Harry closed the door behind him and went to the kitchen, only to be attacked by Dobby.

"Harry Potter, sir! Dobby is glad that you is back home!" Dobby attached himself to Harry's leg. Harry tried shaking Dobby off with little success.

"Is Harry Potter wanting anything?"

"Dobby, we have a guest, he'll be staying with us for a while," Harry said.

"Is the guest needing anything? What should Dobby prepare for the guest to eat?"

"I'm sure that whatever you're already making is fine." Harry's attempts at getting Dobby to detach himself from his leg were slowly starting to work.

That is, until Dobby cried, "Oh, Harry Potter is such a good host!" and clung to Harry's leg.

"Dobby, get off!"

"I is so sorry, Harry Potter. I is happy you is back home," Dobby said, peeling himself off Harry's leg reluctantly.

"Well, I'll be in the study, doing some paperwork."

"Dobby will call Harry Potter when supper is ready," Dobby said and Harry could hear him blow his nose.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Severus heard a faint knock on the door. He ignored it. He ignored the next one and the next as well.

The door opened timidly.

"Harry Potter is wanting to call Young Severus Snape for supper," came a house-elf's high and squeaky voice.

"Tell him I'm not hungry."

The door closed and a few moments later opened again. "Harry Potter is saying that Young Severus Snape can stay in his room if he is wishing to do so."

"Fine."

The door closed again with a soft click and Severus was left on his own again. He didn't like it here. It's not that he was particularly anxious to return to his own home or to Hogwarts, but he didn't want to spend any amount of time with a man who is old enough to be Severus' dad, but who apparently is Potter's son. And Potter was as old as Severus was. But this was forty years to the future, wasn't it? Maybe he could ask to stay with his older self. He seemed unpleasant, but anything was better than staying under the same roof with a Potter.

His stomach chose that moment to rumble. He should've asked the house-elf for a sandwich. Maybe after Potter'd gone to sleep, he'll sneak into the kitchen and eat something. It's not as if he trusted house-elves anyway.

He sat and listened for any noise that would indicate that Potter had finished eating and was now preparing for sleep. He wondered what the protruding box he mentioned was.

At long last, he heard a door creaking open and close somewhere, and then it was all silent. He padded barefoot to the door, opened it and left the room. The house was eerily silent around him except from very faint, hardly audible noises coming from that box in the wall. He went to it and pressed his palm and ear against it.

A second later, Severus felt the blunt tip of a wand pressing against his temple. "I thought I told you not to touch that," Potter said in a quiet voice. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Severus felt his whole body going rigid and then he felt himself being picked up by Potter and carried back to bed.

"The spell will wear off about two hours from now. Next time you touch that thing, you will spend the night petrified. You're welcome to ask any questions you might have when you've regained your mobility."

The door closed and Severus was left in the dark. Now his stomach rumbled and his body was frozen in an uncomfortable position. The box was probably charmed to warn Potter if anybody tried to touch it. Severus wondered what was so special about that box.

When Severus woke up in the morning, the first thing he noticed was that he was no longer Petrified. On the other hand, he was freezing because he slept on top of his covers through the night. He went downstairs to see if he could sneak past the house-elf with some food without it stumbling all over itself to serve him, but when he reached the kitchen, he saw only Potter kneeling in front of the fireplace and a woman's voice saying something he couldn't quite catch.

The same house-elf from the previous night ran towards him and nearly toppled them both over.

"Good morning! What is Young Severus Snape wanting for breakfast?" It squeaked.

"Uh, do you have porridge?"

"Of course, anything for Harry Potter's guest!"

The house-elf almost tripped over himself in his haste.

"Honestly, Harry. I wish you wouldn't make Dobby work so hard," the woman scolded from the fireplace.

"I don't make him do anything he doesn't want to," Potter said in a disgustingly defensive tone.

"Are you paying him enough?"

Potter sighed. "We've been over this already, Hermione. Yes, I'm paying him enough. I give him all the free time he wants, I give him Christmas presents, you name it, he gets it."

When Severus passed in front of the fireplace, the woman exclaimed, "My goodness! Is that him?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"He looks so young! And I see that neither of you has been killed in a fit of murderous rage yet, so I guess that's a good sign."

"It's not worth it," Severus commented while he waited for Dobby to serve him porridge.

"Worth what?"

"Getting sent to Azkaban just for killing a Potter."

The woman laughed from the fireplace. "Sounds like him, too. Harry, I've got to get back to work, I'll talk to you tonight."

"All right."

"Where's the sugar?" Severus asked after he poked through a few cabinets and shelves and not finding it.

"Good morning to you too," Potter replied unhelpfully.

"Dobby will get the sugar," the house-elf squeaked. "Would Young Severus Snape want tea?" it grunted as it opened the cabinet and took the sugar out.

"What's that box in the wall?"

"A Muggle solution to a Magical problem. Touch it again and I'll shrink you so you can fit in it and find out exactly what's in it," Potter answered with a malevolent glint in his eyes.

Severus ate the porridge in silence while Potter drank his coffee and read the newspaper. After that, Severus spent the rest of the day in the library. When it became too dark to read, he lit a few candles and kept on reading. He wasn't researching anything in particular, just picking books off the shelves at random.

He ate the apple that Dobby brought on the supper tray and then he started to feel sleepy.

When Severus opened his eyes again, he was in bed, tucked beneath the thick, warm blankets. He snuggled deeper into them and returned to sleep.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In the morning, Harry opened the door to Severus' room and woke him up.

"I have to go to the Center. You do what Dobby says."

Severus murmured something unintelligible in reply. Harry closed the door and left the house. He didn't have to walk much. The W.H.E.R.E. (Werewolf Housing, Education, Rehabilitation and Employment) Center was only a few minutes' walk away from Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, in a Muggle house they've bought for that purpose. The house wasn't much to look at and all the ragged werewolves that went there stood out like sore thumbs in the Muggle surroundings, but it was better than a rented office in Diagon Alley in two important ways: 1. It was a lot cheaper and 2. It was far from the Wizarding World and all those who were looking to out more werewolves.

"Good morning, Mr. Crook," Harry said automatically as he entered. Mr. Crook was more or less a permanent fixture at the center. "Have you gone up to Remus' office yet?"

"I'm filling this form and then I'll go."

"If you want some tea there's a kettle over there."

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Potter."

Harry stopped in front of the receptionist. "What does he want today?" he whispered.

"Security guard course," came the whispered and giggled reply.

When Harry stepped into Remus' office, Remus was working through the eternal paperwork pile on his desk. Soon the clients would start showing up and he used every available moment he had to bring the paperwork up to speed.

"Morning."

"Good morning, Harry. I need you to look through this," Remus thrust a folder at Harry.

"What's that?"

"Budget issues," Remus answered with the cheerful-relieved voice of someone who didn't have to sort out a complicated financial problem because they'd just passed it on to someone else to deal with. "The morning support group's coming in less than ten minues."

Harry groaned and took the folder, and a few others into his own office and started working on them. He didn't notice time pass and when Dobby appeared suddenly in front of him, it was way past noon.

"What is it, Dobby?"

The house-elf began to wail. "Dobby is a bad house-elf!" he declared and smashed his head into the desk's leg. Harry quickly reached down and grabbed Dobby by the collar of his miniature shirt.

"Dobby, stop that at once and tell me what happened."

"Harry Potter is a great wizard. Dobby is forgetting not to punish himself but this time Something Bad is happening in Harry Potter's house."

Harry released a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding. So it had nothing to do with Lily. "What happened?"

Dobby's eyes filled with tears. "It's young Master Severus Snape! He's been cursed!"

"What?"

"Dobby is a bad elf. Harry Potter should make Dobby iron his toes!"

"What happened, Dobby?"

Dobby answered, but he was weeping so hard that Harry found it difficult to understand what he was saying. "Right, let's get back home, Dobby."

He shoved a pile of papers to the side and pressed the button that had been buried underneath. "Miss Wort, tell Remus I had to leave, I'll talk to him as soon as I can."

"Of course, Mr. Potter."

Dobby vanished with a loud CRACK and a moment later, Harry Apparated back home as well.

"Where is he, Dobby?"

"Severus Snape is in the attic."

Harry ran up to the attic, where he saw Severus' small figure sprawled on the ground, unconscious and trembling. He ran a quick diagnostic charm and as soon as it told him that Severus wasn't suffering from any sort of internal damage, Harry levitated him and took him to his bed. There he ran a more careful examination which told him that Severus had a high fever. Not only that, but his hands seemed to be peppered all over with splinters.

"Remove splinters," Harry murmured, pointing his wand at Severus' hands. The splinters fell to the floor and immediately small droplets of blood began to well in the dozens of little cuts. "Dobby, bring me my bandaging kit."

Dobby disappeared with a crack and returned a moment later with the requested box. Harry bandaged Severus' hands and when he was done, placed them gently on the bed on either side of the boy.

Harry needed to get away from the boy. He needed to think. Some of the things he did... will do... He'd trust the man with his life and he's past the days when he would kill Snape as soon as look at him, but it was difficult to look at the boy and not see the man he will become.

He went to the kitchen, knelt in front of the fireplace and tossed some Floo powder into it. "Spinner's End," he announced and stuck his head in, calling for Snape.

"Snape! I know you're there!" He waited twenty seconds before calling again. "Snape, you old bat!"

Six or seven leisurely minutes later, Snape's feet appeared in front of the fireplace. He crouched.

"Potter, what a pleasant and unexpected surprise," Snape said. Harry feared for a moment that the sarcasm dripping from Snape's voice would eat through his ears. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

Harry had an idea now, how Moody must've lost his own nose.

"Thank you for the Wolfsbane -"

"No," Snape interrupted. "Thank you for the hundred Galleons a month I get for preparing a potion that the average fourth year is capable of brewing with their eyes closed and one arm tied behind their back. Well, not counting your amazingly talented self and Longbottom. What brings you here?" Snape asked in a cheery, Lockhartian tone.

"The kid touched something."

Snape smirked. "That is perfectly natural and nothing for you or him to be ashamed of."

"Shut up, Snape. You gave me ten seconds, it's the best explanation I could give. The kid has a fever, he's shaking and he had splinters all over his hands - but I took care of those already - and I think he's also hallucinating."

"Did you know that by the end of the first week of class your father and his dog have already managed to get themselves two weeks of detention?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "No doubt they committed some heinous crime against you and the rest of the Wizarding World at large, eh?"

"That'd been taken care of as soon as they left their mothers' wombs. No, they charmed Professor McGonagall's fur yellow and red, thinking she was just a stray. In the third week, they had lost Gryffindor fifty points because they planted dungbombs in my cauldron in Potions."

Harry chuckled. He didn't bother hiding his amusement, knowing that Snape would pick on it instantly.

"Is there any particular reason you wish to do this? Developing paternal, defensive feelings for that boy already?"

"No, I was hoping to find some incredibly embarassing secret about yourself and taunt you with it."

Snape feigned shock. "A Gryffindor? Looking for ways to humiliate others? Run out of puppies and kittens to save, have you?"

"I almost got sorted into Slytherin, you know."

Snape looked most unimpressed. "You and everybody else."

He saw the questioning look on Harry's face and sighed.

"Once a dunderhead, always a dunderhead. The Sorting Hat isn't some sort of telepathic instrument of communication. It only knows about you that which you already know. It only helps you make your own choice. You sorted yourself into Gryffindor. Therefore, you never were and never will be a Slytherin."

Harry privately disagreed with him, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he asked, "You won't help me, then?"

"When have I ever? Good day, Potter."

"Wait. Do you have a potion I could give him or not?"

Snape thought for a moment and said, "I'll need to examine him."

"I'll clear the floo so you can pass," Harry said and stood up. A moment later, Snape stepped through the fireplace.

Harry went to Severus' room and Snape followed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Show me what he touched," Snape ordered.

"Dobby, could you go and find the thing in the attic? Don't touch it, though."

Dobby immediately went and a minute or so later, he returned with a small, delicately carved wooden horse.

"This is it?"

"This is what Dobby is finding in the attic, Harry Potter."

Harry cast a number of diagnostic spells on the little horse, which flashed and shook in the air in front of him.

"Interesting hexes," Snape commented. "I'll return tomorrow, feed him something," he continued and swooped out of the door.

"Dobby -"

But Dobby was already on his way to the kitchen. For now, there was nothing Harry could do but wait. Wait for Dobby to bring back something to feed Severus with and wait for Snape to brew a potion. He pondered the wooden horse. He was confident that before he and Ginny moved here permanently, that they, along with Ron and Hermione, have gone through every inch of the house with their wands and an oily potion they poured over literally everything, and removed everything that was hexed or cursed in some way. They removed all the portraits, except for the one of Mrs. Black, which they built a wooden box around and cast a powerful silencing charm on it. Surprisingly, it had worked.

So what was that figurine doing there?

Harry decided to go to the attic before he started pondering all sorts of ridiculous conspiracy theories.

Harry examined the place where Severus had been earlier. After a while, he found a loose floorboard, which he removed and put aside. Beneath it, he found a treasure-trove of useless little trinkets. He Levitated a dragon and placed it gently on the floor. Harry cast a few diagnostic charms on it and wasn't too surprised to find that it had at least three different hexes embedded into it. Coughing, bleeding and balance loss. He put the dragon and the floorboard back, marking it and locking it in place. He would deal with it later.

Harry returned to the room and conjured up an armchair small enough that it could squeeze between the bed and the wall. He made himself as comfortable as possible in it. Eventually, he nodded off and woke up with a start when Snape called his name louder than strictly necessary. He thrust the small bottle at Harry, said, "He'll need five drops every three hours" and quickly vanished again.

"Severus," Harry said. "Look at me."

At first Severus didn't react, but when Harry called again, he slowly opened his eyes. Harry saw images of Severus' parents fighting, throwing furniture at each other, Harry saw Tobias call Eileen a whore. She kicked him and in retaliation, Tobias kicked her back. He saw Severus trying to take his mother away beyond the door, but she wouldn't budge and Severus became one more target for Tobias' rage and fists. Harry cut the eye contact before it became too much.

He held the boy in a sitting position with one arm supporting his back.

"Open your mouth, Severus," he said. Severus did and Harry tipped some of the potion into it. After Severus swallowed it, Harry lowered him gently back to the bed and smoothed his hair away from his forehead. He untied Severus' shoes and with Dobby's help, took the comforter from beneath his prone body and covered him with it.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Potter and Black were now chasing him around the grounds, which suddenly shifted into his Grandmother's intimidating old house and it looked more intimidating than ever. His father was there and he was hitting his mother so hard that she had a few broken bones and she was bleeding. Severus wanted to scream, to do something, anything, to make it stop!

Severus felt, as if from a great distance, a warm hand brushing his hair back away from his face. That small contact was like a beacon that called to him out of his nightmares and they faded away, a background of meaningless blurry motion. No one, not even his mother, has ever swept his hair back like this, and he found himself wishing for the hand to continue its sweeping movements for a very long time.

Severus, wake up, a voice beckoned to him. He opened his eyes and looked up only to see James Potter - no, that wasn't right - Harry Potter peering down at him. Severus fought against a wave of panic that suddenly threatened to drown him.

"Snape brewed this for you," Potter said and Severus allowed Harry to pour the potion into his mouth, knowing he wouldn't be poisoned or harmed in any other way.

He watched as Harry sat back in the armchair and then his eyes closed once more. He didn't know how long he was asleep, but at least now his nightmares were over. Occasionally, Harry would wake him up for his potion and then Severus would return to sleep.

Sometime during the night, Severus' bladder woke him up. Very slowly, because he was still a bit dizzy and disoriented, he sat up and got out of bed. Carefully, so as not to wake Potter up, he stepped out of the room and into the corridor.

When he returned, he could see Potter sleeping in the armchair with his head lolling uncomfortably to the side. Potter had a few days worth of stubble on his face and some drool gathered in the corner of his mouth. Severus turned away in disgust. A few books were stacked in a haphazard pile on the nightstand along with a half-empty glass of water and there was a book in Potter's lap which looked like it was about to fall. It occurred to him that Potter had been watching him sleep all this time. That thought made him flush.

"I don't appreciate being mothered," he said in a not-quite-low voice as he climbed into bed. If Potter heard, he didn't show it.

The next time Severus woke up, it was morning and there was nobody other than himself in the room. He got out of bed and went to the kitchen. Potter was there, talking to that woman in the fireplace again. Before Severus reached the kitchen, he could hear their voices, even though he couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but as soon as he walked in, they lowered their tones. After Potter finished talking to the woman, he joined Severus at the table, where Severus was already going through his second bowl of porridge.

"How do you feel?" Potter asked him and failed to see the glare that Severus sent his way.

"Good, thanks," Severus replied as Dobby placed a bowl of porridge in front of him.

That was all the conversation they had during breakfast and for most of the rest of the day, but it passed amicably enough. For some reason, Severus found that Potter and this strange house he lived in weren't as intimidating and hostile as they seemed to him at the beginning and the house-elf seemed to like him, though that could be the result of Potter giving it an order to do so.

At noon Harry received a floo-call from Lupin and from his vantage point (hidden beneath the desk), Severus saw how old and gray Lupin had become. At one moment, he could swear he saw Lupin wink and smile at him, but that might have been a trick of the light.

The next day, they listened, together with Dobby to a Quidditch match on the Wireless - Zimbabwe vs. Australia - and when Zimbabwe won, Potter had to order Dobby to take his winnings of all the pistachios from the bowl of nuts on the table. But then he got them all soaked with his tears and Potter petted Dobby awkwardly on the head when the latter hugged his knees and said that Harry Potter is the most just and fair master he's ever had.

"Are you friends with me? I mean, the older me?" Severus asked during supper.

Harry paused shuffling his food around his plate - he wasn't particularly hungry after eating all those nuts during the game. "No, not really," he answered.

"Why do I - Why does he help you, then?"

Another pause.

"I guess it's because he owes me. He owes everybody. Snape... He did some bad things, some really bad things in his life. This is his way of making up for it, though there are some things that he'll never be able to make up for."

"Did he do those bad things to you?"

Harry stared off into the distance. "Some of them, yes. Not the important ones."

"Did you forgive him, then?"

"A long time ago. I saw the reasons behind what he did, I couldn't keep a grudge against him after that, though I wanted to. The urge to hex him on sight just isn't there any more and I suppose it's true of him as well or else I would've turned into a slug or a Blast-Ended Newt a long time ago."

"A Blast-Ended what?"

Harry laughed. "An extinct species," he said. "Nothing to worry about."

Severus ate a chip off the plate. They were still hot and crisp as if they'd just come out of the oil.

"Did Potter and I become friends?" Severus hoped they hadn't. He really didn't like James Potter.

Potter hid a smile as he said that no, definitely not.

Severus sagged with relief. "Oh, good. He's a prat."

Harry chuckled. "Who isn't, at eleven?"

"I'm not," Severus replied, a bit offended.

"Of course not."

Severus threw a chip at him.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Harry has talked to Hermione every day, and each time, their conversation had been more or less the same.

"Hi, any progress?"

"A bit, but not enough, there's something we're missing here."

"You'll find it, you always do."

"Thanks. I'll let you know if something happens."

That morning's exchange was no exception. But suddenly, an idea occurred to him. How didn't any of them think of this sooner?

He tossed some floo powder into the fireplace, stuck his head in and said, "Spinner's End". And again, Harry found himself waiting an indeterminate amount of time until Snape decided to show up. As soon as he did, though, Harry asked him, "How did we return you?"

"Stumped already, Potter? My, my."

"Shut up, Snape. You have as much interest in figuring this out as we do."

"Oh, do I?"

"Yes."

Snape looked like he wanted very much to prolong this argument, but eventually he leaned back on his heels. "As soon as I saw the boy and realized who he was, I wondered how is it that I have no memory of these events from that point of view."

"You were Obliviated," Harry realized and stepped out of the fireplace.

After that, Harry went to the Center. That afternoon he had the weekly Center's werewolves' parents' support group to talk to.

About a week later, Harry flooed Hermione again.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Harry! I was just about to call you!" Hermione was cheerful and enthusiastic, the way she always felt after solving a particularly difficult puzzle. Just let her spend enough time in the library or the laboratory and she would find a solution for almost anything.

"You were?" Harry, on the other hand, sounded less than happy about this. Poor Harry, she thought. Having to spend such a long time with someone he disliked as much as Snape.

"Yes. So you can stop being so gloomy. We can send Severus back now." And for some reason, that statement didn't have the effect that Hermione expected it would have. Harry frowned and looked away from her and she noticed the thin line of his mouth, his downcast eyes. "What's wrong, Harry?"

"Nothing," he answered with that blank expression of his that she loathed. "Where will we meet?" he asked and Hermione didn't stress the issue, recognizing a change-of-topic when she heard one.

"Snape's house, I believe. That's where he appeared, isn't it? And this will take him back to the exact moment he disappeared. With any luck, if someone was looking, they wouldn't even have noticed he was gone."

"I'll talk to Snape, ask him when we can do this."

"I already did. He said we can come over at four."

"Oh."

"That's two hours from now," Hermione added.

"Are you sure he can't stay here?"

And then she saw it. She knew it just as she had known when Harry had fallen head over heels for Cho and later for Ginny. She smiled. "Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry, but he has to go back, don't you see? Who knows what the consequences of Severus not having lived his life the way he had would have been," she reasoned.

"Voldemort would never have learned of the prophecy, Sirius wouldn't have died and neither would have Dumbledore."

Hermione scooted closer to the fireplace and held Harry's head affectionately in her hands. "You wouldn't have survived your first Quidditch match back in first year, Umbridge would have found some real Veritaserum to give you in fifth year, you would never have learned Occlumency and Legilimency."

"I would never have cast Sectumsempra on Malfoy, Wormtail wouldn't have escaped," Harry replied.

"And Barty Crouch Jr. would have killed you when he dragged you away from the maze. Oh, Harry, he has to go back," she kissed him on his forehead.

"I wish he didn't," Harry said in a dull monotone. But it couldn't be helped. The consequences of not returning the younger Snape to the exact spot in space and time he belonged to would be disastrous and it's not something she even wanted to think about. And who knew what would happen if they'd allow Snape to stay a moment longer.

Harry's head disappeared from the fireplace and she sat there, looking at the dying ambers for a long time afterwards.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Harry and Severus flooed in to Spinner's End exactly at four. As soon as they stood up, Snape snapped at Harry that he wouldn't leave the place until he cleaned it up.

Potter nodded glumly. "Where do we go?"

"Follow me."

Hermione was already waiting in the room, holding the little hourglass in her hand. "Hello Severus, hi Harry," she said, sounding way too cheerful, in Harry's opinion. The room was as dusty and full of cobwebs as the rest of the house and Harry wondered if Snape's potions laboratory was in this state as well. Not that he was curious or anything.

"Severus, would you please put the hourglass exactly where you first saw it?"

Severus nodded and did as he was told, though from his sluggish movements and slumped shoulders, Harry had the idea that he was as unhappy at going back as he was.

"Very well. I'll count to three and then cast the spell, are you ready?"

When no one nodded or gave any sign they heard her, she sighed and said, "One, two -"

"Wait!"

"What is it, Harry?"

He went to stand in front of Severus and gave him a quick hug. When he drew back, he looked into Severus' eyes and said, "It was a pleasure meeting you, kid. Take care."

As soon as Severus stood in position, his arm outstretched to the depth of the shelf, Harry took his wand out from within his robe and said, "Obliviate!"

A moment later, Hermione pointed her wand at Severus and cast the spell. Severus disappeared as if he'd never been there.

Hermione moved to stand in front of Harry and he embraced her. As she wrapped her arms tightly around him, he asked with a muffled voice, "Can we send the old git off as well?"

Hermione laughed. "I'm afraid not. Besides, who would brew the Wolfsbane?"

"You would, you were always brilliant at Potions."

"I regret to break this emotional moment," Snape interrupted, not sounding regretful at all. "But there are commissioned potions that will not brew themselves waiting for me in the laboratory. Oh, and on your way out, Potter, do clean my living room."

Harry disentangled himself from Hermione. "Snape, do you -"

"No."

"But -"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Good day, Mr. Potter. I'll see you three weeks from now."

"Dobby'll be devastated," Harry said.

Hermione smiled at Harry and petted him in what she must've thought was a comforting manner. "I'm sure he'll get over it quickly enough. Lily's coming home for Christmas soon enough, that'll keep the two of you busy," she said.

Harry took a deep breath and made his way to the door. Before he left, he turned and faced Snape. "Severus, you're always welcome to come and eat porridge. Dobby would be delighted."

Severus' face grew livid. "OUT!" he barked at them.

Giggling like third-years caught out of their dormitory after lights-out, they ran for it and didn't stop until they were outside the house.

"Come on, let's go drink some Butterbeer," Hermione offered. "After that we can visit McGonagall and you can pester your daughter a bit."

Harry nodded and together they Disapparated to Hogsmeade.

~fin~