Harry awoke with a shock the next day, as he put on his glasses he noticed his room was suddenly nothing but a small rectangle. His toys were nowhere to be seen, the window was all tiny and instead of his street he saw nothing but trees, grass and small critters running around…right, today was his second day in Godric’s Hollow. He got up and stretched out the window, taking a deep breath of the fresh, summer air.

London wasn’t particularly sunny, even in the warmer seasons clouds would coat the sky, but this morning a strong shine beamed down upon the woodland. The boy simply leaned for a while, enjoying the view of the wildlife…until he felt a tickling sensation in his lower stomach area. He got up and prepared to head for the bathroom.

As he stepped out he had accidentally bumped against a tall figure. “Ahh!” Harry nearly fell back.

“Finally awake, I was just about to interrupt your beauty rest.” Snape said. “How was your first night away from home?”

“It was pretty neat.” The boy said with a shrug. “I mean I didn’t exactly get to do much, but I was more than happy coming up with things to do for today.”

“Oh?”

Harry went on to talk about how he wanted to explore the forest the most, he begged and begged, promising to only go out when it’s bright out. Snape seemed hesitant but ultimately gave him a thumbs up as long as he stays close to the cottage. Harry also wanted to check out different town spots, such as any magical stores…sadly, Snape had told him that this town wasn’t the same as Diagon Alley.

Aside from the bar, there weren’t many spots to truly live out the magical life as nearly 60% of the population here were muggles. Much less compared to London, but still a large amount. “Well, what kinda wizard spots are there?” the boy asked.

Severus stirred his morning tea for a bit, trying to come up with any magic user places in town that were appropriate for a child to visit. “There is a secret menu at a café owned by a witch, you have to speak a certain password phrase to access it however. Other than that…There aren’t many places fit for you, in all honesty.”

“Fit for me?” That sounded like… “Are you saying there are dangerous spots here?” His parents went on about how very safe the place was, so it came as a surprise.

“Not necessarily dangerous, but quite frightening-” Snape stopped himself as he saw the slow yet gradual excitement grow on Harry’s face. “Places that you are not to go to while under my supervision, Potter.”

“Boo~!” The boy complained just before closing the door to the bathroom.

Severus shook his head and waved his wand; several ingredients and utensils began floating in the air. Milk, eggs and flour were mixed together in a bowl, after a bit of mixing, salt and sugar were added before one last good stir. The mixture was then cooked onto a pan where it was slowly formed into a star-like shape by an enchanted spatula. Snape in the meantime prepared a plate and fork for the boy before sitting back to finish his tea.

Harry came out with wet hands, Snape sent him back to properly dry them off before his meal. As soon as he was done with that, he sat down and was surprised as a yellow cake-like food was dropped on his plate. This was one of his favorite meals whenever Snape came to babysit, he rarely got to eat the fluffy omelette however as usually the man took care of him later in the day.

He chowed down and delighted at the mild sugary taste, it was not too sweet, simply perfect. The soft texture also made it feel like he was eating fresh waffles. Oh! He should ask for them tomorrow.

Snape watched with the usual small smile as the boy stuffed his face, he seemed to find some kind of humorous factor in watching the boy eat. Harry didn’t get why, likely because he couldn’t see just how massive his cheeks would get as he shoveled more and more of the omelette into his mouth.

The older man took one last sip and levitated the cup away. “Lily and James wrote you a letter back, would you like to read it?”

“Seriously? That was fast.” Harry spoke in-between bites. “I’ll check it later…”

The older man frowned a bit, but ultimately returned to his neutral, kind of grumpy expression. “I’ve read a bit of it and it mentioned Lily having given you ten galleons to have some fun in town, as well as for me to take care of you…Unnecessary really, I may not have endless funds like James, but I do have enough for all the necessities.”

“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask about that, did that Gilderoy guy give you the envelope back?”

Snape’s eyes went wide. “Excuse me.” He said very quickly, almost spooking Harry as the man usually spoke much slower. “What does that mean? Elaborate on why in the world you gave that man an envelope full of money?”

Harry was more than confused. “I didn’t give it to him, he took it shortly after picking me up.”

Snape stood and slammed his hands on the table. “That rotten piece of- Gah! I knew it was weird that he suddenly volunteered to help, I never should’ve- Ugh!!!” He huffed and put on his cloak. “Harry, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Brush your teeth and get dressed while I’m gone…and don’t you go out there until I’m back!”

With a slam he headed out…Any other child would likely shake with fear by now at Snape’s sudden reaction, but Harry felt more surprised, Snape had used his first name less and less over the past year.

Sometimes the man would slip up just like now, but these days it was Potter this, Potter that. Harry eventually started getting mad at the change and started calling Severus his last name as well. The boy laughed as he remembered just how flabbergasted the older man was.

Harry finished up his meal then put the dirty dishes into the sink. He felt mighty thirsty after the warm meal. There weren’t many drinks aside from water in Severus’ fridge, the boy was more so feeling a nice, cold cup of milk instead. It seemed like a waste to dirty another cup so he grabbed the one used by Severus just before. As he started to drink he noticed a sponge suddenly beginning to float alongside a soap bottle. Seems Snape had some sort of automatic, magic cleaning system when you put dishes in there. He looked down at the teacup…well, it’s too late now, might as well empty it and hope to finish it before the man comes back.

Thirty minutes had passed…yet Severus had not yet returned. The boy really really wanted to go out but his curiosity wasn’t worth a lecture and potentially getting banned from going out on his own ever again. Since he couldn’t explore the outside, he might as well explore the inside then.

He was acquainted with the bathroom, living room/kitchen seemed all clear. There was one place left then, Sev’s room.

The door creaked as Harry poked his head in. The room may have been larger than Harry’s, but it was still basically a cube and much smaller than most places in Harry’s house. Snape was just visiting this town for work, so it made sense that he wasn’t exactly looking for long-term comfort. This is likely some sort of cheap rental house.

There was a desk, chair, two bookshelves that blocked the window and a closet…wait, is that all? How come there was no bed? Does the man sleep while sitting or something? That can’t be good for his spine…Hold on. 

Harry took another short look at the living room. There was a couch with a single pillow at the end, and right next to that was a blanket that had been folded and put on the floor.

…Jeez.

More minutes passed and Snape was still not back, Harry was starting to get worried…but everything must be fine, sure it may have been over an hour since he left, but that Lockhart guy might just live further away.

In order to distract himself, Harry continued messing inside Snape’s room and began searching through his desk. Items for writing such as a feather and ink bottles were inside, as well as a manuscript for the latest work.

The boy leaned back and read the first few pages.

It was a sort of autobiographical work about Gilderoy’s adventure through France and how he saved a herd of unicorns from a dastardly gang of poachers. The story was interesting…but due to his meeting with the man, and the fact that he was apparently robbed by him, it was hard to believe that Lockhart was genuinely as noble as the text wrote. Also, aren’t autobiographies supposed to be written by the person who actually went through the event?

Nevertheless, Harry tried to separate the character in the story from the man he met and continued reading.

Another hour had passed…Severus still wasn’t back. The story wasn’t finished yet so Harry managed to read the work in progress relatively quickly. He wasn’t interested in any of the books on the shelves either. He sat back at the kitchen table and stared at the spot where Severus sat this morning.

He doesn’t know why, but tears began trickling out of him. Harry tried rubbing them away but they continued burning, more and more spilled out. Harry had to take his glasses off due to the tears messing up his sight. Eventually, he finally managed to stop. He felt tired and closed his eyes, unconsciously falling asleep…

Three hours, it took Severus three hours to wrestle the money out of that greedy buffoon. Sometimes he couldn’t believe just how low that Lockhart would stoop just to receive the praise of strangers. He wanted to do so much more, strangle the man until his obnoxiously, shiny teeth popped out, but he was worried that Harry likely sneaked out in his lengthy absence.

He let the blonde man off easy all things considered, this wasn’t the first time Lockhart had sneaked money from someone, Snape had some of his paycheck swiped quite a few times…but from a child?! Severus swore to himself that after this book, their deal was done and he’ll get someone less fame and money hungry.

Severus took a short look around the property, Harry wasn’t here…Oh no, Harry didn’t walk further off and get lost, did he? Severus risked a look inside and sighed with relief. The boy sat at the table, having apparently been napping while the older man was gone.

A few small shakes and Harry woke back up. 

“Lockhart had already spent some, but there are still six galleons left.” the man said. “Potter, from now on do not take your money out unless I’m with you. The villagers are sweet but this could happen-” As Harry awoke and began looking at the man, Severus noticed just how pink Harry’s eyes were. There was also a strange, dry look to his usual squishy looking face. “What happened…?”

Harry shook his head. “Err…Nothing, I just…I dunno…” Harry gripped at his sleeves and tried hiding his eyes. He rubbed at his glasses and put them back on, still averting looks with the man.

“...Were you scared on your own?”

“I- I wasn’t scared…I just…I dunno!” Harry suddenly yelled, he hadn’t meant to, it just came out loudly. Harry turned his head, shoving against Severus’ chest. “Go away…” The man took a few steps away, but was still standing close to the boy.

After a while Harry gave him short glances, his cheeks were puffed up in a pout and his eyes seemed to be watering again.

Severus slowly bent down and stuck out his hands, his palms completely flat and facing up.

“...I wasn’t scared.” Harry repeated.

Severus didn’t speak, his hands still outstretched. Harry shyly raised his own hands, he put on his meanest face possible and lay his fists against the older man’s palms. Severus’ hands closed, gently holding the boy.

“I’m sorry.”

“...” Harry’s fists folded open, his tiny little fingers poking through the gaps between Severus’ much larger ones. “...Don’t go away…”