AN: Apologies for the delay in publishing this chapter, I was out of Internet range leading a summer camp. I hope you like it.

Chapter Four: Friends and Other Problems

After Snape's departure Harry spent two quiet hours on his summer work, choosing to finish his essay on History of Magic first to get his most boring subject out of the way. He found he quite enjoyed the silence in the dungeons, it finally gave him a chance to think away from the entire ruckus at Grimmauld Place and the meetings between Order members where he felt mostly ignored. For right now, he decided, he could afford to be cautiously optimistic, although a part of him was used to waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Some time later, Harry was just scrawling down his plan for the concluding paragraph, Snape returned and the two sat down in the kitchen for lunch.

"Anything in particular you would like?" Snape asked.

Harry was less surprised by the courtesy than he would have been two days ago, but it still took him a moment to answer, "Not really, whatever you feel like is fine, sir."

Snape raised an eyebrow but he didn't comment. A few seconds later one of the school house elves returned with what Snape had ordered, Spaghetti Bolognese and some garlic bread for the two of them to share. The smell made Harry's mouth water and his stomach grumbled, suddenly seeming to remember how little he'd had to eat recently.

Carefully waiting for his Professor to start first he dug into his own food with gusto. As he was finishing the last bites off his plate Snape interrupted the surprisingly comfortable silence.

"Did you manage to get some work done?"

"Yeah I planned out my History of Magic essay," Harry responded, glad that he had followed instructions.

To his surprise Snape actually wrinkled his nose when he said the name of the subject, "Never liked that ghost, even when I was a student."

"Binns was already teaching when you were a student here?" Harry asked. He hadn't really considered that Snape had been young once too, but now that he thought about it he realised the man was significantly younger than the rest of the faculty. Around thirty maybe? Certainly not old yet…

"I'm not that old you know," Snape sounded amused.

Harry still ducked his head instinctively at the slight rebuke and mumbled a quick "sorry sir."

Snape sighed. "Maybe we should dispense of some of the formalities while you are staying here. There is no need to call me sir, although I expect your newfound manners to return once we find ourselves back in my classroom come September first."

Harry's head shot back up in surprise. Snape wanted to be less formal? Well then… "Could you call me Harry? I mean you did yesterday si- umm"

Snape's lip actually twitched, "If you cease with the sirs I shall endeavour to call you Harry, although old habits may be hard to break."

After their dishes had been cleared by Millie, whom Snape had called, the Professor once again turned to Harry. "Was there anything in particular that you would like to do today?"

"Well I was wondering if I could visit Hagrid but you said not to go out on the grounds on my own," Harry trailed off not wanting to ask for an escort directly.

"I can walk you," Snape returned easily, "and I'm sure Hagrid would be happy to walk you back to our quarters afterwards." A secret thrill went through Harry at the pronoun Snape had chosen to use, but he tried not to show any reaction on his face.

"If you're sure you don't mind, I don't want to interrupt what you're doing," Harry said. He was quite curious what Snape's job was during the summer and as the Order's spy he had to know more than most everyone else.

As always Snape seemed to guess what Harry was up to and didn't respond, only gesturing for him to stand and to leave the rooms. Together they walked through corridors in silence but Harry thought he might be starting to recognise the twists and turns of the dungeons leading to Snape's rooms.

Once they had left behind the chill of the dungeons for the corridors of the upper levels Harry tried again, "You seem very busy for it being the summer holidays and all."

Snape just grunted non-committedly and Harry figured he might as well give up on fishing for information. The man was hardly going to let anything slip accidentally and he didn't seem inclined to talk right now.

A few minutes later they reached Hagrid's hut and Snape knocked on the door firmly. The sound was immediately met with scratching and snuffling and as soon as the door opened Fang nearly knocked Harry over, slobbering all over the T-shirt and jeans Harry was wearing.

"Hey boy. Calm, calm," he laughed trying to pat the dog's head and regain his feet simultaneously. Snape gave him a hand up and then turned to address Hagrid who had appeared in the doorway of his hut.

"Hagrid," he greeted and the giant nodded back. "Could I ask you to walk Harry back to the castle after his visit? I'm afraid Dumbledore requires my presence elsewhere tonight."

"Course, course, pr'fessor. You sure you don't want to come in for a cuppa?" the half giant asked in his rumbling voice.

"I'm afraid I can't. Another time Hagrid." And with another nod and a "be good" to Harry Snape turned, walking not towards the castle but to the front gates. Harry watched him for a while, full of curiosity about what the man was up to.

"Come in, come in," Hagrid finally said jovially and gave Harry a pat on the shoulder that reverberated through his whole body. "I just put the kettle on."

Harry followed Hagrid inside and took a moment to appreciate how safe he felt in this hut. Here was a place his adventures at Hogwarts had yet to taint with any feeling of danger and a man who had been nothing but kind since Harry had first met him. Hagrid, he could be certain, would not betray him and truly liked him for who he was, not his Boy-Who-Lived fame.

Hagrid patted a stool, which Harry took a seat in, then clattered around for a bit. Finally he produced two large mugs and a plate of his infamous rock cakes. Harry picked one up, careful to only nibble on it and dunked it in his tea frequently.

"So how's your summer been? Been hearing lots of different rumours," Hagrid said.

And somehow it all began pouring out. Harry told him about his time at Privet Drive, how horribly abandoned he had felt not hearing any word but only vague hints of Voldemort's movements from his friends. He even admitted that he had kept his eye on the Muggle news trying to get any hint of what was going on.

Then he told Hagrid about his arrival at Grimmauld Place, how mad he'd been that everyone had been together and told him nothing, only to be faced with a hearing that changed everything all over again.

"So that's it really," Harry laughed without any humour, "been a quiet summer."

Throughout all of this Hagrid had been patting his arm sympathetically. The half-giant was a good listener and had sensed the teen needed to get some things off his chest and had not interrupted.

"Ah Harry it's not right, all the things you have to go through."

"Yeah but it's not like I can do anything to change them. Somehow these things just always happen to me," Harry said full of melancholy.

"Professor Snape will look out for you," Hagrid said full of confidence.

For once Harry wasn't inclined to disagree despite the many accusations he had previously levelled against the Potions Professor. "He's been surprisingly okay," Harry admitted.

"The professor has had a lot of difficult things to go through as well," Hagrid stated unusually enigmatically for him.

Harry considered the words for a moment. He knew spying must take a toll, Snape hardly looked to be in the best health, always pale and stressed, but he hadn't really spared it much thought. Now he felt concern rise up in him. He still didn't like the man but he didn't want him to get hurt either.

"He even offered to swear an Unbreakable Vow to me that he wouldn't hurt me," Harry admitted still impressed by the gesture,

Hagrid appeared to be as well. At his words the giant's mouth had dropped open in clear surprise-

"An Unbreakable Vow? Do you know what the means?" At Harry's nod he continued, "It is very rarely done nowadays of course, very rarely, just too much risk." Hagrid shook his head in disbelief.

"Well I kind of panicked," Harry admitted sheepishly, "I was worried about what he could do to me as my guardian."

Hagrid tsked slightly, "Harry I have told you again and again that Severus Snape was a trustworthy man. If Dumbledore trusts him we all should."

That logic was not one Harry could get behind, one he had never ascribed to. It also brought all of his buried feelings about Dumbledore whirling to the surface.

"Dumbledore himself hasn't been acting very trustworthy you know," Harry nearly spat out. "He won't tell me anything, won't even look at me."

"I'm sure Dumbledore is just trying to protect you Harry, as he always has," Hagrid seemed distinctly uncomfortable with the amount of venom in Harry's voice. "Albus Dumbledore is a great, great man."

Harry considered the words and snorted. Dumbledore had never truly helped him with anything but the aftermath. He had been absent from Hogwarts when they had gone after the stone, suspended when he had fought the basilisk. And in third year he had sent them to rescue his godfather on their own when surely he could've just called for Veritaserum to be administered to Sirius to prove his innocence. As for the last year, Dumbledore had once again hired a teacher who was a danger to the whole student body and then agreed to host an equally dangerous tournament. And now the Headmaster would no longer meet his eye, refused to take guardianship of him when the teacher he'd had the most problems with was willing? Harry decided then and there that he was done with the man.

"Then why didn't he get your name cleared?" Harry asked a new thought suddenly occurring to him. "Surely once Tom Riddle began his reign of terror it was clear that the death of a student at Hogwarts was his fault?"

Hagrid grumbled disapprovingly, "Dumbledore always said he needed me on the grounds. B'sides few people connected Tom Riddle to You-Know-Who and everyone was busy with the war then anyways. After that I was far too old to be a student and I like my job," he stated gruffly.

Although Harry had his doubts about the validity of his points he knew that anything he said would not change Hagrid's mind. So he changed the subject suddenly remembering what Hagrid had said at the end of last year. "Do you have any plans for the summer?"

Immediately the half-giant's face took on a secretive expression that would never fool anyone, "This and that. Dumbledore's keeping me busy," he answered with a big wink.

"Anything you can tell me about?" Harry asked trying his best to imitate the puppy dog eyes he had seen Dudley give his Aunt so many times.

"Ah I'm not supposed to but what's the harm? I'm going to do some travelling with Madame Maxime." Hagrid blushed a dark red at the mention of the woman's name.

"Travelling eh?" Harry said cheekily.

"Now, now. Nothing like that. We're going on a mission."

Harry's curiosity was aroused, "Whereabouts are you going?"

"North-east Minsk, last I heard," Hagrid had lowered his voice.

Harry frowned, "That's in Belarus right? That sounds dangerous…" While he had no illusions about the fact that Death Eaters would not hesitate to kill in this war he did not want any of his friends risking their lives.

"Yeah, lot's of very interesting creatures there," Hagrid's eyes gleamed and for a moment he seemed conflicted about saying more.

Harry pressed his advantage, "Anything in particular you're interested in?"

Hagrid visibly gave in, lowering his voice to a near whisper as he responded, "Giants."

Harry wasn't nearly as quiet, "Giants? Giants? Hagrid you can't go after giants! That's insane!"

"Shush, shush we're not going after them. We're trying to form an alliance with them. Dumbledore thinks if Madame Maxime and I go, you know with our ancestry, we'll be more convincing than any Death Eaters that You-Know-Who decides to send."

That actually made sense to Harry, despite all attempts of Hogwarts at being open-minded he knew people generally responded better to people of their own kind, whether that be someone of the same House, social class or species. The Dursleys alone had taught him that prejudice was alive and well in the world and the Malfoys' treatment of people they considered to be of lesser blood had proven prejudice was not just a Muggle problem.

"And you won't be in danger?" He asked again, growing more worried at the shifty look he got in response to that question.

"The giants are proud people and prefer to stay amongst themselves. They're not a fan of any outsiders. But Harry, going is my decision and I believe it is worth doing. You-Know-Who has to be stopped and the giants could really make all the difference." Hagrid eyed him unusually sternly his expression, his voice more serious than Harry could ever recall.

"I – all right. Just be careful please." Harry knew that he had to let Hagrid make his own decisions but he was still terrified about losing any of his friends.

From there talk turned to lighter subjects as Hagrid enthusiastically related tales of the creatures he had tended to in the Forbidden Forest and which ones he planned to introduce the class to, some of which slightly worried Harry.

Soon night began to fall outside the window and the two began to make their way back to the castle, pausing only for a short stop in Hagrid's gardens, which currently featured oversized peppers and aubergines that were destined for a vegetable pie at the beginning of the next school year.

Hagrid led Harry back to the entrance of Snape's quarters (Harry couldn't help wondering how he knew where they were) and then bid him goodnight. Walking back through the door behind the false portrait Harry couldn't immediately see Snape either in the living room or the kitchen.

Remembering what the man had said about the wards only letting Harry in if Snape was in the rooms he knocked on the door of the study hesitantly.

A moment later Snape opened the door, looking a bit confused at seeing Harry standing there. His overall appearance almost made Harry laugh but he managed to fight the urge. Snape had clearly been pouring over some books and taking notes, he had a large ink smear on his left cheek and strands of his normally straight hair had somehow managed to stand up at different angles giving him a slight resemblance to a half-plucked chicken.

"Hagrid just brought me back, I thought I'd let you know," Harry quashed the instinct to add a 'sir' to the end of the sentence.

"It's dinnertime already?" Snape took out a pocket watch from his robes to confirm. "I must have lost track of time. Would you mind ordering us a meal, I'll be right along."

After some hesitation Harry called Millie to the kitchen.

"What can I dos for you Master Harry," she enquired squeakishly.

"Umm could you bring us something Professor Snape likes for dinner?" Harry asked.

"Right away Master Harry." Before Harry could thank the elf she had disappeared with another 'pop.'

As soon as Snape arrived in the kitchen, his appearance returned to its usual self, plates of food appeared on the table. A meat Harry didn't recognise in orangey-brown sauce was served with noodles.

"You ordered Beef Stroganoff?" Snape asked clearly surprised.

"I asked the house elf for something you liked," Harry explained slightly embarrassed.

Snape gave him a searching look but did not comment further. Harry found himself enjoying the food immensely and hoped he would have a chance to have it again while he was living with his Potions Master.

"Is it Russian?" Harry guessed based off the name.

"Indeed, Millie prepares it according to an old family recipe."

"Your family is Russian?" Harry was surprised, he hadn't pictured the prickly man with family at all.

"A century ago the Snape family fled from Russia, at much the same time that the Tsar's family attempted to do so. Eventually they settled down in the Wales, where they finally felt free from any persecution and began to rebuild their lives."

Harry took a moment to consider the information. He hadn't thought that Snape would be willing to share personal information with him at all. He also didn't know too much about Russian history but from what Snape had said he guessed the family must have been quite influential.

"These came for you today as well," Snape pulled out three letters. "Owls cannot deliver post to the dungeons so I generally receive my post through the fireplace. It would appear yours has been redirected in the same way."

Harry took the letters and looked through the three of them, opening the one with the Hogwarts seal on it first.

Inside was the usual invitation to return to Hogwarts at the beginning of the next school year as well as a list of textbooks, considerably shorter than any from previous years. Also included was a short note from McGonagall stating:

Congratulations Mr Potter, you have been selected as Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain for the upcoming school year. It is up to you to organise try-outs and practices and I wish you all the best, especially as I have grown rather used to having the Quidditch Cup in my office.

Regards,

Professor McGonagall

Harry stared at the note rather uncertain how he felt about it. He had always loved Quidditch, true, but at the same time he felt that now that Voldemort was back maybe it wasn't the time for spending so much of his time playing a game. He already had Snape who would be training him in Defence, how much more time would he have left to organise the team, especially when they were used to Wood's intense schedule and tactics? Considering it was their O.W.L. year, as Hermione kept reminding them, and Snape had demanded schoolwork be put first he foresaw many late nights in his future.

Deciding to worry about the whole scheduling issue later Harry opened the second letter and immediately recognised Hermione's neat and organised script.

Dear Harry,

I'm a bit worried that you haven't written to anyone yet. Mrs Weasley did tell you to write that everything was fine didn't she? Anyway, I hope you and Snape are getting along (and that you're keeping your temper under wraps). I know you have some problems with him right now but if you think anything is wrong please talk to the Headmaster, I'm sure he just wants to help. Just try not to antagonise Snape and I'm sure you'll be all right, it's not too much longer until the school year begins again and then he is no longer your guardian.

I'm still looking into the legalities of the Ministry taking guardianship at all but so far it's not looking good. Apparently Wizarding Law allows far more leeway with the treatment of minors, especially when it comes to ones who have no official Wizarding Guardians only Muggles who have little power to object.

On another note Ron and I have been made the Gryffindor prefects for the next year. It's a bit strange that Dumbledore didn't choose you but I'm sure he had his reasons… Please try to understand, this is very important for Ron, you know, with his family…

Hope to hear from you soon,

Hermione

Hermione's words frustrated Harry on a number of levels. Firstly her constant need to respect authority figures, no matter their actions, shone through the letter. Then she also seemed to expect Harry to be responsible for any problems he and Snape might have, despite having witnessed years of Snape's unfair treatment. He also hadn't forgiven either of his two closest friends for leaving him completely out of the loop for the whole summer. Still the overall impression Harry got from the letter was concern, slightly badly expressed maybe, but concern for a friend nonetheless.

He reached for the second letter, knowing by his scrawled name on the front that this one was from Ron.

Hey Harry,

Hope you're doing all right. Guess what mate? I'm a prefect! I still can't quite believe it, Mum totally flipped. She even said she might be able to afford to buy me a new broom! I hope you don't mind, everyone totally thought it would be you…No hard feelings right?

We'll see you soon for the beginning of the school year,

Ron

It was harder to find the positives in his oldest friend's words. Ron seemed more worried about his own new prefect's badge than what could be happening to him at Snape's hands. Yes Snape had been surprisingly decent so far but none of them had expected that given their history. To Harry it seemed like Ron was too caught up in his own success to care much about him.

And the Prefects badge? Why had that gone to Ron? Harry wondered. Previously he hadn't given it much thought but it irked him that Ron and Hermione would be Prefects together, without him. He'd won the Triwizard Tournament hadn't he? What exactly had Ron done more than him to deserve that badge? Or was this simply another way for Dumbledore to show that he didn't trust Harry? Trusted him enough to be Quidditch Captain but not with any real responsibility?

Snape cleared his throat, effectively drawing Harry out of his thoughts. "Anything in particular you're frowning about?"

"My friends," Harry said, not feeling like elaborating on the subject.

"Dumbledore mentioned that they seemed concerned and asked that you write to them to reassure them of your continued well-being," Snape informed him. That did nothing to cool Harry's rising temper.

"Well Dumbledore can go to hell," he burst out. "And they can damn well wait for a response with how long they left me hanging this summer. Now that they're the ones who are left out they suddenly think owl post is a safe way to communicate information?"

"Language," Snape admonished sternly.

"I don't fucking care about my language," Harry shouted abruptly losing all self-control and completely forgetting who he was with.

Snape stood up so abruptly that their dishes clattered on the table and turned to his kitchen cupboards, grabbing an unlabelled jar and a spoon. Harry meanwhile, with dawning horror, realised who exactly he had just screamed at.

"I – I'm sorry," he tried.

Snape only gave his repentant expression a cursory glance before he moved closer. "I do not know or care what expectations your previous guardians had of you. I will not tolerate that attitude or that language in my quarters."

Harry gulped. "It seems you are about to enjoy another of my family's old recipes." With that Snape opened the jar and grabbed a serving of the brown paste with a spoon.

"What – " Before Harry could complete the question Snape had dumped the spoonful in his mouth, quick as a snake and removed the spoon again.

"One minute," Snape stated once again pulling out his pocket watch.

Harry's mouth immediately began to water and tears started to gather in his eyes. He wasn't sure exactly what the concoction had in it but it managed to be both the spiciest and most disgusting thing he had ever tasted. Definitely mustard but something else as well. As the seconds seemed to pass in agonising slowness Harry unconsciously started tapping on the balls of his feet, desperate to escape the sensation.

Finally, finally, Snape nodded towards the sink and Harry ran towards it, spitting the paste out then turning to grab the proffered water pitcher to gurgle with.

"Gah that's awful! What was that?" he complained.

"As I said a family recipe," Snape returned with a smirk. "I trust you are more collected now?"

"Yeah." Harry did not want to try that again any time soon.

"So are you going to write back to your friends?" Snape inquired.

Harry considered the question carefully but then remembered that Snape had objected to his language and attitude but not what he had actually said so he decided to give honesty a go. "I don't want to."

"Perhaps it would be wise to consider that we are about to enter into a war? In times like these it is important to cultivate your assets and not disband from them due to a petty argument," Snape advised.

Harry gaped at him for a second. What kind of Slytherin worldview was that? He couldn't imagine evaluating his friends so emotionlessly, as if they didn't matter at all but were simply a means to help him defeat Voldemort.

He said as much, "They're my friends, they're not assets."

"And friends write each other letters do they not?" Harry was caught and by the gleam in Snape's eyes the man knew it too.

"I don't want to," he eventually returned petulantly, knowing that he had lost the argument either way.

"Don't be childish," Snape told him harshly.

"I don't care what you say, I don't want to write to them!" And before Harry could allow himself to reconsider the wisdom of such an action he ran to the entrance to Snape's quarters and slammed the door behind him.

Having escaped much of his bravado quickly dissipated and he wasn't sure where to go so he began to wander the corridors aimlessly. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He felt like he was on a constant emotional rollercoaster that seemed solely designed to ruin any progress he had been making. They'd had a conversation at dinner, Snape had told him about his family! That was more than Harry had ever expected from the man and yet he'd still felt the need to get into a stupid argument.

And he just knew that leaving the dungeons without informing Snape of his goal would only get him into more trouble, just after he'd been punished too. The thought of that brought a squirming of shame to his stomach, mainly because he hadn't intended to lose control like that. That seemed too be happening a lot recently.

Then, there was his greatest worry. What if Snape decided that he was too much trouble after all? The man had volunteered to be his guardian so surely he could reverse the decision just as easily. A small part of Harry had been hoping the two of them were getting along well enough so Snape might even stay his guardian in the school year. Of course a big part of him was also determined not to end up in a detention cell. Although he hadn't been sure at first Snape was definitely the better option to that.

Defeated Harry finally found corridor he recognised and slumped to the floor in front of the Gryffindor portrait. Why did he always mess things up?

Meanwhile in the dungeons Snape was rubbing the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off the headache he could feel coming on. He had hoped that they might be able to prevent too many arguments but that had clearly been optimistic. He was surprised that Potter, no Harry, had stormed out in reaction to his words not the punishment he had received.

Silently he cursed Dumbledore for leaving the boy alone at his Muggle relatives' house after such a traumatic school year and then denying him true comfort from his friends as well. Clearly the decision had not done wonders for Harry's emotional well-being. Surprisingly the one matter he and the mutt seemed to agree on was the need for Harry to be better informed, there was no point to keeping him in the dark as the Dark Lord would be coming after the boy not matter what illusions the Headmaster wanted to spin of giving him a childhood.

Still he thought that overall the day had gone well, especially Harry's request that Snape call him by his given name showed a desire for a closer relationship that Snape wanted to encourage. If he was to teach the boy, especially if he wanted to attempt Occlumency and Legilimency, he would need his trust. First though Harry would need to learn to control his temper.

Giving Harry another five minutes to cool down Snape finally stood from the table to go after him.