As Potter is to Snape

Chapter 23

Several days later, Harry found himself in his room, staring at the ceiling. Not because he had been sent there, but only because he had come to really like his room here in the manor. Especially since Snape had given him his door back two days ago. It amazed Harry to think that only a month and a half ago, he was sleeping on his dingy bed in Dudley's second bedroom. He had nothing of his in that room except for the spellbooks and his quill and ink bottle, and those things had had to be hidden under the loose floorboard underneath his bed.

Only a month and a half. Six weeks. How had the time passed so quickly? So much had changed in such a short amount of time. Harry no longer had to sneak food while the Dursley's were sleeping. He could eat all he wanted here, and Snape didn't seem to mind in the slightest. And he had never once been locked inside his room. At first he had taken to checking the door when he was sent there but it had always been unlocked. And now that he was thinking about it, he had only even been sent to his room a handful of times since he'd been here. Snape much preferred letting him stew in the corner for a bit before lecturing him about whatever he had been sent there for.

Lectures! Harry thought that those might be the worst part about living with Snape. They were awful! Harry was sure that, were it possible, his ears would fall off if he had to hear one more time about how that Harry shouldn't leave his laundry on the bathroom floor, or about how important it was for Harry to study and really apply himself this year instead of slacking off like he usually did. Harry really thought that if Snape would ever give her a chance, he would find that he and Hermione actually had quite a bit in common.

Harry rolled over onto his side, causing his glasses to dig into the side of his face a bit. Snape would tell him to take them off so that he didn't bend the frames, but Harry didn't want to be unable to see. Besides, Snape couldn't dictate every little thing about his life. And he wasn't here anyway.

Snape had been downstairs in his lab all morning and today was the first day since he had been grounded that Harry hadn't been with him. They had worked really hard over the last few days to finish up all the potions that Madam Pomfrey had asked for and Harry had enjoyed the work. That was also something that surprised Harry. He had been grounded and unable to go flying, and yet, he hadn't felt like he had really been punished at all. He supposed he could argue that aside from flying, he hadn't really done much outside of the manor anyway, but his grounding had been different at Hogwarts. There the restrictions had been the same, except he had felt more isolated and alone. But that was when he and Snape weren't getting along.

Could that be the reason that this time felt different? Snape had spent a lot of time with him over the last few days, and as much as he might try to deny it, he had really liked spending time with the older man. It had felt almost normal to sit with him in the lab and work alongside him as they brewed the potions. They would spend the morning after breakfast there and then take a break for lunch. Sometimes Harry went back to the lab with him, and other times he retreated to his room or the library to read. When Snape was done for the day, they would have dinner and then play chess while they had their evening tea.

Twice now, Snape and Harry had made lunch or dinner together. Both times though, Snape tried to talk to Harry about his time with the Dursley's, but Harry always clammed up or tried to change the subject. That was one of the reasons that he wasn't with him this morning. The last time Snape had brought them up had been last night while making dinner and Harry was afraid that Snape would try to get him to talk about things again today. But Harry didn't want to relive the worst times of his life! He just wanted to forget about it and move on and he didn't understand why Snape wouldn't just drop it! If he wasn't going to have to go back there, why did Snape keep bringing it up?

A knock on his door pulled Harry from his thoughts. Snape opened the door and stepped inside. "If you'll come downstairs, there's a letter waiting for you."