Chapter Text
With Severus, Harry and Regulus - Spinner's End, Cokeworth
Harry as always, woke at the crack of dawn. He was confused and beyond disoriented upon seeing he wasn't in Dudley's spare room before remembering what all had happened the previous night. The bed and pillows were soft, the blankets warm and the room was comfy. These are the first things to greet him, all of which he found unusual...his bed at the Dursley's is not any of those things, let alone the size of a bed that is appropriate for a boy his age. The following thing he picked up on was Hedwig holding vigil over him from her perch on the bed frame. Harry gave her a gentle smile as she flew down and landed on his pillow.
"Hey Hedwig," he greeted softly, reaching to run his fingers down her feathered coat.
Hedwig hooted brightly at her charge and kept a close eye on him as he stood from his bed.
"I'll bring you up a plate of food," Harry whispered, sleep still in his voice, "I don't know what rules the Professor will have me follow."
Hedwig hooted and flew out the window, opting to hunt for mice around the area while she scoped the area out...her chick needs to be safe and now that she could do so freely she would protect him at all costs.
Meanwhile Harry found the door to the bathroom ajar and let himself in after knocking. Harry was surprised to find a toothbrush, toothpaste and even a cup with said materials already there for him. He finished brushing his teeth and restroom routine and headed down the stairs. He half expected to find Regulus on the couch when he went down, but to his relief the bottom floor was blessedly empty. Making his way to the kitchen, Harry began planning in his head what it was that he was going to do for breakfast. He had to prove he isn't useless as the Professor thinks he is at school. He found and managed to figure out the percolator, took out some eggs, toast and bacon. But before he cracked the first egg, Harry had a sudden thought of what if the Professor is not one to eat breakfast? He'd never really paid attention as to what the professors had for breakfast, so Harry had clearly no idea as to what it was that the Professor even liked in terms of food. Harry didn't have to wait long to wonder however, while he was deep in thought he forgot he'd left the pan on the stove with the burner on. He realized his mistake when the smell of hot pan hit his nose from its place on the burner.
He raced to turn the stove off and place the pan in the sink as he'd been doing for years when he burnt food. The only thought going through his head being that Snape did not smell that the pan had been left on a high heat. Unfortunately this was not the case, Harry heard the thumping of hurried feet on hardwood floors as the man himself ran into the kitchen to find smoke in the air and Harry at the sink.
"What in the bloody blazes is going on here!?" Boomed an irritated and alarmed, barefooted and pajama clad Severus Snape.
Harry stood ramrod straight, gaze fixed on the linoleum as he quietly answered, "I was going to make breakfast."
"Wuzzgoinon? Whozatt screamin'?" Asked a clearly still half-asleep Regulus.
"Potter seems to have found it fit to meander in my kitchen," Severus stated, voice ice cold, "What were you thinking!? Were you thinking at all? Do you have any idea what could have happened if anything had gone wrong!?"
Regulus wanted to intercept but didn't think it was his place to, not this early on in his reappearance at least. But having grown up in a fucked up environment himself, Reg noticed the boy's stiffness and pointedly glued stare on the floor.
Harry to his credit held his own exploding temper in knowing full well that this was the risk he ran when he got to work in the morning. He risked peek and what he saw was not Snape but his red faced uncle, hands out ready to reach for him.
Severus in the heat of the moment, looked about the kitchen and calmed down a fraction at seeing that nothing had actually happened aside from an overheated pan. But the fire had been lit, and the man was on a roll with the train of thought on top of that starting to believe that maybe taking this particular child in was a mistake. He was about to give the boy a thorough lecture on privacy and kitchen safety when noticed the boy had started shaking.
Harry bit his lip and closed his eyes tight, the tirade is for sure coming along with a beating. His uncle is not forgiving, the only saving grace was that he didn't have his belt on him to pull off his waist giving him some time to make a run for it before getting his hide tanned. Harry kept plotting his route in his head as to how he would give a go at outrunning his uncle when he felt hands over his own. Harry instantly looked up to find pitch black eyes staring at him wide with an emotion the he could not identify.
"Come back Harry," his professor's voice called, low and soft, "You're not there anymore."
"I'm sorry uncle I won't do it again," Harry said, voice trembling but the script seemed as if rehearsed, "I'll be faster next time."
Regulus stilled at what the boy had said and the glare he shot Severus could have melted metal. He knows his friend has a past with Potter the elder, but he never thought it would translate to a literal child, no matter if it was the child of his worst enemy. On that note, the eldest Black brother made his way to the stove and took the coffee pot with a mug along with him to the sitting room leaving Severus and Harry alone. He'd tear Severus a new one after he settled the boy down.
Harry looked around seeing that this was not his aunt's well expensive looking kitchen, with its baby blue and white walls. Instead what he was were the faded colors of a wallpaper that needs changing surrounding a round table built to fit four people and a humble kitchen that looked built to be a good home instead of the room where Harry is sure to have his first beating.
Severus realized too late what he'd done, or nearly done. The boy's stance reminded him of another he knew quite intimately, and the similarities between the two left a bad taste in his mouth. He'd on one end sworn to not be like his father and yet here he was already mucking things up before they even had a proper start.
"Harry," he started again, his voice gentler, "You're not with your aunt and uncle anymore. You are at Spinner's End Cokeworth, I went to get you from your aunt and uncle's home."
The more he spoke the more Harry seemed to calm down. He looked at the Professor a bit more clearly now and fully realized where exactly he is and felt embarrassment run up his spine like a cold whip.
"I have other be useful," Harry murmured, his gaze going back to the floor, "Have'ta prove it."