Troubles With A Neighbor

Harry sat in his cupboard with his eyes closed. It was just a week ago that Mrs. Figg had moved away and that lead to one thing. Where would he go if the Dursley's wanted to leave him somewhere? That was the first thing that came to the mind of Vernon Dursley

"So now where are we going to leave that little brat?!" Harry's uncle was furious. To Harry's option, he always was. And if his uncle was mad, Harry was hurt.

For his uncle whipped him whenever he was mad.

"Honey, it will be okay. I was told by Mrs. Figg that a man she knew was moving into the house," Harry's aunt and uncle were having a conversation outside of his cupboard. That was a bad thing for Harry.

"It was that little brat's fault, wasn't it?" Vernon kicked the cupboard door when he yelled. Harry's eyes snapped opened.

"No, she said-"

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF HIM!" That was it. Harry's uncle threw the cupboard door open and jerked Harry out. Harry whimpered when his uncle threw him onto the floor.

"What, can't handle a little pain? What about this?" His uncle had taken off the belt he was wearing and slapped Harry on his back. His shirt tore. Harry cried out in pain.

Pentunia walked out of the room as Vernon started to whip Harry again. Harry's Cousin Dudley walked in and started to watch with amusement.

"Watch and learn son, watch and learn..." Harry's uncle lifted his belt to give his last whip. Harry stayed still.

It came down full force.

Right onto Harry's face.

Darkness.

"Are you sure Severus?" A pause, " Okay, we will drop him off in a minute. Thank you very much," Harry's aunt hung up the phone and turned to him.

"You just better stick with the story about you trying to ride Dudley's bike or your uncle will slap you silly. Got it?" Harry nodded quickly.

"Good. Now, lets go," his aunt grabbed her coat and walked out the door. Harry followed.

Outside Harry stayed behind his aunt, walking slowly as he did. He didn't want to be stuck with the Dursleys all day but he didn't want to be with a stranger either.

His aunt opened the car and got into the driver's seat. Harry jumped into the back seat carefully remembering the incident when he tried to sit in the front seat. Harry didn't even have enough time to put on his seat belt before his aunt pulled the car onto the street.

"When you go over there you are required to do whatever Severus tells you to do. Got it?"

"Yes Aunt Petunia, I got it."

"Good," she turned onto a driveway and opened her door. Harry slowly got out. His aunt grabbed him by his hand and pulled him towards the door. Before she could knock, the door flew open.

"Hello Severus."

The man in the doorway had straight, black hair that went down to his shoulders. His face was flat with the exception of his nose. He wore baggy blue jeans and a loose black shirt.

"Welcome Petunia," His voice was higher-pitched than Harry's uncle's yells but lower-pitched than Dudley's squeals.

"I will be able to pick him up by nine. Thanks again," she pushed Harry forward into the house. Severus glared down at him and ground his teeth. Harry gulped.

"Okay, I hope you have a good time," he continued to look down at Harry as he spoke. Petunia only nodded and walked back to the car and drove away as quickly as possible.

"Well, what are you waiting for; an invitation?" Severus grabbed him by his hand and pulled him into the living room. Harry noticed that his grip was tight.

"What should I call you, sir?" Harry tried to speak loudly but this man spooked him. The sooner he got out, the better.

"Snape."

"Okay Mr. Snape,"

"No, just Snape."

"Okay, Snape."

Snape let go at Harry and went into the kitchen. Harry stood still not knowing what to do.

"So, stealing your cousin's bike and taking it for a spin must have been fun, yeah?" Snape walked back into the living room and sat down into a chair. He sipped on the iced tea that he had brought from the journey into the kitchen. Harry looked down to the floor.

"I guess, sir-Snape."

"What do you mean, guess so?"

"I'm not sure."

"Oh, so you are unsure on how to feel about being bad? Just like your father, I would say," Harry looked up to Snape.

"W-what? You knew my father?"

"Yes, and I am sorry to say that I did. He and his friends made fun of me and played tricks on me, bunch of idiots," Harry narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Well, I see why," Snape lowered his iced tea and glared back at Harry.

"Yes, just like your father, you are. Rude, self-centered, spoiled-" Harry opened his mouth as he heard what Snape was saying. He started to walk out of the room but Snape placed his iced tea down and followed him.

"What, can't handle the truth?" Harry stopped walking and turned around to face Snape.

"How would you know the truth? I don't even know me? We just met!" Harry raised his hands and fiercely shook them in the air. Snape opened his mouth to say something but then closed it.

"I guess you're right...I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I guess I over reacted too. So, how did you know my dad?" Harry lowered his hands and followed Snape into the living room again. Snape sat down and motioned for Harry to sit too. He sat on a chair across from Snape.

"Well, we went to the same school. The school that I so happened to work at for 14 years..." Snape stopped abruptly, which made Harry curious.

"Well, is the school close by?" Conversation was always good to cheer up a person.

"No, it is in another country...I think," Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Do you still work there?" Snape turned his head slightly.

"No, I was sent away because of a certain...change..."

"A change? What kind of change?" Harry leaned forward getting interested in this *change*.

"Well, a person came back," Snape was speaking softly now and was staring at the floor as he talked.

"Just a person? You were sent away from you job just because a person came back?" Snape's head jerked up from and he glared at Harry.

"Yes, and it so happens he's a killer, thank you very much. Now excuse me, I need to go fill out some papers," Snape stood up and marched out of the room. Awhile later, there was a sound as Snape slammed a door. Harry sat there motionless.

"A...killer?"

Snape stayed in his room working the whole time. Harry came by it, knocked, and asked if he could do anything but all Snape said was, "I don't care as long as you leave me alone,"

Harry apologized for early but Snape gave no answer. Harry cursed slightly under his breath and stomped away.

Harry decided that it was a nice day and it smelled too much of cats in the house (Mrs. Figg loved cats) so he went outside, closing the back door behind him.

"I wonder who this killer is..." Harry whispered to himself as he lay down on the spiky grass. He closed his eyes imagining a tall man in a large black cloak holding a knife. The mysterious man slithered closer and closer...

Suddenly there were soft snores coming from Harry's chest.

Snape dabbed his quill into his bottle of ink and then continued to write his letter to Dumbledore. Just seeing Mr. Potter had made Severus jump quite a bit. Just at one look, you would have sworn it was a younger James Potter, Harry's father, except those stunning green eyes Harry had inherited from his mother.

Snape shook his head and continued with his letter. Dumbledore had told him that he was to contact him whenever he saw or heard news of Harry. In his letter, he decided to inform Dumbledore about the bruise on Mr. Potter's face. He had learned from living with Muggles you usually hurt your hands when you fell off of a bike. In this case, only Harry's face and back were bruised.

Snape went again to dab his quill in the inkbottle but his eyes trailed up to the window. A small brown barn owl was flying towards him at an extremely fast speed. He got up from his chair and stepped back. The owl came hurtling onto his desk, dropping a letter it had in its beak. It screeched once and then without another sound, the owl left.

Curious, Snape picked up the letter. He saw that it was clearly addressed to him for it didn't just state his name but his house address and his sleeping area. Turning it around he saw that the Hogwarts' crest was right above Dumbledore's seal. Snape opened it quickly, wondering why Dumbledore would send him mail in a hurry.

Severus,

I have just received word from the Ministry of Magic that Voldemort has been seen in your area. All that they found was a small note that was left in a dead victim's house. It had only four words written upon it that had been written in blood.

THE BOY IS MINE

You know what that means. Keep an extra eye out for him and make sure that when you are with him that he is always inside. And for the Dursley's, tell them to also keep an extra eye out. Just make sure that he is never alone. Never.

Albus Dumbledore

Snape placed down the letter and as fast as he could and then ran from his room. He jumped down the stairs and searched the house for Harry. When he had looked everywhere, his eyes fell upon the back door.

It was open.