Bonds of Affection

Early next morning, Severus Snape was preparing to depart from Hogwarts for the summer, when he heard a tentative knock on his door. He sighed deeply.



“Enter, Potter,” he said unhappily. He had been hoping that it wouldn\'t come to this, but he hadn\'t been holding his breath. The boy was packed – with a school bag around his shoulder, and a small trunk with the caged owl on top of it.



Snape pursed his lips disdainfully. “Where is the rest of your stuff?”



“That\'s it, Sir. I don\'t have anything else.”



Snape did not believe him, not for a moment. The boy must have more stuff hoarded somewhere at Hogwarts, or with his Muggle relatives. He sighed deeply, foreseeing a summer filled with please Sir, may we go back to fetch this or that?



“If you say, so, Potter.”



The teenager appeared to look surprised, but said nothing.



“Must you really do this?” Snape asked coldly, fighting to keep the utter despair out of his voice “Are you telling me that the bond is already demanding that you move into my household?”



Harry shook his head. “No, Sir. I feel no urge to be in the same household with you.”



Snape regarded him curiously. “Then, pray tell, why would you do this?”



The teenager shrugged. “It will eventually. Might as well start adjusting right now. Besides, Voldemort might get suspicious if I am roaming around, while supposedly being enslaved.”



Snape had to admit that the boy made good sense. Oddly enough. He was not used to Harry Potter making sense. It was unnerving.



“Very well,” Snape said finally. “You may come along.”



> > >



They arrived to the Prince Manor only a few hours later.



Gritting his teeth, determined to get it over with as soon as possible, Snape took the boy on a tour, showing him the different rooms. The two libraries, the potions laboratory, the greenhouse, and the store-rooms.



“This is your bedroom,” Snape pointed to one of the rooms at the end of the hall. The bedroom was entirely too large for someone like Potter, but it was the farthest from Snape\'s own, and that was the only thing that mattered. “The room next door is your study.”



The boy stared at him with his eyes wide open. “I ... Sir? I have a bedroom and a study?” he mumbled.



Snape looked at him with despair. “Forgive me for being so presumptuous, Potter – but for some odd reason, I assumed that you were planning to both sleep and study this summer.”



Harry gave him a cautious smile. “Well.. thank you, Sir.”



“You are quite welcome. Settle in, and come out for lunch in half an hour. I will set some rules for you, that will ... minimize my misery.”



At lunch, Snape was watching Harry with a mixture of disdain and sadness. It was utterly uncanny at how many annoying habits a single teenager was capable of exhibiting in such a short period of time.



“Potter,” Snape said sternly. “You are playing with your food. Are you not hungry?”



“Not really, no.”



“Very well. You may set your plate aside and just listen for now.”



Harry pushed his plate away and looked at him questioningly.



“You will arrive to lunch with your hair brushed and your face and hands washed. You will keep your elbows off the table, and chew with your mouth shut. You will not play with your food. No wands at the table. You will dress appropriately for dinner. No reading materials or games at the table at dinner time. If you choose to eat alone, you may simply help yourself to the food in the kitchen, however, if you decide to eat with me, you will follow these rules. Is that clear, so far?”



“Yes, Sir,” Harry said quietly.



“You will get up no earlier than five in the morning, and no later than eight. You will go to bed no later than midnight. You may not have more than two guests visit at once without my permission, and no sleepovers without my permission. You will not snoop through my personal study, you will not steal or damage my property. You will advise me when you are leaving, where you are going, and when you intend to be back. You will not go away for overnight trips without securing my permission first. If you decide that these rules are not to your liking, you will go search for other accommodations.”



Snape finished his monologue and did not bother waiting for a response. He stood up, cleared the table, and walked away.



He did not see the boy until dinnertime. To his surprise, Harry showed up at dinner. He did not even bother to dress properly for dinnertime – he wore a pair of blue jeans and a worn-out hooded shirt. And Harry\'s hair... it looked absolutely ridiculous, and for the first few moments, Snape could not figure out what exactly happened. Then the realization dawned on him – it had been brushed. He had never seen Harry with his hair looking anything other than an unruly, rebellious mop... and as annoying as that had been – this was much, much worse.



Snape bit his tongue, suppressing a disdainful comment. They ate in silence, rather, Snape ate, while Harry wrecked silent chaos upon the food in front of him, barely putting a single piece in his mouth. And then, Snape finally decided he had had enough.



“Get out,” he said quietly. Harry lifted his eyes and stared at him incredulously.



“You obviously don\'t want to be here,” Snape said calmly. “Take your food into the bedroom and eat alone. I will not have you ruining my dinnertimes for the entire summer.”



“Yes, Sir,” Harry said calmly, and stood up, taking his plate. His face was absolutely unreadable.



“Tell me just one thing, Potter,” Snape asked slowly. “If you intend to be absolutely miserable here, why did you come now? Before the bond even demanded your presence here?”



“Because, sooner or later it would,” Harry said quietly. “At least this way, if I do it on my own, before the bond demands it, I feel I have some control left.”



Snape eyed him thoughtfully. That actually made even more sense than the reasons Harry had given previously. Snape wanted to say something – but found himself at a loss for words; and then, a moment later, it was too late. Harry picked up his plate, and walked out, without saying another word.