A True Slytherin

Chapter Four

"Please tell me you know where the Potter's Cottage is, Snape." Potter quickly spoke, glancing warily at the attackers. 'Why does he want to go there?' I wanted to ask him, but judging by his expression, it wasn't a good idea to ask right now. I simply settled with giving a short nod in confirmation.

"Good. Take us there." I really wanted to snap at him, but now wasn't a good time. Instead, I offered my arm and disapparated.

"Thanks." Potter muttered, before walking up to the door. I was kind of surprised to see how new everything still looked after eleven years of not being used. Then again, the house elves probably kept it clean. 'How does he even know of Potter's Cottage? How does he even know how to shield? There's no way he could have learned all that he knows from Petunia.'

"Snape, are you coming? Or are you going to stand there like a statue all day?" Potters voice broke through my thoughts. Looking suspiciously at the boy in front of me, I decided to follow.

Harry POV

I wanted to smack myself. Repeatedly. I hadn't wanted to be forced to show any magical skill in front of Severus, but then I heard death eaters and I saw Luna Lovegood and her father being the main ones targeted. I reacted quickly to protect them, and had no other choice but to continue when Severus appeared and attacked the death eater I had felt come up behind me. Which was a stupidly gryffindor thing to even do. It was a good thing I had learned how to make an emergency portkey for st. Mungos. And since I'm not supposed to know how to apparate, I needed Severus to do it.

I'm just glad I managed to keep my mask of panic up the entire time. It wouldn't do for any of them to find anything out about me. Though now isn't the time. After opening the door, and making sure Severus was the only one keyed into the wards, I turned around to see if he was going to follow me or not. I was met with a suspicious look, and he was watching me as though trying to figure me out. 'Shit, that's not a good sign. I've let him see too much.'

Easily pushing the door silently open, I ignored the house elves and the rest of the cottage and headed straight down the first hallway towards the living room. The living room, I noticed, was done in dark colors. The walls and ceiling were painted a deep purple, and all the furniture is a black leather. The floor, however, was a lighter shade of hardwood. The light came from a simple chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The room itself wasn't large, more of a medium size, with three couches and a chair situated around a medium dark colored table. On the far left wall stood a medium sized fireplace, which was already lit with a small fire. On the wall opposite the doorway there are three medium windows facing the backyard.

"Please have a seat, Snape." I said rather shyly, making a vague gesture towards the loveseat and chair taking a seat myself. I could see his hesitation, before finally sitting down.

"I find you very suspicious. Are you really Potter?" Severus stated, glaring slightly. I blinked before awkwardly looking at the floor, giving off the impression of being excessively nervous. 'Straight to the point, I see.'

"I was curious. When my aunt began to tell me things about this magical world, I wanted to know if it existed. So, I snuck out. Quite often, I would leave the house without them knowing, and after a few weeks, I came across a strange looking person who was muttering to himself about dragons. Seeing the opportunity, I followed him, and found myself in the Leaky Cauldron. After that, I kept returning, to learn more." I spoke confidently, as though all of it was true. 'Hopefully he doesn't realize that I just lied. If he knew the truth of my situation, it would become problematic.' I could almost hear the thoughts moving about in Severus' head, as he continued to look at me. Finally he sat back in the seat, and seemed to be put at ease but still slightly suspicious.

"Very well, I will accept that answer, for now." He drawled out.

"Thank you, Professor." My gaze remained fixed on the floor, feeling Snape's glare still. A few minutes later he abruptly stood and swept out of the house. The moment his magical signature left the wards of the house, I stood and with a scowl went to the basement. The basement had been refurbished at some point to be a proper potions lab. There were two long tables with different cauldrons set up and ready to be used; one table in the very back and the second was in the middle of the room. The right wall was nothing but shelving with a few bottles of potions already made. To the far left was a door leading to a storage room for potion ingredients, most of which were under a stasis charm. Taking note of what potions were on the shelves, I wrote a list of potions I will need to start making. 'Granted, my potion skills are still rather lacking. However, practicing the art will probably help improve that.' Sighing, I turned around and went back upstairs. It was about time to eat something for dinner. Calling for a house elf, I requested for dinner to be sent to the dining room.

Sitting at the table, I summoned a parchment and quill before working on a to do list for tomorrow.

Go to Gringotts and talk to head goblin

Request that a new key is made and Dumbledore be unable to access any and all of my vaults

Remove some money

Go to the ministry and request a change in magical guardian

Obliviate afterwards

Go to Flourish and Blotts

Madam Malkins

Get a snake

'Good enough for me. Now, to eat. Then the library shall be perused.'

It wasn't a huge shock to find that the library comprised of a large collection of both light and dark arts, with a few other random subjects. My main focus, however, was the dark arts. As it happened, the first book I picked up was about defense. With a small hum, I walked over to the wooden desk in the middle of the room, ignoring the other walls crammed with books. It wasn't until well past midnight that I ended up falling asleep in the chair.