Dad's gonna kill me," Ron declared, as the two boys watched the battered Ford Anglia disappear into the trees.
"Yeah? Not if mine kills us both first," Harry pointed out, and he was sure he saw the other boy pale slightly. "Come on."
Maybe he won't find out," Ron said, as the two of them jogged up the stone steps and into the castle.
"This is Snape we're talking about," Harry reminded him, as they put down their things. "See you, Hedwig!"
"Well, if he does find out, maybe you should just tell him about all the weird things that've been going on?" his friend suggested.
"Oh, yeah. 'Sorry that Ron and I stole a car and flew it to school, but you won't believe the week I've had!'" Harry cried, sarcastically. "He'd never let me stay at yours over summer break again!"
"Oh come on, it's not been that bad!" Ron grimaced.
And it hadn't been – at least, to start with.
At the beginning of the summer break, Harry had found himself at Spinner's End which was, without a doubt, preferrable to Little Whinging. He was grounded for the first week of course – on account of his adventures through the trap door which – despite house points being awarded by Dumbledore – his new guardian did not approve of. (Harry had suggested Syltherin's loss of the house cup was part of the problem, for which an additional day of house arrest was added).
But he hadn't minded so much. The week had given him time to help Snape tidy up around the house and he was even permitted to decorate his new bedroom.
The room, much like the rest of the house, was a little on the small side. Despite this, and Hogwarts aside, it fast became the closest thing to 'home' the boy had ever felt.
He and Snape had fallen into a routine – a quiet kind of companionship with the two of them still learning about each other. For Harry, it was the thing he had wanted most last term – a safe haven, a promise that he would not have to return to the Dursleys, perhaps a family of his own.